Most Wii games are shovel-ware. Most people seem to feel that hardcore games do not exist in the Wii world, and though wading through Best Buy bargain bins lends some validity to this statement, this does not mean the Wii does not have a good amount of great hardcore games. The big problem is, with the exception of first party titles, games that elitists would fancy don’t usually sell too well. Case in point; Vanilla Ware’s Muramasa.
As if the 3DS could not garner any more news, one of it’s lesser known features is drawing praise from developers. Aside from being impressed by the well-working 3D screen, the intuitive analog, and numerous developers backing it, one could also note the 3DS’s strong anti-piracy features. Well, at least if you are THQ’s VP of global marketing, Ian Curran. Thus, in a Jul. 9 interview with CVG, Curran stated “What excites me even more is that there is technology built in that device to really combat piracy.”
Although E3 is over and done with for the year, following it every year is the prestigious Game Critics Awards. Despite some ridiculous acts of mother nature, and an even more ridiculous oil spill, 2010 is just like any year before it. Therefore, a week ago the nominees were decided on, the votes were finally tallied, and the big winners are Nintendo’s 3DS and id’s Rage.
Despite only winning two of eighteen awards, the 3DS received arguably the strongest awards with wins in the Best of Show and Best Hardware categories. In a similar fashion, Rage dominated the software front and was granted three awards: Best Console Game, Special Commendation for Graphics and Best Action Game.
Objectively speaking, Nintendo had one of the strongest E3 press conferences this year. Subjectively speaking, said presentation was also the most satiating. However, if you fancy yourself an uber-cynic, then there may be even more Nintendo-centric news to eat away at the black hole that is your heart. On July 29, during a shareholders meeting in the company’s Kyoto headquarters, Shigeru Miyamoto started dropping hints of “a new character.”
Starting with a Q&A session, Miyamoto started speaking of activities currently holding his interests. Some of which included, swimming and being part of a youth help organization. As history denotes, when Miyamoto usually speaks of hobbies along comes new intellectual property. Hence was the case with Pikmin and Miyamoto’s love of gardening.
You would not be blamed if you came away from the previous couple E3’s feeling a little bored with Nintendo. With titles like Wii Fit, Wii Music and the unveiling of the Vitality Sensor Nintendo did not make themselves any friends with the “hardcore” gaming community.
However, Nintendo seems to be making a strong attempt to change all of that. Today, not only have we seen new installments in the Kid Icarus, Zelda, and Kirby series, but now a return to Donkey Kong Country as well.
Rumors swirled the internet about it, and before even that, everyone wondered what kind of drugs Activision was on for voluntarily losing it’s biggest money-making franchise. Not surprisingly, Activision had an answer for the skeptics. However, what is surprising is that Nintendo unveiled it during their E3 conference. Of course, the “it” I’m talking about is the new Activision developed, Goldeneye for the Wii.
With sequels, it’s easy to get a feel of what to expect – more of what its predecessor offered, while improving on aspects that didn’t pan out the way as the developers intended. This is usually, if not always, the case. With Super Mario Galaxy 2, you won’t know what hit you. It’s a freight train of surprise, a paroxysm of ingenuity, an endless stream of balls-out craziness. There probably won’t be a better game this year. Super Mario Galaxy 2 is really frickin’ amazing.
It starts ever so predictably. Peach is kidnapped, Bowser’s going to break the universe and Mario’s going to stop all this nonsense with starship that reflects the exact size and dimensions of his ego. The lack of effort gone into the narrative is laughable and it seems like Nintendo was aware of how they tried even less with weaving any kind of yarn, because a lot of the dialogue in the text reflects a kind of humor that just screams “We don’t care. Shut your face and play our damn game instead.”
