Boom Blox

[sephfire]

It's been out for three days and I've seen no thread here. Unacceptable.

As my fellow Wii owners know, this poor console has been hurting for quality games, especially from third parties. For every Mario Galaxy or WarioWare, there are ten pieces of shovelware dumped on the shelves to capitalize on the Wii's success and naive "casual" market.

I'm happy to say, this game is fantastic. This game reminds you what makes the Wii so cool. I could spend paragraphs trying to describe it, but I'll just post this trailer. There are many more where this came from.

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/33422.html

It's exactly as fun as it looks.

[Devyn]

Looks like a lot of fun, but I'll wait until my friends purchase it. I'm sorry to get off the subject, but I'm really sick of this "lack of quality Wii titles" BS. It really is a load of Bs, there are tons of cool Wii titles. I don't have enough time to keep up with everything, and I don't need a game by Mr. Steven to justify my console purchase, but I will surely try.

I will try it, but please refrain from the "lack of quality Wii titles" stuff, because anyone who truly respects the console can dismiss that as a big lie, like I did a month after purchasing the little white box.

Also, we should quit using this "Hardcore/Casual" poo, because that was thrown up by the media machine. OK, thank you, I'll try this game based off of my interest in the game alone, not the hype that's been put behind it. It looks fun. I'm a big fan of throwing motions in Wii games, and this game apparently has a lot of those. The physics look great.

[Wintermute]

Wow. Looks quite fun actually.

[sephfire]

I'm sorry to get off the subject, but I'm really sick of this "lack of quality Wii titles" BS. It really is a load of Bs, there are tons of cool Wii titles. I don't have enough time to keep up with everything, and I don't need a game by Mr. Steven to justify my console purchase, but I will surely try.

I will try it, but please refrain from the "lack of quality Wii titles" stuff, because anyone who truly respects the console can dismiss that as a big lie, like I did a month after purchasing the little white box.

I should have clarified. The Wii doesn't "lack" good games. Some Wii games have been the best of this entire generation so far (Mario Galaxy, Wii Sports, WarioWare, Brawl, etc). The problem is that the Wii has a disproportionate number of shoddy games. The chart below compares the number of games with an average review score over 80% (green) with the number of games with an average review score below 60% (red).

It's not Nintendo's fault: they've been bringing consistent quality with the first-party titles. Trust me, I'm not saying this as a hater of the Wii. I love the thing. It's the console I looked forward to owning most. That's why it pains me so much to see it go to waste on all of these half-assed third party attempts. That's also why I'm so glad to see a game like Boom Blox use the Wii to its potential. Hopefully, this will be the first of many.

[Amayirot Akago]

Picked up the game earlier this week, it's a hell of a lot of fun and addictive. Haven't played a lot yet tho, but I did play through the Gem Blox levels so far and (after a LOT of retries) got gold for all of em

[anthonium]

I've been following this game for a long time now as it always caught my interest. Now I'm glad to see the reviews about it are good. I'm sure it'd make a great party game. As for buying it...unfortunately I have been buying too many Wii games lately so I'll have to wait for a while.

[I-n-j-i-n]

PS3 games with good reviews? Maybe it's the lack of games and the number of consistent sequels.

It's not Nintendo's fault: they've been bringing consistent quality with the first-party titles. Trust me, I'm not saying this as a hater of the Wii. I love the thing. It's the console I looked forward to owning most. That's why it pains me so much to see it go to waste on all of these half-assed third party attempts. That's also why I'm so glad to see a game like Boom Blox use the Wii to its potential. Hopefully, this will be the first of many.

I do think it's partially Nintendo's fault because they are so overwhelmingly good at what they do. It must intimidate the 3rd parties at least a little bit. Also they need to play largely by Nintendo's family friendly rules or at least their target demographic (No More Heroes not selling too well is a travesty, but totally predictable).

As for Boom Blox itself, I rented it and it is definitely worth a buy. I love puzzle games by default so it's a given. I'm not sure most gamers will really appreciate such a game compared to others. I actually think the core gameplay is way fresher than something like in Brawl. Sadly, even I would give it an 'acquired taste' label.

And as for future efforts, I'm still skeptical. It took two years and we barely get three or four noteworthy 3rd party efforts? That's just too slow. The DS fares better since developing family friendly games for handhelds is rather easy and 3rd parties can drudge up their old 2D franchises for them. The Wii has major competitors in PS3 and 360 for developers to put more resources in machines that can output more of their creativity (ironic, I know) than a machine that is essentially limited to the control setup and the family friendly mindset. I think it's perfectly fine if the Wii is Nintendo's playground. Why, the Gamecube was more or less the same. That's why people buy multiple consoles.

[Vivi22]

PS3 games with good reviews? Maybe it's the lack of games and the number of consistent sequels.

Lack of games? It has 156 ranked on Metacritic while the Wii has 196. That's not exactly a huge difference for systems that have been out the same amount of time, especially considering the Wii's talent for attracting third party shovelware. Lack of games my ass. And of the games ranked above an 80% average thereand on Game Rankings, it has more new IP's than the Wii.

I'm not trying to knock the Wii here, I'm just saying the facts don't support the statement you made.

As for Boom Blox; it looks like it would be a fun diversion for a while, but nothing overly amazing that I''d sit down and play for hours.

[kitty]

Looks like the Wii has inherited the PS2 disease with all this talk of "disproportionate" amount of good-to-bad games.

[Toadofsky]

Seeing as how most collaborations with Directors and game makers never really turns out good (minus King Kong, that was okay), I was sceptical about this game, but after hearing good repore on the game, I took a chance and rented it. I haven't had this much fun on the wii in a while, this game had controls in mind from the begining, but I kinda got sore from trying to throw the ball hard...

Yeah, sounds retarded I know....

[JH Sounds]

Am I the only one who noticed the announcer saying "boom box" at the end of the trailer?

[Elex Synn]

Am I the only one who noticed the announcer saying "boom box" at the end of the trailer?

I thought I heard that too.

[The Damned]

Looks like the Wii has inherited the PS2 disease with all this talk of "disproportionate" amount of good-to-bad games.

The highest selling system gets the shovel-ware. It's just the way it goes. There were hundreds of crap games on the NES, lots on the PS1 and PS2. The Gameboy had its fair share... sucks, but when companies see a buck to be made by putting out quick, cheap crap, they're going to do it for the system with the biggest share of the market.

[Devyn]

I should have clarified. The Wii doesn't "lack" good games. Some Wii games have been the best of this entire generation so far (Mario Galaxy, Wii Sports, WarioWare, Brawl, etc). The problem is that the Wii has a disproportionate number of shoddy games. The chart below compares the number of games with an average review score over 80% (green) with the number of games with an average review score below 60% (red).

It's not Nintendo's fault: they've been bringing consistent quality with the first-party titles. Trust me, I'm not saying this as a hater of the Wii. I love the thing. It's the console I looked forward to owning most. That's why it pains me so much to see it go to waste on all of these half-assed third party attempts. That's also why I'm so glad to see a game like Boom Blox use the Wii to its potential. Hopefully, this will be the first of many.

Seph, I was drunk last night. Sorry.

[Amayirot Akago]

Damn, getting gold on some of the Point Blox levels is BRUTAL. I spent hours on the Plumbing one alone before I finally figured out I could allow a few Penalty Blox to fall. Damned if the game ain't fun though.

[sephfire]

Seph, I was drunk last night. Sorry.

A rare moment of honesty on the internet. I salute you.

[I-n-j-i-n]

Lack of games? It has 156 ranked on Metacritic while the Wii has 196. That's not exactly a huge difference for systems that have been out the same amount of time, especially considering the Wii's talent for attracting third party shovelware. Lack of games my ass. And of the games ranked above an 80% average thereand on Game Rankings, it has more new IP's than the Wii.

I'm not trying to knock the Wii here, I'm just saying the facts don't support the statement you made.

As for Boom Blox; it looks like it would be a fun diversion for a while, but nothing overly amazing that I''d sit down and play for hours.

I probably posted too quick without thinking, but you're right. It just strikes me that the PS3, while it has good games on it, plays it very safe with the types of games it features. Even very short games with little replay values also has got some good reviews too (Heavenly Sword..)

While the Wii has its share of experiments (mostly failures and broken promises) while the 360 had a share of those too.

The highest selling system gets the shovel-ware. It's just the way it goes. There were hundreds of crap games on the NES, lots on the PS1 and PS2. The Gameboy had its fair share... sucks, but when companies see a buck to be made by putting out quick, cheap crap, they're going to do it for the system with the biggest share of the market.

Only in the actual number of crappy games, but they also came with a large number of great 3rd party games. That was not the case with the Wii. Also, it's already been two years. It's pretty obvious by now that most of the actual effort is going to the other consoles. Also, it's not really accurate to say that the Wii is actually 'dominating' when the PS3 and 360 are hanging right there even with its hardcore gaming mentality. Again, we saw this with the Gamecube before, so why is this any surprise? Just because the Wii is much more popular now doesn't mean that it lost its 'family friendly' sticker. Even its core games have gotten massively family friendly (MARIO KART) and that is saying something.

I mean it's just like the creator of No More Heroes has said: The Wii is marketed and successfully sold to non-gamers for the large part. The types of the games it has is proof. To me, the Nintendo titles are a holdover for now. But look at the majority of exciting 3rd party games and they are on other consoles. To me, Boom Blox was the one game. If you're into puzzlers, you're going to spend hours upon hours making new levels and experimenting. Otherwise, it may be a tough sell. Which is ironic since the game seems to be catering to non-gamers.

[Poke'G]

While the Wii has its share of experiments (mostly failures and broken promises) while the 360 had a share of those too.

The highest selling system gets the shovel-ware. It's just the way it goes. There were hundreds of crap games on the NES, lots on the PS1 and PS2. The Gameboy had its fair share... sucks, but when companies see a buck to be made by putting out quick, cheap crap, they're going to do it for the system with the biggest share of the market.

Only in the actual number of crappy games, but they also came with a large number of great 3rd party games. That was not the case with the Wii. Also, it's already been two years. It's pretty obvious by now that most of the actual effort is going to the other consoles. Also, it's not really accurate to say that the Wii is actually 'dominating' when the PS3 and 360 are hanging right there even with its hardcore gaming mentality. Again, we saw this with the Gamecube before, so why is this any surprise? Just because the Wii is much more popular now doesn't mean that it lost its 'family friendly' sticker. Even its core games have gotten massively family friendly (MARIO KART) and that is saying something.

I mean it's just like the creator of No More Heroes has said: The Wii is marketed and successfully sold to non-gamers for the large part. The types of the games it has is proof. To me, the Nintendo titles are a holdover for now. But look at the majority of exciting 3rd party games and they are on other consoles. To me, Boom Blox was the one game. If you're into puzzlers, you're going to spend hours upon hours making new levels and experimenting. Otherwise, it may be a tough sell. Which is ironic since the game seems to be catering to non-gamers.

Nintendo's big selling point for the Wii is also it's greatest weakness in regards to 3rd party titles. Other companies either put too much or too little thought into motion controls (or an abominable combination of both), and often ignore the fact that the Wii does have a normal controller. A good example of this ignorance is in two specific titles, the Metal Slug Anthology and Godzilla Unleashed, both of which only support the nunchuck on the Wii, but have a different version of the game on another system with a normal controller.

At what point did the obvious notion of taking, say, the Dualshock 2 control scheme and mapping it to the classic controller slip their minds? The only difference between the two is the analog sticks doubling as a button, that's it.

I love the Wii and what the motion sensing controllers are capable of, but in alot of cases, the game would be worlds better with the classic or a cube controller. Sadly, only Nintendo seems to have that figured out.

[Overflow]

I'm glad to hear that there's more good third party games.

A lot of it comes down to opinions, I'd say, and I'm fine with opinions when they're outside the realm of reviews. For example, I bought my dad Indianapolis 500 for the Wii for his birthday, despite it getting bad reviews on IGN. My dad loves the game and hasn't put it down for a couple days now, but that's mostly because he loves racing and the idea of a 10 season game is outstanding to him. I personally enjoy the game too, but that's mostly for the sense of speed and the VERY tight controls. Sure, excite truck is faster, but then again, indy 500 is more down to earth and the cars feel heavy, so it evens out.

IGN gave the game around a 5, saying something like "This game has poor graphics, a poor sense of speed and just comes across as a budget title. Fans of the era will enjoy, though, and the controls and drafting effects are nice", or some such. True, the games doesn't have amazing graphics, but they're good enough; the sky is actually quite pretty.

Poor sense of speed? Only if you've been playing F-Zero, lol.

The point of this post?

To try and show that people's ideas are usually based on opinions. Was I clear, or did I just ramble, lol?

There ARE some games that are just horrible, however, like King's Knight for NES. I own the original and I can't believe big N allowed it to be put on the VC.

[SwordBreaker]

This is one EA game I actually don't mind buying at all. Finally, an ORIGINAL and GOOD EA game for a change instead of the crap they've been feeding us for so long.

[I-n-j-i-n]

Nintendo's big selling point for the Wii is also it's greatest weakness in regards to 3rd party titles. Other companies either put too much or too little thought into motion controls (or an abominable combination of both)' date=' and often ignore the fact that the Wii does have a normal controller. A good example of this ignorance is in two specific titles, the Metal Slug Anthology and Godzilla Unleashed, both of which only support the nunchuck on the Wii, but have a different version of the game on another system with a normal controller.[/quote']

You really have to ask yourself: Why on the Wii when you can just as well download it on a PC for much better graphics, or just buy the versions out on the PS2 or other older systems that had complete anthologies or even superior versions? Without the reason to take advantage of the Wiimote, the need to create games on the Wii is almost nil. If you're not making a super-popular game on the thing or with a movie/comic/kids-show license, you are not going to break even on the system or expect a break out hit. Objectively, there really has been no 'break out hit' as far as the 3rd parties are concerned. No More Heroes almost gets that distinction except the sales are just low, even if it's in the six figures. It's typically the Nintendo titles that is doing that again and again and that seems to be a turn off because Nintendo is just that strong on it. Compared to PS2 games that are still selling pretty well, and it's not the best incentive to stick to the Wii for inferior 3rd party games.

At what point did the obvious notion of taking, say, the Dualshock 2 control scheme and mapping it to the classic controller slip their minds? The only difference between the two is the analog sticks doubling as a button, that's it.

Classic controller is alright, but I think the 3rd parties are put off by the fact that it's not the main control scheme of most Wii gamers. It's usually the Wiimote. Also, I somehow don't think casual gamers, non-gamers and a whole swath of the Wii population would bother with a classic control scheme.

I love the Wii and what the motion sensing controllers are capable of, but in alot of cases, the game would be worlds better with the classic or a cube controller. Sadly, only Nintendo seems to have that figured out.

I think that is a pretty sad prospect really. Also, I think the Wiimote is just fundamentally flawed in some aspects in that it's not as responsive as it could (or should) be, and there is absolutely no feedback to the free-motion. Some PC hardware researchers are going into the whole motion-controller-feedback so you can comfortably control motions while feeling resistance to certain movements so you can use it much more accurately and comfortably, but that kind of technology is at least a decade away. I do think Nintendo is going the right direction, but it just isn't working out for the 3rd parties as far as the Wiimote goes. The task must seem much more daunting than previously thought.

[Poke'G]

You really have to ask yourself: Why on the Wii when you can just as well download it on a PC for much better graphics, or just buy the versions out on the PS2 or other older systems that had complete anthologies or even superior versions?

That's easy, the thread has already brought up that the Wii has the market share right now, and is current gen. In the Metal Slug Anthology example, yes I would grab the PS2 version, only for the better control scheme.

Classic controller is alright, but I think the 3rd parties are put off by the fact that it's not the main control scheme of most Wii gamers. It's usually the Wiimote. Also, I somehow don't think casual gamers, non-gamers and a whole swath of the Wii population would bother with a classic control scheme.

My point there is more, if the layout already exists, is it really going to hurt the designers that much to make the cube or classic controller an option. Take some of the GameCube ports for example, do they offer the Cube controller as an option? I'm not sure about Resident Evil 4, but in Rampage: Total Destruction's case, no.

And yes, I'm well aware Rampage is not a good game to begin with, but I'm a fan of the series and it's a good example of a game where the work for a control scheme had already been done, yet was completely omitted.

[Overflow]

That's easy' date=' the thread has already brought up that the Wii has the market share right now, and is current gen. In the Metal Slug Anthology example, yes I would grab the PS2 version, only for the better control scheme.

My point there is more, if the layout already exists, is it really going to hurt the designers that much to make the cube or classic controller an option. Take some of the GameCube ports for example, do they offer the Cube controller as an option? I'm not sure about Resident Evil 4, but in Rampage: Total Destruction's case, no.

And yes, I'm well aware Rampage is not a good game to begin with, but I'm a fan of the series and it's a good example of a game where the work for a control scheme had already been done, yet was completely omitted.[/quote']

A lot of the time it seems as though developers are putting in motion controls for the sake of motion controls. I don't really see a point in it, and it usually brings the title down.

In the case of Transformers (Yes, I bought the game...) The wii version had the terrible camera controls VIA pointing at the screen and to attack you had to shake the remote! Poor planning, considering how half the time I try to knock the skittles out of a deceptacon, I end up staring at Prime's feet.

Knock the skittles? 0.o