Nintendo Wii

[XZero]

Every Wii owner should buy a Kama nunchuck controller. The wirelessness of the controller makes playing the games easier since there are no cords to get in the way, and it works *perfectly*. In sum, go to GameStop or Game Crazy and buy one of these things.

Here's the IGN review:

http://gear.ign.com/articles/871/871407p1.html

[SirChadlyOC]

Is the cost of the WiiWare games still a mystery? I fear that I'm not going to get into it because it'll be too expensive.

Unless someone like Pepsi starts a "Free Wii Points with Purchase" program. *dream*

[Penfold]

Is the cost of the WiiWare games still a mystery? I fear that I'm not going to get into it because it'll be too expensive.

Unless someone like Pepsi starts a "Free Wii Points with Purchase" program. *dream*

Not totally a mystery, but it's by no means transparent. Here a list of the known WiiWare titles, with relative info (including price point for some). In terms of pricing model, it's not static, so there's no telling necessarily how much a game might be unless Nintendo has already told us. As I understand it, the devs give a suggested price point to Nintendo when uploading the game for future distribution, at which point Nintendo can make final judgement on price. I wonder if that means we could see "sale prices" for WiiWare titles from time to time...I guess it's all up to what Nintendo wants to do.

[Jarvi]

Just to interject into the conversation a bit, has anyone tried Baroque? It's a port of a PS2 game that was apparantly a remake of a Sega Saturn game is something. The controls for it are a bit awkward and the camera sucks, but the story is so hopelessly muddled and confusing in the beginning, that I keep playing to find out more.

[Thalzon]

I played it for PS2. Most unforgiving game I've ever played, and the fact that it's so unforgiving makes it an absolute chore to play. Also, the combat is so stiff and dull, and it seems I couldn't find a healing item that didn't also have some adverse effect. And what's with the vitality meter? It just adds another layer of annoyance. I didn't enjoy my time with it at all.

[Penfold]

So, I checked the shop channel before heading to work this morning, and saw WiiWare is up now! Downloaded LostWinds and played a few minutes of it, and so far it seems to have a lot of charm. Moving through the world using the wind is pretty fun and there's something appealing about bushes, tree leaves, etc moving around as the cursor brushes past. I look forward to getting to sink more time into it.

I was kinda disappointed to see games like World of Goo and Dr. Mario Online RX, which were supposed to be available at WiiWare launch, aren't available till next week. Also gonna decide whether to get My Life as a King based off reviews as they come in.

[Devyn]

So, WiiWare is out now. I haven't messed with it because I still have disc games that I haven't finished - Endless Ocean, No More Heroes, and most loveledly, Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn. I'm liking how it looks though. (Mario Kart also gets some action, but I don't plan on taking you guys on until I get a certain special vehicle).

Speaking of Radiant Dawn, it's an excellent game. In that game, when characters under your control die on the battlefield, it's a real pain in the ass, because you can't play as them anymore and some of them don't even show up in the story anymore. So, I left those old saves and continued my quest without sacrificing characters. So, I have to fight each battle several times because it's almost impossible to not have a character die unless you use characters with extremely high durability, which makes the whole battle slower and less dramatic.

It's such an awesome game! And your characters change class after a certain level, and it's so awesome. They look different and they gain new abilities and tear the shit out of enemies. Also, the characters themselves have tons of depth and personality. I can't wait for a sequel with actual Wii pointer controls.

So, how are the Wii Ware games? Fun?

[Hector]

Sounds like this is your first Fire Emblem game. They're all similar to that.

[Devyn]

Yes, it's my first, and my third strategy RPG. First was Warcraft 2, second was the legendary Shining Force, and now it's Fire Emblem. I'm digging it I tell you.

[SirChadlyOC]

Yes, it's my first, and my third strategy RPG. First was Warcraft 2, second was the legendary Shining Force, and now it's Fire Emblem. I'm digging it I tell you.

Welcome to the Fire Emblem obsession. We knew you'd come.

Feel free to pick up the prequel, Path of Radiance, for the GameCube ($25). A few of the new additions will be gone, which will be annoying, but the storyline is worth it. The easiest way to find it now would be using the store locater on GameStop's Web site.

Also, I highly recommend the first American GBA game "Fire Emblem" (FF7 in Japan) ($20). You can probably skip the second GBA game "Sacred Stones" for now, but keep your eyes peeled for the somewhat recently announced DS installment of Fire Emblem, featuring Marth.

[sephfire]

Has anyone been having trouble with logging into the Wii Shop? Mine refuses to do so 90% of the time. The other 10%, it lets me to the top menu and boots me out as soon as I select something. It's just a little sad when my poor little Wii can't even access its own store.

[Red Shadow]

Lost Winds is really fun.

Interesting to note that the boss battle has more steps to it than one would think.

[OceansAndrew]

Lost winds looks great, so i'm happy to hear it is good.

I'm picking up the FF game tonight, so i'll let you know what I think of it. A few months back in some thread I remember wishing for basically a game just like this, so it's kind of strange that it actually came out.

And since Square Enix is apparently granting my wishes now, I'd love a Soul Blazer sequel/remake/VC release please.

[Penfold]

Lost winds looks great, so i'm happy to hear it is good.

I'm picking up the FF game tonight, so i'll let you know what I think of it. A few months back in some thread I remember wishing for basically a game just like this, so it's kind of strange that it actually came out.

And since Square Enix is apparently granting my wishes now, I'd love a Soul Blazer sequel/remake/VC release please.

Quick, wish for Chrono Trigger!!!! Haha.

Anyway, I'd definitely be interested to hear how that Crystal Chronicles WiiWare title is. It's the only one that IGN hasn't reviewed yet, and it doesn't seem like Metacritic will be compiling WiiWare reviews at this point (which is lame).

LostWinds is great. 45 min in so far, and I'm really looking forward to what further powers you obtain, and seeing other pretty novel ways you move around and interact with your environment to continue.

On that note, they've announced there will be a sequel to LostWinds!! Considering LostWinds is supposed to be around 3 hours, it seems like they'll have lots of room to do a very fresh-feeling sequel. Wishful thinking, but with Nintendo in the near future bringing out a new storage option, maybe that will lead to an increase in the WiiWare size cap, and they could make an even lenghier sequel.

Sephire - I haven't had any trouble connecting to the Wii Shop channel on my end. If it was just trouble connecting yesterday, maybe it was because of a lot of traffic from people downloading WiiWare games?

[Penfold]

Double-post.

Beat LostWinds last night, and I've got to say I highly recommend it. For any who enjoy games such as Zelda or Metroid which have an emphasis on adventuring, this would be a perfect fit.

I have two small gripes that, while not detracting from the experience, do show a couple areas for improvement. First, I'm not at all taken back by this game from a value standpoint - while only 3 or so hours long, the experience is worth the $10 pricetag in my opinion. The flipside is, though, that the once game really feels like it's starting to take off it's already over. In other words, it left me wanting more. The other gripe is that it's actually very easy to get lost towards the end. There's no map system, and no signs that the player can read to help navigate, so the only way to get your bearings is by talking to the townsfolk and just wing it. This may be a function of the length/size of the game (the experience would be just that much faster if you had a map to show the objectives' locations), and it's really not a bad thing as it was still fun. It's a beautifully-rendered world, but so many of the environments look alike that it would have been too much of a chore to navigate if the world was much larger. A larger rendition wouldn't need a map necessarily, but readable signs or more varying environments would also do the trick (the reason games like Metroid worked so well without a map was there thanks to a very decent variation in environments, I think).

All in all, the mechanics work great, the world is beautiful, the boss battle is very satisfying, and while the story may be a little trite it's not bad. I think this is a game that shows what WiiWare can and should be: quality gaming that shows the strengths of the Wii system. Like I said before, a LostWinds 2 has already been announced, and thankfully so! Here's hoping for a sequel of perhaps larger scope, and if so hopefully some way of dealing with potential navigation issues. Great game, and I would encourage everyone to support such a fantastic effort.

[OceansAndrew]

I spent a few hours on my life as a king last night and I have to say I'm really impressed. The art and music are beautiful, and the game play reminds me on an ultra-detailed version of the Actraiser town areas, mixed with a bit of Sim City, and with a few unique twists.

You build different types of buildings, learning more types as you progress through the game. Small houses bring in 2 new people and earn you 10 gil per day. Of these 2 people, 1 you can commission as an adventurer (for a 1 time 100gil fee to sign them up, and then 15gil for every day they go out and do things for you).

They can level up, and they go into the dungeons to brign back building materials for you. They all have friendship levels with each other, so if you want them to be extra effective, you can have them join a group with their friends. You can go into their houses and view thier stats as well, which is pretty cool. When they defeat bosses, you can award them a medal, which gives them a stat increase of your choice, in addition to their leveling up.

You can also build bakeries and different weapon shops for your townspeople. The bakery improves morale of the surrounding citizens, which gradually fills a bar. When the bar reaches 100% you get a cool present and then it resets. You can also increase the bar by running around town and talking to your residents.

The weapon shop is cool because it allows you to invest money in it to improve it's goods, which your adventurers will spend their money on to grow stronger.

There are a few restrictions of where you can build; like the bakery needs to be near houses, and stuff like that, but you have a good amount of control of how things grow and develop.

Overall totally worth $15 to me.

Once I finish this, I'll probably be picking up lost winds, especially after the positive review from Penfold.

[Penfold]

Nice, I'm very interested in giving My Life as a King a shot, though I really should finish Okami before starting it (and I probably have to delete LostWinds to make room for it ). I'd be interested in hearing how many hours you clock in before beating the game.

Incidentally, I was wrong, they are compiling reviews for WiiWare titles on Metacritic after all, but none have 4 yet so their meta scores are still null.

In other news, new title revealed from Platinum Studios (formerly Seeds, formerly the fallout of Clover Studios). Reading their first paragraph about Mad World started to turn me off to the game despite the art style, but I started to get more interested when they talked about the violence being intentionally over-the-top to be comical. Looking forward to more info about this.

Then, potential Castlevania game for the Wii. It's reaching to say that's confirmation of a forthcoming Wii entry, but I'm hopeful. At least another DS title in on the way...

[Cecilff2]

Took me about 38 hours to beat Okami, and I still have a bit I can more I could do(That last blockhead is REALLY annoying[8 points]). Got the blossom tree for three of my totals. I think I missed on enemies defeated and demon fangs.

[BardicKnowledge]

Those of you that have My Life as a King -- how does the "Pay to Play" thing work? I understand that you've gotta pay for certain expansion packs / buildings a la Oblivion, but is it really a monthly thing?

[Penfold]

Those of you that have My Life as a King -- how does the "Pay to Play" thing work? I understand that you've gotta pay for certain expansion packs / buildings a la Oblivion, but is it really a monthly thing?

I haven't yet played it personally, but looking at the wiki page "Pay to Play" in this case is just it's the downloadable content, which you buy as desired - so no monthly service charge or anything.

EDIT: After watching a not offscreen version of the Mad World trailer, I'm even more hoping for more gameplay vids and details (come on, E3!). It's so over-the-top, it is pretty funny (like the guy walking around with the sign sticking out of his face).

[OceansAndrew]

Those of you that have My Life as a King -- how does the "Pay to Play" thing work? I understand that you've gotta pay for certain expansion packs / buildings a la Oblivion, but is it really a monthly thing?

It's a little shop that you can buy stuff in; it's not a reoccurring subscription or anything. I bought a new building type, and it was pretty streamlined into the game. Buying the new building opened up a new dungeon that I needed to clear before I could get the building plans(which is cool; it gives my dudes more to do), but once I received the plans, it unlocked the building for good, meaning if I start a new town, it'll be ready from the beginning.

I don't think i'll be buying everything, but maybe I'll get some other stuff if it appeals to me.

[Ray Falling]

IGN has screenshots of a new "shooter" coming to Wii, called Pyroblazer. It looks fantastic!

From the looks of it it's more of a racing game a la Wipeout. No other details yet, just 4 screens: http://wii.ign.com/dor/objects/14245910/pyroblazer/images/pyroblazer-20080521094707666.html

[The Pezman]

I had a rare case of being in the right place at the right time on Monday.

I was just browsing a GameStop, not intending to buy anything. This was 10:45 in the morning (I'm back from college) so it was just me and an employee. I asked about the Wiis, and of course they were still sold out. But, as I was standing there, a UPS deliveryman came in with a single Wii. What to do, what to do? I went back and forth, but then went ahead and bought it. It was very sudden and I haven't started playing it yet. My friend will loan me Metroid Prime 3 on Friday. I'm excited.

[Red Shadow]

how much are wiis selling for on ebay these days?

theres a store about two miles away that has three of them

[Neo Samus]

I had a rare case of being in the right place at the right time on Monday.

I was just browsing a GameStop, not intending to buy anything. This was 10:45 in the morning (I'm back from college) so it was just me and an employee. I asked about the Wiis, and of course they were still sold out. But, as I was standing there, a UPS deliveryman came in with a single Wii. What to do, what to do? I went back and forth, but then went ahead and bought it. It was very sudden and I haven't started playing it yet. My friend will loan me Metroid Prime 3 on Friday. I'm excited.

If you are a fan of the MP series (which if I remember correctly you are) I think you will enjoy Corruption very much. It seems like luck was on your side. Hopefully it didn't put to much of a hole in your wallet.