Create Your Mii!
November 28, 2006 | 12 Comments
Dee posted about this awesome flash based Mii creator that simulates the same functionality as the Mii creator on the new Nintendo Wii. Dee found this to create her own Mii after having enjoyed playing Wii Sports: Boxing at my house. Keep in mind Dee is one of the non-gamer types Nintendo is trying (and succeeding) to reach with this system.
I have to admit, I have spent an embarrassing amount of time playing with Mii characters. In fact, I have spent more time in there then I have on some of my games… With networked friends included, I now have 21 Mii on my system. I’m really hoping Nintendo and third party developers utilize this more frequently, like what is being done with Wii Sports. These simple caricatures add an additional level of fun and immersion that has been entirely unexpected to me.
On a sidenote… can we all agree that the plural of Wii or Mii is like the plural of deer? I think adding the ’s’ is cumbersome and dirty. I’m not the first one to make this observation (Sickr?), but I’d like to propagate it.
Tags: console, games, mii, Nintendo, nintendo wii, video game, video games, wii
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: Teaser Trailer
November 27, 2006 | 12 Comments
Book five of the Harry Potter series, “The Order of the Phoenix” will hit theaters July 13th, 2007. I’ve been a huge fan of the Potter books since about the time Goblet of Fire came out. With each book the stories get darker and more exciting.
This trailer features Harry kissing Cho, Harry starts occlumency lessons with Snape, Umbridge and her education decrees, and the beginning formations of Dumbledore’s Army. If they can manage to fit all the appropriate plot lines into 2-3 hours of cinema, this will be a fantastic film. If they fail, we can all still read the book and listen to the audio book…
Tags: harry potter, movie, movie trailer, occlumency, order of the phoenix, potter, snape
Spider-Man 3: International Poster
November 26, 2006 | 7 Comments
This is the poster for marketing Spider-Man 3 internationally. It features black suited Spider-Man swinging over New York city at night.
Tags: "Spider-Man 3", columbia pictures, marvel, movie, movie poster, sony, spider-man, spiderman
We Love the Wii
November 22, 2006 | 6 Comments
Sunday was launch day for the Nintendo Wii in North America. I have been waiting in anticipation for this since the revolutionary controls were first announced. With all the hype and my own personal excitement leading up to this, I greatly feared that I would be underwhelmed and overall let down. I’m here to say that is not the case.
The Nintendo Wii is everything they promised and more!
If you have seen any of the advertisements one thing that is repeatedly highlighted is the energy in the room while people are playing. Videos show people jumping around, yelling, and generally excited. These are people of all ages. This is exactly the scenario when people are playing Excite Truck, Wii Sports, or Rayman. It is often as fun in a group setting to watch the players as to watch the game itself.
I bought a lot of games at launch, surprisingly omitting Zelda for the time being, yet we all know without a shadow of doubt that that game is and will be phenomenal. Without further ado, here are my games and impressions:
Wii Sports
One word sums up this game: engaging. If you show this game to anyone, you just put the controller in their hands and they can immediately start playing. Sometimes the controls are not 100% responsive and sometimes you want more out of these games. Yet, they are perfect at what they are meant for, the casual or non-gamer. Any two people can pick any of the five of these games and actually compete. May people complained about the quality of the graphics, but I’ll be one of the few to credit them for what they’ve done. The simplified characters make the game less intimidating. Additionally, the ability to use your personally created Mii character definitely help with immersion, even if the graphics are not photorealistic.
Personally I think Tennis is the most fun, especially with four. This is closely followed by Boxing. Again, the controls are not perfect for boxing, but watching two friends get excited to beat each other up and ending out of breath and sweaty is just priceless. Bowling seems to map best to the real world. Some friends who actually bowl, are able to immediately put spin on the ball and do other fancy bowling tricks. (I’m not a bowler, can you tell?) Finally, I would rank Golf lowest. This game is fun, but the most difficult to get the controls. Putting is especially difficult, yet I somehow feel like maybe this is all just true to reality…
It is no surprise that this is the game Nintendo most consistently showed off at press conferences and talk shows. This is a fantastic pack-in and really shows the potential of the controls. If you find yourself wanting more out of the games… hopefully that’s where EA and Sega Sports will step in and make full blown sport simulators to fully satisfy.
Rayman Raving Rabbids
By far my best purchase. The humor and fun this game brings is unmatched. My wife opts to play this over watching TV… I think that really says it all. If you are the type of person who would like to get other people in your household excited to play games with you, this is one that will open the door.
Chock-full of 70 mini games, they are divided into a couple different categories. Three types standout for me. First, the music/dancing levels are great. The remote in one hand, nunchuck in the other, you basically keep beat with the music. This is similar to Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, DDR, or Guitar Hero in many ways. Next are the FPS levels. Taking down the rabbids with you plunger launcher gun is loads of fun, both to watch and play. Finally, the workout-based levels. These are the ones that leave your shoulders and arms aching afterwards. Seriously, the carrot juice level is destined to leave me like Homer in that episode of the Simpsons where he gets one huge bicep from repeatedly lifting one weight…
If you are looking for fun, especially in a group, this game has it in spades.
Excite Truck
Turn your remote sideways and prepare for a whole way to play a racing game! I wondered about the effectiveness of using the controller turned on it’s side and tilting it to steer. It seems kind of cumbersome in theory, but in practice it is comfortable and responsive. In fact, the controls seemed so intuitive to me, that I made my wife take a shot at it. Historically she is not interested and in turn not any good at racing games. Instead of her normal frustration, she quickly adapted to the controls and beat my time on the race… I’ve heard complaints about the depth of this game, but for now I’ve only scratched the surface. It looks pretty, it plays nice, and it has the intensity of the Burnout series. I can’t wait for the next great racer on this system. If this game is any indication, there should be plenty of them!
Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz
If any game seemed most applicable to the new controls it’s Monkey Ball. Tilting the controller to tilt the world is far more intuitive than the old analog stick. On concern I have though, is how much my wrist can take. These are a ton of small movements and I get worn out playing this one. It looks prettier than previous offerings in this franchise and they have added the ability to jump your ball. Very nice.
I’ve yet to play this multiplayer or get very deep into the mini games. If you are familiar with Monkey Ball, this game is everything you expect, with 50 mini games this time!
Marvel Ultimate Alliance
This is not a title for everyone. If you look around this site, you’ll quickly realize that I spend a lot of time with my head in the Marvel Universe. With that in mind, this was must have for me. This game is similar in many ways to the X-Men Legends games. If you liked those, you’ll like this. They are very similar.
I will say that the graphics in this game lack in clarity. There is a lot going on, sometimes it becomes hard to distinguish characters and enemies. I’m hoping component cables will improve this a bit…
The controls initially felt clunky. I then spent 5 minutes reading the manual and suddenly it all became clear. All the gestures are chosen appropriately and end up working quite well. The biggest surprise to me was how much more comfortable I feel being able to separate my right and left hands while playing. Not having your hands forced together is quite liberating. I’m now looking forward to other adventure or RPG games that employ similar controls. This really is going to work out!
If you are a Marvel fan boy like me, this game is rewarding. You get bonuses for fighting with groups that are actually teams in the comics. All the heros have spells and abilities that match closely with the books. You can get alternate costumes that bring along different sets of appropriate upgradeable stats, making these more than just visual for once. There are a good number of playable heroes straight away. The cinematics and voice work is good. For a Marvel fan, this is a solid title.
Tony Hawk: Downhill Jam
This is the game I’ve played the least (20 minutes or so). I think it has potential, but is not as engrossing as the other games I have in my library. The graphics are weak, and the levels seem to be a bit short. I think the controls will work out OK, but at the moment I’d recommend most people give this game a pass. I’d hoped for SSX meets Tony Hawk, but it doesn’t really live up to those lofty ideals…
Tags: excite truck, games, marvel, marvel ultimate alliance, monkey ball, monkey ball banana blitz, Nintendo, nintendo wii, rayman, rayman raving rabbids, reviews, ssx, tony hawk, tony hawk downhill jam, video games, wii, zelda
Controller of the Wii
November 18, 2006 | 3 Comments
The above parody flash video is brought to you by IGN and created by CubeToons by Fred the Monkey. The music is a parody of the American Hi-Fi song “Flavor of the Week”.
The video is wonderful in all it’s Nintendo Wii loving glory, I hope you enjoy.
Tags: american hi-fi, controller, controller of the wii, cubetoons, flavor of the week, fred the monkey, IGN, Nintendo, nintendo wii, wii
First Nintendo Wii Commercial
November 16, 2006 | 4 Comments
Nintendo is not allowing it to be embedded, but the advertisement is on YouTube. The basic premise is that two japanese men show up at a random person’s door and say “Wii wants to play”, they then come in and break out the fun. Apparently this is one of an initial set of four that will be released.
Update: Thanks to Justin for pointing this out, the official Wii site now has all four ads and the long version merging them into one.
Tags: ad, advertisement, commercial, Nintendo, video game, video games, wii
Aquaman Will Save Me T-Shirt
November 15, 2006 | 2 Comments
Keith Derosby sent me along this CafePress site featuring an Aquaman T-Shirt. The writing on the shirt is shown in the image: “I fear nothing since I know Aquaman is out there to save me.” This is just plain wonderful.
At first glance you think, wow, an Aquaman fan, what are they thinking? Then it hits you, this is ironic! Aquaman can’t save anybody — he’s lame!, this shirt is a comic fan’s inside joke about Aquaman. You’d wear this shirt and hope some idiot walked up to you and revealed their lack of cool by claiming a similar liking for Aquaman. You could then use that opportunity to point, laugh, and berate them about their complete lack of understanding about what in fact makes a super hero awesome. This rules.
Though I do wonder why Keith provides me with such fodder against his beloved super hero…