The first Wiik

You may have noticed my lack of updates for the past week. I haven’t been on the internet much because of the Wii. Let’s talk waiting in line.

After 27 hours at Wal-Mart, I can safely say that I earned it. I showed up at Wal-Mart at 5PM on Friday the 17th. There was no one in line and the electronics clerk said that he didn’t think their was much demand for it. That would change.

I would call back every hour on the hour, and at 9:30 I showed up with my friend, Brian. I was number 7/20 on the list and he was 8. We both looked around the game isle and saw that they had some Wii games on sale. Interestingly, Wal-Mart didn’t have Excitetruck for sale at all. They did however have controller sets on the shelves. They couldn’t sell them until midnight though. They were just put out to taunt us. There were 4 classic controllers, 20 Remotes, and only 6 Nunchuks! At 4PM Saturday, I grabbed and hid a Nunchuk and Remote to make sure I got one.

Wal-Mart was amazing enough to let us live inside the store without sitting in a formal line. We didn’t really get in line until 11PM Saturday! We had to check in every hour on the hour though. Guitar Hero 2 was one of the only ways (other than sleep) to make time pass. During the beginning hours (basically until 8AM) went by fast, but after that took forever to pass. The horrible part of the entire stay was the fact that I live in Columbus, Ohio. Chances are that you’ve heard of our football team, the Buckeyes. We kind of have a rivalry with Michigan. The OSU / Michigan game was on the 18th. Every 4 seconds a crazed fan would yell: “OH-!!!” and everyone in the store would scream “-IO!!!!!!!!!!!!!”. Our fans are scary. Everyone went to watch the game on one of the huge TV’s, and would scream and cry when we got a touchdown. We won. I have a headache.

Anyway, after many hours of being in and out of consciousness in the in-store Subway, they announced that they lost their shipment of Wii consoles. But things would be okay. 1 person might be looking for them. It turns out that they would lose many things that night. At one point they lost Zelda. I freaked out at that and went across the street to get it at Best Buy. They found Zelda right after I got back though. The consoles that they lost were only the second shipment of nine. I was fine.

During one of the late night Guitar Hero 2 parties, a gothic dude came to the game isle and pulled out his PSP. We were all sprawled across the floor, playing our DS’s/laptops/iPods when a janitor drives by on a zamboni and gives us one of the biggest WTF looks ever. After laughing that up we notices all of the systems had turned off and so had the TV’s. Earlier in the night, when the clerk opened the Sony case to get a game, I asked to turn on PS3. They let me, but it turns out that the PS3 shorts out the entire electronics breaker. The PSP kid (it was creepy enough that he was shopping for games at 4AM) turned out to be a 1337 H4xx0rz and had modded his PSP to be able to turn off electrical appliances. He wanted us to talk to him and tell him how cool he was, but we pretty much just told him how pissed off he made us. While he was turning everything back on for us, we asked him to turn up the Wii TV which looped a DVD and was previously muted. We came to regret this as “Susan” repeated the same fact sheet on Wii every 2 minutes. As the time passed by, and I lost my sanity, I found myself falling in love with Susan. We were married twice and divorced 5 times. She got custody of the fern plants. I got another headache.

At 11PM they had us gather around the electronics counter. We got our systems, snapped a picture of all of us holding our Wii boxes for Wiixors.com , and left happily. As I was walking to the area where we were going to take the picture, three gangsters approach me.

Them: “Is that they Wii?”
Me: “Uh…No, yeah, no” I say unsure.
Them: “Give it to me”
Me: “No!” I look around and see a security guard escorting a old lady out of the store to her car.

Seeing the security dude scared them off, but it had me thinking. I care about video games more than I value my life. Pathetic, or Awesome? You decide.

I got home with my precious cargo, and unboxed it with glee. I turned it on and created myself in the Mii creator. After playing some Wii Sports I popped in Red Steel.

Keep in mind that I haven’t played Red Steel beyond the first couple levels, but it was enough to give me a good idea on how the rest of the game will feel. I like the  art style of this game. Graphically the game is reminiscent of the original Splinter Cell on Gamecube. There are not to many jaggies, and the characters look realistic enough. But with all Wii games it all boils down to gameplay. The gameplay is something you have to get used to. You can’t go too far to the edge of the screen with your cursor because then it will appear at the other side of the screen. After playing around with it for a while I’ve come to this general idea on why this is. Imagine an invisible box over your screen that picks up your pointer. Then imagine many more boxes connected to each side of the original box. If you point to far to the left side of the original box you will spill over to the right side of the next box, if that makes any sense. I imagine in time I’ll grow used to the control scheme, but for now turning is a pain. The swordplay suffers the curse of being a bit to complicated to be fun. Swinging the sword is easy, but blocking has you holding down the C button (the round button on the back of the Nunchuk) and moving it left and right. I can understand that the accelerometer in the Nunchuk is not as powerful as the Wii Remote, but it could have been done better. The story is very interesting though, I just think that Ubisoft tried to do to many things to immerse its players into the game. After my fun with Red Steel, I took a well deserved 12 hour sleep.

Waking up was an painful experience.  As I got out of bed I fell on my face. My legs were locked up, and I had 3 blisters on my feet. I got up and carefully made my way to Wii. I slid the beautifully golden Zelda disc in to the console, and began playing. Zelda is one of a handful of games out there that adds something new every 20-30 minutes. A new item, area, plot twist, etc. The game benefits by the tech Nintendo implemented into the Wind Waker that allows the characters to show facial expression. Talking to characters and seeing them show real emotion just makes you appreciate that Nintendo didn’t rush this title. The game is a lot of fun because you don’t have to sit attentive with your Wii Remote. You can sit with each half of the controller at your side and play the game laying down. Even though the game is basically a Gamecube game at heart, this is the definitive version because you have fun discovering quirky ways to use the Wii Remote.

Wait for full reviews of all of the games mentioned, but got 3 Wii games from Gamefly and will offer quick things about each.

Call of Duty 3- This game is surprising. I didn’t expect much beyond a strait port, but the developers use the Wii Remote in very innovative ways. Some uses are: Steering a jeep with the Wiimote and Nunchuk as a steering wheel; meleeing with the Wiimote; chucking grenades with the Nunchuk; planting charges by first pushing the Nunchuk forward, then cranking it in a clockwise direction, then pulling the Nunchuk back toward you. If you want a fun version of CoD, and can look past the graphical downgrade from 360, and PS3, then BUY THIS GAME!

Trauma Center- I didn’t much care for the lame plot twist, and tough difficulty of the DS version, but am having more fun with the Wii version. It’s still basically the same game though. I just got it today, so I haven’t played it much.

Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam- Being the first Wii game I ever played (Nintendo Fusion Tour), I had to try it out. It’s a lot more fun knowing how to control it, and other than some cheap crashes, or slow downs,  the game is just as fun as I expected it to be. I just got it today as well, and have only put about an hour into it.

It was definitely worth the wait, and lives up to the codename of Revolution.  There is so much more to this console than I could have imagined, and you should really try to grab one up for the holiday season. Playing is believing!

KLind

…back to Zelda.

It’s Game Time.

This is the last post before I head out to my local Wal-Mart to get in line for the Wii. We’ve come a long way gearing up to this console launch. I remember sitting at the same computer I’m posting on now, refreshing IGN as the Revolution’s controller was unveiled. I remember running to my local Barnes & Noble to pick up the “Red Steel” Game Informer, to take a peek at the Revo’s graphics. Then the day that Nintendo broke the internet by announcing the Revolutions true name as Wii, and defending it to all of my friends. Finally leading up to the Nintendo Fusion Tour where dreams became reality, as I finally played the Wii.

Now, I have Red Steel sitting right next to me, and soon I will have one of the most exciting consoles in recent memory. It almost feels as if I’m at the last level of Nintendo’s grand game. The console that I have obsessed about for nearly 2 years, is almost here (assuming I get a spot in line, which would be the boss fight). But the game isn’t over, in fact the game is about to begin. Will the public embrace the Wii as much as the hardcore gaming crowd? Will the sales be what we expect? Will I be able to get a copy of Zelda day one? So many questions! But answers are only 2 days away. Playing is believing.

KLind

 

Welcome to Next Gen Week!

In less you are a newborn, you are aware that the Playstation 3 will be launching Friday, and the Wii will be out on Sunday. I will be getting the Wii at midnight on Saturday. I won’t be Playing B3yond, with PS3, but I will try to get some time with a friends to get some reviews to you guys.

Brace your wallets men, and attractive women, This is War!

KLind

Hands On- Playstation 3 (Motorstorm)

I popped my head in to the local Target today, to look at all of the games I can’t afford because of the Wii check up on things. I look toward the games area as I walk in and see that they have changed the Sony area up. I trot over to see the broken PS2 replaced with a very shiny (and very expensive) Playstation 3.

Someone had walked away mid-demo and the kiosk was deserted. So, I sheepishly picked up the Sixaxis, and began to play some Motorstorm! Within second of controlling with the analog stick this is what I see:

So I hit pause, and turned the Motion Sensing on. This made the game run much smoother. A crowd of about 7 people soon had gathered around and were talking about how good it looked. The Sixaxis motion controls are not a gimmick. It actually improved my skill at the game. Another point of interest is the triggers on the back of the controller. Anyone familiar with the Dualshock 2 will know that the R1/L1 “triggers” have always been buttons. This time, they are real triggers and they really pull together the overall feel of the controller.

Motorstorm is pretty, but the gameplay doesn’t really live up to the graphics and controls. The big problem is that you crash every few seconds which lead to long drawn out boring (but pretty) slow-mo crash animations where your car smashes in to 100,000 little pieces. The pause menu takes a feature from Super Smash Bros. by letting you look all around your current location in 3d. This is fun during crashes, but then again, those animations are slow enough you can do basically the same thing anyway.

Motorstorm is a good game to Gamefly, and the PS3 is better then I expected. Good luck finding on though!

KLind

Why I love YouTube!

YouTube is my hero. In order to understand the second clip you have to watch the first which is the US TV spot for Red Steel:

Done? Well, here’s a clip of a “grown man” watching the clip, and fanboying out. And, yeah, he’s holding a bowling ball (or something).

I love you YouTube!

By the way, Red Steel is listed to come out on Tuesday.

KLind

Wii Pr0n, Package stage clip

So many fanboy moments in this video!

UPDATE: Some parts of the vid go by to fast. Luckily here are some pics that aer teh secks.

KLind

Gears of War. It’s like that scab that you can’t pick off just yet.

November is my worst enemy. Here we are about 12 days until the Wii launches (I’m still 75$ away from what I need), and what do I see today at my local EB Games? Gears of War. Cliffy B’s dream game. My dream game.

It’s like a scab. You get the wound first (the game gets announced), then you develop a scab (as time gets closer to release), then finally you find your fingernails tearing off the scab (buying the game) and adding it to your collection. With the Wii around the corner, I’m about to pick off a huge scab that is consuming my right arm. But once I add the scab to my collection, my jar will be full until I can raise enough money for a new jar. I just want to say that as soon as I get the cash for a new “jar” I’ll play with it (maybe cut some locusts with it) and get you guys a review ASAP.

Until then watch and love this trailer:

KLind

Barnes & Noble keeps up with the times!

I picked up the new Halo novel the other day, but today I was looking at the receipt and noticed something cool.

If you recall, the codename to Ghosts of Onyx was Ghosts of Coral. Coral is a planet that was briefly mentioned in the I Love Bees viral. Way to go Barnes & Noble!
KLind

Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam (Wii!) Interview

I’ve been working on this one for a while. I’ll post my article from “TheWiikly.com” after the break , but I hope you’ve already read it and checking the Wiikly every wiik week! If you haven’t read it yet, it also is a preview for the game. Here’s the raw interview:

Kel Lind: How did the idea come about to change the Tony Hawk format to a more racing format?

Alex Ness (producer at Toy’s for Bob): When doing consumer research on the Tony Hawk franchise, Activision asked fans of the series what they’d most like to see in another Tony Hawk game and downhill racing kept coming up again and again. So I guess, YOU the people are to blame for this. I’m just happy that we are the ones that got to do this game.
KL: Have you received the information on how to access the speaker on the Wii Pointer? And if so, what kind of uses can we expect?
AN: We have and we do use the speaker to play certain sounds in the game. It’s a pretty cool feature and definitely makes a difference. As far as the pointer goes, we don’t use it for Downhill Jam. It just didn’t seem to fit any of our design plans.

KL: Will Tony Hawk Downhill Jam feature the same level of customization as past installments on the franchise? (Such as Create-a-Skater, skateboard art).

AN: We do have the Create-A-Skater mode with a fairly unique interface. But you can’t create your own skateboard art.

KL: Will there be multiple control schemes, and will the Nunchuk be used in any way?

AN: We added an option to change the Wii Remote’s sensitivity to be tilted/turned but there is only one control scheme the player can select. We did a lot of testing with different configurations but only one seemed to work out well for the game. We do not use the Nunchuk for those reasons as well.

KL: Have you run in to any troubles in developing for Wii? Have there been any really cool things, that you can’t do, due to restrictions in technology?

AN: No, it’s been real easy for us so far. We had the game up and running on the Wii within days of getting the hardware. I mean, we are pretty smart but still that’s significant. As far as cool things we’ve wanted to do but couldn’t do, no, there’s nothing there either. We wanted a very fast-paced, arcade-style downhill racing game that looked good and ran at a solid 60fps and that’s what we have.

KL: Will Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam use the WiiConnect24 service (downloadable content? There’s been talk on how Online play could be added to games that didn’t ship with it. Is there any truth to that?)

AN: We are not presently doing anything with downloadable content or online play. I didn’t hear that rumor about adding online play post-release and don’t know of any future plans regarding Downhill Jam.

KL: Toys for Bob is known for making games of the highest replayibility. Will Tony Hawk: DH follow this tradition? Will unlockable’s play a big role in achieving that?

AN: We are? That’s awesome! Thank you, I appreciate your candor there. And yes, Downhill Jam will totally follow this tradition. We have over 100 race-type events in the game and in addition to challenging the player to get gold/silver/bronze medals in each of those events, we also have a Ghost and Super Jewell Ghost feature. If the player gets a gold medal, they unlock the Ghost Run for that event. If the player beats the Ghost skater, they unlock the Super Jewel Ghost Run, which is basically the best anyone here was able to do and they can compete against whatever designer or tester made the Ghost for that event. That can offer infinite replay value right there because no matter how good anyone from the outside gets at the game, it is pretty unlikely that they will be able to beat our best player. Dare I say, impossible? We also have different skaters and we’ve found the experience of playing with all of them individually is pretty different. We feel that will motivate people to beat the game with more than one character. And each skater has 4 different outfits that can be unlocked throughout the game.

KL: How does the party play of Tony Hawk: DJ rate? I hear Toys for Bob are big fans of Bomberman. Will Tony Hawk: DJ become one of those great games you pull out to play whenever friends come over?

AN: God I hope so. We are huge fans of Bomberman and Downhill Jam does support 4-player split-screen mode. One of our main goals was to make a game that anyone could pick up and quickly play and I think we’ve achieved that. People can get together to play a multiplayer event or even a series with very little time commitment. The action is very fast paced and because each location has a ton of shortcuts and pushes the combat feature, all 4 players are almost never out of the race. And the game is just generally fun so yeah, let it be known that Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam WILL become one of those great games you pull out to play whenever friends come over (and you’re not trying to make them leave).

KL: Are you considering Progressive Scan and Wide-Screen? I’ve seen many gamers, as well as some big name press reacting negatively to hearing that many titles will not feature them.

AN: Yep, we support Progressive Scan and Wide-Screen. I’ve heard some of those negative reactions and even received a few emails threatening my life if we don’t support them. Not only am I happy to remain alive but I myself just bought one of those wonderful HD TVs so this is particularly good news to me.

KL: Could we expect to see anything Star Control in the near future? As in Virtual Console, portable, etc.

AN: Again I say, “God I hope so”. We would all still very much like to do another Star Control game someday and REALLY appreciate all of the online and email support from everyone so far.

KLind

Halo 3 Legendary Edition Picture! But will it fit on my head?

As a few of you let me know, there will be 3 versions of Halo 3. Normal: 59.99 Collectors: 69.99 Legendary: 99.99

Also, my local EB games and Gamestop have both started pre-orders, and say that the Legendary Edition will be extremely limited edtion. You may want to preorder now. Yes, a full year in advance.

KLind