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Posted on 09.11.07 by skintari @ 8:13 am
Pool Party. How do I describe thee??? Let me start off by saying that I didn’t have high hopes for this game. As with a majority of Wii games I have played lately, I’ve noticed that they really are the product of a “new” console. The controls and game play just seem a bit off to me. Pool Party is no different. It suffers from awkward camera angles, odd game physics, and too much controller function. What should have been a relatively straightforward “point and shoot” gets dulled down by the many functions of the button schemes. What I mean is, just because the Wii has ten controller buttons, you don’t have to assign a function to each one. At one point, I actually had to contort my hand to place the ball when it was in hand. It was overkill for me and made me want to quit playing right there. I did persevere and I can’t say I was really rewarded or let down. The game itself was fun enough playing it 2 player, but on the single player, it got to be too much. The A.I. was stupid for the first 4 or 5 balls that were sunk, then it became a professional trick shot artist on me. There’s no way someone can bank the ball back and forth off of 4 rails across and have the ball go in. No way. But of course, the physics of the game will let the computer do it. The other thing is that there was no “slop” rules. Which meant, in a game of 8 ball, you could just hit the stack of balls and whatever dropped, you got credit for. I’m not a purist of the sport, but c’mon, you gotta have some kind of rules to govern that! Otherwise there is no skill and therefore, no challenge. Another thing that was lacking in this game was the effects of English. The game would allow you to hit the q-ball in different spots, but that would just angle your shot. There was really no true backspin or topspin that you could put on there. In fact, it was hard enough to work the point of impact on the q-ball as it was. Anyway, a pool game without English is pretty much useless as there was no real way to give yourself a good leave or even to avoid scratching on close shots. The only thing that would really help you was if you used max power to hit the ball. The q-ball would stop on impact then, but you had to be extremely accurate (and with the camera angles, that was near impossible). Overall, this game really could have been a solid, fun game. There is a pretty hefty amount of games on there…Snooker, 8-ball, 9-ball, and several different variants of each. But they became after thoughts as the difficulty of making good shots and the unevenness of the A.I. really brought the game down. I would have given this game a lot more because the 2 player was fun, but just not enough to get me to enjoy it. So, 1.5 stars out of 5. Hopefully, someone will read this and make a pool game that we can really enjoy! Filed under: Review and Wii and skintari Comments: 1 Comment |
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Posted on 08.07.07 by skintari @ 4:39 pm
Sorry for the lack of posting, but I have been consumed lately (pardon the pun). To make up, I’ll make this a double post! Yay! First game is Bust a Move for the Wii. We received this game on Saturday and had it beat by Sunday. It is that easy. And repetitive. And boring. If you’ve played the online or any of the previous console versions, you know exactly what you’re getting. Aim your little pointer at the like colored balls and press a button. That’s it. No more, no less. The controls are extremely twitchy. My girl sat down next to me and it actually caused the aim to dart all across the screen. That means you have to sit perfectly still and hold the wii-mote with both hands to even play this. That is not good. Secondly, was the constant music that played throughout the game. There are 5 different “8-bit” tracks (one song for each 50 puzzle level). These songs play continuously through the level. And then continues on in your mind a good half hour after you quit playing. It’s that bad. And I won’t even get into the lack of a decent multi-player section. My rating: 1.5/5. This game was fun for about 2 minutes. After that, it sucks the life out of you…. Speaking of (see what I did there!)….The Darkness. This game is good. Very good, in my opinion. Although the length of the game is rather short (it can be beaten in less than a week if you really try), it provides quite a punch from what’s on the market currently. I am going to refrain from any real “details” of this game because it was a joy to uncover powers on my own and I don’t want to spoil it for you. Let me start this review by stating that I had not previously read the comic before I played this, so it was a fresh storyline for me. However, I have started reading it and the storyline really stays true as far as I can tell. At least moreso than most of the other comics to games that are out. So the gameplay gives you control of the main character, Jackie, and his “demons”. This is surprisingly intuitive considering that you play as both, and at the same time no less! The controller scheme is mapped in a convenient way so you can use your dark powers while maintaining a fire fight with your enemies. This also leads to some very graphic and up close “kills”. I won’t spoil the different ways you can tear your victims apart, but let me just say that none of them ever get old! Now the look of the game is also very detailed. Seeing the faces of these people that you have to interact with gives you the feel that you’re back in an old timey mob setting. In fact, there were a few times that I would just admire my character in a mirror. It was surreal to me to see your reflection as clear as day in-game. The only real problem I had with this game (outside of being short) was the camera angles. Quite a few times the camera would get hung up corners or as you controlled the creeping death. This was frustrating at times, but not nearly enough to make me not want to play it! All in all, I give this a 4.5/5. I hear that the multiplayer is “broken”, but as a campaign, I thoroughly enjoyed this from the beginning till the end. I also recommend that you rent or gamefly this as it can be beaten in a relatively short time. Filed under: Review and Wii and Xbox 360 and skintari Comments: None |
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Posted on 07.11.07 by A 47 Danger @ 11:05 am
Nintendo may be run by vampires, as conference attendees must turn off the lights on their cell phones. According to, “everyone is a gamer.” I think Jack Thompson just had an aneurysm. There is a lot of talk about reaching the untapped market of people who don’t play games. Older gamers. Female players. Prairie dogs. More numbers. We know you have a good product, Nintendo. Show us your software, not your percentages. I’m not buying your stock. “Nintendo is not a fad. Nintendo is the future.” Nintendo is not a dragon. Nintendo is a ham sandwich. Reggie is showing us the Wii Zapper. It is a template for the Wii Remote and Wii Nunchuck. Arcade shooters finally come to the home console! Again. Oh Reggie, don’t say “maximize penetration.” Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games is, in fact, exactly what it sounds like. I think they’re both doping. Smash Bros. Brawl will launch on December 3rd. There is some straight news for you. Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass will be entirely touch on the DS. Color me interested!* The Wii Remote looks to work fantastically with the first-person Metroid Prime 3. Not only will you aim with the remote, but you will activate options with gestures. Think Black & White, but not horribly disappointing in every way. Check Mii Out will be a new channel where you can vote on your Wii Miis. America does love voting for things that aren’t presidents. Nintendo claims to be serious about online play. Again. Mario Kart Wii is the proof in the pudding, apparently. You will be able to play Mario Kart Wii with the Wii Wheel. Or, as I will call it from now on, the Wiil. Good, I needed another montage about how much people love Nintendo. Saturo Iwata, Nintendo’s worldwide president, has taken the stage. Paradigm shift this. Cookbook on DS that. Okay, okay. You want the Wii and DS to be for everybody! But what does that matter to me? I’m already a gamer. All of this means nothing to me aside finally getting my wife interested in something besides Viva Pinata. I sure could go for another montage…hooray! They read my mind! Brain Age 2 comes out August 20th. Super Mario Galaxy on November 12th. High School Musical is coming out for the Wii and DS. So, you know, if you have brain damage, you’re good to go. We’re in for a ton of different brain training games. Including My Life Coach. Hold on, no time to make a witty comment. There is another fan montage that needs watching. WiiFit takes the tricking you into exercising of WiiSports and removes the facade of fun. Shigeru Miyamoto came out to tell us we should be really interested in WiiFit. His sentiments are not matched by me or the crowd. Or the universe. The universe has no interest in this “big” announcement, Miyamoto. The Wii Balanceboard controller is what makes WiiFit possible. That, and misplaced enthusiasm. This wasn’t a very good conference. I am disappointed. Lots of telling me things I SHOULD be interested in but am NOT interested in. Sorry, it wasn’t the end. There was one more lame montage. Now it’s over. * interested is a reddish purple Filed under: A 47 Danger and Nintendo DS and Wii Comments: None |
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Posted on 07.02.07 by beuks @ 10:16 am
That oughta do it. Seriously, though. They released Super Mario Bros 2 this morning. That’s cool and all — it’s a great game — but it’d be nice if they hit more of the classic games that haven’t yet been re-released on Game Boy Advance. ActRaiser was a great step a few weeks ago. But Zeldas 1, 2 and A Link to the Past, all the NES Super Mario games, and Super Mario World and Yoshi’s Island are all available in portable form. Super Metroid has never been repackaged, and was just named the #10 game of all time by Edge Magazine. Where’s the love? Incidentally, the #2 game on that list, Resident Evil 4, has just been re-released on the Wii. Some reviewers (Gamespot among them) are calling it the best version of the game. That’s pretty sweet. And the game’s cheap. So get it if you haven’t played it. If you can find it — I can’t. But I am looking for a new Wii game after having finished Twilight Princess on Saturday. The final boss battle was epic, and did a fantastic part of drawing on skills learned throughout the entire game, including, oddly enough, your cattle-herding skills. Awesome. That’s all I got. Filed under: Beuks and Classic and General and Quip and Wii Comments: 2 Comments |
I just sent this email to Nintendo via their |
Posted on 06.19.07 by skintari @ 10:06 am
Morning, all! I come this morning to tell you some very unfortunate news. I fear that the Wii may not be all it’s cracked up to be. “How can I say this?”, you ask. Easily. I rented Mortal Kombat: Armageddon. This game is the one that’s supposed to really utilize motion sensor and the freedom of both controls. It doesn’t. I can’t say I disliked the game, it is rather enjoyable, but for the PS2. I found the Wii-mote and the Nunchuk to be unresponsive and sluggish. What used to take about .5 seconds to do a combo now took close to 3 seconds. This gave your opponent plenty of time to block. The fact that all the special moves were done by holding the B button and flailing your arms about also became futile. In the off chance that the “special” moves worked, you had to be far enough away (but not too far) from your opponent for it to be effective. This only happened once every 15 times or so. The game itself is a reiteration of the PS2 version. That means it was exactly the same, save for the motion sensing. Nintendo, I am disappointed by you. I am so hoping that the Wii can support games that can take advantage of the motion controllers without becoming frustrating and bothersome. So far, I feel that the list for those games are going to be very few and far between. *I am not going to give this game any stars as it’s not worthy on the Wii. I suggest you find the budget title for the PS2 and get that. It’s worth the $10 dollars. Filed under: Rant and Review and Wii and skintari Comments: 4 Comments |
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