Although I’ve been back from my travels for a few weeks now (for those that weren’t aware I’ve been to Whistler, Canada, to try and improve my limited Snowboarding skills) I have still not had the urge to boot up the Xbox 360, PS3, or DS, and immerse myself in our electronic pastime.
Unfortunately, a direct consequence of my general listlessness and disillusionment towards videogames is that the blog writing suffers. There’s no point in denying it, I don’t have vast repertoire of articles parked ready for publishing to tide me over, nor a great deal to write about once my muse has been unceremoniously dumped in the binary wasteland. And thus the blog has been barren ever since - a fact that I feel I need to apologise for.
However, not everything lasts forever, and fortunately the desire to play a game is starting to manifest itself. Instead of just deciding to pick up whatever “hot” game is generating the most discussion, pick up the latest release, or play through numerous demo’s that are of no interest, I thought it would be worth examining my back catalog to decide what game to play next. The hope is to avoid the need to rush through a game as fast as possible to voice my thoughts, and instead take my time, savour the experience, and learn to love games again.
With this in mind I’ve drawn up a shortlist of games that have piqued my interest, but due to various circumstances never had the time to play them.
Okami (Wii)
This respected swansong from Clover Studios is at some point or other always at the forefront of my back-catalogue. It is perhaps the only game I’ve actually purchased twice. Once when it first appeared on the PS2, and then again when it was ported to the Wii by Ready at Dawn.
I find myself looking wondrously at the watercolour inspired graphical style whenever I see images of this game, and the various references I read with regards to its Zelda-esque game design only cause to enhance its appeal. I’m curious to see how well “Celestial Brush”, a unique design feature of Okami to draw images on the screen canvas for use in combat and puzzle solving, translates to the “Wii-mote”. It should in theory be a perfect match, although I’ve heard comments to the contrary.
I’ve recently being playing through Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin on the Nintendo DS and although the successful “metroidvania” formula doesn’t seem to have changed much there are at least some elements that make the game feel slightly different from all the others I have had the pleasure of playing.
Probably the most noteworthy aspect in Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin is the introduction of two new playable characters, namely Jonathan Morris, and Charlotte Aulin, whom have to work together to overcome the Castle’s obstacles.
Both characters can be switched between at will, yet individually they’re sufficiently different to one another to help keep things interesting. Whilst Jonathan plays the role of the self assured warrior with a grudge, Charlotte is the powerful, but vulnerable magician. In itself this dynamic character switching wouldn’t be enough to ensure long term success, but Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin seems to have been thoughtfully designed to make the best use of this cooperation with regards to exploration, puzzles, and of course boss battles.
Throughout the adventure - what I’ve played of it so far at least - it’s frequently necessary to call upon the AI player to help out. Although it isn’t entirely necessary to have them following you around all the time, what I have discovered, however, is that I prefer to have my companion chasing my coat tails rather than dismiss them to the sidelines while I am exploring.
This started me thinking. Although I generally profess to be a solo video game player, I do genuinely enjoy games where there is some form of “companionship” – especially if it’s integral to the game and there is a binding relationship between the characters. But with the exception of traditional style role playing games, which by and large have always featured companions, could you name some truly memorable partnerships? Who could forget the churlish imp Midna[1], The completely believable Alyx Vance [2], the helpless Yorda[3], and perhaps more recently Elika[4], but beyond that I’m really struggling. Any suggestions?
[1]The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. [2]Half Life 2: Episode One and Two. [3]Ico [4]Prince of Persia
My DS has been crying out for some attention. It’s been sitting unloved and feeling shunned next to the PSP for the last few months waiting for the chance to shine. Well, that opportunity has appeared as I’ve an upcoming trip planned which presents the perfect opportunity to get some DS gaming done while travelling. In preparation for the journey I’ve been messing around with a few games over the last few days.
Metroid Prime Pinball
This is a great pinball game which makes fantastic use of the Metroid license. As soon as the game starts up you know you’re in for a treat as you’re greeted with a familiar musical theme. The feel of the game is spot on with tables based upon different levels such as Talon Overworld, and Phazon Mines and feature some quite diverse objectives such as Burrower Bash and Space Pirate Panic which when successfully completed award Chozo Artifacts. The aim is to collect 12 artifacts in total to advance to the final tables.
As-well as Microsoft and Sony having E3 conferences revealing some nuggets of information, Nintendo also had there own little shin dig on Wednesday at the Civic Auditorium (Santa Monica). Even though this news is probably old hat now I thought it was only fair to extract some facts and information from the conference.
Of special interest was the announcement of Wii Fit with custom hardware (Wii Balance Board) and as anticipated release dates for some high profile first party titles were also revealed. However the dates listed were for the US only and European dates are yet to be announced. Nintendo platforms have experienced a 69% growth this year.
The Nintendo DS has now doubled its sales percentage of all videogame consoles sold from 12% to 23%!
Nintendo’s strategy of targeting the female demographic seems to be working as they have now achieved a 67 / 33 split for male to female gamers whereas it was stated this is usually 80 / 20.
The Nintendo DS has now sold over 40 million units worldwide and there will be 140 more new titles to appear this year.
Wii Fit was announced for the Nintendo Wii and features a new bit of hardware which is similar to a step aerobics platform known as the Wii Balance Board. The platform can measure weight distribution and calculate your BMI (Body Mass Index). The “game” covers different genres of activities such as aerobics, yoga, muscle conditioning and balance games. A price and release date has yet to be announced.
The Wii Zapper was announced which is basically a light gun incorporating both the Wii remote and Nunchuk and will be compatible with forthcoming games like Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles and Medal of Honour. The Zapper will be bundled with first party Nintendo software or sold separately for 19.99 USD.
A new channel is coming to the Wii called Check Mii Out. In the new channel you will be able to vote on Mii’s and search for popular Mii’s.
In terms of online statistics it was stated that 5.5 million players have used the Nintendo Wi-Fi connection with 230 gameplay sessions and the Wii Virtual console has had 5.6 million downloads.
Super Mario Galaxy will be released in US on November 12th.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl will be released in US on December 3rd.
Mario Kart Wii was announced and will feature online play. The game is scheduled to be released globally in quarter 1 2008. A custom steering wheel will also debut alongside the release of the game.
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass for the Nintendo DS has been given a release date as the 1st October 2007 by Nintendo of America. As yet there has been no official word on a European release date and given the usual track record for Nintendo Europe I think we’ll be lucky to see it on UK shores before the end of the year. However all is not lost for UK gamers and if you can’t bare to wait for a European release, and as the DS is region free, there will be plenty of importers lining up to supply you with the American version.
Newly released in Japan on June 23rd for the Nintendo DS The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass is the sequel to The Wind Waker and features the same cel shaded graphical style as its predecessor. Obviously the game caters for the reduced power of the DS compared to the Gamecube, but even so the game is looking stunning and as I’m a Zelda fan I really can’t wait to get hold of an English language copy. There’s been no confirmed European release date as yet, but with a bit of luck we may see it released later this summer.
Finally “Elite Beat Agents” has been given a European release date of July 13th. The Nintendo DS rhythm game is the westernised version of the frequently imported Japanese original “Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan” with government agents replacing black clad cheerleaders and a new track listing replacing the J-Pop listing of the original. The game has been available in the US since November 6th 2006 and Japan has recently seen the release of its successor “Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2″
I’ve been tempted to import Ouendan and Elite Beat Agents on a number of occasions but for some reason or another never got around to it. I’ve got a feeling I may pick this game up at some point after it’s released as it’s piqued my curiosity.
The other day Nintendo Europe confirmed that Pokemon Diamond / Pearl will be released in Europe on the 27th of July.
This is a full ten months after the Japanese release and only three months after the American release. At least we’re not too far behind the American release this time and we’ve actually got a release date, which is more than can be said for some other high profile Nintendo games we’re waiting for. I’ve only ever played Pokemon Red on the Nintendo Gameboy many years ago when it was released in 1999 and although I really enjoyed the game I’ve never felt the need to pick up one of the many sequels. However I’m tempted to try either Diamond or Pearl as it’s had positive reviews and I’m intrigued to see how it’s come on over the years.
I’ve recently being playing through Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin on the Nintendo DS and although the successful “metroidvania” formula doesn’t seem to have changed much there are at least some elements that make the game feel slightly different from all the others I have had the pleasure of playing.
