New Super Mario Brothers Wii Review: All the Classic Mario Goodness of Old; All the Mario Baggage of Recent Titles
For our six and a half loyal readers that wonder if we gave up, we didn’t. Sorry for the lack of updates. Various things like income-providing jobs, child abuse and World of Warcraft have kept us from updating the last couple of weeks. We’ll get back to movies soon (the seemingly endless 17-hour run time of 2012 was enough to scare me away from theaters for a couple of weeks), but I do now have a better-late-than-never look at Nintendo’s latest rehash, New Super Mario Brothers Wii. You may feel that me calling this a rehash indicates I feel dredging up the old 2-D side scrolling platformer back up to the console world is unwelcome. However that would be harsh. After all, if you’re rehashing a tried and true genre, you might as well do it with the best of the best.
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WiiSports Resort: Why Do I Keep Chucking Money at Nintendo’s White Brick? Oh, Ya, Here’s Why…
Had I not been intimately involved with enjoying some WiiWare titles along with being teased if not thrilled by my experience with the WiiMotion plus controller that came with Tiger Woods Assassination (see article from last month) I probably would have been extremely skeptical of the latest “big” release for the little white brick from Nintendo, WiiSports Resort. Not to short change WiiSports, but it was, after all, the game that came with the console. Even though it probably still remains one of the most popular titles on the console for that reason along with its obvious attraction as a party game, paying full price for a new WiiSports game was just a little unsettling for me.
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WiiWare Find of the Month: Swords and Soldiers Brings the RTS Genre to a 2-D Side Scroller
One of the saving graces for the Nintendo Wii in the console wars is the outstanding catalog of WiiWare titles along with the increasing catalog of classic titles in the Virtual Console world. I love the Wii, but I’ve made no bones about the fact that it has major shortcomings that it has had to overcome to attain its popularity. The innovative titles hitting the WiiWare section of the online shop are a huge plus. Of course, with every huge “plus” on the Wii comes a major “beware” factor, and this one is that the Wii’s severely limited on-board and expandable memory it doesn’t have the flexibility to allow downloadable demos of the titles, leaving it to idiots like me to gamble the money and let you know how the gamble turns out. This time, we have a phenomenally fun title that takes RTS gaming into the world of 2-D side scrollers. This combination of two genres we never thought would mix called Swords and Soldiers is a genuinely fun and addictive investment.
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Golf World Stunned as Photos of the Tiger Woods Assassination Attempt Surface on Wii Game Box!
The golfing world was shocked this month when the first photos of the assassination attempt on Tiger Woods surfaced on the box art of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10, also known to unwashed hillbillies in Game Stop as Tiger Woods Oh-Ten. Okay, I actually caught myself about to say it, too. In any case, my first thoughts upon seeing the box art to the new Tiger Woods outing was “Back and to the Left, Back and to the Left.” Why would they put a picture of Woods being shot in the back of the neck with him grasping for the wound screaming in pain on the cover?
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The Nintendo DSi: The Response to the Turf War Apple Started with the IPod Touch?
The question I’ve been asking myself for the last few months has been “does the world need another incarnation of the Nintendo DS?” Don’t get me wrong, I love the DS, it was a revolutionary little handheld when it was released and the second gen Nintendo DS Lite was a vast design improvement, but was it really a smart move for Nintendo to continue to push out “last gen” gaming technology to the market just for the sake of a few more bells and whistles? It seems like Nintendo has been itching to blast back at Apple for trying to muscle into the handheld gaming market. Here’s a brief set of first impressions on this new $170.00 monstrosity.
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Why Wii Fail: Two Years Later, the Nintendo Wii’s Shortcomings Become More Glaring with Age
Over two years into the life span of the hot selling Nintendo Wii console it’s time to take a step back and evaluate some of the console’s most frustrating shortcomings and how this cash cow of a machine could have been so much more. Personally, I had my Wii in hand the day it came out and was instantly thrilled. Nowadays, I still look at the cute little white box lovingly, but find myself continuously baffled by the shortsightedness of Nintendo in execution and curse it on a regular basis for a number of reasons.
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Just Buy It
I love downloadable content, think it’s a great idea. For just a few bucks, you can get additional levels and goodies for your games, extending their life and your enjoyment. Even better, you can snag some pretty cool, original games that often times are more fun than their more expensive disc-based counterparts. Or buy classic games you enjoyed (or missed) in your gaming youth and give them another go. What I don’t like is gambling, and that is far too often what buying DLC turns out to be.
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World of Goo: A Blast of Fun for Wii
I’ve made two game purchases this weekend and I’m actually surprised by the one that’s gotten more hours. While I do plan to get to a Gears of War 2 review later on –especially after standing in the rain Thursday night for it— I want to reflect on an unexpected new game that I picked up for Wii called World of Goo, that’s actually been around for a while but finally makes its way to a console.
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