Thanks to Alkaline from Neogaf for the summary.

Summary

– Both have been incredibly busy with Wii games – very overwhelmed. Have a massive backlog of games they need to cover – Zack and Wiki, Soul Calibur Legends, Manhunt 2, FIFA 08, Naruto, Smartypants, Fishing Master, Medal of Honour: Heroes 2, MX Untamed, Rayman Raving Rabbids 2, etc. At least 10 games they need to catch up on – they’re working on the reviews, but they’re taking a while because there’s so many to cover.

Zack and Wiki
– Was supposed to have the exclusive review on Zack and Wiki up tonight, but they couldn’t complete it – stuck on a really hard (but awesome) puzzle.
– Maybe half-way through the game, and don’t have any concerns about the length (about 15 hours).
– Difficulty is great, ramps up as the game progresses. Everytime you step into a new level, you’re confronted with more new and unique puzzles.
– Puzzles and controls are lots of fun. Definitely recommend it – will be an editor’s choice. Go and preorder it right now. One of the best 3rd party games on Wii. One of the very few Wii games that simply could not be replicated on another console. A “must-have title”.
– The puzzles are challenging, you may need to even get help from friends (which you can). “Best designed puzzles in a decade” – probably superior to Zelda. “The quality and consistency of these puzzles is just insane.”
– Don’t have many complaints – wish they would supply more puzzles through WiiConnect24, sometimes need to use exact motions yet sometimes it’s pretty much guess-work, sometimes trial-and-error gameplay might annoy.
– But it’s a really good game. Saw the GameInformer review – definitely not a mid-7’s game.
– Really smart puzzles and really beautiful (though sometimes framerate takes a dip). The animation is awesome – looks like you’re watching a cartoon. Lots of polish and little elements that many other developers would not even think about including. “Insane production values.”
– Next week there will be massive coverage of the game.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
– “Exactly like you would think” – like Melee, with tons more options, characters, more interactive environments, and looks beautiful.
– Appears to be more “strategy” in this game, even though this demo was very slimmed down compared to the final product.
– Nice balance with characters: Metaknight is really cool – is really quick but he is still vulnerable due to his small size. Ike is real strong but slow and vulnerable is 1vs1 situations as a result.
– Samus appeared to be a little nerfed – a bit slow and weak. Sonic is very fast and awesome but needs to be mastered. Love Diddy Kong – really quick and awesome.
– Matt can’t wait to delve deeper into it – all we’ve seen so far is a shell of a game.

Super Mario Galaxy
– “Going to rock the house” – Matt says although he loves Smash, he would put Galaxy above it without hesitating.
– The nature of Galaxy just allows for so many ideas to be implemented. The creativity is just incredible. Too many games are restricted by their attempts to be realistic. Galaxy refuses to abide by current game convetions – it’s just crazy.
– Constantly dazzled by the gravity system in the game. Love how you can jump off the planet but then are drawn back to the planet through gravity. Feels and looks amazing. Hope they use more puzzles with gravity implications later in the game.
– A second-player can not only hold and shoot at enemies, but can also make Mario jump, which is really funny and interesting. Two player mode is a nice little extra – nothing critical, but could still be helpful in some situations. The single-player is all you need – incredible.
– Should be Game of the Year, only real competition is Bioshock and maybe Metroid or Mass Effect. The lack of Smash in 2007 doesn’t really matter simply because of Galaxy.

Battalion Wars 2
– Was a very basic demo – didn’t get to play single player, only Wifi multiplayer. Just “balls-out” deathmatch. Wished they could have played single-player and see the strategy components of the game.
– Can lock-on to anyone with the cursor, but this might be an issue because you can also lock-on to your allies.
– Don’t think the controls make a big difference – a lot of this stuff you can simply do with a Gamecube controller. Don’t get a great sense of commanding your troops, you’re really just locking onto people and commanding people with the a button. Wish there was more stuff like a Starfox map where you dragged people to certain areas on the map, but none of this kind of stuff is to be found. Does not think it makes enough progress from the original.
– However, still think it will be superior to the original, mainly because of new units, more options, better visuals and Wifi support, which is a good thing because they loved the original.
– Will be more coverage of the game soon.

Link’s Crossbow Training
– “Twilight Princess with the Wii Zapper.” Options include:
1. 1st person light-gun style.
2. 3rd person aiming.
3. Can control link with the analogue stick.
– Really liked the last mode. Felt nice to be able to control Link and shoot at the same time -“really good natural feeling.”
– Don’t want to play with the Zapper – both are not very impressed with the Wii Zapper. Feels just like a gimmick and don’t think it is as accurate.
– Great deal for a pack-in game with a peripheral.

Manhunt 2
– Working on getting a review up soon, but having issues. Are not allowed to post reviews with a lower-than-wanted score before the game comes out.
– Are currently playing it. It’s “unfortunate” – they had the privelage to play the game before it was tamed down, and thus are aware of the changes that have been made. Makes the executions have less impact. Will likely have an impact on the review score – feels like “Mortal Kombat without fatalities.”
– Find it ironic how some content in the game that reminds is actually worse than the executions – for example, some people throw faeces at you or piss on you, but stabbing someone with a syringe is blurred out.
– Firmly believe early press impressions was a major reason as to why ERSB clamped down on it.
– Don’t get the wrong impression though – it is still pretty violent – still think it is a good game. Great for Halloween. It’s just really hard when you know how it has been toned down.

Soul Calibur Legends
– Have only played it for a little bit – have posted some new videos.
– The game is 60fps (not 30fps like the videos show). The game is quite nice looking, but lacks a bit of detail in textures and geometry.
– Feels like a deeper Dragon Blade. Pretty basic in design – just mainly running around and killing stuff.
– Controls work pretty well – on-screen animations represent your own motions pretty well. Using the nunchuck to jump actually works properly, unlike a lot of Wii games.
– Not blown away by any stretch of the imagination – lacks the cinematics and gameplay depth of true Soul Calibur titles.
– Developers keep trying to branch out one genre into another. Unlike those games, Legends isn’t a complete failure, but it’s only ok.

Fishing Master
– “Who cares game.”
– Should be on WiiWare.

Balls of Fury
– 1.2 is generous.
– Flash game as a Wii game.

Naruto
– Really good fighter, but nothing amazing. Just really a roster update + motion and some mini-games.
– If you want a really new Naruto experience, you will probably be disappointed. But if you want the best fighter on Wii (until Smash), then you should buy this game. Even if you’re not a Naruto fan – Bozon isn’t, but he really likes this game.
– Better game that Bleach Wii.

Rayman Raving Rabbids 2
– Have the game, but haven’t been able to play much of it yet. Can’t talk about much at all as of yet.
– Have only played one mode – the live-action FPS mode that has been showed through videos on the site.
– The new graphical technique is cool and nice-looking but the real-time video is running a bit slow. Hopefully this is fixed by the time that game comes out.
– If you liked RRR, then you’ll enjoy this one too. The game isn’t going to blow you away, it’s just a solid continuation from the first game. Less emphasis placed on Rayman and more on the Rabbids, which is very good thing.
– Really funny game – find some of the Rabbid costumes hilarious, such as how some Rabbids dress up as Rayman himself.

Guitar Hero III
– The guitar controller is cool – better than the 360 GHII controller. The buttons are shaped better, entirely wireless and use rumble and the speaker (even though it’s hard to hear the speaker).
– The game is really fun, but the 360/PS3 version is superior due to downloadable content. This is not because the developer didn’t try, but mainly because of the lack of space provided by Nintendo. For a console that is opening the door to developers, the lack of a hard drive is actually blocking some developers.
– If you don’t have a 360/PS3, then definitely buy this version. It’s still a really good game on Wii and is targeted to the Wii demographic.

Okami announced for Wii for 2008
– Happy and bummed at the same time.
– Happy: It’s a great game (IGN 2006 GOTY) and a natural fit for the console. Handed out to RDS, who is very competent.
– Bummed: Using Clover Studios original engine (a bit worrying), no graphical enhancements and no new features or content other than new controls. Was hoping they would go a little further – don’t expect anything too much.
– Disappointed about the Capcom announcements on Wii – a bit underwhelming compared to stuff like Street Fighter 4 and Bionic Commando.

NPD
– Expected to see Microsoft actually beat Wii by more, but Nintendo surprised again despite having no big games in September.
– Software sales are a very different story – Nintendo has nothing, except for Galaxy and Smash (which should both do extremely well), that could come close to Halo 3’s numbers.
– Matt thinks globally Smash should eclipse Halo 3’s sales – he even thinks, maybe, Smash will ultimately overtake Halo 3’s sales in USA due to Smash’s long-standing power.
– Bozon thinks Wii will stay generally sold out until Summer 2008 (maybe even Xmas) – thinks Nintendo could’ve beaten Microsoft this month had they produced some more Wii systems.
– Matt amazed about how it took Halo 3, an incredibly hyped game with a massive fanbase and huge marketing, to get 360 sales above 500k, yet for Wii it took nothing.
– Wii Sports alone, which is just basically a tech demo, is still bringing so many people to Wii.
– However, despite consistently selling well, Wii’s software sales remain disappointing. Nintendo and 3rd parties need to prove that Wii games can sell. Think that Nintendo and 3rd parties need to take a risk and really market their products – games like Metroid Prime 3 (and likely Battalion Wars 2) could sell a lot better if they were probably advertised. Matt really disappointed by MP3’s sales because it such a good game and deserves more.
– Are concerned that because of non-games and casual-games sell better on Wii than hardcore games, that ultimately this will mean developers will not bother making hardcore games. However, right now this concern should not be overstated as Nintendo are really delivering some excellent games like Metroid, Galaxy and Smash.

Contra 4
– Have the game in office.
– It’s really cool with nice extra content.
– Bozon worked on the game and thus cannot cover it.
– There was a big booth for the game at E for All, which shows some much-needed retro love.

– Matt thinks Fire Emblem should have poured more time into it. There needs to be more advertising. However, the core FE crowd will eat it up as usual.

– Thinks there are lots of possibilties with the Wii Balance Board. Stuff like snowboarding and skiing is a natural fit – they also think a game with duelling where you use the wiimotes as swords and move side-to-side with the Balance Board.

– Matt thinks Dr. Mario should be lots of fun with the online stuff and Mii integration.

– An E for All podcast is coming up, with contains Matt and Mark as well as a few others.

– IGN is accepting people to work with Matt and Mark as an onsite freelancer. 3 days a week. Has good pay for what it is. Another position avaliable is an intern, which is 5 days a week. Can send an e-mail to Matt IGN through the feedback system, just like you would send a normal e-mail. Title it “LA Freelancer” or “LA Intern”, but you need to explain why you deserve the job.

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