Check out the first of our E3 podcasts which chronicles the events of EA’s and Ubisoft’s press conferences, as well as our expectations for Nintendo’s conference tomorrow morning!
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A Boy & His Blob
– Made by “some crappy developer”
– They knew about it, but couldn’t say anything
– Put up a video today
– If you love games like Murasama you’ll like this
– History lesson about the NES game
– Correlation between Aladdin Genesis and this game. I’m not really paying attention so I don’t know what it is.
– Wario Land opened the door for 2D games on Wii
Punch-Out!!
– They’re glad about classic style controls.
– Punch-Out!! is all about pattern recognition and they don’t want to deal with inaccurate motion controls.
– Only problem is that the game may not be fine-tuned for the NES controls.
– Has to be like the NES game, has to be single player based.
– Other problem is that it may be Punch-Out 3D, they want them to lengthen the game somehow to be worth it.
– One of them wants a new Fight Night for Wii.
– The new guy on the box art is named “Spaz McTwist” (lol)
– They want there to be a guy who’s so hard to beat, not to “casualize” it.
– Sure that Next Level doesn’t want to be known as the guys who ruined Punch Out.
ExciteBots
– Looks like ExciteTruck except without trucks.
– ExciteTruck got a bad rap at launch by most people, but it was really fun.
– They like the turtle robot.
– Excitebike 64 should come to VC in preparation
– ExciteTruck has more legs than most Wii games in that they can still play it today.
– Talking about the NP preview.
– Glad it has online, hope for MP3/AAC support.
Handhelds
– Article up going through all of the Nintendo handhelds
– Nintendo been updating handhelds every 1-2 years
– GBA and DS were supposed to coexist but that didn’t happen
– Bozon feels more could have been done with GBA before moving on to the DS
– TMNT game that came out on consoles wasn’t good but one on GBA was a lot of fun
Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop
– An average but fun game for Wii
– Had to cut a lot of corners to put it on Wii
– Cut out the ability to use camera
– Daemon still has fun mowing down zombies
– Average but totally average and playable game
– Short game – under 10 hours
– Will probably be a rental for most people
– When you use certain weapons zombies just wait to be killed
– Game is really easy – might have scaled back the difficulty
– The point: Daemon had fun playing it, could have been a lot worse, could have been a lot better
– Zombies pop up out of nowhere
– Using the RE4 engine but doesn’t look as good as RE4
– Craig thinks it’s strange to use the RE engine for Dead Rising – different kinds of designs
Blue Dragon Plus
– A lot like Heroes of Mana
– RTS feel
– CG work is amazing – around 30 minutes
– Level up after each battle
– Don’t get to finish level until you kill anything so it’s weird to have level ups
– Really fun but basic
– Review coming up tomorrow
Dragon Quest V
– 3 save files
– Can only show specific areas
– Square Enix being very protectiveRetro Game Challenge/XSEED/Fragile
– Review going up today
– Turned out really well
– XSEED publishing the game
– XSEED apparently told Matt that people should buy the game because it’ll help them in their cause to bring Fragile to the US
– Fragile a Namco game in Japan – Matt thinks it’s a game Namco might want to publish one day
– Biggest downside in Retro Game Challenge is the localization – Fake game magazines you can read, in the back there are fake letters – one of the letters written in by Homer Sexual
– Craig wants a bit more creativity in their localization next time
– Fragile is in heavy Japanese but you can get through it
– Control in Fragile is pretty good, beautiful, storyline seems dramatic – Matt can’t wait to get it in the USLIT
Snowboard Riot
– Craig threw a controller while playing (out of frustration)
– Has worst rubberband AI he has ever experienced in a racing game
– Offensive weapons on one button, speed weapons on the other
– He can’t beat the first level
– 1000 points – Craig says you don’t want to spend that money
LONPOS
– Basic marble puzzle game
– Try to fit pieces together
– Use Wii pointing to guide where to put pegs
– Twist wrist to rotate pieces
– Doesn’t support widescreen – all stretched
– Craig doesn’t recommend this game either – skip it
GTA: Chinatown Wars
– Craig got to play it last week
– Showed him early part of the game
– Craig had certain expectations, he’s pretty psyched
– A lot of emphasis placed on touchscreen “side-things”
– Will need your stylus in your hand
– One minigame has you shoving trash aside looking for drugs
– Game engine runs on top screen, bottom screen is where the story happens + touch screen minigame
– Fixed perspective angle
– Never cuts away from action on the top-screen – will still see action on top screen during minigames
– Not hiding from being M-rated
– You’re a drug dealer – buy and sell drugs, dialoge all f-bombs and s word, there is violence
– Blood stays on the road when you run over someone
– Bozon’s excited for the game
– Engine itself runs really smooth – Craig didn’t see frame rate falter – 30 FPS
– No voice-overs, subtitles in cut-scenes – there’s only environmental voice – radio stations are instrumental (probably due to limitations of the cartridge)
– Can listen to radio while walking around
– Not too much humor in the first 5 missions
– Surveillance cameras are hidden packages in the city – if you destroy one of the cameras it can affect the price of what you can get for drugs
– Comes out March 17
– Game is ambitious, it’s a full-fledged GTA experience – Taken seriously at Rockstar
– Bozon thinks he might get more play out of Chinatown Wars than GTAIV
– Huge focus on online – next month we’ll know more about online
Moon
– Bozon liked it – Gave the game an 8.5
– Runs 60 FPS, looks beautiful, technically awesome
– A lot of exploration
– Remote access droid is pretty cool
– Only downside is that you shoot at a lot of floating robots – Become repetitive – Worlds look the same
– Still a really fun game – pretty rewarding
– Seems to be inspired my Metroid
– Story neat as well
– Bozon thinks best FPS on DS is still Metroid Prime Hunters
– Hope to get news on Wii game soon
– Matt catching up on Monster Lab, MySims Kingdom, Spyro, Celebrity Sports Showdown
– 3 weeks without a podcast, they did one last week but it failed, crashed, etc.
– Bozon’s been working on SmackDown vs. Raw, playing Call of Duty World at War reviews (should go up tomorrow)
Tales of Symphonia
– Daemon’s reviewing the game, says fans of the first game will like it
– Nothing new or original about it
– Bozon thinks it didn’t click like the first Tales game
– No overworld, just clicking around
– Slower combat
– Daemon enjoyed the combat, but it’s very linear
– Main character is winy, always complains
Quantum of Solace
– DS version is okay, Wii version not so much
– Controls aren’t great on the DS version
– Bad framerate issues on the Wii version, visuals aren’t even too impressive
– Has a bunch of technical issues on Wii
– Online mode is somewhat fun
– Not attacking the Wii version just for the fun of it
– Bozon wanted a cool Bond game with IR precision
It’s been a wild week and we’re all a little tired : ), but here’s a podcast recapping all the amazing news from this week:
Just wanted to point something out from this podcast. In the question section of the podcast, Mat stats that the Nintendo conference later this week will probably be embargoed until next week.
DS rumors
– Nikkei spilled the beans on the potential of a future Nintendo DS
– Rumors have always been out there, but Nikkei is like the Wall Street Journal of Japan, so when they say something, you kind of listen.
– Updated version of Nintendo DS, adding a second touch screen, bigger screens SD card and mp3 support. Suggested faster Wi-Fi and alluded that Nintendo wants to have more connectivity like Safeco Field
– Also saying there’s a camera, Craig says the camera could also be used at the Wii’s i-Toy.
– Another theory from Craig: Save files off the Wii to the DS -> Wii’s storage solution. Bozon also thinks they’ll open up the SD card, like what Vicarious has been doing.
– Backward compatibility could be a problem with bigger screens
Mega Man 9
– Debate was going on about what score the graphics should get
– Matt thinks the graphics are outdated and kind of ugly, but it doesn’t affect the gameplay
– Craig/Bozon say it’s not a bad looking game, just a step back in technology
– Daemon doesn’t think the graphics are bad either
– Graphics score given was a 3
– In the swing of things, the whole breakdown doesn’t affect the scores as much as people think they do
– Talk about how cool the Mega Man 9 press kit is
I know it’s been a couple weeks, but we finally got around to making our 10th episode!! Thanks for listening everyone!
-Bozon is playing through Mega Man 9. Currently Embargoed. He’s stuck on Wily
Mystery Case Files MillionHeir:
-Good fit for DS.
-Appears to be going after Professor Layton audience, but in reality it’s a different beast.
-Easier than Professor Layton.
-Fairly casual game.
-You find items hidden in busy scenery.
-If you play the game a second time you’ll get different items to find, adding to the replay value.
-Score given: 7.7
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– The Conduit is still at pre-alpha, working pretty heavily on multiplayer. About six months of development left to refine and polish. Single-player campaign has a lot done, you can play through the entire game right now. The core is done, working on details. Making sure everything looks and plays as good as it can.
– The Conduit has had full funding all the way through the project, thus High Voltage was not rushing to get a publisher. High Voltage is very close to announcing the publisher for The Conduit, should come in the next month.
– Eric Nofsinger says we should be very excited about their publisher, High Voltage weighed the decision heavily. It’s a “larger publisher.” Deal with the publisher included that, when the publisher is announced, High Voltage will still continue to provide the press with coverage concerning The Conduit, will push to start on the sequel right away. High Voltage was very choosey about the publisher for The Conduit.
Mario Super Sluggers
– The more you play it, the more you enjoy it – Bozon
– A lot of waggle
– With nunchuck you can aim, becomes a little more fun
– Arcade baseball, fun
– IGN exclusives planned throughout the week
NPD Data
– Nintendo still on top
– Crazy numbers since July wasn’t a huge month for Nintendo
– Bozon says that third-party games ARE selling on Wii, he had the numbers right in front of him
– Upward trend with sequels (Madden, Guitar Hero)
– Matt says there are a lot of misconceptions about sales numbers on Wii
– Tiger Woods selling best on Wii
– Some talk about Metroid Prime 3, Matt praises its graphics highly – Says art the best on Wii. Galaxy has better tech.
– Bozon thinks he likes Metroid out of the big 3, Matt still sticks by Mario Galaxy – loves music, looks good on the new screen in the IGN demo room
Sorry about the late posting of the podcast. We had a lot of fun this weekend playing some Wii and some retro classics! Here’s a brief breakdown …
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Fatal Frame 4
– Controls are “retarded” – just as clunky as other versions if not worse
– No dual analog
– Doesn’t use pointer at all to look up and down
– Can’t use classic controller
– Nintendo-themed unlockable characters
– Movement is still slow
– Game itself is still spooky, Matt thinks he’ll still have fun with it
– Looks really nice graphically
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