First Impressions: GTA IV

I booted up my brand new PS3 last night, signed up for PSN, and popped in GTA. Wow. The game looks fantastic, and plays great. I had a few freeze ups requiring me to reboot the system, but after that it played great. I was a little annoyed that I couldn't get into the main part of manhattan yet. I just wanted to mess around in there for a little before I started the missions. I've heard that this is one of the few GTA games where people will actually want to play through the story, it's that good and engrossing. I did a few missions, honed my driving skills, and obtained a pistol. The gunplay and new cover mechanics work great, and look great in action. I still need to get used to the controls but I don't foresee them being a problem. I can't wait to jump back into it tonight. I haven't gotten a chance to load up Uncharted yet, I'll most likely get to that this weekend sometime.

The main character, Niko, is really funny, likable, and a complete bad ass right from the start. He's a little disillusioned from his cousin Roman's antics and lies but is quick to have his back in tight situations. The driving mechanics were a little different than previous GTA games but after some learning I quickly got the handle of it. Needless to say my girlfriend was a pro at driving right from the start.

I did a Sixaxis tutorial which utilizes the motion control of the Playstation 3 controller. It was kind of fun, but nothing the Wii hasn't perfected. I probably will turn that feature off, it will most likely just get in the way. I like the way the mission structure is laid out, where you just answer your cell phone when it rings and drive to where you have to meet someone. Also, if you feel like you're driving around with nothing to do, you can just call one of your friends or your cousin and they'll give you a new mission. Nothing too fancy yet, I'm only about 5 or 6 missions in. I can't wait to unlock Algonquin (Manhattan) and find my old office building, if it made it into the game. I'm going to try and focus on the story on this GTA. All of my other GTA experiences have just been messing around in the city, which is really fun, but this time I want to experience the full game. I'm obviously only about two or three hours into the game so I can't review it yet, once I've beaten the story mode I'll post more about the game.

Labels: Commentary, Sony

Mission: PS3 Procurement Complete

Today around 11:00 AM a coworker and I made the voyage to our local Gamestop with one goal in mind, well maybe three goals.

1. Get him GTA IV for XBOX 360
2. Get me GTA IV for PS3
3. Get me a PS3

Maybe steps two and three should be reversed, but oh well. It all worked out, I finally have in my possession a glistening black Playstation 3. Along with my purchase of a little game called GTA IV, I picked up a copy of Uncharted. Uncharted is a tomb raider style jungle action adventure game. I was waiting to get my PS3 when Metal Gear IV launched in June, but after IGN gave it a perfect score in every category, something that hasn't been done on a home console since 1999's Soul Calibur for the Dreamcast, I figured it was probably an OK time to pick up the system. Tonight will be filled with plenty of GTA IV and also plenty of Mario Kart, as the Nintendo fan inside me is still very excited from the release of that game. I'll post more on my thoughts of the PS3 as a whole and I'll be reviewing GTA IV and Uncharted once I'm a ways into them.

Labels: Sony

Mario Kart Wii Review

So today I picked up Mario Kart for the Wii, and after almost 8 straight hours of play time, I think I got the gist of it. It rocks! My girlfriend and I both really like it and are having a ball with it. I picked up two wheels for it (a plastic steering wheel shaped shell) and gave those a shot first. I went into the game knowing that I wanted to give the wheel a chance, and was actually pretty excited to use it. It turns out, I love it. It really makes this version of Kart stand out from the rest. I've played a dozen racing games on consoles using the analog stick. I could never afford a steering wheel setup for games like Gran Turismo, so being able to control the game with the wheel is a huge plus. It works really really well and its extremely fun to use. My girlfriend stuck with the classic controller, same thing she uses for Smash Brothers. She doesn't like the feel of the Gamecube controller. I'm going to keep using the wheel. If you keep with it you end up getting a golden wheel icon next to your name in online mode. Thats my goal!

Speaking of online mode it works great, unlike Smash Brothers. The game installs a mario Kart channel onto your Wii, so you can see if your friends are on before you even load up the game. Another great feature, that is part of almost every other online multiplayer game, except Smash, is that you can see if your friends are on and then just join their game. You don't have to wait to create a special room, or invite each other. I can just see that the person is on, jump into there game, and be a part of the next race...it's fantastic. There are many new additions to this version of Kart. One of the cooler ones is that before you load up each race, you get to see where the people you are racing are from. The game will show your name, mii, then your home country. It's pretty cool to be racing against someone from Japan, Finland, and Australia all at the same time. Other games let you play with players from all over the globe, but you usually don't get to see where they are from. It gives the game a nice sense of community.

The courses in this game can get very intense sometimes. There are 16 retro tracks and 16 new ones, and online play supports up to 12 people. That's a lot going on in one race. The game gives players in the last few places the chance to come back by giving them the better special items and power ups. While this may be frustrating to only get bananas in first place, it really helps out after you're ready to throw the controller down from being pushed from second place all the way to tenth in less than three seconds. The option for a comeback is very welcomed.

New vehicles have also been added to the game, in the form of motorcycles. They control a little different from the karts, as they are lighter, but are usually faster. I find them easier to control with the wheel, although it can sometimes be hard to nail a power slide as they turn pretty sharp forcing you into the wall or barrier on the side of the course.

Mario Kart Wii: 9/10

We've been playing the N64 version of Kart for a while in preparation for this game, and it paid off. Even though I've been perfecting my maneuvers, my girlfriend seems to beat me in almost every race. I'll just have to practice some more. Our one major complaint about the game is that if you are doing online there are leader boards, which are great. However, only one person can be ranked at a time, the other person must play as a guest. So although we each have our own profiles (licenses) in the game, we have to choose which one gets ranked and which one is the guest each time we enter online play. We just switch off, say five races with her being ranked, then load up my profile so I can move up. It isn't that big of a deal, but it would have been nice to see both players allowed to be ranked in a Halo sort of fashion. Out of pure coincidence we each wind up doing the best when we're the ones playing as the guest and not ranked, figures.
Overall Mario Kart Wii is a great time, we're having a blast with it and it probably won't be leaving the system anytime soon. Smash Brothers is also a great game, but I've always been a fan of the Kart over the Smash. Nintendo really nailed the online mode even with the lack of voice chat. Being able to join a friend that easily, and see the countries you're connected to really makes a difference. Let's hope they keep this formula for future online games.

Labels: Nintendo, Reviews

Beware the Blue Shell

After seeing Penny Arcade's new comic strip this morning I became aware that I have not posted about Mario Kart yet, which comes out this Sunday for Wii. My girlfriend and I are both big Mario Kart fans and have been playing the N64 one on the Virtual Console for quite a while now. I'm really excited to try out the Wii Wheel, from what I've heard, it works pretty well. If you are a player who continually uses it you will get a golden wheel icon next to your name in online mode, thats what I'm shooting for. I'll post more about it this weekend after we've played it.

Labels: Nintendo, Previews

Want to Slaughter Zombie Zoo Animals? Then you should buy a Wii.

Thats right. The makers of the recently announced Wii exclusive shooter The Conduit have just one up'd themselves by unveiling a gory, cartoony WiiWare game with "Animales de la Muerte". The game plays like a top down shooter where you go around doing just what you'd think, killing all the zombie zoo animals and saving the ones that are still alive. It reminds me a lot of the classic Lucas Arts shooter, Zombies Ate my Neighbors. It has the same feel and style with all the unique weapons and power ups. All my dreams have come true, thank you High Voltage! But seriously, the studio has come from left field and proven that these types of games can exist on the Wii.




Along with Animales de la Muerte, they have another WiiWare game in the works called Gyrostarr. Gyrostarr will be a shooter that plays like a Wipeout or F-Zero race. High Voltage are doing great things with Wii, and I personally cannot wait to get my hand around all three of their upcoming Wii games. Slaughtering zombie zoo animals! I mean come on, you can't go wrong there.

Labels: Nintendo, Previews

Prince of Persia: Trademarks of Time

It was discovered that the creator of the Prince of Persia series has trademarked a new name in the franchise: Prince of Persia Prodigy. The POP team's last effort was Assassins Creed which came out to mixed reviews.

I recently picked up Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time for the original XBOX and am about 75% of the way through it. I have to say that coming from the Mario and Nintendo brand of platforming, this game is a lot of fun. It's very enjoyable to run the Prince along the walls, jumping off at the crucial moment to catch the next bar or pole. They really nailed the platforming aspects on the head. My main gripe with the game is that the fighting sequences could have been a little more polished. The game's emphasis is on platforming so you can't fault it too much. However, most fight scenes lock the Prince into a fighting pose and it can be difficult to back up or run away from a group of surrounding enemies. You are constantly stuck in this fighting pose which has different movement mechanics than if you were just running around, making the Prince control like a tank. Those types of sequences are few and far between but can prove frustrating.

Super Mario Galaxy is the last major platformer I played, and loved to a great extent. I was excited to play POP but my expectations weren't that high. I have to say that I was somewhat surprised when I found huge rooms and elaborate puzzles all based around the Prince's movements. It was very well done and very fun. I've heard many things about Assassins Creed, that it is fun at first, a visual splendor, and the platforming elements are great. I have also heard bad things about the combat and redundancy of the game. If anything I will at least try to rent it. I remember seeing a screen shot for the game in some magazine a while back and thought to myself that I would get a next-gen system just for this game. I owe it to myself to at least try it, especially after how much fun I'm having with POP. Below is a screen shot from Assassins Creed.



I'm looking forward to a new Prince of Persia game, hopefully the team will take the criticism from Assassins Creed and somehow work it into this game, if it needs it. After seeing how gorgeous Assassins Creed looks, I can only imagine what a new Prince game will look like. Below I posted some pictures from another Ubisoft game, Rayman Raving Rabbids, for Wii. Part of their marketing campaign included these pictures of the star bunnies in various other Ubisoft games, including Assassins Creed, I know they're old, but still pretty good stuff.

Labels: Commentary, Microsoft, Nintendo, Previews, Reviews, Sony

The Earthworm Cometh

After Interplay sold the rights to their post apocalyptic MMO franchise, Fallout, to Bethesda, they were able to start funding some new projects after being out of business for a couple of years. They announced yesterday that they will be bringing back one of their most celebrated franchises, Earthworm Jim, with Earthworm Jim 4. They also announced that the game will appear, along with Clay Fighter, on the Virtual Console.

Normally I would pick these up in a heartbeat, but I just acquired an SNES emulator for my computer and one of the first games I've been playing through, along with Earthbound, and A Link to the Past, is Earthworm Jim. The game is a known for it's unique level design and graphical style, looking more like a cartoon than most other shoot em ups. Speaking of cartoons, the game was spun off into a series for television in the mid 90s. I remember both the game and the show very well, and cannot wait for a new entry in the series. There was supposed to be a 2.5D remake of the original game for the PSP back in 2006, which I was unaware of at the time. Now being a proud PSP owner I am a little disappointed to learn that it was cancelled also in 2006. With Interplay's new footing in the industry hopefully they'll bring that game back along with the new entry.

The upcoming game was confirmed to be Earthworm Jim 4, and not a remake, however it is still unknown what platform(s) it will be on. I'm not sure I can see Jim running around in a fully 3D world after the disaster that struck the N64 in Earthworm Jim 3D. I would love to see something along the lines of the new Sonic Unleashed, again a 2.5D game, where the character's and levels are in 3D but the game plays on a 2D plane. That would be amazing, we'll have to wait for more news to find out.

Labels: Microsoft, Nintendo, Previews, Retro, Sony

The Conduit: FPS for Wii

The Wii is not known for its graphical power, but that doesn't mean that it can't display some pretty impressive visuals. Super Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3, and No More Heroes all show different styles of games that work pretty well for the system. What makes these games more enjoyable is the gameplay. The Wii remote is perfectly designed for the first person shooter genre. Using the remote to control your characters sight (the camera) works flawlessly in games like Medal of Honor Heroes 2 and Metroid Prime 3. The controls are usually customizable which makes turning around on a dime that much easier, simply put it is the closest you can get to using a mouse setup like PC FPS games. As of now there haven't been many games to capitalize on this functionality.

IGN.com unveiled today a new FPS game developed by High Voltage Software, exclusively for the Wii, called The Conduit. The game puts players in Washington, DC as they face off against an alien invasion, nothing new there. What is new is that the developers designed the engine for this game, Quantuam3, from the ground up for Wii. They are hoping to make a game with graphics you don't usually see on Nintendo's console.

They say that the Wii is more powerful than the PS2 and XBOX yet we are still getting games that aren't even up to those standards, they hope to change that. They are also going against the paradigm that there is no market for adult oriented Wii games, which is why we don't see many mature titles or FPS's on the console. They are out there, case in point: No More Heroes, Manhunt 2, and Resident Evil 4. RE4 proved itself by selling pretty well for a game that was already released on the Gamecube and PS2. There are gamers out there, like me, who like all types of games including M rated FPS's. The developers now have a challenge, just because the game is rated M and is an FPS doesn't mean it will be good. If the games controls work perfectly like MOH2 or Metroid, and the story and gameplay are immersive, then they probably have a hit on their hands. Let's just hope they can live up to they hype they've created. I am definitely interested and if it is as good as they say it is, will definitely pick it up.

Labels: Nintendo, Previews

EarthBound for the Win

Last night I downloaded myself an SNES emulator for my mac-attack and it worked like a charm, with a little help from my girlfriend. She got the USB Controller to work for me. After figuring out how to save games, I was all set. I started off playing some classics that I was familiar with on the Genesis like "Zombies Ate my Neighbors," and "Earthworm Jim." Then I figured I'd go ahead and load up some of the games I've been waiting to play, having never had an SNES before. I booted up "A Link to the Past," "Super Mario World," and "Final Fantasy VI." It was awesome. Then I saw it, glowing bright, pushing the other ROMs aside, Earthbound.

If you're unfamiliar with Earthbound it's because you too probably did not have an SNES growing up, the only Earthbound game released in the US was for the SNES. The Earthbound series is a Nintendo franchise that is popular in Japan, where it is called Mother, instead of Earthbound. There are three Mother games released in Japan for the Famicon (NES) and GBA (Game Boy Advance). Mother 2 was released in the US for the SNES and renamed to Earthbound. US fans only got a small taste of the Earthbound series with that release, and have been clamoring for more ever since, especially because Nintendo teases us every so often. The Smash Brothers series have included Lucas and Ness, two characters from Earthbound, as fighters in some of the games. Other references in Smash Bros include the stages Onett and New Pork City.

Super Smash Brothers Brawl also included a "Masterpieces" section where you could demo several Virtual Console games featuring the characters in Brawl, which included Mother in the Japanese release, and not in the US release. Nintendo has been very resistant to demands to release more Earthbound material in the US. Who knows why? It could be because they are done with the franchise, don't want to develop RPGs anymore, or just don't like Americans. There are many fan sites working on translations of Mother 3 that you can install onto an imported copy of the game for the GBA, but that's asking a lot for most gamers. I'm excited to finally get my chance to play the SNES version after thinking I'd never have the opportunity, and after thinking Nintendo just didn't want us americans to enjoy the series.

The game sets itself aside from most other RPGs by having a setting in modern times, instead of the sword swinging fantasy camp eras that most RPGs undertake. You play as Ness, a little boy, who uses no more than baseball bats and other house hold items to stop an alien invasion, what more could you ask for? Cult favorite/forgotten/often teased at Nintedo franchises always get me excited. I'll be posting more about the game as I progress through it, and eventually will review it. I can finally put those Smash Brothers characters into context. Take that Nintendo.

Labels: Commentary, Nintendo, Retro

No More Heroes, the most Colorful/Bloody game you'll play on your Family Friendly Wii

There have been many Wii games that I have been enjoying over my time with the system, and most of the them have been Nintendo made. That is, in fact the reason as to why I wanted a Wii in the first place, I love all things Nintendo. There haven't been many strong games coming in from third parties for the Wii with the exception of Capcom giving us Zack and Wiki and RE4. Ubisoft is ready to change that with their release of No More Heroes, think of it as Kill Bill the video game.

You play as Travis Touchdown, best name ever I might add, who wields a beam katana (light saber) as he tries make his way up the ranked assassins list to become number one. Each boss battle is a ranked assassin and each is a wilder character than the last, making for some interesting cut scene banter, and fighting. The game is oozing style from all over, it has a very retro feel but manages to feel new and refreshing all the same. After each Boss fight you'll come to a high score screen just like an old school arcade game, showing you moving up the assassins ladder. It acts as a hack and slash game for the boss fights, but in between you'll be traveling around the open city, doing mindless jobs to earn money for the next fight. The in between stuff may not be as fun as the boss battles, but they are still pretty enjoyable.

The game is at its best when you get enough money for a fight, go to the location, battle through hundreds of enemies with motion control and wrestling moves (the creator is a huge wrestling fan), finally making your way to a wacky boss fight. It's definitely one of the best games I've played on Wii. It's just as bright and colorful as Super Paper Mario and is also once of the bloodiest games I've ever played (again think Kill Bill style decapitations). Every finishing move you do will leave you very satisfied and wanting more and more. I'm currently the 7th ranked assassin in Santa Destroy and should be at the top in know time at the rate I'm playing. I'd definitely pick this up if you have a Wii, it's one of the most unique games you'll ever play. Below is a video from Game Trailers showing some of the gameplay, motion controls, and bloody messes you'll be experiencing.

Labels: Nintendo, Reviews

LostWinds WiiWare Video Unveiled

IGN released a video for the upcoming WiiWare title, LostWinds. It is a 2.5D sidescroller (where the characters are modeled in 3D, and environments are 3D, but the game moves along a 2D plane) where you control the character on screen with the wind. The wind is mapped to the wii remote, you swoosh and push the character along the screen. It looks really fun to play, and I love me some 2D action so I'm interested. WiiWare debuts in North America next month.

Labels: Nintendo, Previews

Nintendo Media Summit April 10-11

Nintendo will be holding a media summit this Thursday and Friday which will ideally lead to the unveiling of some new games. Hopefully they'll bring back some of the franchises we've been waiting for like Starfox and Pikmin. I want to see the totally revamped franchises like Kid Icarus but big announcements like those will probably not come until E3, this summer. Nintendo will not be the only ones releasing news this week, other companies like Sega and THQ will be there to show off some of their new products as well. Wired.com had a chance to talk with Telltale games, who are bringing Sam & Max to the Wii, and in the interview they discuss their new WiiWare IP and that they'll be showing it at the media summit. It's not often that Nintendo lets us into their crazy heads, so lets hope from some good news and good games to come out of this.

Labels: Nintendo, Previews

Sam & Max Coming to Wii this Fall

Sam & Max, a popular PC point and click adventure game will be coming to the Wii this fall. The series is known for its unique brand of humor and is one of the few remaining, and popular, point and click adventure games. The title is usually released online through Gametap in episodic form, much like how the new Penny Arcade game will be. The Wii version is going to be a collection of every episode from Season 1.

Zack and Wiki is the only adventure game I have played on Wii and I have to say that the point and click style of the gameplay translated very well. I was hoping they would bring similar games over to the Wii and now it looks like they are. Sam and Max is a series I have especially been looking forward to as a lot of the designers of the series have previously worked on the Lucasarts adventure games like Full Throttle and Day of the Tentacle. The creators of Sam and Max are also going to be releasing episodic content for a new series on Wii Ware. Horray for 3rd part support on Wii!

Labels: Nintendo

Digital Distribution in Gaming

Penny Arcade, a web comic centered around video games, announced yesterday that they are partnering with game developer Hothead Games to launch a digital distribution service for indie game developers called Greenhouse. Hothead are also developing the Penny Arcade game called "Penny Arcade Adventures: On The Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness." The game is going to be an RPG with theie brand of humor mixed in. It will launch on PC, Mac, and Windows simultaneously through their new service. What's interesting is that you will download one key and be able to play the game on any of the platforms. You do not need to re-buy or re-download the game if you want to have in on your Mac instead of your PC, just copy it over and you're all set. This interests me because I have a mac, not a PC, and am always seeing interesting games come out on the PC and not on the Mac, or if they are on the mac then they come out a year later. I like seeing when games get simultaneous releases across all platforms. The only other game I've seen do this is Metal Gear Solid 4 for the PS3, it will be released in every region on the same day, which is very uncommon. The Penny Arcade guys will serve as a sort of editorial board for the games they put on the site, kind of a way to show the community the games they're interested in or that they recommend.

In an interview with Wired they mentioned how the game will most likely not appear in a Gamestop. They tried to ink a deal with Gamestop but Gamestop wasn't happy that the game would appear online first, and if that was the case, they wanted a share of those profits as well. The guys said "No thanks" and are keeping it online only for the time being. This is good for gamers because the game is being presented as episodic content, and the first release will only be the first episode. As soon as new episodes are released you just log into Greenhouse and download it. There is a screen shot below taken from the Wired article, the style of the game looks just like the comic if you haven't seen one of them. I'm big into collecting and like to have the cases for the games I own displayed on my shelf, but if this is a franchise I'm going to be buying constantly then I think I'll enjoy the benefit of just downloading it and playing it. For a game like this, this model works, If Nintendo said they were only releasing Super Mario Galaxy online then I would be a little upset.


EA, one of the biggest 3rd party developers in gaming, is also playing an interesting part in the role of digital distribution in gaming by releasing there new multiplayer shooter, Battlefield Heroes, online only, playable in your web browser, and for free. This is a first for a major studio like EA. The game will play just like there other battlefield games, and like most multiplayer shooters such as Quake, Halo, and Medal of Honor. The games look is where things get different. It looks just like the recent release from Valve software, Team Fortress 2. It has a very cel-shaded and cartoony style too it. I personally love games with unique visuals like this, similar to Zelda: The Wind Waker, and I can't wait to play it. My only concern is that on the site right now they only say that it is for the PC, and iscoming out in the summer, but if it is going to be playable in your browser window then I can't see having a problem running it on my Mac. EA has been pretty good in porting over their Battlefield series to the Mac anyway, so I'm sure this will make it over in some form. The game is free, you can use all the maps and play just fine without paying anything, however there will be upgradable weapons and costumes that you could pay for, perhaps even new characters. This seems like a good system because you don't have to pay to get the general experience of the game, but if you're the kind of gamer that likes to level up and upgrade your character, then sure, why not. It's completely up to you. Battlefield Heroes will be released this summer, hopefully on all computer platforms.

Labels: Commentary

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed New Wii Info

Gamepro has posted a new hands on feature with the Wii version of the upcoming star wars game. A lot of info has come out about the new physics engine for the PS3 and 360 versions, but nothing so far on the Wii Version. In the article they state that the motion controls for the Wii version aren't exactly 1:1 but they do feel really smooth and are mapped pretty well. It isn't just going to be a preset animation on screen when you move the wii remote, each direction you move will be represented correctly on screen. They said they got into some pretty intense light saber battles, especially when two sabers connect.

"After clearing a hallway filled with temple spirits, we got to try out our first boss battle, in which we took on Darth Desolus, who is a new character introduced in The Force Unleashed. In battling Desolus, we quickly noticed that boss battles are much more epic in scale and require more finesse with the motion controls. We lashed out at Desolus, and our lightsabres locked together. We struggled to overpower Desolus, and as you've seen in the many movies, that sort of situation usually leads to an intense parry or show of strength. The same goes for Force attacks; Force Lightning and other Force powers will push against each other. When you're engaged in "Saber Lock" or "Force Lock," you've got to tilt your Wii Remote or Nunchuk to an angle indicated onscreen, then punch forward once you're correctly aligned. Though hard to describe, these battles of will feel truly authentic, like the way you would resolve a physical stalemate in a Star Wars battle."

They also commented a bunch on the "duel mode" which is a Wii exclusive. Here you can pick from a list of of star wars characters and go head to head in a versus fighting scenario. Gamepro had this to say about it:

"Your favorite characters. Your favorite planets. The Duel Mode in The Force Unleashed is the best Wii fighting experience outside of Smash Bros. Brawl."

The new physics engine on PS3 sounds tempting, but I may have to stick with the Wii version for the motion controls and duel mode, not to mention three exclusive levels. It's the closest we'll ever get to holding a light saber, I'm in.

Labels: Nintendo

Super Dodgeball Returns on the DS

I remember back in the day playing a game called Super Dodgeball for the NES. I never really got into any sports games, I wasn't good at making plays, passing, scoring baskets, or winning in overtime. What I was good at, was throwing balls at people. Seriously. This game let me get my ball throwing on in full capacity, and now it's getting a sequel on the Nintendo DS in Super Dodgeball Brawlers. I'm not sure if they're just trying to jump on the hype train with Smash Bros Brawl by adding Brawlers, but I'll still take it. The original game put players against other countries from all over the world, in an Olympic match of sorts. It looks like the game play in this one will be the same, and thats fine by me. Below is a trailer for the Japanese version of the game, and another video with more game play elements, the japanese one is funnier though, who knows what they're saying.

Labels: Nintendo, Previews, Retro

Coloring in the Wii

THQ is releasing a new game for the Wii called de Blob. It's a game where you control a little blob of color and you have to paint the town to free it from its captors who want it to be black and white. It looks like it takes inspiration from games like Jet Grind Radio, where you go around town and spray paint on walls, except here you jump and slam into buildings, people, and other objects to color them. You can dip yourself into different colors and each time you paint an object the music gets a little funkier. It seems like it could be a lot of fun, the movement controls are done with the analog stick, but jumping seems to be mapped to the Wii remote, flicking in a direction and slamming back down. It could be fun to link jumps and combos together trying to paint as many structures as you can. I'm always interested in games that aren't necessarily casual, but don't require 40 hours of game play, massive inventory systems, and huge learning curves to play. It also reminds me of a Tony Hawk game where you just skate around town and do some random stuff. It doesn't come out until September, we'll see how the reviews shape up. The guys over at IGN seem to like it so far, and THQ knows they have a unique Wii title on their hands cause they aren't afraid to show it off.

Labels: Nintendo, Previews