I've Never Liked Your SpinachPuffs

Well Hi There!

2009-07-16T16:17:00.005+01:00

If you've come looking for some Nintendo news, I'm afraid you're not going to find any here - I've Never Liked Your SpinachPuffs is now on (almost definite) permanent hiatus. You can still see what Paul gets up to around the web though - try these for a start:

Twitter: http://twitter.com/SpinachPuffs
Dailybooth: http://dailybooth.com/SpinachPuffs

My YouTube channel, where I video-blog and perform songs:
http://www.youtube.com/songsfrompaul

In the meantime, why not check out some of the other Nintendo blogs I like to read - the links are at the top of the sidebar!

The Time Has Come...

2009-07-16T16:04:00.003+01:00

The long-expected - yet still obligatory - farwell speech

It's been a while since I posted my "I'm going on holiday now" post but since then I've been well and truly home and things have been happening that I never expected to happen. I've spoken in the recent past about my new video blog and the songs that I've been performing on there. Well, it seems that people like them - much to my suprise - and it's kept me pretty pre-occupied. Things really kicked off last Saturday when I posted a song about how I Don't Like Harry Potter.

This garnered a lot of attention amongst the nerdfighter community of which I am a part of and has led to a number of "high profile" nerdfighters tweeting/recommending me to their subscribers. In the past seven weeks (ish) I've gone from a handful to almost 70 YouTube subscribers which is about 60 more than I ever expected to gain (I owe a lot of this to a number of brilliant people, chief among them Karen Kavett, Alan Lastufka and Dr Noise).

So yeah - things are all well and good in my vlogging world but here in gaming blog land the dust is starting to gather. And - as much as I regret to say it - the time has come to draw a line and call it a day. Bottom line: gaming just doesn't interest me like it used to. Sure, I still browse the internet, buy magazines and read blogs but when it comes to keeping my own blog, it's feeling like a chore rather than a hobby. And it's at this point I promised myself that I'd stop, so stop I will.

Thankyou all so very much for reading/commenting/discussing here at SpinachPuffs - it's been a great almost-a-year and I'm still very glad that I started up this site. I hope you enjoy the rest of the gaming year (Wii Sports Resort and Scribblenauts are top of my must-have list) and the months to come after it.

I'll be leaving one last blog post as a form of "this is what I'm doing now, feel free to browse the archives etc" type of article but in terms of new content, this is where the road ends.

Thanks once again to all - you guys are awesome.
Paul T =)

I'm On the Road Again...

2009-06-18T22:10:00.003+01:00

I've got to drive around the country this weekend to (among other things) pick up my older sister from University. I'm then planning a five-day vlogathon for my video blog (I'm just posting a video every weekday for a week, but I want it to sound more exciting) which will eat up a lot of my time - particularly in the early part of the week (making music videos and recording the actual track takes a lot of time). After that, I'm off to the Isle of Skye for a week's holiday with the family. Hopefully we'll have lots of sun (but no sand - it seems Skye, despite being an island, has no decent public beaches) and thoroughly enjoy ourselves =)

So... I guess what I'm trying to say is don't be surprised if this site remains near-dead for the next fortnight. At least I'll have a vaguely valid reason for my lack of posting this time around XD

Have a great weekend/week/fortnight everyone!

I Think I've Cracked It!

2009-06-17T15:53:00.001+01:00

This should be the final design now. One or two things (such as the banner and a few fonts in the sidebar) need to be fixed but other than that I think we're sorted. The new look has all the benefits I mentioned in the last post but is now a lot more colourful and is easier to browse through quickly (starts and ends of posts are obvious etc). I need to try and set the sidebar to left-aligned rather than the right-aligned it is now, which hopefully won't cause me to break the HTML code again, but overall I really like the new look and I hope you do too!

Redesign Explanation

2009-06-17T11:56:00.003+01:00

Because I didn't really do a good job of explaining it...

This is the third time that the blog has undergone a change-of-face, but this time things are quite a lot different. First off, as I'm sure you have noticed, the article section fills-up more of the screen than before. This should avoid previous problems, such as widescreen YouTube videos over-spilling into the sidebar, as well as allowing for higher-resolution images. Welcome to the 21st Century!

If you "Restore Down" (un-maximise) your browser window, you may also notice that the width of the main-section will adapt to the size of your window (at least, it does in my Firefox and Internet Explorer windows). The wider screen also allows for a wider banner (though I'm still ironing out a few browser-dependant kinks in that feature, so let's steer conversation away from it).

I do realise that the page looks a little plain, bare and generally less inviting than before and hopefully I can find a way to make it a little more appealing. I have pondered - and I'd like your opinions on this in comments - reversing the colour scheme so that the majority of the page was black and the text and borders were white. I may try it out later today so if you see the blog in such a state, that's probably just me experimenting for the time being. Don't forget to cast your vote in the poll - you've got plenty of time to make up your mind though.

Video Game OST's

2009-06-16T13:47:00.004+01:00

The time is right, Nintendo. Do it.

The Nintendo of Europe website posted a story yesterday that offered an exciting opportunity to vote for your favourite K.K. Slider songs to appear on the official Animal Crossing: City Folk soundtrack. "Yes!" I exclaimed. "Nintendo have finally seen fit to release a K.K. CD outside of Japan!" I happily read the rest of the article until I came across this piece of text: "The soundtrack will be available in the Stars Catalogue this Autumn." Darn. I don't have many star points and I highly doubt I will be able to raise the 3000+ I would need for a soundtrack.

Why does Nintendo do this? I'm sure there is plenty of demand for an Animal Crossing soundtrack. I mean, we see films that no one cares about get soundtracks every month, so why can't million-selling game franchises get the same treatment? The same thing happened with Super Mario Galaxy - I would happily pay for a copy of that CD but Nintendo won't release it on the high streets. Why, Nintendo, why?! I realise that putting the CDs out for sale will make one of the more-exclusive forms of Stars Catalogue items less-enticing to Nintendo Club members but what about the hundreds (or possibly thousands) who don't have the points to claim such a prize?

It doesn't stop with Mario and Animal Crossing either. I would love a Zelda or a Metroid compilation album and an F-Zero soundtrack would be totally awesome (and great for Audiosurf!). Nintendo has raised the bar in the world of video game soundtracks with every console they release - from the still-brilliant 8-bit tunes of Super Mario Bros right through to the orchestrated majesty of Super Mario Galaxy - so why are we yet to see separate releases of these amazing musical pieces in the West? The demand and resources are there, Nintendo - you just need to give it the green light.

Would you like to see video game music released as purchasable albums? Which game soundtracks do you think could benefit from such an initiative? Let us know in comments!

Polls and Redesign

2009-06-16T13:31:00.003+01:00

Time for some poll results!

After Nintendo finished up their big show, I asked you what you thought of it. Here are the results:

As you can see, things were pretty balanced between the positive and mixed receptions. One reader thought it was "pretty terrible." Sorry you felt that way. (see, I'm passed my rantings now)

The rest of the month has a really boring poll, but an important one:

What did you think of the new blog design?

I like it
I don't like it
It's broken in my browser
I don't care

If you have anything to add - especially in the way that it appears "broken" in your browser - please leave them in comments!

Maintenance Time!

2009-06-16T13:21:00.001+01:00

I've got a load of free time to kill, so I thought I'd do a massive overhaul of the look of the site. This should hopefully weed out a few of the bugs I created after messing with the HTML and offer a potentially refresh in my interest for the site. Here's hoping!

Playing Catch-Up

2009-06-15T21:23:00.004+01:00

Alternative title: All the Things I Could of Talked About in My Previous Post But I Was Too Emotional to Think Straight

I've been gone a while, but here's what's been on my mind whilst I've been away:

Scribblenauts = Game of the Year
Unless you've been living under a rock for the past few weeks (or you are one of the more brainless varieties of "hardcore gamer" who believes that no game with a colour palette other than brown, muddy brown, darkish brown and red can be considered Game of the Year material), you've probably been excited for Scribblenauts and wishing that its projected release date of September would come around already. Well, me too.

Any game that allows you to spawn one of thousands of objects (practically any safe-for-the-kids noun you can think of, bar copyrighted material) and interact with it is great. A game that allows the objects to interact and combine into any scenario you can think of is brilliant. But when this game is running on a (relatively-speaking) underpowered handheld console with a storage capacity smaller than your £5 SD card - that, my friend, is innovation worthy of a Game of the Year accolade. Throw in a charming art style and a scope of gameplay limited only by your imagination (plus 100 levels and a level creator - when will this game stop being awesome?!) and you have what should be a history-making title. This isn't any old game - we're seeing the birth of a whole new genre of puzzle game here, one that will no doubt spawn many imitators. The tired cliché "big things come in small packages" has never seemed more apt.

Wii Motion Plus Pricing
Motion Plus is now available to the world and it seems that the general reception is extremely positive. I do, however, have one complaint to make about the price. It's not a "why do we have to pay for something we should have got from the start" type of complaint. Rather, it's a localisation complaint. In the United States, a Motion Plus device costs $20. Here in the UK, a device costs £25 rrp - over $40. Most stores are selling it at around £20, but that's still 60% more expensive than in the US. I can accept higher software prices (localisation doesn't happen for free), but twice the price?! That's totally unfair.

Awesome Downloads, But No Points
WiiWare, DSiWare and the Virtual Console have been producing some real gems lately but I have neither the money nor the points to get any of them! It's so irritating! There's Majora's Mask (not that I've finished Ocarina yet - I'm still stuck in the Shadow Temple), Smash Bros, Bit Trip Beat, PicoPict, Icarian: Kindred Spirits (from this Friday) and countless more that I cannot afford to purchase.

That's about it. I think...

Rants, News, Songs and the Future

2009-06-15T13:19:00.004+01:00

I've been blogging for well over 9 months now but I've never really posted a "rant". Today, your luck has run out. If you'd rather not read a very negative rant, skip down to the paragraph that reads "End of rant" for more-positive news and me talking about the future of this site. Sorry it's such a massive block of text! - Paul =)

Howdy readers. I've been gone a while. Well, not gone as in "away from an internet connection" gone, or even in a "I have no time to run a blog right now" kind of gone. I'm just feeling very confused and uncertain on whether I want to keep this site going. Part of me realises that I have only a fraction of the interest in gaming that I once had: sure, I still love playing video games and they still eat up around 85% of my finances but I'm totally bored, fed up and exhausted from the flame wars, bitching and the general hate that seems to clog every nook and cranny of the industry. I'm tired of people complaining about things we don't even deserve to get (the backlash to Super Mario Galaxy 2, although comparatively minor to that of, say, Left 4 Dead 2, had to be the most stupid thing I have witnessed all year); I'm sick of the noise of hypocritical "hardcore gamers" who insult the Wii for its "childish" motion technology but then claim that their system's new motion technology is a veritable "Wii killer" (glowing ping pong balls on sticks, Sony? Really?!); I'm frustrated with a community of people who will choose Generic FPS 15 over a game that thinks outside the box and shows true innovation (though I will give a hand to those who have shown such love for Scribblenauts this E3). In short, I'm fed up with gaming.

This year's E3 was amazing - all three consoles had some strong titles supporting them and the DS had some great things on show too (including the aforementioned Scribblenauts which I am completely crazy for). So why, then, must we fight and bicker over who had the best show and who has "won the year?" Can't we all just let bygones be bygones and, you know, actually enjoy the games we play?

The last straw for me was Microsoft's Project Natal. It wasn't that I was incensed by the product or the blatant over-hyping of the advertising video (if Project Natal really lets me play a skateboarding game smoothly by playing-pretend in my lounge, I will rush down to my nearest Game and purchase a 360 immediately) - it was the immediate bickering that followed its announcement. "This totally pwns the Wii", "Natal sucks - you can't play shooting games on it" (FPS games are - after all - the only real video games), "Natal is going to kill gaming dead. Nintendo stuck the first attack and now Sony and Microsoft are following too" (that last one is an actual quote from the comments of the official YouTube video - it seems that gamers really do hate physical excersise). When I first saw Natal my first impression was one of happiness - I was genuinely happy to see Microsoft take a fresh look at controlling games: taking what Nintendo had done with promoting physical movement in gaming and what Sony had done with the EyeToy and turning it into something to propel gaming into a potentially unexplored area of control. The second was one of skepticism: can it really pick up such tiny movements of the body? How relaible is the technology? (If playing WarioWare: Snapped is anything to go by, setting up camera-controlled games can be a nightmare) Is it going to cost the Earth to purchase?

As for Sony's controller... well, let's just say I'm less than impressed with the route they chose. It seems to me that they took a Wii remote with Wii Motion Plus and said to one another "We've got to recreate the product seen here without actually using the parts inside it. That way, no-one can say we copied Nintendo!". Hence, we have a stick in each hand with glowing lights on top that are tracked by a camera, producing the same feedback that a Motion Plus-enhanced Wii remote gives us, only better. Because obviously anything with the prefix "PlayStation" is automatically better-looking, faster and more precise than its rivals. Even if it is more responsive, I can't see the benefit in making it so - Wii developers have already commented on the fact that the Motion Plus attachment is actually too sensitive to be used directly for gameplay. The feedback from the controller is toned down before being used in-game.

(Yes, I do realise the hypocrisy in complaining that gamers bitch about the other side too much and then going on a paragraph-long rant about how Sony copied the Wii remote. I guess this thing is infectious.)

End of rant. Rant-skippers, start here!

I'm glad to get that off my chest. Now I can actually talk about something that isn't totally depressing. I've not been lying about all day while I've been away from the site - I've been getting my vlog (vlog = video blog, for those that don't know the lingo) up-and-running on YouTube and I've been astounded by the response it's got already. I'm a member of a community known as "Nerdfighters" (as in, nerds who fight for the advancement of nerdy things, rather than people who beat up the top maths students) which was started by two brothers who video-blogged to each other for the entirety of 2007 across YouTube, forsaking all forms of text-based communication. The viewers of the video blog became known as "nerdfighters" (named after a misreading of the side of an arcade machine which had a very peculiar font). A love for Nintendo is something that runs quite strongly through a large percentage of nerdfighters, with other common obsessions being Star Trek, Harry Potter and Pokemon.

But I'm swerving way off-topic here - back to the story. I started my vlog last week and I've already picked up a handful of subscribers thanks to some free (and totally unexpected) advertising from other vloggers that I watch on YouTube. On Friday, I posted one of my songs (the ones I'm always tweeting about) onto YouTube and embedded it in a blog post on the Nerdfighters Ning. This blog post ended up getting featured by one of the administrators (who we affectionately call "Ningmasters") and it's racked up more than 600 views at this point. Now that may not sound like a lot in the grand scheme of YouTube, but considering I wasn't expecting any of my videos to get past the 100 mark until well into my second month of vlogging, I've been extremely happy to see my work being received so positively. I've never really considered songwriting or singing to be my fortés, but it seems that I am doing something right.

I guess the reason that I'm telling you this is to explain why I'm struggling with deciding whether to keep this blog up. Yes, the industry is really pissing me off right now but part of me wants to stay and "fight the good fight", as it were. But I'm also feeling a lot of responsibility to keep my vlog going at full steam and I'm not sure if I can balance the two once summer ends. I guess I'll sit on the problem for now and make a final judgement nearer the time. Whatever happens, I think this site has definitely shrugged off the "wannabe" attitude that was leaving a bad taste in my mouth last time I had a little personal rant, so maybe I will keep it going. I guess I'll leave it as undecided for now.

I will do my best to get round to cleaning-up that E3 post like I promised. I would also appreciate feedback on how the blog layout is working out for people. I think I messed up the HTML code whilst I was trying to widen the main column to fit widescreen YouTube embeds in the E3 post. If the site looks wrong to you, please let me know so I can put it right again. Catch you soon!

SpinachPuffs - King of Audiosurf

2009-06-07T16:41:00.005+01:00

Sorry that the last E3 post is yet to be spruced-up - the holidays have started for me (thanks to graduating from school) so procrastination has set in...

I absolutely adore Audiosurf - I bought it for a fiver about a month ago and hardly a day has gone by without me playing it for at least half-an-hour. As you may know, Dragonforce's "Through the Fire and the Flames" has been one of the top ten most-played songs every week since the game's release and is considered one of the hardest songs to play in the game. Well, guess who just topped the UK leaderboard for the very same track?

No way! It's little old me!

Not wanting to sound like I'm bragging, but that wasn't even a very good run - I didn't even get the Clear Finish bonus (finishing the level with your grid free of blocks). I guess the rest of the country just isn't that great at Audiosurf...

As a side note, if you own Audiosurf and would like to become my "friend" (so we can compare scores and see what each other are playing), feel free to add me - my username is simply "SpinachPuffs".

Now that it's holidays I should be able to post semi-regularly again - I think I might give video content a rest for a bit though, as I'm hoping to start my vlog (video blog) in a few days time. Enjoy the rest of the weekend folks!

E3 - The Aftermath

2009-06-02T18:15:00.006+01:00

I said I wouldn't, but I am. That seems to be happening a lot today...

This post is in a temporary state of ugliness - as more pictures and videos become available throughout the night, I shall tidy this post up and make it more beautiful. I just had to get my thoughts down in writing before I exploded from happiness. Also, I promised my brother I'd play Brawl with him ten minutes ago...

I was totally spamming my Twitter account with E3 updates, but I thought I'd list my highlights from Nintendo's keynote. Enjoy!

Metroid: Other M - Like all good recaps, let's start at the end. Nintendo sent us out with a bg surprise, just like they did in the good old days. This surprise was none other than a new Metroid game! But in third-person! With full 3D movement! And - so it seems - Samus speaking lines of dialogue! My head almost exploded and I kept speaking in exclamations!

New Super Mario Bros Wii - We already knew about this one yesterday but it was still a big surprise. With NSMB Wii, you can play with up-to-four players on single player maps. It's your choice whether to go for all the coins yourself and hinder your friends or work together to get through the level. We saw two new characters - two Toadstools in yellow and blue clothing - who will accompany Mario and Luigi in the multiplayer mode, as well as a new power-up: the Propeller Suit which allows your character to fly. The game is out before Christmas and it is already a must-buy for me!

Super Mario Galaxy 2 - If that wasn't enough, we also got to see a video of Super Mario Galaxy 2: a sequel to the best game on Wii! There's new levels, music and (wait for it...) you get to ride Yoshi!!! The music was slightly-new too (it felt familiar but it wasn't from the first game - sounded like a re-do of the original theme). No release date for this yet, except a rough 2010 date.

Wii Fit Plus - The inevitable announcement of the Wii Fit sequel also came and - to be honest - I was a little underwhelmed. Not because it's a "casual" game (on the contrary - if finance permits I may get this game) but because there really didn't seem to be much that stood apart from the original. Yes, there are 15 new balance games (one of which - if I translated Cammie's hinting correctly - is a Mario platformer) and you can make a "custom workout" - a feature I was sure was in the original, or at least should have been - but try comparing it to Wii Sports Resort and you feel a little disappointed. But, as the old saying goes, give the people what they want and they shall be happy (okay, so I probably made that saying up but it is 100% true).

Wii Sports Resort - Speaking of which, we also got to hear what is presumably the final list of sports in Wii Sports Resort. Archery, basketball, jet-ski, table tennis, golf, frisbee and a parachute jump (which acts as a "look what you can do now!" tutorial) will be included in the package and you know what? I actually cannot wait for this game now! Archery looks incredible and really proves how WM+ is set to make games not only more involving but harder too. Basketball looks fairly simple (basically a penalty shoot-out from different sides of the net) but equally as brilliantly-designed. If you feared that WSR would become the new Wii Play (great free controller but questionable disc content) you can breathe a sigh of relief - Wii Sports Resort kicks serious behind.

Some other games that didn't quite warrant a full paragraph all-to-themselves:

Flipnote Studio - The new name for Moving Memo Pad, coming this summer! It sounds as if the YouTube-like sharing website is still being retained as well, which is awesome.
Kingdom Hearts - I went and missed this one because I had to move away from the laptop. It sounds as if it was very exciting though and a US date was announced (Sept 29th).
C.O.P.: The Recruit - Interesting one, this. It looks like a GTA clone, only it's on the DS and has a full-3D environment with an over-the-shoulder camera. Graphically, it looks pretty darn nice and is one to keep an eye on.
Mario vs Donkey Kong 3 - Yet another new title for the plumber. It looks more-or-less the same as the second one, only this time it is available over DSiWare from next week! Level sharing can be done face-to-face or across the internet.
WarioWare DIY - Formerly known as Made in Ore, we finally heard confirmation of a localisation of the new microgame collection with a difference.
Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story - The localisation of Mario and Luigi 3 is due out in Autumn and has an amusing new subtitle. Hurray for humour!
Wii Vitality Sensor - Finally, the oddball of the keynote. Iwata came onstage to explain the Vitality Sensor to us: essentially, it measures your pulse and - from these readings - can interpret how you are feeling. At least, I think that's how it works... it was all rather surreal. No mention of software support or even how this device would or could be used. If I know Nintendo, though, it will probably be in a way we'd never expect!

We also heard mention of Spirit Tracks (which is playable at the event), The Conduit, Red Steel 2, Dead Space Extraction and Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles, but very little new things were shown, aside from a new trailer for most of them (which didn't include Spirit Tracks...).

Here are a few stand-out quotes:
"On video, you can do almost anything" - Reggie talking about the trailer they showed for Motion Plus before moving on to an actual on-stage demo. What he was really saying, though, was "Project Natal - we'll believe it when we play it".

Cammie, on the other hand, had a little message for Sony: "Wii Fit has become so succesful, we have actually started to view the Balance Board like a new platform, seeing as it has sold nearly as much as other home consoles." (Paraphrased - sorry, I didn't jot down the actual quote).

"It's like Brain Age for your backside!" No, Cammie, that's Ass Age.

"I think it's clear that DS equals diversity." In which case, the PSP must equal Susan Boyle! (In fact, the more I think about it, the more it makes sense - everyone thought the PSP would thrash the DS, but the DS soldiered on to win our-right.)

Overall, I would say that Nintendo put on a jolly good show and it is clear that they have learned from their mistakes last year. We saw a good balance between hardcore-pleasing titles and casual-orientated announcements (there were a few I didn't even bother mentioning here because they were rather forgettable - a fashion designer game and an interactive murder-mystery novel aimed at women being stand-outs), new Metroid and Mario games and relatively little talk of sales, superiority or smiles. Instead, this year was all about surprise and I think Nintendo really pulled it out of the bag (in fact, I now feel a little ashamed for taking part in NSMB Wii's premature unveiling).

If there's anything to complain about, I would say that we had very little from the Big N in the way of new IP's and a lot from a certain plumber. Not to say that four Mario games in one conference is a bad thing (wow - were there really four?!). And what happened to Sin and Punishment 2? Why have it playable and then not talk about it? Nintendo is weird sometimes...

But, all-in-all, I have nothing but praise and adoration for Nintendo tonight - they did an amazing job at handling the pressure of living up to expectation and completely erased any worries of a repeat of last year right off the bat. If anything is certain, we can be sure that Nintendo are going to keep the pot boiling to ensure that 2009 is the Year of Nintendo, because I tell you what - they're well on their way to taking that title.

What were your thoughts on Nintendo's keynote? Leave them in comments or send them to smash_it_with_a_hammer@hotmail.com

Even More Pre-E3 Stuff

2009-06-02T10:45:00.009+01:00

I promised myself I wouldn't do any more, but this is too exciting to pass up!

Nintendo's E3 booth has been under heavy guard for the past day, but some sneaky snaps have been taken that suggest a reveal of enormous proportions. Let's take a look at what Nintendo have set up...

It's Sin and Punishment 2!

Looks like we'll be getting some hands-on impressions of Treasure's shooter. We haven't heard much (read: anything) about this game since its reveal back in October and I would have put this down as a returning focus of this year's Fall Conference at most, but it looks like Nintendo is going to spoil us tonight with some S&P2 footage and gameplay. But wait there's more...

Let's look behind curtains 1 and 2...

You might need to click through to the enlarged view

Do you see what I see?

That has got to be Super Mario Bros Wii (or words to that effect). I'll eat my stuffed goomba if it isn't! This has got me immensely excited for the conference (only 6 more hours at time of writing!) and hopefully dispells any fears fans had for a lack of hardcore games at this year's show. I guess the final proof comes in six hours' time...

More E3 Stuff

2009-06-01T10:17:00.005+01:00

This is just a quick note to say that this blog will likely be out-of-action for most of the week. I've got two exams on Wednesday/Thursday, so you won't be hearing my E3 reactions and opinions until Friday (probably in video form).

I hope that you enjoy the next couple of exciting days, no matter what Nintendo show (if Japanese rumours of a new Mario game come true then I will be ecstatic - even though, as I said on Friday, I really don't care if there is nothing to please me from Nintendo this year). Revision schedule permitting, I'm hoping to catch the event live, either via video feed or live text/twitter. I'd keep an eye on the Nintendo of Europe site, who had a lovely video feed last year and then an article for practically every Wii and DS game shown at the conference.

My "ones-to-watch" this year:

1) High Voltage Software - It seems that everything HVS touches turns to hardcore awesomeness and Gladiator AD and The Grinder are both looking very promising (although I am much more excited about the latter, not being particularly keen on fighting games). Keep an eye out for opinions on the (presumably) finished version of The Conduit as well.

2) Rabbids Go Home - I was a little sad to hear that Rayman was not going to make an appearance in Ubisoft's new platformer but these feelings were quickly replaced with intrigue and joy upon seeing the game in action. RGH could well be this winter's biggest hit - I can't remember the last time I was this excited for a third-party platform game!

3) Scribblenauts - I've said it before and I still believe it: by the time it's released, Scribblenauts could be the best game on the DS so far. We can expect some more fuss over the game from the conference: in particular, I expect journalists will be doing their upmost to find out what the game can't understand.

4) You Rock Guitar - Okay, so this one is more of a personal preference rather than saying everyone will want it. But a guitar that works as a MIDI instrument and a Guitar Hero controller? Sounds awesome to me!

5) Nintendo - It sounds rather obvious, but I'll be keeping a close eye on what Nintendo has to offer us. Wii Fit Plus seems to be a definite inclusion (and I would be very surprised if we didn't hear confirmation of the full Wii Sports Resort line-up), but above that we really have no idea what might show up. Even Spirit Tracks is not a complete certainty! I guess we'll just have to wait and see - only 31 more hours!

Have a great week everyone - see you on Friday!

PS - There may be a new banner coming, but I can't promise anything just now. I'm holding off the poll until Nintendo have given their E3 presentaion (can you possibly guess what the question will be?!).

E3 Predictions

2009-05-29T15:51:00.003+01:00

Another Friday, another video

Slowly but surely, I'm getting better at the whole "talking-to-a-camera" thing. In this week's video, I talk about finally getting Blast Works (it's ace!), my predictions for E3 and how I'm feeling about the conference and the pick of today's new releases. Enjoy!

Click on the video twice to visit the YouTube page

Today's Releases:
Wii - Guitar Hero Metallica, Boom Blox Bash Party, PDC World Championship Darts 2009
DS - PDC World Championship Darts 2009, Night at the Museum 2, Wonderland Amusement Park, Imagine Movie Star, Mystery Stories
DSiWare - Art Style: NEMREM (500 pts)
WiiWare - Fish 'Em All! (800 pts)
VC Arcade - Space Harrier (800 pts)

Questions of the week:
What do you think of the new format?
What are you expecting from Nintendo this year?
Are you looking forward to E3?

I should have a post coming this weekend - depends on how compelled I am towards revising and enjoying the sudden burst of good weather we're having... I'll see you when I see you!

A Few House-Keeping Things UPDATE

2009-05-25T19:00:00.004+01:00

A few minor changes - nothing to fret over

I just wanted to keep you up-to-speed on one or two things going on here at SpinachPuffs. None of these are very major, just minor changes to the sidebar:

The RagingGamer link has been removed from "SpinachPuffs' places around the web". I have decided to give up my place at RagingGamer for more-or-less the same reasons I described two posts ago. It has been a pleasure being on the RagingGamer team and I urge you to keep tabs on the site, even though I won't be there. And don't worry SenorTinman, the "Sites of Interest" link will remain!
The GoNintendo link has been changed to link to the new beta site. This is simply because I myself have moved their permanently and this means I can get to the beta much faster (I'm so selfish).
The archives section has been changed to show months instead of weeks - this is simply because the past few months have only had one or two posts per week and having such a long list of weeks with so few posts in was a waste of sidebar space. The monthly version will be much tidier than having up to 52 seperated weeks!

That's all I really had to say... I'm hoping to get a "proper" post up on Wednesday, but it is my Dad's birthday so I can't promise anything. See you next time!

UPDATE: It seems that I cannot link to the beta site for GoNintendo - it reverts to a link to the blogspot page for their podcast. I guess you'll have to click the beta link on the GoNintendo homepage if you want to see my comments... sorry, "story feedback".

You DO love Nintendo, right?

2009-05-23T19:07:00.002+01:00

Something funny for the weekend...

I was registering my brother's DS for him on the NoE website this evening and I was filling in the usual questions from the survey that pops up. One particular question caught my eye:

(click for the full version)

It seems that even smiling, casual-friendly Nintendo wants to make sure that they keep their fans on the right side of the console wars...

The 'Puffs, They Are A-Changin'

2009-05-22T15:52:00.004+01:00

Oh yeah, I'm supposed to run a blog...

First, let me apologise for the second time in a row that there has been no new content for three weeks, my longest drought since SpinachPuffs began (the site, not the person). I'm currently in the middle of exams which means very little time to write up posts. Today is a day-off though, so I've been seeing to some of my neglected duties, including getting a haircut and writing this blogpost.

Being away for so long has made me think long and hard about the future of this site: provided I get the results I want, I'll be heading off to Uni in September where this level of work will become the norm. My worry is that I will have insufficient time to keep this blog going at full pace. As such, I'm warning you in advance that this blog could well go down to a weekly (or close-to-weekly) schedule at the end of the summer.

But it's not just the future that I've been considering - the present state of the blog has been on my mind also. In fact, I'm going to bringing in some pretty major changes around here. First off, Friday Releases are being scrapped - I've gotten pretty tired of trying to hype-up games that I know in my heart are piles of rubbish. I actually did record some material for the previous two Fridays, but I was totally bored throughout filming and even more bored by the finished product. I'm still hoping to keep the weekly video slot going, but I'll be talking about what I want to talk about - less of the endless release lists (I'll probably still list the games out each week as a bullet-point list) and more about sharing my thoughts on the latest news, games and rumours of the week.

As a matter of fact, the whole blog is going to be veering away from what it has been in the past. I don't know if you felt the same way, but I was starting to see my writing as "big-site-wannabe" and I didn't like it one bit. As with the videos, my posts are likely to be about what I want to talk about, rather than what everyone wants to hear. I'll still be sprinkling in some top 10's and reviews, but posts are likely to get a bit more personal than before - you know, like a blog is supposed to be.

Finally, I'd like to flag up something I'll be doing this summer. Once my exams are done (less than two weeks now!) I'll be starting a video blog (or a "vlog" as they are known). I don't know if you've ever come across vloggers on YouTube, but it's something I've always wanted to do and my new laptop and three-month summer holiday can allow for it to become a reality. Essentially, it would be like the new Friday video setup, but with focus on things other than video games (although I'm sure they will pop up now and again).

I think being away from the site has opened my eyes to a shocking truth - slowly but surely, video games are being replaced as my main hobby in life. The replacement? Probably my guitar: I've been spending what little spare time I have at the moment jamming and song-writing (mainly about really silly things, with inspiration being pulled from The West Wing, Half-Life 2 and the current state of the Walt Disney Company). Heck, even when I do play games it's usually Guitar Hero! But who knows, perhaps with these changes to the site my love for gaming may be rekindled into the roaring fire it once was (Motion Plus might help too!).

So, yeah... if you've bothered yourself to read the acres of paragraphs above, thanks for sticking with me and the site during these rather bumpy times. I'm hoping to post some form of content in the run-up to and aftermath of E3 (which helpfully falls right on top of my final two exams). But that's not a promise.

Thanks once again,
SpinachPuffs

Poll Results, Banner and an Apology

2009-05-01T16:10:00.003+01:00

Let's do this in reverse order...

Sorry that this site has been dead for the past week - it's May, which means exams and very little time to do things like blogs. My Friday video is also being delayed until tomorrow for the sake of my physical well-being (I did try to record some stuff, but I look even more tired than I feel!).

One thing I have done is throw together a new banner for the month. No surprises this time - Punch-Out!! will be gracing the top of the page for the next 31 days.

Last but not least, it's time for the poll results and a new poll!

Will you be purchasing the Wii Motion Plus attatchment?
Yes, as soon as it's available - 5 votes (38%)
Yes, with Wii Sports Resort - 5 votes (38%)
I don't know yet - 2 votes (15%)
No, I don't want it - 0 votes (0%)
I don't own a Wii - 1 vote (7%)
(Total votes: 13)

I was quite surprised by the amount of interest in buying Motion Plus without Sports Resort - I guess you are all very excited about Grand Slam/Virtua Tennis and/or Tiger Woods!

New question: Which do you purchase more of, Virtual Console games or DSi/WiiWare games?

Virtual Console
DSi/WiiWare
It's roughly equal
I buy neither

That's it for today - you shall see me (literally) tomorrow!

Amazing Steam Offer - Act Now!

2009-04-25T17:00:00.002+01:00

Just thought I'd flag up an offer I bumped into on Steam.

What do Half-Life 2 (plus episodes 1, 2 and Lost Coast), Portal and Team Fortress 2 have in common? They make up the amazing Orang Box package that set the world of PC gaming alight a little while back. How much would you pay for some of the best games in recent memory? £40? £20? How about six?

For this weekend only, The Orange Box can be purchased on Steam for an easy £5.99! I've already snapped up the package (downloading Portal as we speak) and would advise any PC gamer to do the same!

Link is right here!

Friday's Releases! (on a Saturday)

2009-04-25T13:14:00.004+01:00

So here's the thing - I spend an entire week working on a really special video for Friday's Releases and then a whole chain reaction of things go wrong leaving me having to do a boring normal one. A day late. With me singing. Really.

I had a lot of fun filming this, so I hope you enjoy it too!

Direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYlFlbdSuQc

Leave a comment or email me at smash_it_with_a_hammer@hotmail.com

Lego Rock Band - Don't Knock It

2009-04-21T18:47:00.004+01:00

Someone forgot to tell Harmonix that April Fool's was three weeks ago...

Any Lego owner has experienced that most-painful of feelings - standing, bare-foot, on a Lego brick. The same pained expression and screams of agony can be heard across the internet today with the announcement of Lego Rock Band, heading our way in time for Christmas 2009.

Harmonix officially announced Lego Rock Band for the three home consoles and - as previously speculated - the Nintendo DS. Harmonix are teaming up with Traveller's Tales (creators of the recent slew of mega-selling Lego titles) to create this "family-friendly" music title. Yes indeedy, it seems that the track list for this Rock Band game will be steering well clear of the Black Sabbath's and Iron Maiden's of the music industry and sticking to artists of a more child-friendly nature.

But before you burn your plastic instruments in disgust, stop to look at five tracks already confirmed for the title:

"Song 2" - Blur
"Kung Fu Fighting" - Carl Douglas
"The Final Countdown" - Europe
"Boys and Girls" - Good Charlotte
"So What" - Pink

I know that it's only five tracks but that is already an extremely positive start as far as the setlist is concerned. Song 2 is made of head-banging awesomeness, Kung Fu Fighting evokes the same sing-along joys that Eye of the Tiger brought to GHWT and The Final Countdown... well, let's just say you can expect me to be playing on my air-keyboard come this title's release!

The excitement continues to grow as we hear that a Nintendo DS version is in the works. Whether we will be seeing a Guitar Grip-style implementation or a more DSi-friendly method of play remains to be seen, but I am very interested in seeing what Harmonix and TT Games can do with the handheld. It could well be that Activision have the rug taken from under their feet if Harmonix can come up with an idea for Nintendo's latest handheld device.

I can sense that you are still not convinced that this is a title worth any attention by those over ten, but I'll definitely be keeping this game on my radar. We already know that Lego Rock Band will be supporting every plastic peripheral going (and I wouldn't be shocked to see some smaller instruments released alongside the game for the little 'uns). Perhaps the biggest draw to the idea of creating a Lego Rock Band game is the classic feeling of customisation - the press release claims that players will be able to customise their minifigure (that's Lego-speak for "person"), band, entourage (including roadies and manager) and crew as well. With Warner Bros involved in the publishing side of things, there could be a chance of seeing a few cameos from the likes of Batman and Harry Potter too...

Mixing the worlds of Rock Band and Lego seems at first glance like a recipe for internet hatred and many fans quitting the franchise altogether - which they will no doubt do, such is the way of the gamer - but I can see this turning into quite the party game: all the multiplayer brilliance of Rock Band mixed with the fantastic zany humour of TT's Lego titles. Don't count LRB out just yet...

Comments go in the comments box!
Emails go in my inbox: smash_it_with_a_hammer@hotmail.com
Paper goes in the white recycling bags

Review - Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars

2009-04-18T10:59:00.008+01:00

NOTE: At the time of writing this review I had not been able to play the multiplayer portion of the game (more on that in the review).

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
Developer: Rockstar Leeds/North
Publisher: Rockstar Games
Age Rating: 18 (BBFC)
Genre: Sandbox
Players: 1, 2 (multi-card only)
Online features: enhancements unlocked through Rockstar Social Club

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars had the shortest appearance on-stage at E3 2008: funny, because it is likely to become the best game that stemmed from Nintendo's infamous showcase. I had never actually played a GTA game prior to purchasing Chinatown Wars (a mix of not owning a "next-gen" console and being under 18), save for a PC version of GTA2 that is available for free on the Rockstar website. This past experience is actually quite useful, as even though GTA:CW is set in the same city as the most recent console outing, it definitely gets a lot of its mischievous fun from titles further back in the series.

If you've played any GTA game before, then the basics of Chinatown Wars should not surprise you greatly. You take the role of Huang, a Chinese snob and son of a recently-deceased triad leader. Huang is heading to Liberty City to deliver the family katana to the next triad leader and help bring his father's murderers to justice (i.e. dispose of them). But it's only a few moments after your plane hits the ground that you are ambushed, knocked unconscious and left for dead in the back of a sinking car. You smash through the window (your first touch screen interaction) and set on your never-ending quest to steal cars, blow stuff up and injure innocent bystanders.

Meet Huang: this happy-go-lucky man is always up for a laugh...
or perhaps not.

Push the Button
The controls are about as easy and simple as they could be (and, in fact, seem almost directly taken from the Playstation controls, minus an extra shoulder button layer) and take very little time to get used to. A is your all-purpose "shoot stuff" button; B serves as the sprint button outside a vehicle and acceleration inside one; pressing X will make Huang get into the nearest car (forcibly if necessary); Y allows you to do a forward roll or vault over a wall (useful in an on-foot cop chase); the shoulder buttons, L and R, centre the camera and lock-on to the nearest (supposedly) threat respectively. Finally, the Start button brings up the PDA screen (effectively pausing the game) and the Select button performs all manner of tricks depending on the context - talk to dealers, search dumpsters, start special vehicle missions, retry missons after failing them - the list is long.

These controls are pretty much faultless and compliment the not-quite-top-down perspective very nicely. My only major complaint with the setup is the lock-on system, which - like many GTA games - is rather dumb. Want to shoot that policeman that is charging towards you? Tough - the game wants you to shoot three other pedestrians first. How about taking out the armed gang members before taking out the others? Better luck next time - idle opponents are much more fun to lock-on to. Luckily, in most situations the lock-on problem does not cause too much distress - it should eventually lock-on to all your opponents, just not in the order you would have chosen. One situation that does repeatedly cause annoyance is trying to lock-on to enemy vehicles - it is really only blind luck that will allow you to do so: that, or waiting for every other car and pedestrian to leave the street (and even then the game would probably lock-on to the empty hot dog stand before it chose the dealer's van).

GTA's PDA's GPS!
Let's skip back a few irritated sentences ago and look at the PDA - undoubtedly GTA:CW's best new feature. The PDA is your sole communicative device with the world around you. From here, you can check your emails for the latest drug dealer tips, plot a course around the city with the GPS and order new weaponry from the Ammu-Nation online store (the arms are sent to the closest safehouse). It also acts as the pause screen for the game, offering links to the multiplayer games, the usual settings options and load/save game screens.

In this situation, you'll probably lock-on to that blue dumpster

Whilst the game is running, the PDA occupies the touch screen and shows the local area on the GPS screen, as well as the weapons currently on your person (switched with a simple click to bring up your inventory) and shortcuts to emails and stats. If you have any molotov's, grenades or other special weapons, these will be operated using their own touch screen icon.

The GPS has a few semi-hidden features that are incredibly useful to the player. The "contacts" link will bring up a list of all the crime lords in need of assistance (basically the story missions) as well as a complete list of every drug dealer that you have encountered. "Favourites" is a nifty feature that allows you to save destination points for later - particularly useful if you find a CCTV camera but have no molotovs with which to blow it up. Finally, the "points of interest" link shows you everywhere else you may wish to visit: every safehouse you own, each Pay 'n' Spray, gas station and rampage point in the city, all the security cameras and Unique Stunt Jumps that you have destroyed and all the Odd Job missions you have found in your city-wide travels.

Sights and Sounds
The GPS really helps to point out just how much gameplay has been packed into this game. There are 100 cameras to destroy, thirty billboards to crash through, numerous safehouses to acquire and more than a dozen extra mission types that all fall into the "Odd Jobs" category. Here you can help out the Liberty City Fire Department, take on angry graveyard-dwellers in Hobotron (a lot of fun), best your lap times in a go-kart or take to the roads for some street racing, deliver noodles for the local takeaway, perfect your gunplay skills at the local Gun Club and repeatedly raid the warehouse of your enemies. In addition to all these distractions, you may encounter some rather zany characters on the street who will ask you to take them somewhere or deal with someone for them.

Taking into account that every GTA player is easily entertained by the simple fact that anything in the game can be stolen, blown up or killed, Chinatown Wars offers a very handsome number of hours. I've been walking the streets of Liberty City for well over 20 hours already and I still haven't completed the story missions! If you're a completist, be aware that this game can take days of your life away!

Now might be a good time to leg it

Big Deal
There are two things that are sure to follow every new release in the GTA series - rave reviews and controversy. I hope that I have shown that the first is very much deserved for this game, but controversy is never too far behind Chinatown Wars either. The drug dealing side-game (it's a little to major to be called a minigame) is a vital part to raising enough cash for the many safehouses and weapons needed each day, but is entirely optional. If carrying drugs in a game seems wrong then there is no need to take part in it - just be aware that if you do choose this righteous path you will not be seeing much in the way of income: completing missions pays for about one pistol. If it's just the real names that are freaking you out, why not call them something else to ease your mind?

The drug dealing never goes further than "buy some here, sell it there", but it is likely to be more than enough to have most of the mdeia up in arms about it (they usually catch on to these things about six months after launch, so get ready for things to get crazy around September). As I said before, your emails are the place to look for the best deals - you are always informed when certain dealers are selling low or buying high, so knowing when to purchase drugs and who to purchase them from is key to getting the best profit. A few hours of dealing should see you easily into 6-figure sums of money - more than enough to get you all the safehouses you need - which may seem annoyingly quick to series veterans, but it does mean that $20k splashes at Ammu-Nation are a little easier to swallow.

It should be clear by now that I love this game - my DS was pretty lacking in new software prior to Chinatown Wars and I already feel that I have got my money's worth from the title before I am anywhere near finishing. But I shall also be clear that this game is not perfect - there are some issues that are by no means game-ruiners, but definitely take the shine off an otherwise polished title. The lock-on system, as I mentioned before, is utterly hopeless but this is a running problem with GTA titles and one that I anticipated.

That's whats-his-face - you know, the detective dude.

Cops and Robbers
The lack of single-card multiplayer is a little disappointing, as are the online features (a link-up service with the Rockstar Social Club for exclusive content and email sharing with those on your friend list). Not including single-card play was likely chosen due to technical impossibility, but this means that most players will probably never get to play the multiplayer modes - the chances of finding a friend who is over 18, owns a DS and a copy of the game is a slim one (at least, it is for me).

Perhaps most curious of all is the vehicle AI which is hilariously haphazard. GTA:CW features a new way of getting the police off your tail - namely, causing the cars to crash. But, somewhat bizarrely, it appears the easiest way to get them to crash is to drive very fast in a straight line (preferably over a bridge or down a dual carriageway). Rather than travelling in a straight line also, they will do their upmost to collide with everything and anything that could destroy them - other cars on the road, fences, water hydrants - you name it. Best of all is when you flee down a dual carriageway and the cops try to do a U-turn across the divide, only to smash into the barrier. All of these are hilarious to watch but ultimately take a little of the fun out of the cop chases: I want to earn my freedom by smashing those cars myself!

Finally, the cast of characters that surround Huang are at best forgettable and at worst teeth-grindingly annoying (I'm looking at you, car-driving daddy's-boy who I can't remember the name of!). The supporting cast never leave much of an impression - even now I struggle to tell them apart, let alone remember their names. The lack of voice acting (although completely understandable given the storage limitations) does not help things either. To complete this circle of complaints, the best supporting character (*minor spoiler coming up*) is bumped-off in the first mission. Nice going, Rockstar.

These problems aside, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is an excellent title and definitely worth a purchase - you would have to be a dedicated GTA-hater not to enjoy this game. As clichéd as it is to say it, this could well be the DS Game of the Year.

Summary
Pro's/Con's
+ An amazing handheld GTA experience
+ Massive, breathing city to explore
+ The PDA keeps everything organised
+ Loads of stuff to do
- More than a few minor irritations

Final Word: It may be full of drugs, guns and violence, but at the end of the day Liberty City is really the world's largest playground for adults. I can't remember the last time I had as much fun on my DS - whichever way you look at it, Chinatown Wars is a steal.

Final Score: 9.0/10

Have you picked up GTA: Chinatown Wars? What did you think of the game? Let me know in comments or email me at smash_it_with_a_hammer@hotmail.com

Friday's Relea... wait, what?!

2009-04-17T14:21:00.006+01:00

There's something freaky going on here...

Why on Earth is there a YouTube video here?!

Yes, if you haven't guessed by now, Friday's Releases has gone YouTube. I was actually going to announce this back on April 1st as an "is it real?" sort of thing, but I ended up unable to verbally communicate around that time so the plan fell through. But now you can enjoy my raspy voice telling you about all the games coming to the UK this week!

Practically everything that could go wrong does go wrong, but things should improve as I get used to various methods of recording. That's the plan anyway...

That GTA review is still waiting to be written - I can be very lazy when I want to be - but hopefully it should appear this weekend. Pigs may indeed sprout wings!

What do you think of the idea of video-format Friday's Releases? All feedback is welcome!

Polls Return!

2009-04-14T21:31:00.004+01:00

It's been a while, but I thought I should bring them back...

My sidebar has been missing a poll for a long while now, so I thought I should resurrect them. This time around, I'll be posting polls bi-monthly (hopefully on the 1st and 15th of every month) to allow for a reasonable amount of votes to be cast. This week...

Will you be purchasing the Wii Motion Plus attachment?

Yes, as soon as it is available
Yes, once the Wii Sports Resort bundle is released
I don't know yet
No, I don't want it
I don't own a Wii

You have until April 30th to cast your vote, so you best make up your mind before then!

If you haven't heard, the Wii Motion Plus attachment is making its way to Europe on June 12th with the Wii Sports Resort bundle arriving on July 24th. The US has a similar gap between the two, with the dates June 8th and July 26th respectively (see what I meant about greatly-reduced localisation times?).

Personally, I'll be waiting for the Sports Resort bundle - Grand Slam Tennis and Tiger Woods are not on my need-to-buy list, so I see no need to purchase the Motion Plus device until Nintendo's long-awaited Wii Sports follow-up is launched. Me being me, though, I'll probably pick up a second device for multiplayer purposes around the same time!

I've got a lot to catch up on in the next few days - both in terms of school work and blog things. I'm hoping to have a review of GTA up in the next couple of days and Friday will bring the normal release round-up. See you then!

Nintendo of America - A European View

2009-04-08T20:22:00.003+01:00

Blogger made me sign in manually today on its monthly check to make sure I'm not just pretending to be SpinachPuffs. This means it's time for me to do some actual blogging for once instead of reviews, top tens and regurgitated information. Hold on to your hats folks...

I love living in the UK - there are few places I would rather be right now. As you are hopefully aware, the UK is part of Europe and therefore under the rule of Nintendo of Europe (go figure). Up until recent months, being under NoE made you very much a third priority. Niche titles only had about a 50% chance of reaching you (especially if they fell into the RPG genre), delays were long - years in some cases - and getting hold of any form of communication from the staff was a grapevine scenario of the most confusing kind.

Even this time last year European Wii owners were fuming over a seemingly never-ending delay on 2008's biggest Nintendo title, Super Smash Bros Brawl. Those outside of Europe will struggle to fully comprehend the irritation that comes from having to avoid reviews, videos and spoilers from Nintendo titles simply because the European region always received games a good month-or-so after America did. This wouldn't have hurt so badly if it were not for the fact that only Nintendo seemed to follow this insane tradition - every other software developer managed to get as close as possible to worldwide release dates for their major titles, so why should we have to wait an extra month for Super Mario Galaxy or four months for Brawl?

I'm not saying that Europe had it the worst - those unlucky enough to enjoy gaming in Australia had to suffer both needless delays (unless I am mistaken, Australian games should only require an English translation - English and French at the very most) and insane prices when the titles hit the shelves.

But it seems that after the major slip-up that was the Brawl delay, Nintendo of Europe drew a line in the sand and stuck by it - titles still arrive a few weeks after America receives them, but it's a manageable system. The upcoming Punch-Out!! actually arrives in Europe four days after America gets hold of it - not bad going. We've also seen strong support in the online department, with the Hanabi Festival repairing past mistakes and the recent VC release of Majora's Mask shocking everyone by landing in Europe first.

Almost simultaneously - and much to the horror of US Nintendo fans - Nintendo of America have been falling out of love with their customers. The first major disagreement was E3 2008 - a display so shocking that it will be permanently imprinted on the minds of gamers everywhere for a few more years at least. Now I personally had no issues with the games on show (Wii Music, Animal Crossing, Wii Sports Resort, GTA:CW) - all have gone on to be very enjoyable additions to my library (accept Wii Sports Resort, obviously). But the way in which they were shown and the general attitude of the hosts was completely wrong.

Major slip-up no. 2 was the refusal to release Disaster: Day of Crisis in the States. Even I am willing to get cross about this on behalf of my fellow gamer - I picked up Disaster with some of my trade-in money from my DS Lite and (for want of a better description) it has to be the most American game I've played on Wii. A moody hero, outrageous set-pieces, on-rails shooting (don't moan - it's really fun) and evil terrorists - this game is crying out for a US localisation! Let's also not forget that the entire game is already translated into English: I mean, all the voicework was in English to begin with!

And now, as we stand aside the battlefield of another localisation issue - J-horror game Fatal Frame IV - it is clear that history is set to repeat itself, perhaps even before the history has had chance to become so. But standing outside of the playground fight that is unfolding before me, I can't help but think that things are blowing just a little out of proportion. I mean, Fatal Frame IV has been ruled out of Europe too (not quite officially, but most probably) but will as much fuss be made by Europeans? I very much doubt it.

I think it all comes down to the mannerisms that both companies keep. NoA keeps a fairly public profile - Reggie Fils-Aime, Cammie Dunaway, Denise Kaigler - all these names roll straight off the tongue because we see them making statements week-in, week-out. If bad news comes up or an announcement arrives that we don't like, people get angry at the company and the face - that's twice the hate.

Here in Europe, when NoE delay something or slip up, we look to the sky and get angry because there's no-one to personally blame - I don't even know the name of the NoE President! [It's Shimony Shickaka according to my good friend Wikipedia - but he's listed below deceased developers and ex-NoA Presidents in the "key people" section. Ouch.]

Yes, Fatal Frame IV is a "core" title, but it is also very niche one and would sell next-to-nothing in either region. A refusal to publish it in the States or in Europe isn't meant as an insult or a further stray from long-term Nintendo fans - it's just good business sense at a time when there's little of it around. To be honest, I think you should be more angry over a lack of Disaster: Day of Crisis - that's a game that could actually sell given the right marketing.

I must apologise: it's looking like that GTA:CW review I promised isn't going to materialise before the Easter break. And seeing as I'm away over Easter, you may not hear from me again until next Wednesday. If that's the case, I hope you all enjoy Easter and try not to overfill yourselves with chocolate!

Coming Soon to a Downloadable Service Near You

2009-04-07T20:24:00.007+01:00

I had a look round Game, but sadly there was no sign of Blast Works. Amazon are selling it though, so it is definitely available. I guess I'll have to re-inspect at the weekend once they have new stock in.

Nintendo recently hosted a WiiWare and Nintendo DSiWare Media Summit, where reps talked and developers showed off their projects. Us lucky Europeans also got news of some of the games that should be with us between now and July:

WiiWare

Bonsai Barber - This FPG (first-person groomer) game has already reached the US, so I would expect it to be arriving in Europe this month. It's colourful, quirky and just a little crazy - sounds like the perfect fit for WiiWare!

Cave Story - Cited by many as the freeware game to end all freeware games, Cave Story's release on the WiiWare service is a very big deal. The latest press release promised that the price should be no higher than 1000 points, which is an absolute steal for a game this fantasitc. Excited? You should be!

ColorZ - An action-puzzle game that sees you cleansing microbes in an alternate reality. As the title suggests, the game is bright and colourful in its visual nature.

Crystal Defenders R1 - Square Enix is near to completing this tower defense game that uses characters from the Final Fantasy Tactics universe. You must defend your tower (go figure) on a variety of maps and against many different monsters. And yes - there will be stupid-looking clothing.

Icarian: Kindred Spirits - Is the lack of Kid Icarus Wii getting you down? It turns out that the mysterious winged girl Nyx is also on the hunt for her friend Icarus, although I doubt it's the same one. The idea of flying using motion control could get tiring, but hopefully this will not turn out to be the case.

LIT - America received this creepy puzzle game a while back, but we're still waiting for it to arrive on these shores. If you enjoy creeping around where things go bump in the night then LIT will be well worth a look.

Overturn: Mecha Wars - Turn-based strategy is yet to see a title on WiiWare, so here comes Overturn to fill the gap. As the title suggests, you'll be fighting with weapons of a mecha variety. The NoE description helpfully informs us what we shall be doing: "The aim of the game is to blast your opponent using your available weapons, while trying to avoid their incoming attacks and be the last one standing." That's gaming 101, that is.

Robocalypse: Beaver's Defense - Another tower defense game, only this time with robots instead of rebellious teenagers in freaky clothes. Just don't ask me where beavers come into all of this!

Spaceball Revolution - A typical matching-colours puzzle game using energy balls.

Squibs Arcade - If LED handhelds are your cup of tea then this game is looking awesome. Taking the rip out of modern "hardcore" gaming series (including Grand Theft Auto, Gears of War and Metal Gear Solid), Squibs Arcade offers many back-to-basics "reimaginings" of the latest gaming hits. Battle aliens in "Gun Cogs", lose weight with "We're Fat" and avoid detection in "Cardboard Axel Mush" (possibly the best video game title ever). Hey Alten8 - if you ever feel like putting some of these on DSiWare, don't hesitate to do so!

That logo sure looks familiar...

Swords & Soldiers - This game has both and lots of them. It's a side-scrolling strategy game (there seem to be a lot of strategy games on the way...) that promises to be easy to learn but deep enough for experienced players to enjoy too.

Water Warfare - Essentially a non-violent FPS, Water Warfare involves water pistols and lots of H20. With online and offline multiplayer, numerous weapon types (maybe even a water balloon launcher? Please?) and bonus items, this game offers a lot of child-friendly shooting fun. But as a minor aside - did anyone else notice that the number of maps was never given as a highlight?

DSiWare

A Little Bit of... Dr Kawashami's Brain Training: Maths Edition - The good news? Brain Training seems like the perfect fit for bite-sized yet long-living DSiWare titles (and I adore maths). The bad news? That "A Little Bit of" tagline suggests we may be seeing more retail cut-offs hit the service where original titles could stand. Try-before-you-buy or a waste of virtual shelf space?

Art Style: PicoPict - Art Style games may be sweeping the DSi at the moment, but this one looks the most enticing of the bunch. Block-matching puzzle games are always welcome on my handheld, but it's the classic NES tunes that act as the game's soundtrack that really have me excited.

Mighty Flip Champs - A unique escape-the-maze puzzle game that uses an original gameplay mechanic: you can pass between various pages of a map to get around, over or through obstacles, but misjudging the distances could be fatal for your character.

Mixed Messages - I have good faith in Vicarious Visions' DS work, so I am very glad to see them pledge support to DSiWare. In a nutshell, Mixed Messages sounds very much like a game of Consequences but with video game support. Let's hope there is a bit more to it than that (although 21-man multiplayer could make for some awesome party entertainment).

Pop Superstar: Road to Celebrity - When a title like that comes along on a retail game I am quick to scream "shovelware!", but for now I'll give this title the benefit of the doubt. Musical minigames are the order of the day - with singing, drumming, guitar and dance on offer - but the promise of DSi-specific features, such as camera integration and voice recording (which I am counting as DSi-specific - the new mic is so much better than the Lite's), suggests that this could be more than a cash-in.

Real Football 2009 - An entire football game in a DSiWare title? You better believe it! Whether this will be a manager-style set-up or an actual controlling-the-players sports game remains unknown, but Real Football does promise to make use of photo textures and full 3D graphics. Sounds like every footie fan's dream.

These are not all the downloads awaiting us over the next few months - titles like Bit Trip Beat, Dr Mario and Eduardo the Samurai Toaster are suspiciously absent - but it is very good to hear full confirmation of when to expect the likes of Cave Story and Icarian: Kindred Spirits. We've also heard some news on exciting new titles like Robocalypse and Squibs Arcade. One thing is for sure - I need to stock up on some Nintendo Points!

Which WiiWare/DSiWare titles have you excited? Share your thoughts in the comments section or drop me an email at smash_it_with_a_hammer@hotmail.com

Blast Works Finally Reaches the UK!

2009-04-07T01:54:00.002+01:00

Remember how I went on and on about the fact that Blast Works had practically vanished off the face of the Earth whilst crossing the Atlantic? Well, today Eidos announced that this Wii title is available in the UK right now! This aligns perfectly with me getting £75 in Game vouchers for my DS Lite! Let's hope they have some copies when I go into town tomorrow...

You can read the full press release below. I'm off to dance a merry jig... even if it is 2am!

Monday 6th April/… Eidos Interactive confirmed today that Majesco Entertainment’s insane shoot-’em-up, BlastWorks: Build, Trade, Destroy is available now in the UK for Nintendo Wii. The game is developed by Budcat Creations and comes to these shores on the back of a mass of critical acclaim from leading US media outlets.

A frenetic geometric shoot-em-up battle exclusively for Nintendo Wii, BlastWorks: Build, Trade, Destroy pits players against a succession of enemies whose destroyed parts can be used to bolster your own ship’s firepower. In short, the more enemies you destroy the bigger and stronger your ship becomes to take on more challenging enemies. The retro geometric graphic style lends this classic style 2D shooter a unique look.

An intuitive, yet in-depth editor allows players to unleash their creativity with BlastWorks by designing levels, ships, enemy ships, objects and bosses. These can then be traded directly with friends via WiiConnect24 or the BlastWorks community at www.blastworksdepot.com via Nintendo Wi-Fi. Everything from bullet patterns, sound FX, movement patterns, hit boxes and more can be assigned with ease. The game even includes three customisable levels to get you started with creating your own levels.

“This is a highly original game both in style and gameplay where players are only limited by their imagination,” said John Merchant, Marketing Manager International, Majesco. “We are looking forward to seeing what sort of incredible creations and ideas players come up with.”

Featuring bright, abstract graphics and lightning-quick, dynamic action this “sticky” shooter based on Kento Cho’s Tumiki Fighters online game will suck you in for the long haul. In fact, four of his games: rRootage, Gunroar, Torus Trooper and the original TUMIKI Fighters can be unlocked!

BlastWorks: Build, Trade, Destroy, includes multiplayer gameplay for two-to-four players, allowing you to pilot a gigantic ship over 15 campaign missions by utilising the Wii Remote and the Nunchuk controller or the Wii classic controller.

Review - WarioWare: Snapped!

2009-04-06T15:58:00.007+01:00

I haven't done a review in a while, so here's one for you!

WarioWare: Snapped!
Developer: Intelligent Systems
Publisher: Nintendo
Genre: Minigames
Age Rating: 3+

WarioWare Snapped! could easily be called Nintendo's flagship game for the DSiWare service: it served as a launch title for all Western regions and has been a key component of advertising the DSi's features. It is also the only game currently in the DSi Shop that could not be run on an ordinary DS, as the game is almost exclusively controlled with the camera.

The WarioWare series is one of the few "modern" franchises that has been fully accepted into the public's hearts (others include Animal Crossing and, of course, the Wii series). Wacky humour, thick-and-fast gameplay and brilliant multiplayer modes (the Wii iteration can have up to 12 players together at once) have quickly become trademarks of the series and Snapped! promises to cater to all three.

On paper, Snapped! sounds like an ideal WW title - interacting with the microgames using your body and face seems the perfect step-up from the remote and touch screen controls of the previous entries. Sadly, ideas and reality do not always meet eye-to-eye and it is the latter that has caused this title the majority of its problems.

It wouldn't be WarioWare without the obligatory "pick the nose" challenge

Let's Get It Started
As soon as the game loads you are greeted with the usual wafer-thin plotline to link the sets of microgames: Wario has started his own theme park and offers you the chance to ride on four different rollercoasters. Each rollercoaster is - you guessed it - a collection of five microgames which you must complete using the one-word instructions on-screen: dry a dog by shaking your head over him, swat a fly with your hand, collect coins in the sky above you or lean in close to inspect a spot on a man's face. The wacky humour is definitely here in its full abundance.

But that is what awaits you once you start the microgame compilation - actually starting the game is this title's most challenging hurdle. Your head must be a certain distance from the camera; the room cannot be too dark but the camera lens must not pick up any glares; your skin tone must be different to the colours of the background (if you're blue-skinned, don't play this outdoors); last but not least, be sure to put the DSi on a stable surface with the lid open at about 120 degrees.

I would like to stress that these are not "health and safety guidelines" for us to read once and ignore for the rest of our lives - all of the above must be obeyed before the game starts. Want to play this game in bed? Tough - it's too dark and your lap is not very stable. I knew Snapped! would not be the kind of DSi game to play on the bus, but I didn't expect these issues to be the primary reasons!

Take Your Time
If you do finally get the game running though, much joviality can be expected: the microgames are well-designed and make good use of the DSi's inner camera. Whilst playing the games, a grey-and-clear pixelated form of yourself can be seen behind the images so you can line yourself up correctly to complete the task - a novel idea and one that works very well. Unfortunately, these microgames also run into some sizeable problems: for a start, they never seem to change - apart from the odd aesthetic difference (look - it's a cat instead of a dog this time!) and a change in order, each rollercoaster will play exactly the same games over and over again. Replayability is definitely not one of this game's strong points and the novelty of camera control quickly runs out.

Face recognition is something that Snapped! can do very well

Secondly, the microgames are far too forgiving when it comes to time limits: WarioWare should be fast-paced and adrenaline-pumping, so giving the player ten seconds to shake his head from side-to-side seems a little odd. Yes, I can see why they chose to do this - the camera is not the most reliable of input devices so giving the player half-a-dozen attempts to complete the challenge is fair play - but to me it seems that extending the time limit is a cheap solution: if the game isn't picking up movements then something needs to be done about how the software interprets those movements. Stemming the fast-paced nature of the series even more is the arbitary set up screens between each microgame: before any challenge can be completed you must line up your face or body with the an on-screen outline (as if the one at the beginning wasn't time-consuming enough).

Say Cheese!
Aside from all this negativity, I think it would be a good idea to pour some praise on Snapped's best feature. As I am sure you are aware, many theme parks offer souvenir photographs of you screaming at the top of your lungs as you hurtle round the track. Well, Wario's does too! At the end of each rollercoaster you are treated to a collection of photos and animations of you looking like a complete buffoon. This feature was likely to have been included as a nice aside to laugh at but has actually become Snapped's biggest selling-point - unleashing the game on unsuspecting friends (read: victims) only to watch them reel back in horror at the final photo album is always hilarious.

Whilst on the topic of friends, WarioWare: Snapped! reserves one of its four rollercoasters for two-player fun. Sadly, any problems that are encountered in single-player are quickly multiplied when a second player is added. I did my best, but I couldn't even get the game to start the two-player ride, no matter what light conditions I tried. When I managed to get it working (by complete fluke) what followed was a nasty mesh of head-knocking, eye-poking and game-failing: funny to look back on but nowhere near fun to play.

Snapped! is a nicely put-together package - and for only a £3.25 it seems cruel to knock it - but the fact of the matter is that there are many better ways to spend 500 Nintendo points, both on the DSi and the Wii. In fact, I would say that I've had more fun with the Paper Plane minigame that costs less than half the price and offers a lot more replayability. Nevertheless, I can see younger gamers having a hilarious time with Snapped! and if you want a game to show off the DSi's capabilities, it certainly fits the bill. Let's just leave it like this: if the DSi ever runs into a "cleaning out the fridge" scenario like the Wii did, this game will be the first to go.

Summary
Pro's/Con's
+ Hilarious souvenir photo feature
+ Microgames are well designed...
- ...but setting up the game is a nightmare
- Replayability is limited
- Multiplayer is broken
- Did I mention the game was impossible to set up?

Final Word: An innovative title permanently scarred by the harsh truths of reality - more specifically, household lighting techniques. The lack of variety leaves very little reason to revisit the game after a few days: purchase with caution.

Final Score: 4.5/10

Have you bought WarioWare Snapped!? What did you think of the game?
Leave a message in comments or drop me a line at smash_it_with_a_hammer@hotmail.com

Friday's Releases (on a Sunday!)

2009-04-05T18:43:00.006+01:00

Has anyone seen the Watchmen film yet? I went to see it yesterday and it was amazing - best film I've seen since The Dark Knight. I'm not sure that it would seem as good to someone who hasn't read the graphic novel, but if you have it's a must-see! Ahem... right, back on-topic!

Nintendo DSi
This week is all about the DSi, Nintendo's latest edition of their world-conquering handheld. The GBA slot has been stripped away but in its place is a plethora of exciting new features - two cameras, high-quality speakers, bigger screens, in-built picture-editing and music-playing software and access to the new DSi Shop and DSiWare. Other changes include a new style of d-pad and face buttons (clicking buttons instead of a four-way rocker/spongier efforts), a digital volume switch to replace the slider and a matte finish to eliminate sticky fingerprints.

Pictures don't really do the DSi justice - it's truly beautiful!

I've been messing about with my handheld for the past couple of days and I am extremely impressed. I'll be sharing more detailed thoughts in a few days time, so you'll just have to be patient.

Wii

Tenchu: Shadow Assassins
Only the one Wii game today, which comes in the shape of Ubisoft's Tenchu: Shadow Assassins. Sure, it may be releasing alongside a PSP version of the same name (usually the first sign of a game that should be avoided), but the reviews have been generally quite positive. If some sneaky-ninja action sounds like your cup of tea, be sure to check this title out!

Lux Pain
A curious mystery game from Marvelous Interactive which sees you trying to eradicate a mind-controlling parasite before it wipes out the whole city. It looks very pretty in its anime stylings but reviews have been poor: approach with caution.

Moto Racer DS
If you're up for some fast-paced motorbiking action, Moto Racer may be worth a look. Using a unique stylus-based control scheme you can take part in high-octane bike races - both alone and with friends.

Disgaea DS/Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume
Sqaure Enix already have a very strong DS library and this week brings two more titles from the kings of the RPG.

Downloadable Games

Seeing as the amount of downloadable titles launching each week is now set to double, I thought it would be a good idea to put a new section in for disc-less games. It's an exciting collection this week!

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (Virtual Console - 1000 points)
Forget storage solutions - the fact that Europe is receiving this N64 classic before any other region (even Japan!) is the real reason to write a letter home. If you've never heard of this title, you can be forgiven: it is the lesser-known-but-(perhaps)-even-better sequel to the famous Ocarina of Time. It stands as one of the boldest Zelda titles, introducing a unique mix of classic Zelda gameplay with brand-new ideas, as well as a darker atmosphere symbolised by the terrifying moon set to bring complete annihilation if Link should fail. A true gem of a title and a bargain at only 1000 Wii points - go get it now!

Woot!

WarioWare Snapped! (DSiWare - 500 points)
The WarioWare series has always been about bite-sized fun and hilarious gaming experiences and Snapped! ensures that this legacy will continue. Using the DSi's inner camera, you play through various microgames including waving goodbye to a friend, playing peek-a-boo with a baby and drying a dog - all with the movement of your body. But the real fun comes when the games are over and you get to see snapshots of yourself playing the microgames - stupid faces and all!

Art Style: Aquite (DSiWare - 500 points)
Known as Aquario in Japan and Aquia in the US, Aquite is another refreshing puzzler joining the Art Style series. This title is an interesting twist on the match-three puzzle game and is a feast for the eyes and ears.

Art Style: Decode (DSiWare - 500 points)
The other Art Style game joining the DSiWare starting line-up requires both sharp mathematical skill (well, you need to be able to count to ten) and a good eye for symbol manipulation. The object of the game is to make ten by adding numbers together: the unique twist here is that all the numbers are on an LED display and can be flipped and spun to produce different numbers - 5 becomes 2, 6 becomes 9 etc.

Paper Plane/Pyoro (DSiWare - 200 points each)
Two minigames from the original WarioWare game can be downloaded for 200 points apiece. They are both very simple but also very addictive and, considering they are only £1.50 each, are well worth a look.

Made it! It was a long journey, but you have reached the end of this post!
Have you purchased a DSi? Which DSiWare titles did you pick up?
Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments box or drop me an email at smash_it_with_a_hammer@hotmail.com

SpinachPuffs Is Not Dead...

2009-04-04T00:38:00.002+01:00

...just very excited!

Sorry I haven't been posting much lately - it's the final day of term today and as usual it was a mad dash to the finish! The good news is that I have a brand-new white DSi currently in my hand! My goodness, it's brilliant! I'm currently transferring a section of my music collection to an SD card so I can listen to some tunes in bed (in-between goes on WarioWare Snapped! and Art Style: Aquite - formerly Aquario).

It's now the holidays and although at this late stage in my school life there is little "holiday" to be had, I should have more free time than usual to post some things up. I've got a top 10 list almost completed and there should be a Friday's Releases post on its way this weekend. I should also have a GTA review up before Good Friday, when I'll be saying adieu for a few days as I head down to Manchester to hook up with some friends over Easter.

Catch you soon!

Google Goes Gaming Mad!

2009-03-26T19:28:00.004Z

Only a short post today...

If you have a Google account and use the iGoogle page of the world's favourite search engine then this is a piece of news to tickle your fancy. Google has released a new set of themes for their page centred around video games. Check it out:

There are quite a few Nintendo properties in the list.
Of course, I just had to choose...

...the Animal Crossing one!

Mario, Zelda, Wii Sports, Tomb Raider, Galaga, Street Fighter, Spore, Mega Man, Guitar Hero, Donkey Kong, Call of Duty and Animal Crossing are just some of the big names in the new collection - be sure to check them out!

Nintendo @ GDC 2009 - The Fallout

2009-03-25T17:11:00.011Z

Aaaaaargh!!!! My head may explode with the awesomeness of Iwata's keynote speech!

Amazing Thing #1: Wii Storage Solution
No, your eyes do not deceive you - the Wii's storage solution is available TODAY. VC titles, WiiWare games and channels can now be run directly off an SD card! It may have taken a long time in coming, but at last Nintendo has delivered us the easiest, smoothest option for storing our games. No cleaning out the fridge - easy, simple SD storage. What's more, the Wii is now able to use SDHC cards, potentially increasing the Wii's memory to over 32GB! You'll never run out of space ever again!

The Wii now has two seperate menus - the Wii Menu and the SD Card Menu

Here it is - the SD Card Menu
It takes a little while for programs to load from here (roughly
ten seconds for World of Goo), but that's a small price to pay for unlimited storage

Finally, that SD icon is the link you need to click to get to the menu.
Let's all raise a huzzah for the new solution!

Amazing Thing #2: A new DS Zelda - and it's on-rails! (in a good way)
Iwata also unveiled a new trailer for the next handheld Zelda title, The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks. As the name hints, this game will see Link boarding a train to make his way around - and if that sounds ridiculous, then think again - the trailer shows Link travelling in much a similar way as Phantom Hourglass, only with train tracks instead of the open sea before him. The trailer also shows Princess Zelda in her palace, as well as new weapons (could that be a gale boomerang equivelant?) and a brand new locations, dungeons and bosses. This title is set to reach us later this year(I'm betting an October/November release like it's predecessor, Phantom Hourglass) - until then, practice your locomotive vocabulary! All aboard!

Amazing Thing #3: Virtual Console Arcade
The VC already has a whole host of different platforms represented, but this year will see classic arcade games added to the mix. Four titles are already available in America - hopefully this week's shop update will bring them to Europe too!

Amazing Thing #4: Final Fantasy everything!
Iwata brought news of Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, which will hit the WiiWare service later in the year. We are also receiving a follow-up to My Life as a King with FFCC: My Life as a Dark Lord. Sounds awesome, doesn't it? Finally, we have the announcement that Final Fantasies 1-4 shall be made available on the Virtual Console, starting in May for Japan. Given their international appeal, I can see these easily making the jump over here too.

Amazing Thing #5: Moving Memo Pad's YouTube-like channel confirmed!
One of the most awesome apps for the DSi (only 8 DSi-less days left now!) is the Moving Memo Pad and this is mainly down to the YouTube-esque website where talented artists can upload their creations to. Iwata confirmed that this service shall be available in the States and - presumably - to Australia and Europe as well (or certainly the English-speaking parts there-in). Finally, we also have confirmation of WarioWare Snapped! making its way out of Japan - will it be available at launch though? Let's hope so!

Although a few rumours were not confirmed (I think that DSi VC rumour may be fulfilled at E3 - it seems weird to announce a new service at a conference where the platform is not even available yet), I am flabbergasted by the news that Iwata brought today. Quit your whining "hardcore gamers" - Nintendo did love you after all.

Share your thoughts on all of today's news in comments or at smash_it_with_a_hammer@hotmail.com

Two Short Reviews (and a really quick impression)

2009-03-23T00:00:00.000Z

Reviewing games is a funny business - sometimes the game is too short or simple to really warrant a full review. In the case of Guitar Hero, I only have access to a portion of the content, so a full review is a little silly. So now you can have a back-to-back review extravaganza... of two reviews!

Art Style: Cubello
The Art Style games were a breath of fresh air to WiiWare's puzzle section, bringing bold, new ideas to the platform. Cubello is an interesting mix of first-person shooter and block-matching games; the player must fire cubes at a spinning mesh of coloured blocks to try and match four-or-more to remove them. The game uses the remote's pointer brilliantly creating a truly unique take on the block-matching puzzle game. My only complaint is that the difficulty is extremely bumpy: on the one hand you have the fruit-machine power-ups that get thrown your way every time you clear a set of blocks - these can be triggered quite regularly and are ridiculously powerful. On the other hand, clearing the final few blocks off the structure is a right pain in the neck: blocks in the queue for firing are often of the colour you just completely removed from the structure, meaning that careless players can end up losing the game with only five cubes left to clear (for "careless player", read "SpinachPuffs").

As you progress, more and more colours are included in the structure

Overall, Cubello is a fun, but sometimes frustrating, distraction that is well worth the 600-point asking price. The presentation may be minimalist (no real music to speak of and the background is either plain white or plain black) but the core gameplay can offer hours of fun.
Final Score: 8.5/10

* * * * *

Guitar Hero World Tour (disc-only)
World Tour is supposed to offer a brilliant multi-player experience, but I laughed in the face of such claims and bought the disc-only version for my solitary GH3 guitar. The game is readily available for around £20-25 nowadays and at such prices is an absolute steal for what could basically be viewed as an extra track-pack of 70+ songs. There are some big names in this edition too: Jimi Hendrix, Eagles, Muse, Coldplay (don't scoff - the song is really good), Michael Jackson - it seems that World Tour has got the star power out in more ways than one.

In addition to the new songs, World Tour boasts some new guitar gameplay that are welcome additions to the tried-and-tested features of GH3. Star power notes can now be acquired during star power, notes can be plucked whilst holding other sustained notes and the new touch-pad notes (which are played on the regular frets without strumming for the GH3 guitar) are used for the snazzy solos and sound effects. World Tour also brings a lot of online perks to the Wii - downloadable content, easy match-making (with or without friend codes) and access to GHTunes, where user-created songs can be downloaded free of charge. These songs are created in the surprisingly detailed Music Studio, which may prove to be quite a leap for some players but is ultimately very rewarding once you get the hang of it. This Wii iteration also includes a Mii Freestyle mode: a jamming area where single notes can be turned into epic solos on-screen. It takes a while to get used to the idea of the Freestyle mode - it is very "out there", moreso even than Wii Music - but if you're in the right mood, you can spend quite a while rocking out with your Miis.

Character creation is good fun, but don't bother trying
to make a realistic version of yourself...

All in all, GHWT is an excellent package even without the proper instruments to play it. The difficulty is suitable tweaked since last time (although Beginner mode is insultingly easy, even to the uninitiated), the song list is great (but "sell-out" accusations start to fly) and the new additions to the GH formula are brilliant, even if character creation isn't all it's cracked up to be. If I had one complaint it would be for the background visuals - they are indeed slightly more polished than before, but things like lip-synching seem to have taken a definite drop in quality. Oh, and if I see another in-game KFC bucket I may smash my guitar into the television.
Final Score: 9.0/10

Bonus!
GTA: Chinatown Wars impressions
I've been messing about in Liberty City for a couple of days now and it is already clear to me that GTA is one amazing game. The controls are tight, the PDA keeps everything organised (quite a feat in a sandbox game) and the 3D world around you gets the balance between size and looks perfectly. I think the best thing about CW is that it can be played in many different ways: if you're looking for strategy, drug dealing can steal hours away (it's almost as addictive as the products themselves); if you want a bit of adrenaline-fueled fun, a car chase is never too hard to brew up; if scavenger hunts are your type of thing, then there's 100 CCTV cameras to find - and believe me, they are very well hidden. I could go on, but I'll save it for my proper review once I've got to the "end" of the game.

Heh - that weekend article never did survive the writing process...
Oh well, better luck next week!

How Big is Liberty City?

2009-03-21T20:13:00.002Z

My copy of Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars arrived in the post today and as soon as I opened the box I was amazed. The game comes packaged with a real-life map of Liberty City. I knew the city was big, but not this big:

Click to enlarge

At least I now have something to do whilst I've got this darn cold!

Friday's Releases

2009-03-20T12:52:00.005Z

It's March 20th - otherwise known as 18-Rated Friday!

Wii

MadWorld
I remember seeing MadWorld for the first time and being astonished by its visual style and childish obsession with the red stuff. I didn't condemn it for being too violent but I definitely decided there and then that the game was not for me. And although my opinion on MadWorld has changed just a little (I reckon that if I lived away from younger siblings, I'd probably get) the focus and style of the game has been retained right from its original unveiling.

When people run in circles it's a very, very...

MadWorld sees you taking control of Jack - a rough and gruff biker with a chainsaw on his arm - as he walks the streets of the game-show Death Watch. Here, every second is a fight for your survival as opponent after opponent is thrown your way. Luckily, there are plenty of environmental features to help you dispose of your foes: car tyres, sign posts, trees, dumpsters, fireplaces, fish tanks - the list goes on. A great soundtrack and brilliantly funny commentary from Greg Proops (Whose Line is it Anyway?) and John DiMaggio (Bender from Futurama) add to the immature fun that ensues.

Castlevania Judgement
Fans have been begging for a Wii Castlevania for a while now, but few saw this one coming - a one-on-one fighting game using characters and settings from the series. It hasn't been a very popular addition to the franchise but if you're still reeling from Street Fighter IV's HD-exclusivety, there are definitely worse remedies than Castlevania Judgement.

Other games out this week:
Ready 2 Rumble: Revolution - Not so much criticised as panned by the majority of reviewers. Definitely a try-before-you-buy scenario.
Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars Director's Cut (also out on DS) - Revolution Software's 1996 point-and-click game has been ported to several platforms in its lifetime. Today sees the Wii and DS join that list, but with new content and features sprinkled on the top.
Go Diego Go! Great Dinosaur Rescue (also out on DS) - The video game spin-off of the popular pre-school show.

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
In amongst the general train-wreck that was Nintendo's E3 show of 2008 was an exciting - and completely unexpected - announcement: Grand Theft Auto on the DS. This piece of news seemed to get lost in the hullabaloo of frisbee-dog demos and Wii Music performances, but looking back it seems very foolish that people didn't go nuts about Rockstar's title instead - it has the potential to be the greatest game on the DS.

Kiiiiiiiiiiill Frenzy!

Combining the detailed storylines of modern GTAs with the old-school fun and top-down perspective of the originals, Chinatown Wars has proven itself to be more-than worthy of a place in the Grand Theft Auto line-up. Some reviewers even claim that it could be the best of the series so far: the flab of a "realistic" experience has gone and the PDA (which sits open on the touch screen) has received universal praise, with many predicting its features will be sure to feature in the next console iteration. My copy is on its way as I write (and will probably arrive Monday/Tuesday) and I simply cannot wait - expect a review to arrive here in a few weeks.

Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure
Do you like 2D platforming games? Do you like match-three puzzle games? Want to play both at the same time? Well, now you can with Henry Hatsworth! The title makes it sound like some tacky Professor Layton rip-off, but in actuality this Puzzling Adventure is a very original idea, combining the best of both genres. If unique platformers are your cup of tea, Henry's game is well worth a look.

Other games out today:
Scrabble 2009 - Apparently Scrabble games need updating each year. Who knew?
EA Sports Football Academy - Think of it as a Brain Age Academy, but with more footballs.
Wonder Pets! Save the Animals - First it was the dinosaurs, now all of the world's creatures need rescuing!
Petz: My Baby Panda - Worry not: the WWF has been informed.
My Spanish Coach: Learn to Speak Spanish (Beginner) - A (slightly) more worthwhile addition to Ubisoft's DS line-up.
Military History Commander: Europe at War - The first in a series of DS RTS games based on historical battles. This one revolves around the Second World War.

I've got a stinking cold right now, but hopefully I'll be able to get a post done this weekend. I've got one half-written right now, but it's the type of article I end up hating and deleting before it makes the site. Fingers crossed that doesn't happen this time around! Have a great weekend all!

Have you bought MadWorld or GTA? Do any other games take your fancy this week?
Share your thoughts and feelings in comments or drop me an email at smash_it_with_a_hammer@hotmail.com

Woot! My DSi is ordered!

2009-03-18T23:00:00.000Z

Just a super quick post to let you know that my DSi pre-order has been placed, ready to arrive on April 3rd. Seeing as that is two days before the US receives it, I'll have two days to gloat and dance around (using text, of course) before it becomes old news to everyone. What's more, seeing as I'm purchasing it through Game's trade-in strategy, I'm effectively getting it half-price! Nice.

Post #100 - My Favourite Games of All Time

2009-03-17T01:46:00.000Z

Hooray! I finally made it to post #100 - it's been quite the rollercoaster since August but it has definitely been a positive experience! Here's to making it to the site's first birthday!

Before getting down to the list, let me make something clear - this list is about the greatest games of all time: I'm far too young, inexperienced and Nintendo-focused to make a list that can claim such a scope. Instead, this is a list of my personal favourite games of all time - the games that I have played the most, remember the best and played with the biggest smile on my face. A lot of classics have fallen by the wayside (Ocarina of Time, Tetris and the entire Metroid series are not featured on this list, despite my beliefs that they stand as near-perfect games), but that's mainly due to the consoles I have owned and the genres I have tried out: in a way, playing old games on the VC is still a really fun experience, but definitely lacks that memorable-ness of playing games on the consoles they were intended for.

Enough with the blathering - on with the list!

15) The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii)

Link's canine form could bring him unwelcome attention

Adventure is what drives us forward in many games - the excitement of seeing more of the world before us and collecting every last weapon. No game brings a sense of adventure to your living room quite like Twilight Princess. Sure, the dungeons are a lot easier than previous Zelda games and it is an awful lot like Ocarina of Time but this makes it all the more enjoyable. For me, Twilight Princess was a coming-of-age experience as a gamer - I had finally joined the elitest group of Nintendo fans and it felt good. One day I'll actually get round to buying my own copy just so I can relive the magic!
If you like this then why not try: Any other Zelda game - they're all worth playing!

14) Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (PS2)

The easiest tightrope walk ever

Prince of Persia was a genuine "diamond in the rough" when I first discovered it at a car boot sale. I knew nothing of the game apart from the fact that it had a groovy looking sequel that I was (at the time) too young to play. Once I was inside Sands of Time, though, I was awestruck - the entire palace in which the game takes place is jaw-droppingly beautiful even now and the time-bending gameplay still feels fresh three sequels later. The clunky combat restricts some of the fun but this is overshadowed by the truly awesome acrobatic exploration. Short, but very, very sweet.
If you like this then why not try: The recent re-imagining of the franchise, simply titled Prince of Persia

13) Hotel Dusk: Room 215 (DS)

Three days of searching and still no sign of a socket for his razor

When is a game not a game? When it's an interactive mystery novel, of course! Hotel Dusk may be a little too linear for some, but I adore the brilliant script, genuinely surprising plot and the gorgeous anime-noir visuals. Throw in some imaginative uses of the DS' capabilities (mouth-to-mouth via closing your DS?!) and you have one fantastic mystery. I have pledged to play through this game once a year - a promise I intend to keep.
If you like this then why not try: Another Code: Two Memories - the developer's first DS outing.

12) Ape Escape (PS1)

No monkeys were harmed in the making of this video game

For every interesting controller there has to be a game that uses its unique qualities to produce a game that no other console could emulate. For the original PlayStation, Ape Escape was that game. Using the left joystick to move and the right joystick to swing all manner of items and control many different weapons, you must endeavour to catch over 200 monkeys who have been scattered across time and space. It's wacky, colourful and down-right hilarious but - most crucially - it is also brilliantly designed: from the levels down to the monkeys themselves.
If you like this then why not try: Its many sequels - they're pretty much the same game.

11) Guitar Hero III (Wii)

I must admit - Boss Battles suck

For many months I shunned the world of Guitar Hero - why would I want to play on a plastic toy when I can play the real thing every day? But eventually I caught Guitar Hero fever and bought GH3 at a HMV sale. I am so glad I did as this game (and it's 2008 follow-up, World Tour) is one of my most-played Wii games to date. A fantastic song list, great online multiplayer and an average difficulty that could reduce a grown man to tears (beating Raining Blood on Hard is one of the defining moments of my life) make up my favourite rhythm game of all time.
If you like this then why not try: Guitar Hero World Tour / Rock Band 2 - Guitar Hero, but with more instruments. The full kit is going to cost you though...

10) Mario Kart DS (DS)

His feet aren't even on the pedals!

There had to be at least one entry from Nintendo's popular racing franchise in this list and I consider the DS version to be the best of the bunch. The handling is perfect even with a d-pad, there is fantastic use of the lower screen for a not-so-mini-map and all the staples of classic Mario Kart remain fully intact: great music, awesome courses (Delfino Square may be my favourite race track in any game ever), a huge array of characters and a plethora of different gameplay modes (including a much-better-than-the-Wii-one Battle mode). Throw in some impressive graphics and great online play (with the right opponents) and you've got an endlessly replayable racer that is second-to-none (except the game at number 4).
If you like this then why not try: Mario Kart Wii - the Battle mode drops in quality but the online play is out-of-this-world. And there's a steering wheel accesory in the box!

9) Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 (PS1)

See, told you - look how tiny those other skaters' names are

Commonly, it is Pro Skater 2 that gets the most praise from critics but - somewhat typically for me - that is the only game of the original trilogy that I do not own. Pro Skater 3 may not be as innovative as its immediate prequel (for obvious reasons) but it is every bit as good, if not better, thanks to the opportunity for spit and polish to be applied. The controls and gameplay are as tight as ever and the locations are pretty huge and brimming with skating opportunities. The game even throws in some new features, such as the create-a-park mode. Tony Hawk's brilliant multiplayer (Horse, Grafitti, Tag) is always a welcome distraction.
If you like this then why not try: Tony Hawk's American Sk8land - modern sandbox gameplay meets classic tape collecting. A DS must-have!

8) World of Goo (WiiWare)

World of Goo - the only scenario where others
agree with my views on the joys of studying Physics

Download it. Now. Here ends my praise of number 8.
If you like this then why not try: Crayon Physics Deluxe - a PC game that encorporates the world of physics with the wonders of crayon drawing. In other words, the next World of Goo.

7) Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Sega Mega Drive)

Sonic would go for a light jog every morning

Either Sonic 2 or Sonic 3 was the first game I ever played - for the sake of this article, let's assume that it's Sonic 2 so I can get all teary-eyed. Sonic 2 sees the blue blur at his best: Sonic is fast but manoeuvrable, the controls are tight, there is sensible platforming and only one annoying sidekick (that's 90% less than modern Sonic adventures). In a nutshell, Sonic 2 was Sonic at his gaming zenith - it was downhill from here.
If you like this then why not try: Sonic Rush Adventure - it may be a little speed-obsessed but it's still a great 2D Sonic game.

6) Rayman 2 (PC)

I miss ya buddy

Crash Bandicoot. Spyro the Dragon. Lara Croft. All of these heroes made their name on the original PlayStation and are still with us year-in, year-out. One heroic figure who has faded away from public recognition is Rayman - and every time I play his second game I cry a little because of it. Prior to playing Super Mario Galaxy, Rayman 2 was - in my view - the 3D platformer. Astounding visual designs, acres of virtual floorspace, brilliant humour and a plot of truly epic proportions propel Rayman 2 over even Mario's first outing. Virtual Console release please!
If you like this then why not try: Rayman Raving Rabbids: TV Party - so you, too, can weep over how low the long-eared hero has fallen.

5) Star Wars Battlefront / Battlefront 2 (PS2)

Okay, so it's not quite this awesome.
If you're reading LucasArts, SWB3 better be just like this.

My PlayStation 2 has seen some brilliant games, but none have been played quite as much as the Star Wars Battlefront games. Mixing non-violent war mechanics with the characters and locations of the Star Wars universe was a stroke of genius and the "one man in an army" gameplay can feel pretty incredible at times - particularly in the flashier sequel. I can't really make up my mind which is better: the original has incredible maps (mainly due to the Episode III venues being based off concept art rather than the finished film, allowing more game-friendly battlefields to be created) but the sequel has a lot of fantastic add-ons, such as the ability to play as Jedi and Sith. I think I'll have to call it a draw...
If you like this then why not try: Lego Star Wars III: The Complete Saga - it sounds stupid, but after Battlefront you won't find a more enjoyable Star Wars game on a console.

4) Wipeout 3 (PS1)

The game with the lowest boxart:game awesomeness ratio ever

And so my personal battles wage on - F-Zero or Wipeout? Had I played F-Zero GX, I would probably vote for F-Zero (the PS2's Wipeout Fusion was mediocre at best), but having only played the N64 and PS1 versions of the series respectively, I must give this place to Wipeout 3. A killer soundtrack (less memorable than F-Zero's but still awesome), super-fast vehicles, a dazzling array of weaponry and punishing AI (on the higher levels at least) make for one of the best futuristic racers of all time.
If you like this then why not try: F-Zero GX - harder, faster and better-looking: I could do with getting hold of a copy!

3) Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii)

The inhabitants of Dream Land suck at rock-paper-scissors

Brawl didn't win my Game of the Year 2008 award for nothing - no game has spent more hours in my Wii. And my friends' Wii. And my other friend's Wii too. Let's just say that there are very few days when I do not play Nintendo's fighter. Brawl brings people together like only amazing multiplayer experiences can. Throw in the best compilation of soundtracks in a game ever, sprinkle on a few pointless-but-still-appreciated extras (when was the last time you played Subspace?) and top with a delicious serving of fan-service. Just be sure to remove the bay-leaf that is online connectivity...
If you like this then why not try: the original Smash Bros - coming soon (hopefully) to a Virtual Console near you!

2) Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)

This is one of those mind-bending pictures:
Is Mario jumping or just standing further away?

Is there anything left to say about Super Mario Galaxy? It is - without a doubt - the best game on the Wii so far (and probably will remain so unless they plan on making a sequel). Forget your Grand Theft Auto's and Call of Duty's, leave your LittleBigPlanet's at the door and put down that article on God of War III. The best game of the generation is right here.
If you like this then why not try: Tradition would point at Super Mario 64, but I don't actually like that game much (shocking, I know). How about Super Mario Bros 3, the pinnacle of Mario's 2D career?

1) Animal Crossing: Wild World (DS)

If this article goes on any longer,
I may end up acquiring a new nickname...

Was it really going to be anything else? I have spoken on many occasions of my adoration for Wild World and how it was the game that made me a gamer. I believe it to be the best DS game on the market at the moment (although GTA looks set to challenge that record) not only due to the addictive gameplay and extraordinary longetivity (two years straight) but also due to the online play, which remains unrivalled on Nintendo's handheld. It may not be the best game on this list from a reviewer's point of view, but it is undoubtedly my favourite.
If you like this then why not try: Animal Crossing: Let's Go to the City - Wild World's larger (but not necessarily better) cousin. (Speaking of - there's new European DLC out now! Go get it!)

* * * * *

So there you have it - a definitive list of my favourite games ever. Although I've probably missed a few... And, of course, there are plenty of 2009 contenders to the places on this list: GTA:CW, Scribblenauts, Wii Sports Resort, Pokemon Platinum, Mario & Luigi 3, Blast Works, Sin and Punishment 2... and no doubt there will be many more added to that list of potential favourites once the big conferences start rolling in (right in the middle of my exams *grumble, grumble*).

Now over to you - did you enjoy any of the above list? What is your favourite game? Was this celebratory post really worth the hype? (Actually, don't answer that last one) Feel free to share your thoughts in comments or at smash_it_with_a_hammer@hotmail.com. I'll do my upmost to get back to regular posting soon!

Friday's Releases

2009-03-11T00:36:00.008Z

I'm back at home now and it looks like I missed quite a bit of news over the past few days - Capcom shattering the RE dreams of Wii owners once more (but an Umbrella Chronicles-esque RE2 remake sounds pretty darn awesome), Nintendo UK raising the price of the Wii (a fair but still surprising decision) and the ongoing saga of the Change4Life ad campaign (I still reckon it's one colossal misunderstanding that has got way out of hand). With all this negative news around, perhaps it's a good thing that I was away from the GoNintendo comment boards...

Wii

Sonic and the Black Knight
I had it my head that MadWorld was out this week, but I was mistaken. In fact, it's Sonic's turn to shine in Sega's Wii line-up. Sonic and the Black Knight is a follow-up to Secret Rings which was released soon after the Wii's initial launch two years ago. But aside from hand-drawn cutscenes and the many-challenges-on-one-course gameplay, little seems to have been retained from the first entry in the "Storybook Series". Gone is the motion-based steering and Arabian setting: Sonic is now in the land of Athurian legend battlling King Arthur himself.

Those graphics are stunning

Once more we shall run into Sonic's friends in period dress and character, although we shall also get the chance to play as them in the main game as well as the mulitplayer mode. Black Knight has received very mixed reviews with scores ranging from above-average to despairingly poor. Common complaints are aimed at lacklustre motion-control (it is genuine waggle here) and a complete disregard for mainstays of the Sonic gameplay. It really isn't my place to say if this game will be enjoyable or not - I think each player's response is going to be entirely different.

MySims Party (also out on DS)
It seems only a short while since we were discovering the realms of MySims Kingdom, but already EA are launching another title at us, with MySims Racing not too far behind it. Seemingly abandoning everything that made the original such a success, Party embraces minigame content full-heartedly, opting for a more bitesize gaming experience. Steady on there, EA - you're heading mighty close to getting shovelware accusations...

Millenium Series Championship Paintball 2009
Do you want to experience real painballing action without having to suffer several bruises or searching for a suitable wooded area? Well now you can with Championship Paintball: a first-person shooter designed with paintball in mind. I've heard of FPS games having "paintball modes", but an entire game based around a readily-available past-time? What's next - kart racing?!

Also out today:
Job Island: Hard Working People - Seriously, would you buy a game with the words "hard working" in the title?
Grey's Anatomy: The Video Game (also out on DS) - It's the game of the show, only with less teary break-ups and will-they-won't-they love triangles.
Trivial Pursuit - After years of pursuing, trivia hunters take the fight onto the Wii.

Enchanted Folk and the School of Wizadry (US title: Magician's Quest: Mysterious Time)
No, don't run away!! This isn't shovelware - it'sa genuinely exciting premise! Imagine a Harry Potter-like game plot with Animal Crossing gameplay. AC's real-time shops and rotating villagers is a unique and solid gamplay mechanic but one that has never been fully replicated away from Nintendo's popular franchise. Enchanted Folk takes this gameplay and gives it a stronger meaning and story, with classes to attend and items to collect for spells. It's definitely aimed at the younger DS owner but fans of cute, addictive games will probably get a kick out of this too.

Enchanted Folk - where imitation meets flattery

Also out:
Club Penguin: Elite Penguin Force - A DS spin-off of the popular child-friendly MMO. You can earn coins to play in the real Club Penguin whilst you act as a secret agent.
Fashion Designer 2 - In a perfect world, we would get monthly Zelda sequels instead of this rubbish.
Monster Jam: Urban Assualt - Monster truck racing... through city streets?!
Puzzle Quest: Galactrix - Another entry in the classic puzzle RPG series.
Travel Games for Dummies - Solitaire, Sudoku and Chess in one package.
Sam Power: Footballer - Older gamers will want to stick to Pro Evo and Fifa.
Driving Test - Train your way to passing your Driving Theory test.

Picking up a game this week? Do any of the above games take your fancy?
Leave a comment below or drop me a line at smash_it_with_a_hammer@hotmail.com

The A-Z of SpinachPuffs

2009-03-08T17:45:00.004Z

I know that the poll has still got a few hours left to go, but I thought I'd go ahead and do the "longer introduction" option now as a runner-up.

I nicked this idea of my sister's Facebook account (it was one of these "if you get tagged, you have to do it" things) but tweaked one or two to make it slightly less intrusive and added some so that each letter had at least two facts about me. So, without further ado:

A
Available: At all good SpinachPuffs retailers nationwide.
Age: 18.
Annoyance: When films that came out less than a year ago are called "classics" by their advertising (I'm looking at you, Disney!).
Animal: Cats all the way, but I don't mind our dog at all.

B
Beer: I much prefer cider.
Birthday: October 31st.
Body Part on opposite sex: Face, but personality trumps that ten-fold.
Best feeling in the world: Being in God's presence, which is anywhere at anytime!
Blind or Deaf: That's a tough call - blind would remove my ability to play video games, but deaf removes my ability to play guitar. If I had to choose, deaf.
Best weather: Warm with a light breeze.
Been in Love: Yes.
Been on stage?: Only in appalling school plays, though I am part of my church's worship team.
Believe in Santa: There's no chimey on this house so I can't comment.

C
Candy: Liquorice Allsorts - the only material thing I love more than video games.
Colour: Yellow (but I'm not sure why).
Chocolate or Vanilla: Neither - everyone knows that mint choc-chip is the only ice cream worth eating.
Chinese or Mexican Food: Chinese.
Cake or pie: Pie - so many fillings, so little time.
Continent/Country to visit: New Zealand.
Cheese: White Stilton with Cranberries - it's the business.

D
Day or Night: Night - I'm so much more awake.
Dancing in the rain: Actually, I prefer singing in it. If I'm going to dance, it has to be in the moonlight.
Do the splits: You must be kidding (but skip down to U for something freakier...)

E
Eggs: Fried, sunny-side up.
Eyes: Dazzling blue when they're not bloodshot, though photo-evidence is hard to come by - every photo of me has red-eye.

F
First thoughts waking up: zzzzz.....
Food: Mum's Lasagna.
Favourite video games: You'll find out in post #100!

G
Greatest Fear: The final segment from Fantasia (it's freaked me out ever since I was a kid).
Goals: Go to Uni, get a job in Energy, settle down and have kids.
Gum: Does it come in liquorice flavour?
Get along with your parents?: Yes and it's a good thing too - my Uni is local!

H
Handed: Right-handed, though both are pretty nimble thanks to gaming and guitar-playing.
Hair Color: Different shades of blonde depending on weather/when I last washed it.

I
Internet Explorer or Firefox: Firefox (it doesn't screw-up my blog layout for a start!)
Ice Cream: Mint choc-chip ftw!

J
Jewelry: None - not even a watch at the moment (it broke).
Job: Sadly none - unless "amateur blogger" counts...

K
Kids: I'm useless with kids under secondary age - once they can hold their own in a conversation about games/films/music, then I'm fine.
Keep a journal: I guess you're kinda reading it.

L
Longest car ride: Probably 9-10 hours.
Love at first sight: Love at first sight, get-a-grip-on-yourself by the fifth.
Laughed so hard you cried: The Rock Lobster song on Family Guy, Peter Kay's stand-up at the MEN (slow-mo biscuit recovery in particular).

M
Milk flavor: Any.
Movies: If it's animated, I'll watch it.
Motion sickness?: Only when playing Audiosurf for long periods of time.
McD’s or BK: Burger King - those Angus burgers are second-to-none.

N
Nerdfighter: All you need to know is that I am one.
Number of siblings: Four - three sisters, one brother, all weird.

O
Overused phrases: "albeit", ending a spoken paragraph with the phrase "so... yeah".
One phobia: Spiders (but I'm still hoping to get Deadly Creatures).

P
Place you'd like to live: North coast of Scotland.
Pepsi/Coke: Coke.
Perfect Pizza: Pizza Hut's Super Supreme.
Piercings: None.

Q
Quiz show: You can't beat QI.
Quote: "DFTBA" (Don't Forget To Be Awesome) - Hank and John Green (aka the Vlogbrothers)

R
Reason to cry: Animated films.
Reality T.V.: Can't stand the stuff.
Radio Station: GoNintendo Radio.
Roll your tongue in a circle: Easy-peasy.
Ring size: Probably pretty large - I have very big hands.

S
Song: One by Metallica.
Shoe size: 9
Salad Dressing: A nice bit of mayo completes any salad.
Sushi: Never tried it.
Skipped School: I get ill so often that I never need to.
Slept outside: Only in a tent.
Sing in the shower?: Not usually. On the toilet is another story...
Strawberries/Blueberries: Strawberries ftw!

T
Tattoos?: Not a chance.
Time for bed: Any time past midnight.
Thunderstorms: Awesome.
TV: Whose Line is it Anyway? US, Heroes (though I'm feeling pretty "meh" about it right now), Doctor Who.
Touch your tongue to your nose: Yes, but only the very bottom of the nose.

U
Undervalued feature: My monobrow - it's so perfectly formed!
Unique talent: How about... this!:

SpinachPuffs shows you his unique talent

V
Value: Let's see... I would gladly trade myself in for a DSi, so £149.99.
Vacation Spot: Anywhere countryside-ish in Scotland (which is 90% of it).

W
Which one of your friends acts the most like you: Can my sister, Ruth, count?
Who makes you laugh the most?: Myself - my self-esteem is so low that I can laugh myself out of a room.
Worst feeling: Thinking that there's something crawling on you.
Wanted to be a model: If a fashion designer makes a new range for tall-but-ridiculously-skinny men, then perhaps we can talk.
Worst Weather?: Gale-force winds with heavy rain - it gets you wet and breaks your umbrella.

X
X-Rays: My head as part of my orthodontist treatment.
X-Men: Nightcrawler for sure - his teleportation powers can be used to make him fly, go through walls and create amazing opening sequences to awesome superhero movies.

Y
Year it is now: 2009 AD (I didn't get the point of this question)
Yellow: A Coldplay song.

Z
Zoo animal: Llama.
Zodiac Sign: Scorpio, but I'm not really into horoscope stuff.

So there you go - you now know a whole lot more about me!
Looking at the dates, I'm not sure when post #100 will actually arrive - this blog is likely to be out of action now until Friday evening (busy at school and then I'm driving to Manchester for a funeral) which would place post #100 sometime during next weekend. Have a great week folks and keep out of trouble while I'm gone!

Friday's Releases

2009-03-06T20:30:00.003Z

Before getting on with the traditional Friday post, I thought I'd flag up the article I've just posted up over at RagingGamer about the current obsession with retro games and re-releases of ancient titles. You can find it here. Right, no more plugging - on with the post!

Wii

NEW PLAY CONTROL! Mario Power Tennis
Nintendo's GameCube re-release series continues with Mario Power Tennis, a game that fuses the excitement of the court with the world of Mario. The controls are comparative to to a souped-up version of Wii Sports, with your player's swings corresponding to your arm movements - you can even connect a nunchuk for extra precision. Ironically, it is the controls themselves that seem to be the major sticking point for reviewers of the game, with motion-control that can not match even the precision of Wii Sports, let alone the original Power Tennis.

The courts are suitably wacky

But these issues aside, Power Tennis looks to be as great as it was on the GameCube: the characters, the zany courts and game modes are all left untouched and there is even a new "replay" mode thrown in. It seems that if you owned the GameCube original, there is little for you here - if, however, you are new to the game, Mario Power Tennis looks just the sort of game to entice you into "one more game" against your brother.

AC/DC Live - Rock Band song pack
Us poor Europeans are still without Rock Band 2 and anyone who picked up the original game on Wii is left without any DLC opportunities. This song pack is a small remedy to this ailment - a Rock Band edition of AC/DC's live performances. There are 18 live tracks from the band including "Highway to Hell" and "Heatseeker", which - to be blunt - isn't a lot for a £30 disc. Perhaps one for the AC/DC die-hards only...

Also out this week:
Professor Heinz Wolff's Gravity (also out on DS) - Quite why this professor believes that gravity belongs to him, I'm not sure - what I am sure of is that this is a collection of clever puzzles all revolving around gravity.
Army Men: Soldiers of Misfortune (also out on DS) - An army game aimed at the younger demographic. Be warned: IGN give it a 2.5!

Big Bang Mini
Awesome! The boxart moves! Ahem - aside from the incredible lenticular boxart, Big Bang Mini has garnered some extremely positive reviews and is definitely worth the attention of any shooter fan. The entire game is controlled through the stylus - from moving the ship (dragging the sprite across the screen) to firing bullets (flicking the screen in the relevant direction). But don't think that new controls caused the developers to go soft - reviewers report that the action gets as hectic as you would expect, to the point that even shooter fanatics will be challenged. With over 100 levels spread across 10 different environments and online multiplayer, Big Bang Mini gives you plenty of bang for your buck (sorry...).

Awesome.

Also out:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Sacrifice - In the world of video game spin-offs, no franchise is dead forever.
Spongebob Squarepants: Frantic Fry Cook - He may be able to hold ten times more water, but Spongebob is no Mama.
Littlest Pet Shop: Spring - A game with English not good.

That's a wrap for this week. I am happy to report that my pre-order of GTA: Chinatown Wars has been placed (£17 at Amazon!), but I'm expecting it to arrive towards the middle of the week after its release (that's the price of saving thirteen-odd pounds). Rest assured that I'll be letting you know what I think of the game once it is in my hands. Have a good weekend all!

Picking up a game this week? Want to share your thoughts on a game?
Leave a message in comments or email me at smash_it_with_a_hammer@hotmail.com

Gaming for Nothing

2009-03-04T16:45:00.012Z

This post has been many weeks in the making - that sounds hard, but it's mainly consisted of me playing PC games!

Games are expensive - there's no doubt about that. Compare the price of a standard DVD to that of a brand new Wii game and it's easy to understand why video games are a luxury that few can afford on a regular basis. But fear not - even when the world is gripped in a global recession, you can still get your gaming fix through cut-price offers or freeware games. This post celebrates the latter of these remedies.

There are many reasons why freeware games are indisputably awesome, the most obvious being in the name: they don't cost you a penny to play. They are also commonly from smaller developers or one man in his basement and generally come with that refreshing, homemade feel. Sure, some will be very rough about the edges, but dig deep and you can find a whole host of brilliant ideas that would be well worth your cash, had the developer not already offered it for free. I've decided to bring you my pick of the very best the Internet has to offer:

But first...
**DISCLAIMER***: Whilst I have downloaded all of the following games and have found none to contain adware/spyware or other potentially dangerous programs, remember to stay vigilant whenever downloading files from unfamiliar website (I can personally vouch for DigiPen - that's 100% fine). SpinachPuffs accepts no responsibility for any harm, damage or offense that is caused by you downloading these games. Please also be aware that both GTA games (and, to a lesser extent, Toribash) contain graphic violence (and other such naughty things) and are not suitable for children.

The "Delightful Timewasters" Section
Toblo - The Capture-the-Flag game is one that can be found everywhere nowadays: it seems a shooter is not a shooter without a CTF mode thrown in. So, imagine mixing the fun of an open-world CTF game with the cube-based destruction of Boom Blox. Toblo does just this, letting you select one of two cute teams - angels or demons - and throwing you into battle with nothing but ten tiny cubes up your sleeve. These cubes are your ammo for shooting at the opponent and once you run out, you can just pick up some more. "But where from?" I hear you ask; why, from the walls, pillars, trees and other structures that adorn the battlefield, of course! Sure enough, by the time the battle has come to a close, that beautifully field of bricks will be reduced to rubble! Download

The bomb bricks bring down walls in a jiffy

Toribash - If Toblo sounds far too non-violent for you, then perhaps Toribash will appease your appetite for more of the red stuff. Essentially a design-your-own-awesome-Matrix-moves simulator - incorporating turn-based combat and ragdoll physics to great effect - Toribash is easy to learn but ridiculously difficult to master. What's more, the game features full online multiplayer so you can take on the masses from the comfort of your PC. Rumours are that a WiiWare version is in development, though little has been heard on that for a couple of months now... Download

The "Next Big Thing" Section
Synaesthete - Despite having an unpronounceable name, Synaesthete is a brilliant, if basic, platformer/rhythm game. In terms of platforming, there's very little to it - you walk from one 3D room to the next defeating enemies as you go. Instead, it's how you defeat the bad guys that proves so refreshing and new: once enemies are encountered, a row of buttons appears similar to that of Guitar Hero or Rock Band and you play along to the background music using the j, k, and l keys on the keyboard. Every note you hit results in a laser being emitted from your character that will destroy an enemy. The whole game is wrapped up in some very arty, psychedelic packaging which only adds to the experience. Download

Rumble Box - Perhaps taking a leaf out of Toblo's book, Rumble Box is a beat-em-up with a very simple premise: you, a man made of cubes, must fight enemies (also made of cubes) in a large pit until you are able to climb out. As you fight, the remains of your cube-based enemies remain on-screen, piling up until the pit is filled and you can step out. It's a brilliant idea that remains endlessly replayable, even when only two moves are available - throw and punch. It should be noted, however, that slow computers will not stand a chance with this game - my laptop is relatively fast and it suffered very noticeable slowdown by the end of level 2 simply due to the sheer number of on-screen objects. Download

You'd think the enemies would know to back off a bit by now...

The "Hey, Didn't I Have To Pay For You?" Section
TrackMania Nations Forever - The TrackMania franchise - although not as well known as other PC-based properties - is a successful series for good reason: it's one of the best racers available today. Nations Forever (essentially a free portion of the full game United Forever) features only one type of car and location but still throws in full online multiplayer, ridiculously detailed level, car texture and replay editors and a whole host of challenging race courses to sink your teeth into. The game also has a really strong userbase and mod scene, allowing you to experiment with all sorts of themes - from Doom to Mario Kart! Download

Not only is it free, it's also much better than TrackMania DS!

Tower of Goo - If this sounds suspiciously like World of Goo, that's because it is the original prototype for 2D Boy's WiiWare hit. It's basically just the "World of Goo Cooperation" side-game but limited to 100 pieces of goo. Download (direct download)

Grand Theft Auto / Grand Theft Auto 2 - If you are dying to get your hands on the upcoming Chinatown Wars (only two weeks, people - my copy is already on pre-order!), then might I suggest having a go at the original games which are now free to download from Rockstar's website. The only catch: you have to sign up to their mailing list first (but I filled in most of it with nonsense and got away with it - sorry if you're receiving my spam at 42 Yellowbrick Road!). Download (GTA) Download (GTA2) Adults only!

Narbacular Drop - You may never have heard of this student project, but you have most likely heard of the retail game based on its core principles. That game would be Portal, one of the most critically acclaimed games of recent years. Narbacular Drop has many differences (you're a fairy princess trapped in a demon's lair for starters, plus there's no companion cube!) but is still worth a look: after all, it's free! Download

Looks familiar, no?

Cave Story - More like a case of "Hey, won't I have to pay for you?", Cave Story is currently in development for WiiWare but can still be enjoyed in its original form: as a totally free PC game. Mixing basic elements from all the classic genres and series of 2D gaming (in particular, Metroid and Castlevania), Cave Story is a much greater experience than a sum of its borrowed elements and has more playtime than many of the "classic" 2D adventure games. Download

TUMIKI Fighters - I go on about Blast Works like it's the next Zelda but it's not without good reason. The original game on which the Wii title is based is made of old-school awesome and is very challenging. Download

Quake Live - Although not an actual commercial-game-gone-free, Quake Live contains so many similarities with its predecessors that it does feel like a free version of older titles. It's only in its beta stages at the moment, but it's fully online, fully playable and fully free!
Play It Here

Some great places to find loads of free games
GamesRadar's "365 days of free games" (includes browser- and flash-based games too)
DigiPen Gallery (student-created games - home of Toblo, Narbacular Drop and many more on this list)
Various Wikipedia lists: Freeware games, Commercial games released as freeware, Free FPS games

I hope you've found at least one brand new game to enjoy - without parting with a penny!

Got any more recommendations for free games? Feel like sharing your thoughts on any of the above games? Leave a message in comments or email me at smash_it_with_a_hammer@hotmail.com

Some General Blog News

2009-03-04T12:30:00.004Z

Hi all - I like to keep you up-to-date with how things are going here at SpinachPuffs, so I thought I'd give a post over to introducing some new sites that will appear in my "sites of interest" section of the sidebar:

RagingGamer.com
A certain SenorTinman has asked me to participate in a fairly new website called RagingGamer. It's a multiplatform site bringing you daily news for all three consoles. I'll be providing some Nintendo coverage for them, as well as some of my own opinion pieces. Rest assured that this blog will not whither and die due to the change - for starters, any major posts I do over at RagingGamer will probably get their own version/linked post here at SpinachPuffs. Be sure to check on this site from time to time, especially if you dabble in Microsoft and Sony consoles as well!

Nintendo Papercraft
I've been doing papercrafts for a while now and have got a little better at it (emphasis on little). If you ever want to join what is an addictive and hugely satisfying hobby, then Nintendo Papercraft is a great place to start. Almost every Nintendo series is covered here: Zelda, Mario, Smash Bros, Pokémon, Earthbound - even some third-party properties like Sonic and Phoenix Wright are featured here. The site gets a new craft almost daily and all are top-notch and varied in difficulty. All you need is some paper (or preferably printer-friendly card), scissors and glue and you're ready to get started!
(Be sure to check out their links section for more awesome papercraft sites!)

Believe it or not, that's made entirely out of paper!

One Duck's Opinion
I sneaked PsychoDuck's blog onto the list a couple of weeks back, but I feel he deserves a proper introduction. Mr Duck has been running his blogsite for close to two years now and his articles are well worth your time. His posts are usually Nintendo-themed but can take a look at wider areas of gaming. He's Canadian and has an angry rubber duck as his profile image - what's not to like?

While I'm on the topic, don't forget to regularly check out the other sites in the sidebar. You've got World 1-1 - a great Nintendo blog - and multiplatform blog SuperPhillip Central, both of which come with my highest recommendations. GoNintendo is the place to go for all your Nintendo news and features not only a regular podcast but a brand new radio service; I've had a listen and it's totally awesome: I really think this idea could catch on! Last, but by no means least, is WiiFolder, whose regular game tours, previews and features - all in video form - are always great to watch and incredibly informative. If you want to see videos of the latest Japanese Wii releases, WiiFolder.com is the place to go.

Finally, I'm extending the poll's time limit by a few days - there's really no point closing the poll down until I get to post #99!

Have a great day everyone!

Looking Ahead: My Gaming Wishlist

2009-03-03T19:00:00.001Z

He's far too busy, skint and preoccupied with Guitar Hero to get many new titles, but SpinachPuffs is dreaming nonetheless...

This post is simple - a list of my gaming "wants" for the next couple of months. As before, any concerns over cost/space/time are being thrown completely out of the window here - this collection of items is very much a fantasy!

Let's get on with it then!

Deadly Creatures
Whilst older Wii owners revel in the recent slew of 18-rated titles, I am left happily cheering from the sidelines, my tastes being at odds with the content of such games. One "not-for-the-little-ones" game that I am very eager to pick up is Deadly Creatures, arachniphobic or not. Its publisher, THQ, provided me with one of my favourite games of 2008 - de Blob - and Creatures looks like it could hit a similar level of success with me, albeit for very different reasons!

Nintendo DSi
I can still recall the excitement that followed my friends and I the morning after the DSi announcement. Granted, back then we still thought there were two touch screens, but even once that dream had been shattered we were still lapping up every piece of information we could find.

And you thought that the Lite couldn't get any prettier...

Now, with the launch less than five weeks away, I am beside myself once again as I await April 3rd with still-unanswered questions: which DSiWare games will be available? will us Europeans be receiving 1000 free points like Japan did? is the DSi really waterproof to a depth of 50m? (That last one was a joke - please do not attempt to submerge your new DSi in water!) I'm sure all these questions will be put to rest in the following weeks. Roll on April!

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
Its announcement provided the biggest shock of last year's E3 (I suppose, for some, that should be the most pleasant shock...) and now the fruition of Rockstar's labours is only a few weeks into the future. The first fleeting glimpses of gameplay have popped up in the past week and it's looking mighty fine - a souped-up version of the classic GTA's tweaked to take advantage of the DS. This is one 18-rated game that I am dying to get hold of...

Blast Works: Build, Trade, Destroy
Another month passes and still no word on when Europe will see Majesco's side-scrolling, user-created blastathon. A new boxart suggests that it will definitely be with us at some point but considering how troubled things are down at Eidos at the moment, a solid date may be hard to come by for the time being.

Guitar Hero: World Tour instruments
My ears where set ablaze when I heard that separate Guitar Hero instruments would be going on sale in the US. It seems I underestimated my family's interest in the series when I bought the game-only version of GHWT and now I could really do with some extra gear. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that - unlike Blast Works - these stand-alone instruments will make the journey across the Atlantic post-haste!

Amazon's bargain bin
Check this list out: Metroid Prime 3, Okami, Soul Bubbles, Boom Blox, Battalion Wars 2, Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition, GTA: Chinatown Wars (no kidding - it's £18), No More Heroes, Zack & Wiki, Disaster: Day of Crisis, Hotel Dusk: Room 215, de Blob, Tony Hawk's Proving Ground (DS version). What features connect these titles? Well, firstly they are all awesome games and well worth your time and money.

Awesome Wii and DS games for less than £20? How can I say no?!

The second is that they are all available at Amazon (not used or through shady sellers - just Amazon stock or appointed vendors) for under £20 apiece. Yes, even Chinatown Wars. It is sad to see such stellar titles go through such hefty price-drops to generate sales, but it does mean that we - as consumers - can support games that we haven't tried yet (or only gave a rental) without waving goodbye to our savings. The lowest price in the list above? Soul Bubbles, which can be bought for around £8, P&P included. You can even pick up Smash Bros for £21! Why not have a nosey for some of the titles you passed up on launch day - you may save a few pennies and get a great game for your trouble!

PlayStation 2 DualShock controller
What is this?! Talk of a Sony console on SpinachPuffs?!
Remarkably my PS2 is still fully functional, but one of my controllers is no longer so. After the R2 button stopped working, I put on my engineering hat and fixed it. Unfortunately, although the shoulder buttons are now super-smooth, most of the rest of the controller no longer functions and - seeing as the only reason I still own a PS2 is to play on Star Wars Battlefront with my brother - I need to find a new one.

Wii Points Card
My Wii may be as stuffed as a teddy bear, but my lust for downloadable gems is just too strong. There are so many titles that need my attention - Onslaught, LIT (once it gets here), Art Style and whatever the DSi brings with it at launch (Dr Mario please!) - that at least one Wii Points Card (or, as I suppose it should now be called, "Nintendo Points Card") is likely to make it into my hands over the coming months.

Although those amazing Amazon deals are for the UK only, US readers would do well to check out their portion of the site too - I'm sure the titles listed above will be around the same price (if not cheaper - let's not forget that the UK prices have VAT added on). That's exactly why I have never moaned about a lack of games on Wii - there are far too many in the backcatalogue that are yet to enter my console!

Are any of these titles on your wishlist? Which games have caught your eye?
Leave a message in comments or email me at smash_it_with_a_hammer@hotmail.com

Post #100 - Have Your Say!

2009-03-02T11:56:00.003Z

Democratic blogging at its best...

Believe it or not, we are approaching SpinachPuffs post #100 and I'm in the mood for doing something awesome. I've got a ton of ideas milling around in my head, but I'd like you to decide for me. I expect any choices that don't make it will end up being used to celebrate the first anniversary of the site (at the end of August). This list isn't definitive, so if you think of something even better, feel free to leave it in comments:

My Top 10 (perhaps stretching to 20) Games of All Time
Full-length reviews for my favourite Wii and DS games
A long post about myself (warning: I may do this whether you like it or not!)
A different, but still fairly monumental, top 10 list (soundtracks, characters, villains etc - suggestions in comments!)

I'll be posting this up as a poll for ease of use and statistical accuracy, but feel free to go into more detail in comments. I've stuck an "any of the above" option on the poll if you really can't make up your mind. Now, get voting!

New Month, New Banner

2009-03-01T22:36:00.002Z

A real quick post to flag up the new banner - it's a MadWorld vs GTA Chinatown Wars theme this month. Both games look set to set their respective consoles ablaze over the next four weeks - with controversy and - fingers crossed - with praise. I'm almost certain that we will see at least one of the above featuring in a lot of "Best of" lists by the end of the year.

Catch you later!

Friday Releases

2009-02-27T18:22:00.002Z

Another week, another Releases post - let's get to it!

Wii

Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop
It's a zombie double-bill this week - first up, Dead Rising. This port/downgrade/re-interpretation (delete as applicable) of Capcom's hit Xbox 360 title has come under a lot of fire from gamers and, admittedly, it seems as though a lot more effort and money could have gone into this game. But at the end of the day, this game is not terribly awful and certainly not "shovelware" - just not as good as it could have been.

Frank's methods of crowd control were controversial to say the least...
(And, joking aside, that zombie count is pretty decent!)

But looking past the sub-par graphics, questionable enemies and crying hardcore gamers, it does appear that Dead Rising is a lot of fun. You can, for example, dress the hero, Frank West, in a variety of barmy costumes - even stripping him down to his boxers if you're into that kind of thing! A large array of weapons are available, from the obligatory guns to the more creative lawnmowers and shopping trolleys and many of these use motion controls and IR functionality. If you are over the age of 18 and have £30 to spare, Dead Rising may be worth a go - just remember that House of the Dead and the upcoming MadWorld do the whole "fun-filled carnage" thing with a lot more polish.

Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers
Girls. In bikinis. Fighting zombies. This premise alone is enough to have many scrambling for their wallets immediately and Onechanbara goes to great lengths to ensure that their audience has plenty to indulge in.

The downsides? Reviews suggest that the motion controls can be a little troublesome and - despite seeing a budget price in America - it appears that the majority of stores are charging the full £30 for the game, so the content:cash ratio may not be as high as it otherwise would have been. Considering zombies seem to be the new black this season, it's really only the bikini part that may pull the crowds - if this sounds like your kind of game, be sure to look a little deeper!

Also out:
Family Ski & Snowboard
All this talk of zombies and bikinis would lead you to think that the Wii has suddenly become a haven for adult games - fear not, as Family Ski & Snowboard is quick to restore balance (even going as far as to include "Family" in the name). While presentation and content appear to be on the minimal side, the balance board support is sure to be a big draw for Wii Fit owners.

Winter Sports 2009 (also out on DS)
Alternatively, if you prefer your balance-board winter games to be a little less cartoony, Winter Sports might be worth your attention.

Spectrobes: Beyond the Portals
When Spectrobes landed on the DS a couple of years back, some (including myself) were quick to label it as a Pokemon-wannabe. And although the game was clearly aimed at the younger generation as a "lite" RPG, some intelligent tweaks and changes have made this sequel into something worthy of everyone's attention. Spectrobes' main innovation - collecting monsters by using real-life trading cards to activate them via the touch screen - returns, along with improved graphics and a souped-up battle system. If you are a younger gamer looking for a decent RPG to start the ball rolling, you could do a lot worse than Spectrobes - everyone else, just remember that Platinum is on its way in May...

Populous
It's been a long time since the original Populous was released, but very few things have changed. You still use your godly powers to shape the world beneath - both the landscape and its population - through direction, manipulation and divine intervention, all with the goal of defeating the armies of an opposing deity. A new feature specially made for the DS is 4-player multiplayer, opening up a whole new Populous experience.

Let's Play titles
The Imagine series - despite all of its evils - has been producing quite the fair amount of cash for Ubisoft, so it is no surprise to see another company - namely Deep Silver - jumping in to compete. Today sees the release of a new batch of mini-game-based videogames for 6 to 12 year-olds (pah! I was beating Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and Ape Escape at the age of 10!). Out this week are Let's Play Schools, Let's Play Firemen, Let's Play Fashion Designer and Let's Play Pet Hospitals. The shovelware alarm is ringing...

For a cookie shop, that stall sure is lacking in biscuits...

Also out:
Cookie Shop - It's a "GAME Exclusive": never a good sign.
Hello, Pocoyo! - A DS game of the popular (maybe) pre-school show
My Pet Shop - Don't be too quick to judge: Square Enix is behind this one! Can they really show Ubisoft how it's done?
Imagine Ballet Dancer - Spend your money on something more worthwhile: like Billy Elliot!

Picking up a game this week? Do any of the above take your fancy?
Leave a comment or email me at smash_it_with_a_hammer@hotmail.com

Top 10 Under-rated Characters

2009-02-25T20:24:00.008Z

Show the underdog some love, people!

Video games have provided some stellar heroes for the world to aspire to - Mario, Link, Samus and, my own personal idol, K.K. Slider are just some names that spring to mind. But not everyone makes the cut of being hero - some are left playing second-fiddle in the shadow of the protagonist, others simply don't get the same amount of marketing attention to launch their gaming careers. What is certain is that all ten characters below are well worth your applause, even if they are the last people you remember when looking back at games past...

10. Phineas (Animal Crossing: Let's Go to the City)
Animal Crossing is full of zany characters - Tortimer, Lyle, Crazy Redd (clue's in the name) and practically every resident that moves in can all be summed up in one phrase: stark-raving mad. One or two buck the trend and it works really well for them - K.K. Slider just chills every week and has found worldwide fame because of it - but it's a shame to see Phineas receive the cold shoulder. Why? Because he is easily the nicest person you will meet in the world of Animal Crossing. A friendly smile? Check. Free toys? Check. Actually, when I take a step back, I can only see poor Phineas becoming famous through endless paedophile jokes...

9. Anyone who isn't Tony Hawk (Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series)
Chad Muska, Andrew Reynolds, Geoff Rowley, Jamie Thomas, Elissa Steamer. Do you remember these guys (and lady)? I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't, as it was always Mr Hawk who got top billing on the box. Yes, he is probably the world's most famous skater (which is likely attributed more to his video game series than his skating) but that doesn't mean we should shun the others who - in the game at least - can do exactly the same things he can. For the record, I always played as Chad Muska - you've got to love that backpack.

8. The rest of the band (Guitar Hero III)
Guitar Hero is based around one thing: making you - a mild-mannered office-worker from New York (maybe) - into a fret-shredding, face-melting rock god. Whichever game in the series you play, it's all about you. You, you, you. But what about the rest of the band? Spare a thought for your companions who have to nail a plethora of music genres perfectly whilst you slap that plastic strum-bar. And an extra pat-on-the-back should go to the singer, who somehow manages to re-create the vocals of 70+ different artists note-for-note. That guy should go solo!

Even in screenshots, they get stuck with a "back of frame" role

7. Luigi (Mario series)
It wouldn't be a list of under-rated characters without Mario's brother popping up along the way. This poor plumber has been playing second fiddle to Nintendo's mascot since his creation, with only a GameCube launch title and *spoilers!* the second half of Galaxy to truly step out of Mario's shadow. At least there are plenty of ways for Luigi to run rings around his famous sibling if he ever feels the urge: tennis, racing, golf, fighting, board games...

6. The goo (World of Goo)
World of Goo has some smashing humour courtesy of the off-screen Sign Painter whose billboards offer hilarious insights into his thoughts and the actions of the goo. But surely it is the balls of goo themselves who have made this downloadable game into the masterpiece it is - their finely-tuned physics, stunning variety and expressive squeaks make World of Goo a delight to play. And just look at those eyeballs - how can you not find them adorable?

5. Louis (Hotel Dusk: Room 215)
Ask someone about the characters in Hotel Dusk and they will probably go into how cool/attractive Kyle Hyde is and how hot/annoying the silent Mila is (reactions depend on gender). But look back again and think about all those times you smiled, laughed and played corridor-bowling with handy-man Louis. What's more, I reckon that Louis' back-story is by far the most developed in the game, providing some nice banter and quite a few early shocks in Hotel Dusk's twisting plot. And he runs the hotel bar, a qualification that easily puts him on this list.

Louis' ties to Kyle's past made for some interesting plot developments

4. Linebeck (The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass)
Phantom Hourglass is set apart from many of the Zelda games by its tone - this sea-faring adventure is, for the most part, a fun-filled quest with plenty of laughs. But before you start thinking about cel-shaded graphics, why not consider the lazy layabout Linebeck as the source of all the funny? His deadpan observations, complete refusal to take part in anything remotely risky or strenuous and endless bickering with your fairy friend, Ciela, make a fantastic game even more enjoyable. At the end of the day, Phantom Hourglass is more his game than Link's - any chance of a spin-off, Nintendo?

3. Globox (Rayman 2)
In the original game, poor Rayman was all alone. Come Rayman 2, the limbless hero had found a whole host of chums to hang out with, with one particular stand-out: the caring and rather rotund Globox. Not only did he provide plenty of laughs (his rain dance and frequent cowardly retreats from the enemy being memorable highlights), but also a lot of the game's heart: when Globox's children are captured and sent to work in the mines, we feel compelled to make the rescue, questionable vehicle controls be damned!

He may look blue, but Globox never feels it

It's a shame Ubisoft gave all the Rayman characters irritating voices in Rayman 3 as it took away a lot of Globox's warmth and, er, father-figure-ness. If you want a video game model of the perfect late-30s male, you've got him right here.

2. Epona (The Legend of Zelda series)
Sea-based adventures aside, you can always count on Link's trusty steed, Epona, to be right by the Hero of Time's side every step of his quest. But whilst we recall our fairy helpers quite clearly (in some cases, not always for positive reasons), Epona sadly seems to fall into the "tools and items" category in many gamers' experiences. Get the slingshot, get the boomerang, get the bombs, get Epona. That's the way it goes down in the land of Hyrule. Luckily for her, Twilight Princess did change a few things, letting us fight with a sword on horseback (awesome) and giving us Epona right from the start to dampen that "tool" image a little. Just remember folks - an Epona is for life, not just for the end of the world.

1. The entire cast of F-Zero minus Captain Falcon (F-Zero series)
On the Wikipedia page for the characters of the F-Zero universe, Captain Falcon is described as the "poster child" of the F-Zero franchise. And whilst I have nothing against him (the Falcon Punch is truly awesome), it's more than a little strange to see him so highly regarded compared to the 30+ other racers. In fact, Falcon's fame probably has more to do with the F-Zero TV series than the video games he appears in (although his Smash Bros appearances have raised his profile even further). At the end of the day, his opponents are equally - if not, more - accomplished as he is (his ship isn't even the coolest one in the F-Zero garage) and any other racer could easily have made this rise to fame given the chance.

When it comes to racing, Falcon is decidedly average

Have I left someone out? Do you disagree with one of my choices?
Leave a comment or email me at smash_it_with_a_hammer@hotmail.com

A Pictorial Guide Through Werty Q

2009-02-24T21:14:00.018Z

A quick apology to those with slow internet connections - today's post is a little picture-heavy!

Why don't more games make use of the "snapshot" feature? Brawl and Animal Crossing have provided users with a nifty add-on that allows the player to take a snapshot of the screen and save it to an SD card or send it to a friend. In Let's Go to the City, it's as easy as pressing the "1" button on the remote (handy tip - get rid of that annoying HUD by holding B when not aiming at the screen!) but it offers a nice window of opportunity for blog writers such as myself (and SuperPhillip for that matter) to share a few snaps from our villages. Feel free to browse the selection below:

Searching for the money rock is always the first activity of the day

I have a distinct knack for missing fishing tourneys by only a few hours...

It's Single's Awareness Day! Mint sends me a letter to cheer me up

Another daily activity revolves around making Chester's life hell...

The afternoons are spent leaning against Nook's, looking totally chilled

Saturday nights belong to one dog and his guitar.
K.K. may have toned down his views a bit, but he's still flying free!

What's that you say, Pete?

I hate to think what the postage cost...

Who needs episodic content when you can have Pikmin hats?!
(And yes, I designed that shirt myself - it's got Luigi on the back too!)

Time to hit the city - and look who's in the square today!

This guy is officially THE nicest dude in Animal Crossing
Take note, Nook - this is customer satisfaction!

Bubble wands - made of 100% pure awesome

Back at base, I am greeted with great news!

Cut forward to tonight and Festivale is in full swing.
Bluebear is surprisingly good at make-believe penalty shoot-outs!

Of course, there's only one way to end out pictorial
journey: a steaming hot cup of coffee!

A Little Aside...

My opinion of Let's Go to the City seems to have changed a little bit since my review - in fact, it was that Pikmin hat that did it. Wild World is my favourite game ever and obviously very similar to Let's Go to the City, but I play them in totally different ways. The DS game is all about fishing and collecting - that's all I ever really did offline, but I loved it all the more because of it. I come at the Wii iteration completely differently: for me, Let's Go to the City is all about living it. I rarely touch my rod [stop giggling], instead chatting to the neighbours, visiting the city and generally relaxing.

I guess Let's Go to the City is my own AC vacation spot, whereas Wild World is my everyday accommodation. And like a vacation, my visits to LGttC are infrequent, impulsive and short-but-sweet, but I, again, I like it even more because I can treat it that way. It also makes its shortcomings a little easier to swallow. I guess Animal Crossing really can be interpreted in many different ways!

Apologies once again for those with slow internet connections - I thought I'd get these snaps out the way in one post rather than spread the pain over a few of them! Rest assured that the next post should be back to the usual text-based format!

Leave a comment or share your snaps in the comments section or at smash_it_with_a_hammer@hotmail.com

Looking Ahead: Nintendo DSi

2009-02-21T00:39:00.010Z

There was no "i" in "handheld console" - until now

The third day of April. Write it in your diary and shout it from the rooftops - the DSi lands on April 3rd! Ever since its unveiling back in October, Western gamers have been itching for a release date and Nintendo finally came clean this week, announcing that Europe, Australia and America will receive the new handheld in the same week (with Europe getting it two days before the US - who'd have thought?!).

I don't know if you have been as excited as I have since Nintendo's Fall Conference. To be honest, the DSi more or less slipped my mind until Christmas, when my best friends were lucky enough to receive an imported one each. I was lucky enough, therefore, to go hands-on with it, so here are my (somewhat belated) impressions of the Nintendo's upcoming product:

"i" is for Eye
The DSi's most-noticeable new feature has to be the two cameras that now adorn the hinge and top casing of the handheld. The inner camera sits where the Lite's microphone is placed (the DSi's mic is slightly to the side of the camera) and the outer camera is positioned in the bottom-right corner of the lid with an additional LED to show when it is being used - handy for when your troublesome sibling/friend/partner decides to take secret snapshots of you.

Much criticism was made of the cameras' resolution and quality at the original announcement of the DSi, but rest assured - although it may not be particularly high-quality, it is more than adequate for quick snaps or keeping a photo diary (as the DSi software encourages you to do). Those who wish to upload their photos onto laptops and digital photo frames may be a little disappointed - I doubt the photos would look as appealing viewed on a different platform - but viewed on the DSi, the pictures look fine.

The LED shines pink when the camera is on

The built-in software carries more than a passing resemblance to the Wii's Photo Channel, only much more user-friendly and with a truckload of new content. I got the feeling that the DSi's photo-editing software is what many of us have wished the Photo Channel to be and now that photos can be taken and edited straight away - or even before the shutter is closed - users will have a blast messing about with the software.

What's more, the inner camera has already proved its worth as a new form of game control: I had a short play on the new WarioWare game that makes use of the camera as a means of playing microgames and - while still a little rusty - definitely shows that this feature of the DSi is going to be very useful for imaginative developers (although - being pessimistic for a short moment - I can also see a lot of lazily-developed games jumping on the "control it with your body" bandwagon if the DSi really takes off).

"S" is for Sound
The DSi also has a new focus on music and sound: the DSi takes what the Wii's Photo Channel started and runs with it. The Wii made use of AAC tracks stored on an SD card to provide music for slideshows (and a select number of games) - the DSi goes the full mile and includes a music player and sound recorder in the firmware. To accommodate these new features, the DSi now includes better speakers, with higher quality output than the Lite's rather tinny output, and an SD slot of its own for storing music, photos and downloadable games.

The power button has been changed too

I must confess that a lot of the DSi's sound software had me baffled - I can't read Japanese and neither can my friends - but I had a fair go at messing about with the various buttons. The sound recorder can take short snaps of your voice - not very useful for taking lengthy notes, but that's not really the idea behind this feature. Instead, the software includes a host of different effects to make you giggle like a child - from the expected (robotic modulators) to the insane (parrots?). The music player includes a similar feature by which you can change the speed and pitch of the song playing - an addition that is guaranteed to put a smile on your face.

I am guessing that the biggest question many people want answered is "can it be used as an MP3 player?". Yes, it can, so long as you don't mind a little work beforehand. The only file type supported by the DSi is AAC (presumably for the sound effects, though the Wii's Photo Channel had a similar obsession with the format), so this will likely require a lot of faffing about with converting software before you can actually get the songs onto the handheld. The size of SD card supported may also be an issue for some - I cannot explicitly state the restrictions, but considering the Wii is limited to 2GB cards only, I am presuming that the DSi is under a similar rule. Lastly, the DSi's size - although a little smaller than the Lite - obviously makes it a less-than-ideal choice for music-playing alone, but none of these drawbacks prevent the DSi from being a potential listening device.

"D" is for Downloadable Content
The last major upgrade included in the DSi is its online capability. Taking yet another leaf out of the Wii's book, the DSi now includes access to the DSi Shop and - you guessed it - DSiWare. Some of the titles I tried out included the new Opera Browser (which is available free and is actually pretty good), the aforementioned WarioWare game, the Moving Memo Pad application (when I say "tried", I should actually say "pressed random buttons until I was utterly confused" - the tutorial for this complex app was in Japanese!) and a new Art Style title called Aquario (also quite confusing, but I got the hang of it quite quickly).

If these are just the tip of the iceberg, then the DSi is worth buying just for access to the DSi Shop - although some may not be as polished as others, all show off the great potential that could be unleashed on DSi owners in the future. If Nintendo make it easier for smaller developers to get a look-in as well, we could see some truly unique titles make their way onto the platform.

DSiWare could well be the DSi's strongest addition

"Nintendo" is for Incremental, But Admirable, Updates
Although the cameras, speakers, SD slot and DSi Shop are definitely the stand-out features, the DSi has a few more upgraded items that may be harder to spot at first. The screens, for example, are a bit bigger than the DS Lite, but - to be blunt - the increase is hard to notice unless you hold it up to a DS Lite.

The stylus, too, has seen an increase in length by 4.5cm. I'm not quite sure why Nintendo felt the need to change the stylus length - and, in fact, this means that DS Lite styli may be of no use to DSi owners. Who can fathom the inner workings of Nintendo's mind? The power button and LEDs have also been re-arranged: the power button is now a proper button and sits below the d-pad (don't worry - it's almost impossible to accidentally press it) and the LEDs are now on the left hinge, representing wireless, charge status and power.

Those new LEDs are different colours too

The overall presentation of the handheld is different too. The DSi has slightly different dimensions to the Lite, being a little taller when opened up, but ultimately thinner thanks to the removal of the GBA slot. The finish is now matte instead of shiny, meaning that sticky finger marks are a thing of the past. The DSi will also come in a choice of two colours - white or black in Europe and blue or black in the US. If you really wanted to know, I'm going for the white.

Finally, word on the street is that the DSi's inner workings are actually a lot more powerful than the original DS', meaning that - if developers take advantage of this fact - the DSi could run its own bigger, faster and exclusive titles that would be DSi-exclusive: an exciting prospect indeed. This excitement is further increased when you consider the applications of the DSi's other features: motion-control via the outer camera, body-control via the inner camera, in-game music playback and external save files thanks to the SD slot - all we need now is a team of developers to go wild with these new features!

Is it Worth a Purchase?
To be honest, it's not my place to say. One hundred and fifty pounds is a lot of cash - especially in times like these - and whether or not you should make the upgrade is a choice you will have to make for yourself. Some outlets are already suggesting ways to make it easier for you - Game is offering half-price DSi's to anyone who trades in their old one (an offer I may take up) - but even £75 is a lot of money to part with.

Personally, I reckon that two cameras, better speakers, access to a potential haven of handheld amusements, a music player AND the biggest handheld system in the world this moment is well worth £150, so if you haven't jumped on the DS bandwagon yet, this could be the perfect opportunity. Would I go as far as to pay £150 for what is essentially a DS upgrade? Yes - I think I would, if only in the hope that the DSi could well become a new platform altogether (and for more on that, be sure to check out PsychoDuck's thoughts on the DSi).

I'll see you in the queue on April 3rd!

I'd like to say a huge thankyou to my two good friends for letting me mess about on their DSi's - you're the best guys!

Got any thoughts on the DSi? Will you be picking one up this April?
Leave a comment or send me an email at smash_it_with_a_hammer@hotmail.com

Friday's Releases

2009-02-20T19:45:00.004Z

It's that time of the week again...

Wii

Nerf N-Strike
If you are a male member of the species, chances are that you have got hold of a NERF blaster at some point in your lifetime (after all, 6 million blasters were sold last year alone - that's a lot of foam darts!). NERF N-Strike is a sort of double package, containing a fully-functioning blaster for real-life shooting and a Wii game featuring 22 minigames for a virtual NERF experience. The blaster can be used both as a normal dart shooter and a shell for the Wii remote.

I don't know about you, but I would be using
the real gun waaaay more often than the game

As far as the game is concerned, it is definitely aimed at the younger male, but doesn't look too bad - the graphics are decent, there's a bit of variety in the minigames and even room for multiplayer light-gun action. Just don't expect it to be matching House of the Dead (although that blaster could come in handy for playing Overkill.... hmmm....)

Rogue Trooper - A video game inspired by the worlds and characters of 2000AD. Be warned - it's an Xbox port, though the original was received with generally positive reviews.

Dragon Quest V: The Hand of the Heavenly Bride
If you're a JRPG fan, you really have it easy at the moment. It seems that a week cannot go by without one company or another re-releasing an RPG classic from yesteryear onto the DS, many of which have never been seen in the UK before. Dragon Quest V is such a title, but does it still stand up 17 years after its first release?

Short answer: yes. It may only be a week since DS owners got hold of Chrono Trigger, but Dragon Quest V is yet another title that RPG fans really should get hold of. Then you have a couple of months to finish both before Pokemon lands. Good luck!

Eledees: The Adventures of Kai and Zero
When Eledees (that's Elebits to American readers) landed on the Wii back in 2007, it didn't make much of a splash sales-wise, despite fairly positive reviews. Still, the series is back for more, only this time on the DS and with a new top-down perspective (the original had a first-person viewpoint).

In the game, you must explore several different worlds so that you can return to your own universe. Lifting rocks, shaking trees and solving puzzles are the orders of the day, as only then will you find all the Eledees you need to take the interdimensional bus back home. If you were a fan of the first game, this is definitely worth a look.

* * * * *

And - believe it or not - that's your lot for this week! A quieter Friday than most this season, but worry not - there will be plenty to talk about next week! Of course, Nintendo's fitness game Walk With Me was supposed to be released today, but has been delayed due to production issues.

Hopefully I'll have something for you to read this weekend - after all, what with the DSi release dates and wave after wave of new game announcements, there is plenty to cover! Have a great weekend folks!

Picking up a game this week? Any of these titles take your fancy?
Share, comment and query in the box below or send your thoughts to smash_it_with_a_hammer@hotmail.com

A Colossal Mountain of Breaking News

2009-02-18T18:43:00.004Z

SpinachPuffs serves you up his thoughts on the latest gaming buzz...

DSi American Date Confirmed/New DSi Colour for America
Rumours have been flying for a few days now and Nintendo finally came clean on the release date for their latest handheld - the Nintendo DSi is arriving on April 5th in the US. This makes me slightly upset: Nintendo practically assured European gamers that we would be receiving the DSi this Spring (before the US). Conversely, this announcement invigorates my hopes for the DSi seeing a release alongside Pokemon Platinum, due out here on May 22nd.

The new announcement also brought with it news of a brand new DSi colour, exclusive to the US (for now, at least). It's... er... blue. That's really all I can tell you as this particular shade of blue defies explanation. It's too dark for sky, but to light for dark, definitely not navy and not quite turquoise either. No, this DSi is DSi Blue. This means that the US will be missing out on the white DSi (again, for now) which makes me wonder what colours will make it to Europe... Perhaps all three, as a way of saying sorry for serving us last again. Make it so, Nintendo!

Dead Space Wii Goes on Rails, Riots Ensue
I think everyone was shocked when EA first unveiled their plans to release a Dead Space game on Nintendo's shiny white box - Dead Space was one of the biggest games of last year and secured itself a place as a milestone of violent gaming (strategic dismemberment, anyone?).

This shock was soon turned to a mixture of surprise, disdain and genuine horror as IGN announced that Dead Space: Extraction will be an on-rails first-person prequel detailing how the ship you explored in the original managed to get so screwed up. Many Wii owners are already howling and screaming over how EA have put two fingers up at Nintendo after promising such glorious content, but I - as always - remain completely optimistic.

First of all, EA have done a sensible thing in avoiding any attempt to port over or remake the original. Dead Rising shot itself in the foot before it was even announced by attempting to emulate the same story in a game that had very different ideals - had it gone for a new story (even just the same basic plot in a different town with new characters) it may have been a lot easier for gamers and critics to give the title a chance. Extraction is playing it safe by giving us a whole new story to accompany the new gameplay mechanics - a decision that should make it more appealing to the hardcore gamer, prone as he is to bitter and defensive arguing (though this seems not to be the case so far).

The game's developers are promising that Dead Space: Extraction will push the Wii hardware like no game before it - both in terms of controls and graphics. I can definitely see the appeal of using the remote's pointer to slice-and-dice enemies - and Motion Plus support would be the icing on the blood-splattered cake. The graphics in the teaser trailer look stunning, but we will have to wait for solid gameplay evidence before passing judgement on EA's claims over their superior quality (and with The Conduit coming very soon, EA may have quite a hurdle to jump).

Dead Space is definitely not my type of game - too many scares and far too much blood for my gaming tastes - but I can fully understand the desire for titles like these. I'm hoping that once people get over the fact that the game is on-rails, they will share in my optimism for this new title, due out this Autumn in the States. As anyone who has played Metroid Prime will know, a change in perspective sometimes requires a change in perspective to fully come to terms with.

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games Announced
A piece of slightly older news, but one that is sure to have people talking for a while. After the mega-selling combo of Mario and Sonic back in 2007, Sega have announced a follow-up to coincide with the 2010 Winter Olympics (although the game will ship in time for Christmas 2009). As before, the game will be appearing on both the Wii and DS and will use the unique hardware on both systems to bring fun-filled - and exhausting - entertainment for all to enjoy.

I really loved the first Mario & Sonic title, but it got very repetitive quite quickly. Here's hoping that Sega address this issue with some online multiplayer. Although it is not officially confirmed yet, it would be of no surprise to see Balance Board support also come into play here on Wii - and, who knows, perhaps a little camera support for the DSi as well!

Sports already confirmed for the Wii version include skiing and speed-skating. I can definitely see more remote and nunchuk waggling for the speed-skating, with the slalom ski event going down a more precision-based route. As for the DS, snowboarding and bobsleigh are the only sports announced so far, but again I can see the DSi's camera as a key contender for bobsleigh-control, providing pseudo-motion-control. Screenshots confirm that most of Sonic and Mario's pals are back for more - Luigi, Shadow, Bowser, Tails, Waluigi, Yoshi, Blaze, Peach, Daisy, Eggman and Knuckles are all definitely present, but you can definitely count on Wario and a few more of Sonic's pals joining them before November.

I'd be really interested to hear your comments on any of these stories, but particularly Dead Space. Feel free to leave your thoughts, feelings and comments in the box!

When Was the Last Time You Played... Elite Beat Agents

2009-02-17T20:02:00.008Z

Here's another new theme that I thought up whilst on my January hiatus. In a nutshell, these threads will look back at games released a few years back that aren't quite old enough to be called "old" but have definitely moved away from the public eye. First up: Elite Beat Agents!

The Facts
What? Elite Beat Agents is a Western reinvention of Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan and as such shares almost all the gameplay features of its Japanese cousin. On-screen icons must be tapped, spun and slid with the stylus along to pop music (just cover versions, sadly). To tie the whole game together, your success is translated into the actions of the Elite Beat Agents - superspies who tackle a wide variety of problems through the power of song and dance. Really.

Who? EBA was developed by iNiS and published by Nintendo.

When? The game was released at the end of 2006 in the US, reaching European shores in July 2007.

You must hit each marker as its outer circle meets the inner circle

Why it Was Great Back Then
Elite Beat Agents' most prominent feature is the gameplay itself; video games have provided many ways of playing along to songs, but EBA's tap-and-slide technique is perfectly tuned to the abilities of the DS and is - in my opinion - the best mechanic to be found in a music game. In fact, the mechanics are so great that they have gone on to appear in many other DS games - Sonic Chronicles to name just one.

Whilst a song plays, three different icons can appear: a normal circle must simply be tapped once the outer circle meets the inner circle (sounds complicated, but it's actually very simple); a circle with a bar attached must be tapped and then slid across the bar at the correct speed; finally, should a giant wheel appear on the screen, the stylus must be used to spin it as fast as possible for big bonus points (a song generally finishes with a giant wheel). You are graded for each icon hit - 300 points for a perfect match, 100 if you nearly made it, 50 if you were pretty far off and nothing if you missed the icon completely. A progress meter also keeps track of your performance - all you have to do is finish the song without it hitting zero: miss too many icons and it's game over.

Song lists are very important to any music game - you can make the mechanics as perfect as you want, but if no-one likes the music then your game is not going to get get picked up. To be honest, Elite Beat Agents' only major weakness is its line-up of hits. The majority of the songs are taken from the "golden-oldies-and-disco-tunes-that-everyone-can-hum" and "recent-hits-that-many-people-know" sections of the jukebox, which - for the most part - is perfectly fine. Playing YMCA whilst three suited agents breakdance seems like a perfectly obvious combination and it's one that suits the feel of the game brilliantly. Where the song list starts to falter is in the shoe-horning of the "new" music: I am referring to Avril Lavigne's Sk8r Boi and Ashlee Simpson's La La that stick out like sore thumbs in an otherwise brilliant soundtrack.

Helping a Spielberg-lookalike is one of the more sensible tasks in this game

Perhaps Elite Beat Agents' most unique twist lies in its ridiculous cast of characters and storylines. One mission sees you helping a magician to stop a gang of thieves robbing the casino he works at; another chronicles the attempts of a burly delivery man to squash the kissing-zombie uprising via a machine gun filled with peanuts. Somehow "bizarre" doesn't quite cover it. Perhaps craziest of all is the final unlockable bonus once all the missions are complete - believe me, the resulting distasteful scenes will take many weeks to remove from your mind!

All in all, Elite Beat Agents can stand tall as an example of how to make a music/rhythm game on the DS - no other DS game has even come close to taking EBA's crown.

Why It Deserves Another Look
The music/rhythm genre has got a little stale recently with its plastic instruments and copy-and-paste gameplay mechanics. Elite Beat Agents arrived before all this Guitar Hero/Rock Band same-iness and still stands head-and-shoulders above a lot of rhythm games. There is no "note highway" or arrows to step on. The songs contain no three-minute solos or finger-shredding licks, but neither is the song list crammed with Disney Channel rejects. This animal is a very different beast to the current rhythm game trend.

But the main reason you should be frantically searching for the EBA game cart again is that it remains just as challenging to experienced players as it did the first time you booted up the game. You just try playing Jumpin' Jack Flash on Hard Rock mode without screwing it up the first dozen times. Time may be a healer but it can also be a skill-diminisher and this is definitely the case with EBA. The songs require a great amount of memorization, good reflexes and top-notch hand-eye coordination; tackling the harder levels is quite a challenge but never one that gets overly-frustrating (just occasionally painful).

So what are you waiting for? Elite Beat Agents is the best DS game for putting a smile on your face no matter how you are feeling (unless you play the Christmas level - in that case, get the tissues handy!). Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to freeing the Earth from alien invasion...

Once I get hold of a copy of ONM, I'm hoping to give my thoughts on the new Mario & Sonic game. I've also just heard that one of the comments I made on the ONM website has made it to print - two excellent reasons to grab hold of the latest issue. Catch you soon!

Leave a comment in the box or email it to me at smash_it_with_a_hammer@hotmail.com

Friday's Releases

2009-02-13T18:59:00.007Z

I've decided to mix-up the way I do releases posts a bit - now, I'll do longer sections for a select few games and then a list of "other titles" that are out this week. This should save me from having to pretend I know loads about games I've never even heard of!

Wii

Deadly Creatures
Ugh... spiders - I hate them. I wouldn't call myself a friend of the six- or eight-legged world, so quite why I am so excited about the release of Deadly Creatures is beyond me. In short, it looks like one heck of a great game: crisp visuals, great audio and a genuinely original idea combine to make one must-have title. If I had the cash, it would be in my hands already!

Deadly Creatures sees you taking control of a tarantula or a scorpion as they crawl about doing what they do best - which is generally killing and eating things. Seeing as life-like crawlers are not the most emotive characters, the game also has a fantastic side-story featuring two human characters (voiced by Dennis Hopper and Billy Bob Thornton) involving deceit, murder and a pile of Spanish gold.

As cliched as it is to say this, Deadly Creatures is the type of game that hardcore gamers need to buy. It's just one of several "mature" titles out this season, but seems destined to be lost as a niche game, coming up against several 18-rated kill-athons (Dead Rising, MadWorld and the one below). Do not let this happen!

Due to the violent nature of HotD and the arachniphobic nature
of myself, I shall use this picture to represent these titles

House of the Dead: Overkill (Collecter's Edition also available)
What is it with video games and zombies? Yes, zombies are both scary and truly awesome simultaneously but this doesn't quite equate to the sheer number of appearances they make - or the number of series built on their undead shoulders. House of the Dead - Sega's classic arcade lightgun series - had a pretty sweet success with its Wii release, so it is no surprise to see the zombie horde advance towards us once more.

Only this time it's different: gone are the days of attempted seriousness - welcome to House of the Dead, 70s style! Inspired by the Grindhouse drive-in movies of yesteryear, Sega has embraced their series' accidental cheese and made a game so outrageously violent, foul-mouthed and, well, bad that it is sure to either shock or endlessly entertain. That 18 certificate is not for show - the red stuff is quickly flying all over the place, matched only by the blue air spewing from your human sidekicks. For a "mature" game, Overkill is surprisingly immature...

Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution 2 - European Version
I know very little about Naruto, except for the fact that I "should totally watch it". This gaming spin-off is an arena fighter set in the Naruto universe with over 30 characters and many locations to batter your opponents in. The visuals look rather splendid, as does the option to use a GameCube or Classic Controller for old-school fighting. This should certainly avoid any chances of dodgy motion control (I'm not sure how it plays, but the controller options should have you covered whatever the case). But quite why the "European Version" subtitle had to be added to this release, I am not certain...

Other titles out this week:
Disney's Bolt - Every animated film needs its video game counterpart, so here is the Wii game based on Disney's latest CGI flick.
Hotel for Dogs - Continuing the canine movie theme, this is the spin-off for the live-action movie Hotel for Dogs. Don't hold me to this, but I smell a minigame collection...
Pitfall: The Big Adventure - Sadly not an Animal Crossing spin-off.
Ben 10: Alien Force - Cartoon Network's shape-shifting hero also gets the spin-off treatment.
World Championship Sports - Does exactly what is says on the tin.
Little League World Series Baseball - The chances of this selling well in the UK are close to the chances of me hitting home run...
Pirates Hunt for Black Beard's Booty - It's probably at the top of his peg-leg.
Block Party - Warning! Questionable minigames alert!
Petz: Monkey Madness - So bad it doesn't have a page on Metacritic
Monkey Mischief - I totally forgot that February 13th is National Monkey Day!

Bomberman 2
Hudson's favourite mascot seems to do the rounds on the DS almost every year, but the misleadingly titled Bomberman 2 (his fourth DS game on the market) is supposed to be the best of the bunch. It seems that Hudson may finally have solved the riddle of making a decent single-player experience out of the cute explosives expert. What's more, with the tried-and-tested multiplayer now online (I think I'll say that again - ONLINE!), Bomberman 2 is definitely worth a look.

Remember kids, setting your hands ablaze is not a good idea

Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon
According to the Game website (my source for my weekly Friday posts), European gamers are finally getting hold of Rune Factory this week, a game that has already seen a sequel overseas. In a nutshell, Rune Factory is a rethink of the classic (and, may I say, tired) Harvest Moon series, mixing in RPG elements to the exciting farming gameplay. If you are a Harvest Moon fan, this should be top of your list.

Other DS titles out this week:
Disney's Bolt - Same as before, the game of the film, only this time on a handheld!
Hotel for Dogs - Once again, this is the DS version of the movie spin-off.
Ben 10: Alien Force - Are you getting the picture by now?
Petz: My Kitty Family - The word "kitty" here is actually rhyming slang...
Petz: My Monkey Family - It took them long enough! Now everyone can enjoy the company of my brothers and sisters.

And that's a wrap for this week! Have a good weekend everyone - I shall be doing my best to get a post up over the coming days. Oh, and to anyone who has the pleasure, have a fun half-term!

Picking up a game this week? Any of the above take your fancy?
Leave a comment in the box or email me at smash_it_with_a_hammer@hotmail.com

I Called It!

2009-02-12T15:45:00.003Z

Either Activision reads my blog or they really are THAT predictable...

You may (or may not) recall me kicking off a new post theme called "Fake Games You Can Believe In" with a look at Guitar Hero: Greatest Hits. In a nutshell, I predicted that Activision would release a compilation game of all the best songs from the GH series souped up for all the new World Tour instruments. I also theorized that the game would land in Summer 2010 (the usual band-only slot, it seems).

Well, guess what? I hit it bang on the nose! Take a look at an extract from a news update from GoNintendo...

Activision announces Guitar Hero: Greatest Hits
and a "major restage" for the franchise

I got worried…I thought Activision was going to let the Guitar Hero franchise age gracefully! According to the company’s conference call from earlier today, that just isn’t happening. Activision has announced that Guitar Hero: Greatest Hits is on the way. This game will feature full-band versions of tracks that appeared in previous Guitar Hero games. That title is set to come out this Summer.

Also coming this Summer is Guitar Hero On Tour: Modern Hits, which we’ve known about for quite some time. Activision is yet to officially announce the game, but I’m sure they’ll take care of that formality very soon.

Last, we have some news on the next, true entry in the Guitar Hero franchise. Activision is planning a “major re-stage” of the franchise with “all new differentiated Guitar Hero products”…whatever that means. Expect that title to hit sometime before the year closes out.

Thanks to everyone that sent this in!

Link

When this game is due, the platforms it will appear on and which songs will be chosen for a second playthrough are all currently unknown. All we do know is that I have an incredible sense of foresight that has laid dormant for the past 18 years!

Leave a comment or query in the comment box or send it to smash_it_with_a_hammer@hotmail.com

Review - Animal Crossing: Let's Go to the City

2009-02-10T19:19:00.012Z

We come to it at last...

Animal Crossing: Let's Go to the City
Developer: Nintendo EAD
Publisher: Nintendo
Genre: Simulation
Age Rating: 3+
Controllers: Remote, Nunchuk, USB keyboard
Other: Wi-Fi Connection, WiiConnect24 and Wii Speak support

Animal Crossing means a lot to me - Wild World was the game that made me a gamer. K.K. Slider is something of a canine idol (seriously, he's awesome) and for two years I spent more time on the DS fishing than I did on any other game combined - and that's not an exaggeration.

I was fully expecting Let's Go to the City to have much of the same effect on me, but as a matter of fact I have barely touched the game since its release two months ago. Sure, I've been popping in regularly to weed, shop and sell but there are no five-hour fishathons, no sleepless nights over the state of my flowers and no tears when my favourite neighbours pack up and leave. What went wrong?

Woah, Deja Vu!
Right from the start, it is clear that Let's Go the City is a another slice of the classic Animal Crossing formula. DS connectivity aside, the opening is more or less exactly what we have seen before (only Wild World owners will have the pleasure of having their first decent conversation with Rover outside of a cafe). There are a few little changes - you can pick which of the four empty houses you want to own, for example - but all in all the first hour of play will be identical to the beginning of both Animal Crossing and Wild World.

Once free of the tyrannical grip of Tom Nook - your town's ambitious store owner - you can set about living the free life. It may come as a surprise to AC newcomers, but that's it - the bossing is over: you can do whatever you feel like doing from here on out. At first, the sheer choice of things to do will leave you spoiled: grab a rod and go fishing, pay the tailors a visit, plant some flowers and trees, design some new clothes, raise a bit of cash for the mortgage, build a snowman, hunt for fossils, decorate your house, chat with the neighbours or just walk around aimlessly - you really can do anything you want.

All of these screens were taken by me with the snapshot feature

Sad to say, Animal Crossing veterans will quickly discover that the day-to-day tasks are very much unchanged, with no major additions save the titular city itself (which I'll come to in a minute). Wild World owners may be glad to finally lay their hands on a few of the GameCube version's features - I, for one, am glad not to be sharing a house with three siblings anymore - but, again, will find that little has been added to their day-to-day routines.

One Size Fits All
Of course, everyone will be excited to explore a brand new town in which to reside and with more neighbours than ever before, you have plenty of acres at your disposal. In fact, the new town size is probably at its optimised best - large enough to feel spacious but small enough to prevent you from engaging in short marathons to reach the other side. All the regular public buildings return - the town hall, Nook's store, the tailors and the museum are all present and correct - bringing with them the usual cast of quirky animals who are eager to serve.

Animal Crossing is - and always has been - a series built on user-interpretation. Some players will obsess over every last detail, collecting every single piece of furniture, fish, insect, fossil and painting until they simply run out of things to do; others may prefer a more relaxed method, taking collecting in their stride. As always, Let's Go the City's greatest strength lies in this multi-tasking nature, appealing to practically anyone.

Take Me Down to the Paradise City...
As the title may suggest, the biggest addition to Animal Crossing this time round is the city - a bustling epicentre humming with the hubbub of shoppers, stylists and artists. The services on offer are a mix of old and new: Harriet and her beauty parlour is a permanent fixture there (Nookington's back wall looks very bare...); Dr Shrunk gives therapeutic performances at the theatre to teach you new emotions; Lyle - Wild World's creepy lawyer - now mans the front desk at the Happy Room Academy; Gracie has made it big with her own (somewhat pricey) fashion megastore; both Crazy Redd - black market salesman extraordinaire - and Katrina the fortune-teller reside in slightly-creepy back alleys. On the new side of things, there is now an auction house run by a Lloyd the gyroid, street-kid Kicks can change your shoe colour and a strange man named Phineas offers gifts of balloons, windmills or bubble wands.

Rest assured that a trip to the city will quickly suck the bells of you if you spend recklessly - moderation is the key if you want to come anywhere near to paying off that mortgage. Perhaps most exciting of all (for me, at least) is the trips to and from the city, where players can have a chinwag with the best pirate-talk video game character of all time: Kapp'n! Yes, the old sea-turtle has been upgraded from a one-off role as your taxi driver in Wild World to the commander of the game's one-and-only bus. His chats never fail to place a smile on your face and are surprisingly varied too.

Christmas is made even more awesome by Arwings...

Ch-ch-ch-changes!
By now, it is probably clear that I am a little irritated over the lack of new features in Let's Go to the City. Perhaps I started out a little harsh - there are, in fact, quite a few clever additions and tweaks to the gameplay that only come to your attention one or two months down the line. Some are easier to spot than others, such as being able to design all four sides of your shirt rather than having the one image copied and pasted to the back and sleeves automatically. Others are far better hidden or only show their heads once in a blue moon. Take the new character interactions, for example: it took seven weeks for me to discover an amusing scenario where a character drops their keys in the river, forcing you to fish around until you find it for them. I know for a fact that a similar "hide and seek" interaction can also occur now and again and it would not surprise me if more of these "chance happenings" existed.

One more-than-welcome inclusion from the original GameCube title is the return of real-life holidays. Yes, they still have stupid names (e.g. Christmas = Toy Day), but they are much, much better than the monthly Yay Days and singing holidays that littered the Wild World calendar. Toy Day, Bunny Day (Easter) and the Harvest Festival (Thanksgiving) all come with their own special characters to entertain you for one day only. These special events are a great excuse to continually "get back into" the game and, with at least one or two popping up each month, you never really leave! What's more, Let's Go to the City goes one step further and offers regional holidays: we Europeans are the only ones to celebrate Midsummer's Day, for example.

...Where The Grass is Green (and Nook's is open)
For all these great little inclusions, though, there are also a few really bad ones. Anyone who has played this game for a month or so will know what I mean by "the grass problem" but for those who do not, here is a run-down. Let's Go to the City has a feature where by which the grass in your town erodes, forming pathways according to where you run about. This, on paper, sounds like a genius idea - in fact, I remember being very excited about it shortly before release. But excitement soon turns to despair as your once luscious lawns turn to dust in a matter of weeks - and there is nothing you can do to stop it (refraining from running will slow the process, but it happens all the same). I know that this is a major sticking point to some players but I am not so hurt by it - I never was one for keeping my town looking pretty, even on Wild World, so this feature is just water under the bridge to me.

Nookington's is great - its opening times aren't

No, my biggest gripe comes in the form of Tom Nook's new opening times. See, I am a bit of a night owl and - particularly in the case of Animal Crossing - I prefer to play single player games when the rest of the house has hit the hay. Imagine my glee when I discovered that Nook's first upgrade brought with it a closing time of one in the morning! No more would I have to set the clock backwards for my late-night fishing sprees! Then the bitter truth dawned on me - this closing time is for that store only - the final, lasting upgrade closes at 9pm. Nine in the evening?! Some people don't get back from work until then! Not even my sneaky trick of keeping the clock a few hours behind would help me - a midnight closing time would enforce a midday opening time, bringing problems of their own.

I cannot be certain, but I think that it is this singular feature that has - thus far - prevented me from digging deep into the treasures of this Animal Crossing game. For others, I'm sure that "the grass problem" will have had the same effect.

Let's Talk
The final new addition is probably the biggest and it comes in the shape of a domed microphone (which can be bought with the game or in a separate package) called Wii Speak. In short, it works rather splendidly provided you follow the various guideline outlined in the instructions. Once set up, you can speak to your friends as you visit their town via the magic of the Wi-Fi connection. Online interactivity is, once again, virtually unchanged from Wild World, save this voice chat and the fact that villagers can roam around whilst your gate is open. Still, so long as this online service remains lag- and glitch-free (unlike on the DS), I will not complain - it may be simplistic, but it is very effective and is probably second only to Mario Kart in terms of online gameplay.

WiiConnect24 also allows for a splurge of new (but not so amazing) features, which are nice, but a little restricted. Messages can now be sent to anyone on your friend roster or in your Wii address book (that includes email and mobiles!), but the service is limited to only one or two messages a day - try and send a picture to your friend's Wii and that's all you'll be sending for the next 24 hours. The aforementioned Auction House is shared between those on your roster, but not with anyone else. This means that - unless your roster is packed with names - your auction house will remain pretty vacant. I understand - and fully endorse - friend code limitations when it comes to Animal Crossing's close-quarters interaction, but to limit places such as the Auction House with these measures is stupid.

It's nice to see the weird TV shows return

Finally, periodic DLC is included to keep people interested (the Pikmin hat was made available to European players last Friday). If Nintendo continue to release these items regularly, this downloadable content will likely become one of Let's Go to the City's strongest features.

The Final Word
When push comes to shove, recommending this game is a tricky thing to do. Whether you will like this game relies heavily on who you are and which of the Animal Crossing games you have played. If the answer to that second question is "none" then Let's Go to the City is an essential purchase - honestly, you need to experience this series and this is a great place to start, especially if you have plenty of Wii-owning friends online. Consider the final score a 9.0/10.

For those who have played Wild World and loved it, my advice would be "proceed with caution". Although I have not been sucked into the world of talking animals and perpetual snow (yet - there's still time), I know plenty of Wild World owners who are revelling in this Wii iteration as much as they did on their handheld. Let's Go to the City is a fantastic way to renew your passion for this fantastic franchise, but be warned that it may not work for everyone.

Lastly, for those who bought both the GameCube and DS versions, I would advise to let this one pass - or at least rent before buying. If you love Animal Crossing enough to play what is, for the most part, the same game a third time then you no doubt picked a copy up on day one and already have half the catalogue completed!

Summary
Pro's/Con's
+ The same Animal Crossing we know and love
+ The city area works well
+ Voice chat and great online features
- The same Animal Crossing we know and love
- The grass/Nook problems will dampen things for some

Final Word: I am sure that I'll be playing Let's Go to the City right through the year, even if it is not to the extent that I played Wild World. At the end of the day, choosing whether to buy this game has to come down to your own experiences of the Animal Crossing series. If you are up for more of the same, then grab this game as soon as you can. If not, I would recommend saving your cash or at least renting before you buy.

Final Score: anywhere from 7.0 - 9.0/10, but I personally give it an 8.0

Feel free to comment, query or complain in the comments section or drop me an email at smash_it_with_a_hammer@hotmail.com

Friday's Releases

2009-02-06T15:04:00.005Z

After January's barren release list, Friday's Releases returns with a plethora of great new games!

Wii

NEW PLAY CONTROL! Pikmin
Nintendo kickstart their collection of GameCube re-releases with the modern classic Pikmin. Taking control of spaceman Olimar, you must control your army of Pikmin to rebuild your spaceship in thirty days - or else it's curtains for our tiny hero. Aside from new controls and a few changes to the save system, Pikmin is virtually untouched. The game is a little on the short side (the 30-day time limit being its greatest strength and weakness), but if you want an excuse to play through Olimar's adventure again - or want to see what the fuss is about - then Pikmin is a top title to check out. As for me, I'll be holding on until the even better Pikmin 2 gets the New Play Control treatment.

Those poor bugs won't know what hit them

Cooking Mama 2: World Kitchen
Mama returns to the Wii with World Kitchen (in startling 3D!). Mixing recipes and dishes with your remote and nunchuk, you must once again impress Mama's friends with delicious meals. This time around, making a mistake in the recipe will trigger an amusing minigame - such as catching a hamburger patty before the dog eats it. Chop, grate, slice, flip and stir like your life depended on it!

We Cheer
Ever wanted to be a cheerleader? Me neither - but you can fulfil such dreams in We Cheer. Using two remotes you can control your virtual pom-poms to the beats of over 30 licensed songs (from the likes of Hilary Duff and Paramore - you can see where this is going) in both competitive and workout modes. Obviously, this title is squarely aimed at young girls and if you fit that description you may enjoy this game - but for everyone else, avoid it like the plague!

Also out:
Mr Bean - People say that I bear a striking resemblance to Rowan Atkinson - you can judge for yourself with this video game spin-off of his most famous creation.
Imagine Fashion Idol - Buy this game and I will hunt you down and... tell you off profusely.

Chrono Trigger
I remember getting very angry over the 5-month gap between the release of Brawl in Japan and Europe. Spare a thought for RPG fans, then, who have waited almost 14 years for a European release of this timeless, time-travelling classic. With extra dungeons and sidequests, Chrono Trigger is bigger than ever before and just as amazing. A must-have for any RPG fanatic.

Crazy as it sounds, Chrono Trigger is worth the 14-year wait

Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
Konami's vampire-slaying series continues its amazing run on the DS with Order of Ecclesia - a game already heralded by many as the best DS Castlevania yet. Mixing tried and tested 2D gameplay with an all-new Glyph combat system, Ecclesia is also regarded as one of the hardest games on Nintendo's current handheld. If you're up for a hardcore challenge, this Castlevania can't be beat.

Mystery Case Files: Millionheir
Put your detective skills to the test with Mystery Case Files. Discover the true heir of a million-dollar fortune by studying clues and unravelling the motives of a cast of shady characters. With plenty of touch screen and microphone use, Millionheir makes use of all of the DS' features and should appeal to all DS owners.

The Chase - Felix Meets Felicity
I'm going to be honest and admit that I had no idea what this game was about (as opposed to all the above games, where I at least recognised the title!) until reading the summary ten seconds ago. As a matter of fact, it sounds pretty groovy! Help Felix rendevous with the woman of his dreams by drawing platforms and controlling his movements, dodging dangerous obstacles and racing against the clock.

Time Hollow
If quirky Japanese mystery games are your sort of thing, Time Hollow may be worth a look. Mixing vivid artwork and an intruiging plot into a unique gameplay experience, with your Hollow Pen allowing you to observe - and change - the past.

The pen truly is mightier than the sword

Age of Empires: Mythologies
Age of Empires is one of those game series that seems to have been around longer than it actually has - I find it hard to imagine a world where this never-ending series didn't exist, but such a world was around pre-1997. Mythologies is a remake of 2002's Age of Mythology and features all the turn-based strategic gameplay you would expect in a number of eras: Ancient Greece, Ancient Egypt and not-quite-so-ancient Norse Vikings.

The Times Crossword Challenge
It's crosswords. That's about all I can say on this one.

There are plenty of top titles out today and the next five or six weeks all seem to have at least one must-have title - it'll be hard to keep that cash in my wallet this season!

Are you picking up any of these new games? Feel free to comment or query in the comments box or drop me an email at smash_it_with_a_hammer@hotmail.com

Review - 100 Classic Book Collection

2009-02-05T19:35:00.007Z

Somebody fetch a doctor - SpinachPuffs is READING!!!

100 Classic Book Collection
Developer: Nintendo / Genius Sonority
Publisher: Nintendo
Genre: Application
Age Rating: None
Other: Wi-Fi Connection features

Let’s get something out of the way early on: I am not the type of person who would be described as a reader. In fact, bar one or two writers of teenage fiction, I try and steer clear of literature in general. You may be wondering, then, why I parted with twenty pounds of my hard-earned cash for a collection of 100 novels. Well, to be honest, I thought that the fact that this library was on a DS would be enough to pique my interest. Knock me down with a feather – it actually worked!

Obviously, not every title will appeal to me – I’m not reading Jane Austen, be it off a DS screen or not! Even so, this package is likely to bring to your attention novels that you have never picked up before, or even considered taking a dive into. I started my literary journey with something simple: The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi. I know, I know – it is rather childish to say the least – but it provided a good opportunity to get used to the methods of turning pages, placing bookmarks and skipping chapters. Before I knew it, I was dabbling in Alice in Wonderland (definitely a Disney theme going on here), walking alongside Christian in Pilgrim’s Progress and solving mysteries with Sherlock Holmes. I am currently midway Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, with plenty of other titles awaiting a read: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Gulliver’s Travels, Tales of Mystery and Imagination and Moby Dick being at the top of my must-read list.

Cheap as Chips
Of course, 100 Classic Book Collection exists for more than just the benefit of teenage boys with an aversion to written text. No, this software should benefit any form of literature lover. For a start, it is incredible value for money: at retail price, each book works out to around 5p each (with downloadable novels therefore being free). And yes, most of these novels are so old that they can be downloaded for free and used in a homebrew application, but – to my knowledge – there is no application that is even close to being as useful and intuitive as 100 Classic Book Collection.

This has to be the most exciting screenshot
posted here at SpinachPuffs...

Things can only get better when you start applying the software’s unique features to real-life situations. Want to read in the dark? 100 Classic Book Collection has got you covered. Going on holiday? One DS cartridge is a lot easier to pack then countless paperbacks. Not sure what to read? This title can help you out thanks to its surprisingly good “Book Guide” feature.

But none of this matters unless the software is useable. To put it another way, reading a novel from this library should be as easy (or, at least, nearly as easy) as it would be with a physical book. Again, much to my surprise, reading a novel is both simple and intuitive.

Reading 101
The DS is held like a book (winning Nintendo no points in originality), with page-turning operated either by tapping the appropriate side of the touch screen (left-side for turning back, right-side for moving forwards) or by hitting the left and right directional keys. If you so desire, the L and R buttons can also be used for page-turning – an option that I prefer, mainly due to my oversized thumb perfectly lining up with the R button. For turning large numbers of pages, the bottom of the touch screen can be tapped to bring up a scrollbar - with a change in its position triggering a lovely page-flicking animation.

Finally, the top of the touch screen can be tapped to bring up a menu offering a number of options. From here, bookmarks can be placed to keep track of your progress (up to three per book – a little overkill, perhaps, but at least it avoids complaints), different chapters can be found and the settings can be changed.

Remember kids - never talk to strange owls
you meet on the street

Assessing Your Options
From the settings menu, yet more can be done. Here, the background music can be changed, the fonts resized, the controls recalibrated and – should you be left-handed – the screen orientation switched. The music options are slightly bizarre, with “classical” and “easy listening” being the only real music on offer. The other choices are of the ambient variety, with some truly outrageous inclusions – I must say, I have never considered the murmurings of an airport departure lounge or the screech of seagulls to be any great aid to my reading, but obviously someone on the development team does.

The presentation of the software is simple and clean, with the actual “pages” having a nice “classy” feel to them. Sadly, with only two font sizes available (I like to label them “big” and “very big”), some may tire of constant page turning due to the limited number of sentences on each screen (especially if you like your Dickens – Bleak House has 7058 pages!!). Similarly, it can be a laborious process to get back to a bookmarked page, although the DS will always ask you if you want to start from where you left off at start-up. If you require an older bookmark, you will have to find the book again on the bookshelf, open it and select the bookmark on the scrollbar screen – a simple task when written, but a time-wasting one that could have been avoided had a “bookmarks” option been added to the main menu.

Read it, Rate it
Still, 100 Classic Book Collection has plenty of nifty little features to keep you smiling: the “virtual bookshelf” where you select your novel, the aforementioned page-turning animations, that freaky owl that stares at you in the menus and – best of all – the online functions.

Weird as though it may sound, 100 Classic Book Collection has some of the most exciting online features that I have encountered on the DS in recent months. Not only do you have access to even more novels through free DLC (an option that – if expanded throughout the year – could have massive potential), but also a fantastic community-driven book guide.

Once you have finished a book you are asked to review it, which here means rate it out of ten and attribute it to one of ten adjectives: touching, funny, sad, happy, profound, romantic, exciting, scary, shocking and bizarre. These reviews are then compiled and sent to your DS for an ever-changing guide to the best books in the library (the top book at the time of writing was The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes). These rankings can be viewed offline either as a top 100 or in top 10’s for each adjective. And – in yet another amusing-yet-totally-unnecessary addition – the winners of each category receive a little sticker placed on their virtual front cover.

Alternatively, if browsing through stats does not appeal, 100 Classic Book Collection offers a Book Guide feature, which asks you seemingly random questions and provides you with three recommendations based on your replies. Surprisingly, this feature worked pretty well on me, suggesting I looked into titles such as Treasure Island and Sherlock Holmes - with no romance novels in sight!

Something tells me this isn't the same game...

Alas, poor Yorick...
So, as you can see, I have many good things to say about 100 Classic Book Collection – a lot more than I thought I would, at least. But – and there had to be a “but” – I have a couple of major problems with it too. Chief among these is the presentation of the Shakespeare plays, of which there are 22. Sadly, the layout of these passages is almost entirely unreadable – a horrible mesh of indents and line breaks that hampers any attempts to progress through the text. On a printed page it would look lovely but left unedited on the DS’ cramped screen, the end result is just horrendous. Seeing as Shakespeare makes up almost a quarter of the available texts, this is a rather prominent flaw.

My second problem is less of a fault and more of a personal complaint: why must the text be so large? Speaking as someone with tip-top eyesight, it is sad to see screen space wasted so carelessly – shrink the text down a few sizes and it would be just as comfortable to read without having to change the page every ten seconds. Put it this way - if you found scrolling your way down this review to be an overly-arduous process then the amount of page-turning done here is definitely going to irritate you.

These flaws aside, 100 Classic Book Collection sets itself firmly ahead of other virtual novel collections. Obviously, if you are not into reading classic literature you should steer well clear: there are no minigames or floating heads of Japanese professors here - just books. Lots and lots of books. For everyone else, though, 100 Classic Book Collection is well worth a look.

Summary
Pro’s/Con’s
+ Amazing value for money
+ A wide range of novels, with something for everyone
+ Great online features
- Shakespeare is poorly presented
- Constant page turning

Final word: Whether you are a classic literature fanatic or simply want to expand your library a little, 100 Classic Book Collection is a very attractive package. At less than £20, it’s a bargain and – if Nintendo choose to expand on the DLC over time – could well be a must-have title.

Final score: 8.5/10

Feel free to leave any thoughts and opinions in the comments box or email me at smash_it_with_a_hammer@hotmail.com

Fake Games You Can Believe In #1

2009-02-04T11:45:00.006Z

This is a new recurring item that I thought up whilst away from the site last month. If I can keep it going I'm hoping it will be a mainstay - I'll post one up now and again and see where we go from there...

First, let me explain what these posts are about. If the title hasn't given it away already, "Fake Games You Can Believe In" posts will generally discuss an idea for a new IP or a continuation of a franchise that hasn't happened yet but definitely could. I'll be doing my best to steer clear from established Nintendo franchises (there are only so many "I want Star Fox/F-Zero/Pikmin 3/NSMB2!" posts you can write before sounding like a monotonous robot).

So, let's get this post a-rolling...

Fake Games You Can Believe In #1
Guitar Hero: Greatest Hits

If there is one thing that you can be sure of when thinking of Guitar Hero, it is that its current owner - Activision - will never let the franchise die until the entire gaming community has drowned in a growing pile of plastic instruments. Of course, by "never let it die", I mean "pump out a new title every four-to-six months". Strangely, though, ever since buying into the franchise, I have been compelled to support Activision in their money-making schemes - perhaps not going as far as buying the upcoming Metallica installment (the genre does not really appeal, though One is an all-time favourite song of mine), but certainly making any "full title" a must-buy.

The problem is, when I look back on all the excellent songs that have been in pre-Wii Guitar Heroes, I cannot help but sigh and think that I - and most of the Wii-owning public - are unlikely to get the chance to play such awesome anthems. It seems - discounting handheld and one-band ventures - that Activision are deliberately avoiding using the same song twice, which many would regard as a good thing (and it is). But I doubt that I am alone when I wish that Activision would revisit past Guitar Hero anthems - for the sake of gamers like me who turned up late to the party and for those who want to jam once more with drumsticks and microphone in hand.

All the greatest songs from Guitar Hero on one disc? Count me in!

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Guitar Hero: Greatest Hits - an installment of Guitar Hero made up entirely of tracks from previous iterations of the franchise. Mixing the best songs from Guitar Hero, Guitar Hero II, Rock the 80's, Guitar Hero III, Aerosmith and the On Tour franchise, Greatest Hits will allow newcomers to the series to experience these rock classics for the first time - and GH veterans will also find the inclusion of World Tour's multiple instruments and music studio a tempting propostion.

The main setlist features over 40 songs - and World Tour owners will have the option of importing their downloaded content to Greatest Hits via an SD card. World Tour band stats - such as the name, logo and custom songs and characters - can also be carried across, ensuring that all your hard work is not wasted. The setlist is featured below:

From Guitar Hero:

Ace of Spades - Motorhead
Killer Queen - Queen
Smoke on the Water - Deep Purple
Take Me Out - Franz Ferdinand
No One Knows - Queens of the Stone Age

From Guitar Hero II:

Sweet Child O' Mine - Guns N' Roses
Rock This Town - The Stray Cats
Message in a Bottle - The Police
Search and Destroy - Iggy Pop and the Stooges
Last Child - Aerosmith

From Guitar Hero: Rock the 80's:

Ballroom Blitz - Krokus
Because It's Midnite - Limozeen

From Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock:

Knights of Cydonia - Muse
Even Flow - Pearl Jam
One - Metallica
La Grange - ZZ Top
Black Magic Woman - Santana
Pride and Joy - Stevie Ray Vaughan

All of World Tour's bells and whistles are included

From Guitar Hero: On Tour and Decades:

I Know a Little - Lynyrd Skynyrd
I Believe in a Thing Called Love - The Darkness
I Don't Wanna Stop - Ozzy Osbourne
Can't Stop - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Smooth Criminal - Alien Ant Farm
One Step Closer - Linkin Park

From Guitar Hero: Aerosmith:

Walk This Way - Run DMC feat. Aerosmith
All Day and All of the Night - The Kinks

Additional, brand-new tracks:

Whiskey in the Jar - Thin Lizzy
Awakening - Switchfoot
Money - Pink Floyd
Violet Hill - Coldplay*
Sunday Morning - No Doubt*
Slither - Velvet Revolver*
Spaceman - The Killers
Far Cry - Rush
All Along the Watchtower - The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Land of Confusion - Genesis
Come Back Around - Feeder
Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana
Best of You - Foo Fighters

* These songs were made available as DLC on previous Guitar Hero games, but never included on a disk-based setlist.

Although the tracks below are arranged around the games they originally appeared in, the setlist in Greatest Hits is arranged by difficulty (One by Metallica, for example, would appear towards the end). Once the career mode is completed, Dragonforce's Through the Fire and the Flames can be played as the credits scroll.

After its release in the summer of 2010, Guitar Hero: Greatest Hits meets with a positive critical reception and the best sales of any Guitar Hero expansion pack so far. Critics state that Greatest Hits "perfectly captures the essence of the franchise for one must-have musical experience, reminding us why we picked up a plastic guitar in the first place." The new songs receive a lot of attention, with IGN saying "it is clear that Activision have put the spare money from reusing their setlists into acquiring some bonefied classics to interest the veterans."

One running complaint is the setlist's leaning towards the more recent Guitar Hero games, particularly Guitar Hero III. Some reviewers are also confused as to why the entire setlist could not have been released as DLC for World Tour, so that players could "pick and choose" the ones they wanted, rather than pay a full retail price for songs they already have. An Activision spokesman replies to this, reminding us that purchasing all 40 songs would cost up to £60, whereas a disc-only copy of Greatest Hits costs between £30 and £40.

Will the above ever happen? Personally, I see it only as a matter of time. Activision are often the first to make a quick bit of cash and a greatest hits expansion pack seems right up their ally - in fact, I'm surprised it hasn't been announced already!

Comments and questions can be left in the comment box or sent via the wonder of email to smash_it_with_a_hammer@hotmail.com

Blast Works Lives!

2009-02-03T01:23:00.002Z

A lesson in patience and reaping its benefits...

Readers who have very good recall skills may remember that I went a little crazy about a game called Blast Works: Build, Trade, Destroy last October. It was a game that had caught my eye earlier in the year and I was very excited when it appeared on the NoE website days before its reported release date. Only the game never came.

Four months later, I am shocked to suddenly discover brand new evidence of an impending European release: online retailers gameplay.co.uk and play.com have listings for BW on 27th February with a new box art and publisher. The reasons for the long delay may never be uncovered (some speculate that fears of LittleBigPlanet's similarity was too much of a concern for Eidos), but I will be happy just to get my hands on a copy of the game!

VC Review - 1080° Snowboarding

2009-02-02T16:08:00.015Z

If you are a UK resident, you have most likely noticed the snowstorms that are sweeping the country - it's been snowing all day here, but sadly none of it is sticking around for long. With this in mind, I thought it was about time to review an old Nintendo classic...

1080° Snowboarding (N64)
Developer: Nintendo EAD
Publisher: Nintendo
Genre: Extreme Sports
Age Rating: 3+
Players: 1-2
Controllers: Classic/GameCube
Price: 1000 points

Most of the Virtual Console library can be split into three main categories: games that were awful at the time of release and still are, games that were good at the time but are not so fantastic now and games that manage to entice, entertain and amaze the player a decade or more after their release. 1080° Snowboarding easily falls into this final category.

Originally released in 1998, 1080° was a revolutionary title in many ways, being the first major attempt at a 3D extreme sports game on any platform. In fact, it might not be so unfair to claim that without 1080°'s success, a certain Mr Hawk might never have found video game fame. It made such an impact that a sequel was released on the GameCube (albeit to less favourable reviews than its predecessor) and spawned a large number of copycats, eager to cash in on its ideas (I still own a copy of MTV Snowboading for the PlayStation).

But we are not interested in history here - what you want to know is whether 1080° Snowboarding is worth £7.50 of your hard-earned cash. In a word, yes. In two words, very yes.

See You on the Slopes
1080 Snowboarding splits itself nicely into two areas - timed races and trick attacks. From personal experience, I would say that you spend more time doing the former than the latter (perhaps only for the simple reason that doing the former unlocks the later stages), but both are well-rounded methods of play.

This is how I got to school this morning

Racing comes in two flavours: Match Race and Time Attack. In Match Race, you have to beat a succession of boarders on consecutive slopes, with one race being added with each difficulty increase. You are allowed to fail only three times - either through losing to your opponent or damaging your board to the extent of retirement. Time Attack mode is your standard against-the-clock solo mode, with a best-three leaderboard for each track and one (yes, only one) ghost that can be reset to your last replay at the end of a race.

The aptly-named Trick Attack does much the same, only this time keeping track of your total trick score rather than your time. But be careful, as you are still on a timer - fail to make it through the checkpoints in time and you will fail the round. This balance of tricks and speed is a hard skill to master, but once you get your head round it the hours will be flying by as fast as the scenery. Alternatively, you can fire up Air Make - a huuuuuge ramp for scoring big combos - or the half-pipe for some checkpoint-free boarding.

The last mode in the game is Contest, which offers a mix of trick action and racing. In a five-course tournament you must complete three slalom events, have a go on Air Make and blitz down the half-pipe.

Control Yourself
Once you hit the slopes the controls are surprisingly simple - tilt the joystick to move left and right (and, when in the air, lean forwards and backwards as well); press A to jump, the L trigger to crouch, the R trigger to spin and B (with an optional joystick direction) to perform mid-air tricks. So far, so ordinary, but let's not forget that it was likely 1080° that invented these control cliches that are making you roll your eyes just now. The C-stick/right joystick can be flicked forwards to change the view (close, far or first-person) and held backwards to look behind.

A fairly standard control-set, but one that is used to startling effect on the slopes. Most noticeable of all is the jump mechanic: if you have played other extreme sports titles, you will likely be used to pressing the jump button and watching your player execute a perfect jump, so long as you let go of your trick in good time. Not so with 1080°, which forces you to time the landing perfectly with a stab of the crouch button - screw up, and you can kiss those trick points goodbye.

Bail too many times and you lose the race

Whilst moving on the slopes, the crouch button also provides great acceleration and tighter cornering (a mechanic made famous by Tony Hawk's "hold-jump-wherever-you-go" gameplay). This gives you greater control over your boarder's movements, but can get a little painful on the Classic Controller (that L button is far to small for perpetual use). If you have one I would definitely recommend sticking to a GameCube controller with its sloped trigger buttons, if only to save the discomfort that comes with a six-match tournament on the Classic.

Board of the Details
As I mentioned at the beginning of the review, 1080° Snowboarding was considered a milestone in graphical quality on its release - an achievement still noticeable today. Compare the textures and effects with the similarly speedy F-Zero X and it is not hard to understand what all the fuss was about. Even today, 1080° boasts some effective - if a little crude - touches, with the spray of loose snow, varied weather conditions and buffeting ski jackets all represented in an attractive, retro style.

Speaking of ski jackets, it should be mentioned that 1080° contains a little sponsored gear from Tommy Hilfiger (clothing) and Hamar (snowboards). These add a little extra realism to the game and nicely avoids any chances of generic character models. The characters themselves are a motley crew from around the globe (there's even a British guy!), each offering different trick-sets and, naturally, different variations of handling.

King of the Hill
The slopes themselves are slices of gaming gold, each one being memorable, exciting and tricky. Each track mixes numerous surfaces - normal snow, deep snow, ice, pavement, grass - and each looks and handles quite realistically.

There are only six race courses (eight if you include the trick-only venues), but each have numerous hidden pathways and shortcuts, ensuring that replay value is not a problem. My personal favourite has to be Mountain Village, which sees your boarder tackle two killer jumps, an ice cavern labyrinth and alarmingly snow-free highways. Snowboarding has to be one of the few sports where on-road courses are far more dangerous than off-road ones...

Yep, nothing beats a little tarmac-boarding!

The soundtrack is suitably funky - most tracks are of the repetitive-but-catchy variety - mixing in the odd guitar rock tune for luck. The "narrator" (whose voice is spookily similar to that of the F-Zero X announcer) provokes a nostalgic response, particularly at the start of each race ("DION BLASTER.... versus... ROOOOB HEYWOOD") and in-game sound effects are surprisingly realistic - from the "oomph" of the boarder to the crunch of the snow as you bail, it all sounds brilliant.

Epic Bail
But it's not all perfect. The versus mode - although running smoothly with no drop in framerate - is limited to reach-the-finish races. It's not bad, by any means, but it's a shame that there is no option to play a round of Trick Attack together.

I also got the feeling that 1080° Snowboarding is very much a love-it-or-hate-it sort of game. Some will love the inability to pull of superhuman stunts, whilst others may long for a more fancy trick system; I adore the crouch-to-land mechanic, but those with little patience will quickly get frustrated; and whilst players may easily forgive the small number of stages, some may want a lot more hours out of their downloadable titles (I'd recommend Ocarina or Mario 64). Finally, I would like to reiterate my earlier comment about controller difficulties - the Classic Controller is just too small to be of any comfort to my big hands, especially in races where the L button is held down almost constantly.

But none of these niggles come anywhere near close to disgracing this title. 1080° Snowboarding - despite being over 10 years old - can still stand up tall with the latest generation of boarding games. At only £7.50, 1080° is an absolute steal.

Summary
Pro's/Con's
+ Some of the best graphics on the VC
+ Awesome course design
+ Varied gameplay modes
+ Perfect controls...
- ...so long as you don't try a Classic Controller
- Only six race courses

Final word: The years have been very kind to 1080° - the game is just as playable now as it was back then. If you are an extreme sports or racing fan, 1080° Snowboarding is a must.

Final score: 9.0/10

Any comments or questions? Leave them in comments or send them to smash_it_with_a_hammer@hotmail.com

Games That Need the "Mega Man 9 Treatment"

2009-01-31T23:09:00.005Z

Check out the new banner! I went for a "list-all-the-games-that-are-coming-this-Spring" theme - hope you like it!

2008 will be remembered by gamers for many things: the continuing rise of the Wii, an epic Rock Band vs Guitar Hero showdown and one of the dullest E3's in years. For some, though, 2008 belonged to one man (and his dog). Yes, I speak of Mega Man, who's ninth (title-wise, at least) outing saw a return to 8-bit technology, gameplay and difficulty. Gamers lapped it up and quite rightly too - Mega Man 9 was one of the best multiplatform releases of last year.

But this got many thinking - are there other franchises that could do with going back to their retro beginnings? And if so, exactly how far back? Turning up late to the party as always ('tis fashionable, you know), SpinachPuffs has dug a little deeper and turned up five series (in no particular order) he thinks need the Mega Man 9 Treatment.

Sonic the Hedgehog
Why? Let's start with a no-brainer: Sonic's first games on the Mega Drive are among the greatest games ever made. Sonic 2 easily sits in my top ten games of all time and the other parts of the trilogy are not far behind. Move ahead to the 3D era, however, and Sonic runs blindly into trouble, glitches and poorly designed gameplay. What's more, Sonic Team (up until the recent Sonic Unleashed, at least) seemed perfectly happy to continue pumping out games with these flawed mechanics intact, always ensuring to throw an even worse mechanic in to take consumer's minds off things (I'm looking at you, Werehog, three-at-once controls and guns).
So, what we could really do with is a retro revival - a square-one game that brings back the 16-bit magic of the original titles. No more boosts, voice acting or grinding rails - speedy 2D platforming is all I ever needed to make me love Sonic again.

Special Stages would have to return, obviously

Will it ever happen? Seeing as Sega reproduce Sonic's original titles every two or three years on an ever-increasing number of platforms, it would be easy to argue that they reserve every right to deny us our wish. But with Sega seeming overjoyed to please the hardcore Wii owner at the moment, it may not be so far-fetched to think that Sonic could be spin-dashing again soon.

Rayman
Why? I love Rayman: it was thanks to his original side-scrolling adventure that I bought my first gaming console and, like Sonic, his second outing sits proudly in my top 10 list. Unlike Sonic, Rayman managed to improve when he made the jump to three dimensions. But where is he now? Playing second fiddle to a group of frenzied rabbits.
Don't get me wrong, the Rabbids titles are fantastic at a party, but I yearn for the true return of our limbless hero. And then it came to me - if Ubisoft are reluctant to produce another 3D platformer, could they not make another 2D one instead? I'm not talking about the decidedly-average DS titles that ship alongside the Rabbids games - I'm talking about a home console title in the vain of the original. I want floating clouds, shady explorers and killer piranhas, all wrapped up in pseudo-3D sprites. Please.

*sigh* Those were the days...

Will it ever happen? This is a harder question for Rayman than it is for others - Ubisoft seem fully content to leave Rayman in the party game genre while it concentrates on more important things (those Petz games don't publish themselves, you know). Then again, the original Rayman was the best-selling game on the first PlayStation console and the character has remained very much in the community's eye - we may see our hero return after all.

Grand Theft Auto
Why? Grand Theft Auto IV is - rightly or wrongly - considered by many websites and publications to be the pinnacle of the sandbox genre and a pillar of the modern age of gaming. Personally, I would much rather settle for GTA2, which perfectly balances morally-dubious gameplay with the humour and sense of fun that modern sandbox titles seem to leave behind. Forget deep characterisation and realistic carnage - give me back the pseudo-3D worlds and subtitled scripts and let me loose on the city!

I'd play this...

...over this any day

Will it ever happen? To an extent, it already is thanks to the upcoming release of Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars. However, while impressions show that Chinatown Wars will return to a top-down view with ridiculous-yet-awesome car chases and firefights, the plot of the game (and the controversial drug-trafficking features) suggest that GTA:CW will be going down the "depressed and serious" route of GTA4. Personally, I'd like to see my wish fulfilled through WiiWare - a new retro GTA as a downloadable title may provoke a little unwelcome media attention (how will kids be prevented from downloading such filth etc) but would be awesome nonetheless.

Super Mario Bros 2
Why? SMB2 used to be a bit of a sore point for Western Nintendo fans - the full embodiment of a Japanese company's lack of experience in the worldwide market. For those who don't know the story, the Super Mario Bros 2 that we know was actually never meant to be a Mario game, releasing as Doki Doki Panic in Japan. In fact, the original SMB2 has been released to the West as Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels, renowned for its difficulty (the game was supposed to further test those who had completed the first game). This angered many fans who felt as if they had been cheated - out of both a Mario sequel and a chance to prove their skills in the extreme worlds of The Lost Levels.
But time is a healer and in the decades that have passed, many have learned to love Super Mario Bros 2. It still remains the black sheep of the original trilogy (and a surprisingly small number actually know what it is), but now many fans are asking Nintendo for more turnip-throwing, multi-character action.

SMB2 also saw the introduction of Shy Guys

Will it ever happen? For want of a better answer, who knows but Nintendo themselves? Some pray for a WiiWare title whilst other theorize that New Super Mario Bros 2 would bring back the mechanics of SMB2. Only time will tell...

Metroid
Why? Much like GTA, the Metroid series has managed to garner even more critical acclaim with its move to three dimensions. And so it should - the Metroid Prime games are sublime (and I eagerly await the release of the New Play Control edition of the original). But with Samus' last handheld adventure also moving into 3D, will we ever see her move back to 2D? I would certainly hope so - Super Metroid is retro awesome with sci-fi toppings and a must-play experience for any core gamer; a brand new Super Metroid would satisfy those looking for a little hardcore action from the big N pretty quickly.

Awesome

Will it ever happen? I do not doubt that we will see Samus return to two dimensions in some form at some point, I'm just not sure when or where. Will it be on WiiWare or on the DS? History points towards a handheld release, but with Nintendo's downloadable service less than a year old, the trends of the last generation are not so useful for comparison. Again, we can only wait it out...

If you are in the mood for more theorizing about retro revivals, why not visit an older article that followed a similar theme (even going as far as bringing up Super Metroid again).

Got anything to add? Which games do you want to see receive the Mega Man 9 Treatment?
Leave your thoughts in the comments box or email me at smash_it_with_a_hammer@hotmail.com

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