Wii Rally

Any of you regular Rally readers may have noticed that I’ve had a little bit of hate on for Ubisoft lately and it would appear that I have been completely justified in my feelings.

IGN has picked up on a story from German news magazine Spiegel who recently interviewed Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot and European head Alain Corre. In the interview the pair admit that they wanted to capitalise on the Wiis popularity and therefore rushed the development of several titles. They also admitted “We made some mistakes”, How big of them.

This doesn’t surprise me in the least. Ubisoft Wii games average about a 57% on gamerankings.com . Having played most of Ubi’s Wii offerings myself I tend to agree, yes mistakes were made. Let’s hope that the lesson learned is that people want unique games and not just shoveled ports with wiggle controls.

Ubisoft I accept your apology on the condition that you smarten up and release something worthwhile. I wouldn’t hold my breath however, remember these are the same guys that effectively ruined FarCry as a game and then sold the rights for a film to Uwe Boll. Mistakes indeed.

Source: Spiegel via Kotaku and IGN

I’m hearing that it’s still not that easy to procure one of the little white consoles. A source of mine from Wal-Mart tells me that his store got some 18 Wiis last Friday and to no ones surprise (including my own) they were all gone by lunch on Saturday.

Reggie says that Wii console production is up, so why are there still so many out there who are Wii-less? Just like the number of licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie-Pop, we may never know. Those of you out there in Rally-land who still find themselves using a remote to simply switch TV channels can take to heart that you aren’t missing much.

With Mario Party 8 launching this week the only game really worth getting excited about is RE4: Wii Edition which drops on June 19th. You can’t even really get that excited for it seeing as how the game was released back in 2005. Nope not much to look forward to at all, unless you’re in to cartoony soccer.

Things will get better though, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption hits store shelves on August 20th. Just sit tight and it will all be worth the wait.

I know I know it’s a day late but Monday was a holiday for those crazy guys in the states so let’s give them a break.

Anyhoo, 3 more goodies for the Wii Shop channel today, including one of my personal favorite SNES titles ActRaiser.

Now sure a lot of people like ActRaiser and they should it’s a great game. I can talk ad nauseum about the religious commentary and genre bending gameplay which combines side-scrolling action with god-like simulation but you’ve heard all that before. What does it for me with ActRaiser is the sprite work and overall art direction of the game, totally top notch.

Oh how I long for the carefree days of the 16-bit era where you didn’t need fancy dancy “core-processors” to make a game look good. Twas a simpler time, when game marketing was incredibly cheesy and people didn’t play videogames they played “Nintendo”.

ActRaiser (SNES, 800 Wii Points)
Kid Chameleon (Genesis, 800 Wii Points)
J.J. & JEFF (TG-16, 600 Wii Points)

The folks at Nintendo are being slackers today and not posting the new Virtual Console games. What are they hiding……I wonder?

Anyway, for now I’ll tell you about new games that are being released this week for the Wii.
There’s a bloody fighter, a board game and a digital pet political sim.

This weeks biggest release is Nintendo’s Mario Party 8. This is the first time the hootenanny has been held on the Wii.
Quick tip: Don’t play this one alone. What? you’re gonna sit there and tell me that a dude dancing solo at a party doesn’t look foolish?

Also releasing this week is Tamagotchi Party On! Party On has a similar vibe to Mario Party and seems to be geared for a younger audience. I have to ask the question “Wouldn’t young kids be too young to remember the Tamagotchi craze of the mid nineties? Bahhh I’m sure it’s still fun.

Finally his week we have another “wii-make” of a game that really wasn’t that significant to begin with. But if you like violence and mediocre fighting than you could pick up Mortal Kombat: Armageddon.

Wii games to be released this week
Mortal Kombat: Armageddon May 29th
Tamagotchi: Party On! May 29th
Mario Party 8 May 29th

Hey all it’s wrap up time.

Some of you who happen to read other 451 press blogs may have noticed that our friends at 1pstart have left the network. From what I have heard BB, Kezins and Mazz have moved on to bigger and better things and Wii Rally wishes them all the best in the future. What this means for you Wii gamers out there is that Wii Rally is now the only place on the 451 network where you can wet your Wii whistle.

I’ve been incredibly busy working on a fighting game called 300: Blood and Glory for PC and we are looking at a June 25th completion date. My point is that working on a game and writing an unrelated blog can be tough but I’m not going anywhere and I will try my best to bring you interesting stories everyday.

Now on to the wrap!

Monday
Out of Commission
NA VC Update 05/21/07

Tuesday
Wii Summer Releases

Wednesday
“Turn Up the Rock Turn Down the Suck!�

Thursday
Video Thurday: ????? Edition
Reggie Re-confirms Big Titles for ‘07

Feature Friday
Web-slinging Never Looked So Bad

“Twip, twip, twip”

OK I’m going to say this right off the bat. Vicarious Vision’s “Alchemy” engine is normally used for less detailed environments most commonly found on handheld platforms like the PSP and NDS. That being said why VV decided to use it for this game is really beyond me. Everything that is done “in-engine” looks absolutely retched. Models have incorrect geometry and textures look like they were done by a High School student instead of a reputable developer. I will say that the pre-rendered CG cut scenes look really good.

Now that I have that off my chest I can talk about how this game is fun. This is the first (movie-based) Spider-man game for the Nintendo Wii. The controls are implemented well and the combat is reminiscent of Twilight Princess. Once you get the hang of the combo system you should be able to take out large groups of baddies in no time with or without the use of a certain black suit. Web-slinging is done by pressing the left or right triggers (Z and B respectively) and flicking your wrist in the direction you would like to shoot your web. It’s all very intuitive and is very fun since you actually feel and look like you’re web-slinging around the city.

Enough about the controls lets talk story. For a game based on a movie with almost no story I was surprised to find even less here. They throw a couple of extra villains like the Lizard and Morbius in there but with a complete lack of any reason whatsoever. The villains are present just for the sake of being present. Even the scenes right from the movie were altered for no reason. No Harry or Venom death here folks they simply disappear and are never mentioned again.

Even with the extra villains this game tops out at about 6 hours to complete the main story, I was even playing on “Super-Hero” difficulty and came in under the 6 hour mark with 51% completion. Sure I can go back and defeat all the gangs that populate NYC but since they all have the same 3 enemies I think the cops can handel it.

If you love Spider-man give this one a rent. If you hate Spider-man you’re just not very nice. If you bought this title than you obviously didn’t learn anything from shelling out 11.75$ for that movie ticket opening day.

P.S.
Thanks to Brad who bought this game and was kind enough to lend it to me so I could save all of you the trouble of making the same mistake.

It’s been months since I’ve heard anything about Nintendo’s other big titles but fears were put to rest at a recent Nintendo press event.

Every-one’s favorite corporate president Reggie Fils-Amie said that gamers will see Super Smash Brothers: Brawl, Super Mario: Galaxy and the highly anticipated DS title Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass in 2007.

To be honest once I saw that Metroid Prime 3: Corruption was to be released in August I figured it was safe to assume that the two other big Wii titles were going to be released just in time for Christmas. It is nice to hear it from the “horse’s mouth” though. Maybe now I can get some sleep at night.

Source: GameSpot

No more Rabbids, nuff said!

The time has come my friends, the time has come to…….. ROCK!

Guitar Hero 3 details were announced today and as expected all platforms will get to take the stage this time, including the Wii.

“…fresh downloadable content will be offered on multiple platforms”

The press release doesn’t give any specific details on which platforms will have access to DLC but The Wii Shop Channel has tonnes of room. Especially if they release the songs in blocks like GH2 on Xbox360.

Activision also announced an initial list of songs which you and your friends can rock out with or against in the all new “Battle Mode”.

• Paint It Black (by The Rolling Stones)
• Cherub Rock (by Smashing Pumpkins)
• Sabotage (by Beastie Boys)
• The Metal (by Tenacious D)
• My Name is Jonas (by Weezer)
• Knights of Cydonia (by Muse)
• Rock And Roll All Nite (as made famous by Kiss)
• School’s Out (as made famous by Alice Cooper)
• Slow Ride (as made famous by Fog Hat)
• Cult of Personality (by Living Colour)
• Barracuda (as made famous by Heart)

The game is also to feature “Expanded online multiplayer game modes” and Wireless controllers for all platforms. Not sure if we will see anything massive in the online multiplayer department on the the Wii but we shall see.

via GamesPress
Picture: Tenacious D

Nintendo released their list of titles that are to be released for the Wii this summer.

Hard Dates
July 30 Mario Strikers Charged/Nintendo
Aug. 14 High School Musical: Sing It!/Disney Interactive Studios
Aug. 14 Madden NFL ‘08/EA
Aug. 20 Metroid Prime 3 Corruption/Nintendo

August
Tiger Woods PGA Tour ‘08/EA
Space Station Tycoon/Namco Bandai
Brunswick Pro Bowling/Crave
Dave Mirra BMX Challenge/Crave
Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection/Crave

September
Battalion Wars 2/Nintendo
Brothers in Arms/Ubisoft
Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal/Warner Bros.
George of the Jungle/Crave

Fall
Boogie/EA

You may notice a couple of things about this list. First of all Mario Strikers: Charged drops on July 30th which should give everyone in North America a taste of what online play on the Wii will be like. Another highly anticipated game is on this list, Metroid Prime: Corruption is slated for release on August 20th. Will it have online play like it’s DS counterpart? That remains to be seen but here’s hoping. One mare thing to notice about this list is a complete lack of games being released in June/July does that not count as summer? No drought indeed.

Tis the week of the sequel, two to be exact. Also a little middle finger action at Microsoft.

This weeks biggest release is Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest. Now whats interesting about this title is that aside from the odd reference to Nintendo’s Donkey Kong this is pretty much developer Rare’s baby. Yes Nintendo owns the rights to DK but Diddy Kong his cart-wheeling chimp sidekick was created by Rare. Which as we know is a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft.

Rare has a long standing relationship with big N but in reality they are owned by the competition. Now this gives a slight glimmer of hope that we may one day see Goldeneye 64 or Perfect Dark (the good one) on the virtual console.

Also in the sequel department is Streets of Rage 2 for the Genesis, and rounding out the list is another spaced based scrolling shooter for the TG-16 called Blazing Lazers. Jeez! How much space combat does one console need?

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest (SNES, 800 Wii Points)
Streets of Rage 2 (Genesis, 800 Wii Points)
Blazing Lazers (TG-16, 600 Wii Points)

I would also like to extend some holiday wishes to my Canadian brethren. HAPPY VICTORIA DAY! Remember that it was Queen Victory who chose Ottawa as our nation’s capital all those many years ago. So what better way to celebrate than by shooting Roman Candles at your friends. Just kidding kids, fireworks are dangerous and should not be used improperly or by those not old enough to use them properly.

So there I am walking down the street minding my own business when Mr. Head Cold steps in front of me and punches me in the face. A couple bed ridden days later and I’m getting over it but I finally have enough energy to clack da keys of me keyboard.

It’s amazing that working on a computer requires little to no physical activity but when you are sick you dread even switching on the power button. My friends all thought that something had happened to me since I hadn’t been online. Perhaps even a few of you out there in Rally land were concerned. Never fear I have returned and I have some new reviews for you all. So keep that RSS reader locked on the Rally.

Hello everyone I have an announcement; it’s almost “Party Time!” and by that I mean Mario Party time. Yes the long awaited release date is fast approaching but does Nintendo have any surprises in store?

Gamers first learned about Mario Party 8 for the Nintendo Wii when it was announced officially at a Nintendo press conference way back in September 2006, long before many of us had even laid hands upon a Wii.

Fast forward to March 2007. The long wait for mini-game goodness is almost over. Mario Party 8 is slated for a March 5th release and all seems to be going well. Then a day before the game was supposed to be on store shelves, Nintendo announced a delay the new release date? “Q2 2007″ I love it when they get specific.

Which brings us to the present. As of right now Mario Party does have a release date which is listed by GamePress, GameSpot and Nintendo as May 29th 2007. Will we see Mario and his game playing ilk on the Wii that day? I remain skeptical but if the “party” goes off without a hitch then I will be left wondering why was there a “delay” in the first place.

Or

It will be my party (or lack thereof) and I’ll cry if I want to. You would cry too if you had to play TMNT just for something to do.

Mario Party 8 releases in

North America on May 29th 2007
Europe on June 22nd 2007
Japan on TBA

A ninja vs. ninja fight would be entertaining but a ninja vs. Pac-Man fight would be down right hilarious. Speaking of match ups what about a game where a ninja teams up with a pirate to fight off hoards of skateboarding zombies? Now that’s a game I’d wait in line for. Anybody out there listening? Nintendo? EA? Activision? UbiSoft?

Ninja Gaiden (NES, 500 Wii Points)

Pac-Man (NES, 500 Wii Points)

Alright my connection problems seem to be at an end but who knows what the future holds. I’m moving in less than two months so things could get broken again. Anyway had a lovely weekend myself played lots of Magic: The Gathering and spent some quality time with friends whom I hadn’t seen in awhile. I also managed to procure a copy of Spider Man 3 (Thanks Brad) which I will be reviewing shortly. So far Brad’s assessment of it being “fun” is holding up but I still maintain that it looks like absolute ass; why does Spider Man 3 look good while Spidy 3 suffers from basic flaws. Different developer? Yes I think so. On to the wrap!

Monday
NA VC Update 05/07/07

Tuesday
Drought? What Drought?

Wednesday
Rumour: Face the Evil With a Friend

Thursday
Video Thursday: RE4 Edition

Friday
Q and A With Nintendo’s Big Cheese.