• 14Mar 07

  Wii is it for gamers?

  So I've had the Wii now for a couple
  of month's, and I think it's about time I gave my opinion, of what many
  claim is the revolution of gaming. I don't claim to know what goes into
  making a new system or what the motavation is to trying something so
  out of the norm, but I applaud Nintendo for the brave step and a big
  thumbs up for giving gamers something different.So is it worth the
  hype? please read-On.

  
  

  In simple terms the Wii remote is a genius piece of hardware, how it
  recognizes all those slight movements you make is beyond me, it knows
  when you tilt,rotate,or shake the controller it's that clever, it's
  fantastic.

  
  

  

  
  

  Nintendo however with all It's wisdom and forsight has got the Wii
  wrong and is maybe aiming at the wrong people, I know you can't please
  everyone, but in my mind you need to please gamers. And this is where
  the Wii in time will fail, or should I say be in 3rd place.

  
  

  We all love Nintendo, we love how the DS is an amazing system with
  great games, we love the vision of a Nintendo future, but with all
  these promises Nintendo are still stuck in the 90's even with this
  amazing Wii remote. It's selling like hotcakes right now, everyone
  want's to see and have ago, but beyond the control it offers nothing
  new and lacks many features that should be there.

  
  

  For a start the Wii gfx are last gen, im not a gfx whore but they
  are plain bad, but my main gripe and although I just praised it, the
  Wii remote is not a gamers friend. It becomes tiresome, annoying, and
  frustrating to use, I find myself not enjoying playing the games,
  because all of a sudden I can't relax and play, I have to shift
  position and sit up straight, many see this as a good thing, I agree It
  will stop kids from getting fat and turn them into tennis pros, It's
  abit late for most of us gamers we are already fat bastards, but any
  exercise is good exercise I guess.

  
  

  

  
  

  I don't want to be moving about while playing, I want to sit back
  and twiddle me thumbs, I like to find myself in that comfort zone,
  where man and machine are joined in perfect harmony, and you know the
  feeling im talking about where your are completely engrossed, you won't
  get this with the Wii at all, because moving around and making gestures
  doesn't allow you to relax and enjoy the same game you would on another
  machine.

  
  

  Multiplatform games is another area the Wii will always come out
  last, the GFX will always be inferior as will online play, developers
  will then need to shoe horn some Wiimote moves in for good measure, and
  they will be the same things over and over, the ones that tire you out
  after 5 minutes, like point at the screen to shot.

  
  

  8/10 games will be party based so are boring as hell, It's as if
  developers have no imagination left, so the only way to get sales is
  making a party game It's pathetic. Someone is going to have to step up
  and create new genres that compliment the Wii remote, otherwise the Wii
  is going to be a flash in the pan and be overshadowed by 360 and PS3
  like the Gamecube was.

  
  

  

  
  

  Nintendo are going for a market that does not exist yet, just
  because someone sees something that looks cool and different, they may
  even pick up a Wii remote and have ago, but that does not make them a
  gamer, I just can't see the market for a console which sole purpose is
  to entertain at party's and please Nintendo fans, if the games are all
  going to be the same It's not going to work in the long run.
  
  Take Mario Galaxy, how can you communicate that game to a none gamer
  that has picked up the Wii on a whim, you can't they don't know who
  Mario is so who buys it apart from the Nintendo faithful?. You see
  Nintendo are still stuck in the 90's with Mario and Zelda, yes the Wii
  remote the greatest thing to happen to games in the last 10 years, but
  it needs the games and at the moment it has none.

  
  

  Bah!!! this is turned into a rant, for which I appolgize.

  
  

  Let me sum it up, this is just my opinion. The Wii it's a great
  machine with a new fantastic control, but It's being sold and marketed
  to a different bunch of people, change is good, but when you are
  forgetting your main market and focusing on something that is not there
  yet, It's going to comeback and bite you in the ass, the Wii needs a
  rethink in game design and needs brave developers to comeup with new
  games and genres and Nintendo need to lead from the front, and at the
  moment they are not, Party games suck.

  
  

  Still earlydays, and maybe I have been spoilt abit with the 360's
  game lineup, im just slightly disappointed in the Wii, and what it
  offers me as a gamer.
  
  
  

  • Posted Mar 14, 2007 4:42 pm PT
  • Category: Editorial
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• 19Jan 07

  Games, Guns and the Army

  Shooting things in games is not new, infact Space Invaders had you
  blasting Aliens in the face, what im talking about here is the impact
  of having endorsed Army products and It's detrimental effect on our
  industry.
  
  Everywhere you read now on all gaming site's, you will always come
  across an article about how Jack Thompson or some other news hunting,
  ill informed vigilante fruitcake trys to ban games, they tell us Games
  are not good, and may turn you into a psychopathic maniac, and you just
  can't wait to gun someone down. We know this is complete bolloxs but
  these people's arguments will carry weight if Army's around the world
  are endorsing and making games to improve their recruitment numbers.
  
  
  

  No one will kick up a fuss if games where all like Mario and
  Sonic(be abit boring), but games cross the line when they come dressed
  up and glorify war and killing, and come with an official endorsment,
  virtually shooting someone for us is an everyday occurance and we think
  nothing of it as weve been doing it for years, but to the none playing
  on looker It's beyond comprehension.

  Games are always going to get rap from MPs, Parliaments, for all the
  wrong reasons, however most of those who complain don't play games,
  they only see the graphic images and why is America's Army a game? if
  It's being used to recruit Americain's. If the US Army is funding and
  continuing to support a GAME about how being in a war
  could be fun, and the right thing to do, all because the game says so,
  this in turn will continue to fuel and endorse arguments from people
  like Jack Thompson, as It's suddenly not about the game anymore, but
  what the game represents, and that's killing! and if you liked it, come
  join the Army.

  Eventually games and creative freedom in games are finished because
  the uproar will just continue and gain momentum as bigger and more
  powerful people get involved as things escolate, heck you don't see the
  US Army sponsoring Die Hard or Rambo, so what the hell are they doing
  making a game.

  Well simply put, because they can, and as no one in power or
  authority plays games, they will continue to make games however
  damaging and obscene it is to the on looker, and until our generation
  grows and become the ones in power, (that's if we haven't blown every
  **** up by then) but when we do we can then correct the damaging
  flaws in the industry, because It's shooting itself in the foot, games
  at the moment are in termoil and are on the verge of censorship, and
  then every game will be like Mario & Sonic.

  The people who have the power and set the rules for developing a
  game, should stop these entity's getting involved, I don't want
  shooting games stopped forever, hell no.
  

  Game's are being taken advantage of as a means for something else,
  in my mind a game is about fun and enjoying it with others, but outside
  influences are ruining it for all of us, and these people simply don't
  give a **** because if it goes **** up what do they lose? nothing.
  

  We got to stand up and stop this before It's to late, and im sure im not the only one who has spotted it.

  • Posted Jan 19, 2007 5:05 pm PT
  • Category: Editorial
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• 17Jan 07

  Games Consoles Dead as we know it

  Excuse the poor grammer, was done in a hurry
  

  What you are about to read is my experience from a noob to the pro gamer(lol) I am today, Im talking about the original premise behind the video game console, and It's death today.

  This is my opinion and a view from a gamer with over 25 years of gaming. You see my experience started way back in 1979-80 when I received a quantam leap for entertainment which was the Atari 2600, a very simple device compaired to today, but back then it was just unreal, It came with Space Invaders and Tanks, and so my life with games had begun.
  

  

  It had 1 Button joystick and these wierd 8-track looking cartridges, but ohh man what fun I had playing that, simple yet so fascinating at the sametime, I never get this feeling nowdays, It takes alot for a game to hold me and really draw me in, is that because im grown up now and seeing things diffrently, or is it the industry as a whole that's changed so much?, back then it was all new and innocent, It was just about games and having fun.
  

  Then the early 80's arrived and I was into 8-bit computers, Spectrum 48k, BBC Model B, Commadore 64, and I also had a NES, as we are talking about consoles I best not get of track and tell you how the best games ever made were from this decade and graced Computers and not Consoles, but that's for another post.

  If I was to explain to anyone where my passion for games comes it would be from the 80's, 10 years of quality games where new gamers and developers were learning togather, new genres, new ideas, everyone on the same boat, "What is a videogame"
  

  And the NES had It's fair share of great innovative titles, and of
  course a Legend was born and that was Mr Miyamoto himself, the godfather of gaming, he has a magic formula that works on all his titles even today with the latest Zelda. To explain to someone how important this man is, It's like telling you water is important to live, games would not be what they are today, if he decide not to make Donkey Kong, he is a God amongst men and helped lift Nintendo to a simple game/watch maker to the leading dominate force in videogames.

  
  

  The NES defined games and set blueprints to most of the titles we play today, from Mario to Zelda, Metroid, and Punchout, 4
  games that are still made today under 100's of diffrent names, all in all the NES was a huge leap up from the Atari 2600.

  With the end of the 80's growing near with the NES looking old tat against 16-bit Computers, Nintendos old foe SEGA started to take center stage, SEGA who had moderate success with the Master System, released the Genesis in the backend of 1989.
  

  SEGA had heaps of titles at there fingers, due to there experience in the arcades, but lacked that market penetration in the living room, the Master System was always going to become second, It had average titles complimented by average GFX & Sound.

  The Genesis/Megadrive changed all that, and so the Console wars begun and the Fanboooys were born. The Genesis was an amazing console it looked great and had quality titles from day one, It also had a lead over the SNES by about a year which helped it no end.
  

  It was all about games for the Genesis, Streets Of Rage, Golden Axe, Shining Force, Phantasy Star, and the rise of EA (I would love to write an article about the rise and fall of EA, don't think It's far of) with PGA, Madden and Fifa, but it was the Sonic the HedgeHog that won the16-bit war for SEGA.

  The Genesis was also home to the first CD based add-on, with the ill faited MEGA-CD, It was atrocious on all levels, looked ugly, and developers had no idea what to do with it, so along came aload of ****anime inspired memory test games, with the only exception being Snatcher which was a great game in It's own right and made use of some of the features the CD based machine had to offer, in all the MEGA-CD was poorly designed and rushed out.
  

  

  As Sega & Nintendo battled it out a dark horse entered, all because Nintendo dumped on them from a great height, Sony decided to get revenge and make their own Console, and so the PSX arrived on our shoes in 1995 to very little fanfair, but It didn't take long for gamers to see It's true potential, and with the help of Liverpool's developer powerhouse Psygnosis (best developers have always been british) and the release of Wipeout and some very clever marketing which coincided with the rise of Lads culture, the Playstation dominated the 90's and gave a voice to all those bedroom gamers, all of a sudden games were cool.
  

  The Playstation was a huge leap in commercial terms, It was like this whole new religion had begun, everyone wanted a piece, everyone wanted to be associateed with Playstation, this is when games went from being fun and became a huge commercial entity, It was no longer going to be about games when you average Jo who never played games was
  talking about how he was playing music CDs through his Playstation, and so the hardcore gamer was born.

  It still had amazing titles and has done for games what Miyamoto done in the 80's, Sony allowed you to be able to talk about games to other people, something you simply wouldn't of done before, the fear of persecution and ridicule was always around the corner, Ohh I loved talking game gibberish to noobs, hahaha.
  

  

  As Sony dominated the 32-bit scene killing of SEGA literally, not even the brilliant Dreamcast was enough to save them, by the time the PS2 arrived the final nail in the coffin for SEGA was hammered, and as I always say brand loyality in videogames don't mean a thing, that's why It's always about the games.
  

  Not even Nintendo could compete with Sony the N64 was about 5 years out of date, the games had a price tag of around £50-£60 which was just plain stupid, and the N64 was a big hard lesson for Nintendo, and the Gamecube although it being a good machine. Nintendo lacked the 3rd party support to compete with the PS2, and with Nintendo's attitude to
  western game design, most developers ignored it.

  So it looked like Sony had it all wrapped up with a market share of around 85% they could afford to be that arrogant and the revenge was served, well that's what they hoped.
  

  And then enters Mr M$, Bill Gates himself with his almighty XBOX, It's big, It's powerful and we gonna stomp on your ass from Richmond to Tokyo, we are in your face Microsoft and we don't stop until we change things to the way we want.

  So the Xbox was released, a good year and a half after the PS2 mind, but with the pockets at M$ they were in it for the long haul, as they would say at every opportunity. And so gamer manipulation is born.
  

  

  Nothing was going to be the same again, with a power house like M$ on the scene they have the funds to change the way we play and approach games, It was no suprise they entered the Console market, they had to.
  

  And the reason are becoming evident today with the 360 and the PS3, gone are the days of simply picking up a game and playing, we already see Microtransaction, Streaming Media, Internet browsing, Downloadable Content, in 1 generation M$ have changed the face of games, forever.

  Sony are on the defensive (SEGA Syndrome) and the PS3 lacks except in the GFX department, everything you see on the PS3 is an attempt to penetrate a market share they know nothing about, the Internet, it was obvious the way games were going when XBOX live arrived in 2002 even STEAM was a wake up call, any gamer would of told you what was coming next, yet SONY ignored it and suffer now, and will continue to suffer this generation.
  
  That's why my friends we are at an End of an Era, the game console is dead as we knew it, and so the entertainment driven media war begins, the end of games also as we knew it.
  

  However there is a small machine that went in a whole new direction, an attempt to bring back games of the early days, a machine to bring back family based entertainment, were It's all about the games and fun, and not what HDTV you should buy to watch you Blu-Ray Movies on, the Blu-Ray movies which are playing on your GAMES CONSOLE, which is also
  downloading the latest news from CNN.

  I announce to the world the rebirth of games, were gamers and developers are joined once again to learn, the Pheonix has arisen.
  
  • Posted Jan 17, 2007 6:06 am PT
  • Category: Editorial
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