• 2Mar 09

  The Wii 2's Online: What Can Be Improved?

  As many Nintendo fans have already heard, it's rumored that a Wii 2 is slated for release in a couple of years. The Wii is a good system right now, but I feel there's a lot of changes it needs to make it really shine when it comes to online play.

  More Accessible Online

  Having to add friendcodes is a huge pain in the butt for me. You have to write down your 16 digit code for every single Wi-Fi enabled game that you want to play online with your friend, then tell it to him/her, who then has to do the same thing. It takes a lot longer than it should. One improvement that should be made is a single, universal friend code for all Wi-Fi games and not one for each, and friend request notifications. Instead of having to find out both of your codes, it could send you a message in your inbox saying something along the lines of "Dave (0944-1274-8826-1134) would like to be your friend. Yes or no?" This would give you an idea of who it is based on the nickname, and only one of you would have to enter a friendcode. You wouldn't have to go through any more trouble after that.

  Another feature they could add is user status and what games they're playing. Sometimes it can be hard to tell if someone is using their Wii or not, and if they add something like "Dave - Now online - Playing Super Smash Bros. Brawl" next to each person's name, it would make it much easier to find out what your buddies are doing so you can join in on the fun.

  Wii Shop Improvements

  One of the things that's been really bugging me is that the Wii doesn't let you download demos of games. For some reason you can download DS demos off the Nintendo Channel on your Wii, but why doesn't the Wii itself have demos? Many people such as myself like to try things before buying them to help decide if the full product is worth their hard-earned cash, and with the crappy economy this is becoming more of an issue. It would definitely be a smart move if Nintendo just added a downloadable Demos section into the Wii Shop Channel for the Wii 2.

  Virtual Console could use some new additions too. It already has a huge library of retro games, but it's missing some old game consoles on it. Sure, it already has tons and tons of games from the NES, SNES, Genesis, Master System, Neo-Geo, Commodore 64, and Turbografx systems, but it doesn't have anything from the Dreamcast or Gamecube. Nintendo already struck up a deal with Sega to feature two of their older systems in VC, but not the Dreamcast. I don't understand this. If you're going to feature Sega's systems, why not go all the way seeing as how they don't make them any more. There were loads of great games on the Dreamcast that I know many people would like to have a chance to play again, including Soul Calibur and the Sonic Adventure series, so why not Nintendo? Including Gamecube games would also be a good idea, because, like the Dreamcast, there are several games people would be willing to buy off VC to play again, like Pikmin, Mario Sunshine, Super Smash Bros. Melee, etc. Ninty could sell these for around $20-$30, and would end up with thousands of happy customers and more cash in their pockets.

  Improved Voice-Chat Features

  Right now the Wii Speak pheriphal is useful, but can be annoying when you want to talk to your friend while playing, say, Mario Kart, but it's not supported. People should be given the option to create a chatroom in the Wii Speak Channel, then start playing a game and still be able to chat with their friend. This would make communicating much, much easier and you could share your strategies with buddies to give you the upper hand in whatever game you may be playing with them.

  Talking into the Wii Speak microphone can sometimes be a pain too, because it's wired and you have limited freedom as to where you place it. Most people choose on top of their TV, and sometimes you have to speak up or get really close to the TV in order for your voice to be clear. If the Wii Speak was made wireless and came with a stand, it would be easier to talk. You could place it on a table or stool while playing and talk into it more casually, and if you had to move your position for some reason you could take the mic with you.

  That's pretty much all I have to say about this. If the Wii 2 comes with all of these features in it, it will be much, much easier and more enjoyable to use when playing online. If you read the entire thing, you deserve a strawberry cupcake with rainbow sprinkles on it.

  • Posted Mar 2, 2009 3:32 pm PT
  • Category: Games
  • 1 Comment
  • Tag
  • Print
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Digg
• 22Feb 09

  Educated guesses about Bonfire Studios' next game...

  As most of you probably have already heard, Ensemble Studios recently went bankrupt. It was a sad day for RTS fans world wide, including me. Some of the core staff members of the company then split up and formed two new gaming departments known as Bonfire Studios and Robot Entertainment. On Bonfire Studios' website, they have posted some vague Q&A about their next game, and it's left me and probably many other fans wondering. So, I've decided I'm going to post some of my guesses about what it'll be like below, based on what they've said on their website and the articles I've read about Ensemble on GS:

  According to their website, Bonfire claims their next game will be "fast, fun, and addictive." The founder of Ensemble, Bruce Shelley, says here that he had tried to expand from the RTS genre before the company closed down, but all the projects got cancelled. Perhaps Bonfire is trying this again, since generally real-time strategy games aren't exactly fast paced. My guess is that it's going to be an action game of some sort. However, they also said, "Well, that would spoil the fun if we told you." in response to a question asking what genre it was, so perhaps it's a strategy game with action elements in it. It has been confirmed that the game will have a storyline and involves combat from one of their responses as well.

  Bonfire also said "It's too hot for you to handle right now!" when asked if they would release "eye candy" on the game. Judging by the fact that the studio was just formed and that they aren't currently hiring, the game is probably in early stages of development and it's probably too early for them to release official screenshots, trailers, etc. When prompted with a question asking the title of the game, they responded "Sorry, no more questions." So either they want this project to be secret, or they haven't decided on a title yet.

  Overall, Bonfire revealed very little about the game, and probably won't for a few more months. I'm hoping this might have made things a bit more specific to those of you who have been wondering about this. Best of luck to Bonfire on their new game.

  • Posted Feb 22, 2009 11:50 am PT
  • Category: Games
  • 0 Comments
  • Tag
  • Print
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Digg

See Previous Blog Posts »