Saturday, February 27, 2010

Pachter Brings the Smarts

A lot of people hate Michael Pachter. I'm not one of those people. A lot of times, during his appearances on GameTrailers, he says a lot of pro-"hardcore" things. But just like G4, I believe it is because he understands the audience of that show and wants to appease them.

However, unlike G4, it is rare that Pachter betrays the Wii market (perceived as anything-but-harcore) by insulting them. This indicates that he is intelligent enough to harbor some respect for the Wii audience.

Well, from Michael's mouth, here's our proof:
"I continue to believe that the Wii audience will buy good games, and think that third parties have done a poor job of making them for the Wii. There are a handful of exceptions (my favorite is Zack and Wiki), but most third party Wii games just plain suck. The third parties don't appear to be giving the Wii owner what he/she wants, which is an approachable, high quality game. The bulk of titles are shovelware, and once a Wii owner has a bad experience with a poorly crafted title from a third party, they are even more likely to return to buying only Nintendo products. This is most definitely NOT Nintendo's fault; they can hardly be blamed for making consistently good games. It's the fault of studios that think it's OK to make a lousy game and put the word 'party' in the title."

I'm not saying I agree 100%, but let's face it, compared to the way Wii gamers usually get kicked around, it's pretty nice to get a shred of credit from one of the more vocal gaming pundits.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

From Nintendo With Love

Hey gang,

So it's been 24 hours since the Media Summit. How are we all feeling?

I'm very happy with what we heard yesterday. I didn't really expect any blockbuster announcements (Kid Icarus Wii! I will never give up hope! I will find you! Give me back my son!!!) *ahem* ... but I think what we got was as good as we could have hoped for.

So what did we get?

Peace of Mind
We now know for certain when the big Nintendo-related titles will be out this year. (See release dates to the right). But beyond that, I think we learned that the future is bright for at least two reasons:

1. If Mario/Metroid/S+P are coming out this summer. Nintendo must have enough up their sleeve to keep the Holiday season merry. The new Zelda? That seems like a good candidate. And don't forget, NSMBWii was announced mere months before hitting market and being (arguably) the biggest game of the Holiday season. So I'm thinking Zelda + [unannounced title] = Nintendo Holiday 2010.

2. Cammy Dunaway was quoted saying their won't be a Wii successor "anytime soon." This is something we hear all the time, from every company, no matter what. Why would they spoil current potential sales and announce something they can't buy yet?

But the part that tells me we really get to enjoy the Wii for a while (and not have to shell out another heap of cash in the near future) is this: "Even though our install base is, at this point, five million households larger than the PS2 install base was at the same point in its life cycle, it still has a lot of room to grow. If you think PS2, there's been about 50 million sold -- Wii close to 28 million sold -- so it says to me there's still a big audience out there that we can access with Wii ... We'll have it ready when we think the time is right."

In other words, when sales of the Wii become unacceptable. Which, in case you haven't heard, they are not.


Metroid
I'm loving, loving, loving what we're seeing from the new Metroid. I am all about story. This game looks to really focus on Samus' character - I hope they are rewarded with a successful response from the gamer.

Also, the fact that you can switch between side-view and first person at any time, just by pointing the wiimote, sounds like another truly innovative, truly awesome, implementation of the Wii's technological advantages.


Mario
Different enough to be new, similar enough to be fun. Galaxy 2 will be purchased, it will be enjoyed. What more do I need to say?

Though, I do have one gripe: The Bee-suit is one of my favorite power-ups of all time. Instead of holding a drill, they should have given Mario a Mole-suit.
[like this one (lower right)]

But hey! Ya-ya-yoshi! Buggabugoo!! (those are my impressions of Yoshi sounds.)

Sin & Punishment
I think Liz Lemon said it best: "I want to go to there."

Monster Hunter Tri
Free online? And now you have my business, Capcom.

Cave Story
It's alive!! It's aliiiiiiiiive!! ... and that makes me happy ^_^

--------

It's a good time to be a Wii owner.

And hey, GDC is coming up soon, right? Will there be more surprises in store?

Leave a comment or talk it up on the forums.

Friday, February 19, 2010

Enjoy Games, Not War.

The site has changed. We used to fight the good fight. It hasn't been worth the effort. Fighting the good fight in gaming culture has been like approaching a forest fire with a squirt gun.

New focus? Our awesome community, gaming, and letting the fools remain foolish.

1. Yawn.
2. Stretch.
3. Rock on with the new WiiAreDeep.

Hope to see you (yes you!) in the forums and at the other end of some good online gaming.

~CrashMan

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Arkia wins Excitebike Tourney!

In a heated series of races, Arkia once again proved that he is one heck of a gamer. By winning in convincing fashion, Arkia once again kept Maxi from the gold. Will Maxi's time ever come?!
Rounding out the top three, Mop showed that she is no slouch on the competitive pixels.

Someone got fourth place... with half as many points as third place... not sure who it was. Maybe the info and Badges are all available in the Tournies section? =P

Great job, everyone!!