Sonic and the Black Knight
– People have been complaining about the review, saying IGN is biased, etc.
– Not so hot – 3.9
– Matt says he gives bad Sonic games bad scores
– Just not a good game
– Can look at it as not a good Sonic game or not a good game in general (both are true)
– Doesn’t have any of the trademarks from the Sonic games
– Matt can’t remember a single loop in the game
– Always at a dead stop fighting enemies, stopped a lot
– Sword-play is just one move – mapped to waggle
– Basic game is running forward for a second, stopping for 30 seconds, fighting off enemies
– Secret Rings did have its issues but it was still a fun game
– By design they’re trying to slow you down
– Actually have to stop, walk up to a townspeople clumbsily to interact with villagers
– Don’t really collect rings so much either
– When you stop you realize how bad the controls are
We Ski and Snowboard
– Very mediocre game
– Pretty much the same game as last year, looked like the same game
– Added the ability to snowboard but have the same controls as skiing
– Does support the balance board
– Balance board controls work
– Nothing else to do in the game
– Everything is unlocked from the very beginning
– Nothing to entice you to move forward
– No goal or objective you’re working towards
– Visually not too bad
– Framerate chugs in multiplayer
A Boy and His Blob
– Very pretty
– Knew about it for a little more than a month
– Still a little early
– All 2D
– Videos up today
– One of the best looking 2D games Craig has seen
– Being done by WayForward
– It is a bit rough in some areas, still looking really good
– Only concern is how far they will take the gameplay mechanics
Punch-Out
– Will have Classic Control
– Turn Wiimote sideways
– 1 and 2 buttons become punch buttons
– Good for purists
– Next Level Games are good, Bozon has faith in them
– Has to be like the NES and SNES games
– Daemon was expecting the game to use the Balance Board somehow
– Can obtain special Star Punches
Excitebots
– Looks a lot like Excite Truck
– Some screenshots are up
– Game comes out really soon
– Game seems to have some hovering stuff
– Should bring out Excite Bike 64 in anticipating for Excitebots
– Bots have a lot of personality
– Monster Games developing the game
– Bozon hoping for AAC/MP3 support
EA Grand Slam Tennis
– Got to play it without Wii MotionPlus
– Hands on in a day or two
– Feels like Wii Sports Tennis
– Apparently can control character with nunchuck
– Mix of realism and exaggerated characters
– Doesn’t use Miis
– Will have an online mode, will be pretty deep
– Was a lot of fun even without MotionPlus
– Really have to think during rallies
– Timing-based
– Can go to a practice mode
– A button is lob, B button is drop-shot
– Game requires you to think about how much power you’re using
– Wished they could have played it with Wii MotionPlus
– Frame rate might be locked at 30
– Still make tweaks to game
– It’s pre-alpha
– Big selection of characters, courts
– Online mode will be “badass” from what Matt hears
– Matt thinks people will like this game
EA Sports Active
– Really geared toward women
– Uses the Balance Board, but it’s secondary
– Cooler than Matt thought it would be
– Matt thinks it’ll be a big hit
Wii MotionPlus
– Matt heard that Nintendo is apparently struggling internally with Wii MotionPlus
– Trying to figure out a few hiccups, were going to delay it past June
– EA won’t have to hold onto their game for MotionPlus
Ghostbusters
– Matt impressed with what he saw
– Red Fly developing the game
– Thought it was pretty nice – was pleasantly surprised
– Matt likes the style
– Controls were good – really tight, responsive
– Engine also seems really good – particle effects, lighting effects, good framerate
– Frame rate never dropped in co-op
– Can paint the walls
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time
– Wii game is a port of the DS game
– They look identical
– Games have same price
– Bozon thinks it’s fun
– It’ll be a weird game to review
– DS game is phenomenal, better than Rings of Fate
– Wii game is basically a DS game
– Quest, level up, get new clothes
– Comes out later this month
– 4 player locally, 4 player online
Region-locking on the DSi (downloads)
– Can still play retail cartridges from any territory
– So many different age rating systems
– DSi has own built in family settings
– Will probably wait until next year until Nintendo will think about exclusive DSi games
Moon
– Talked about disappointing January sales last week
– NPD numbers showed it sold less than 1500 in launch month
– Mastiff responded to the discussion last week
– NPD doesn’t report from some retailers, Mastiff says the numbers aren’t not entirely accurate
– Actual number is 3-4 times as much
– Still sounds really low
– Mastiff says they’ve put a lot of marketing behind it – over $200,000 in promotion
– Full-page ads in magazines, online ads, promotions, etc.
– Weekly sales moving, may turn out to be a long slow-seller
– Mastiff agreed branding may have hurt the game
Reader questions
– DSi will play any retail cartridges (any region)
– Bozon and Matt amazed there hasn’t been a WarioWare game for Wii that uses the Balance Board – Would be awesome if they did
– DSi is partially compatible with WPA2 – 6 slots for Wi-Fi – First 3 for DS compatibility, second 3 are for WPA (using store, browser, DSi specific software)
– New piece of The Conduit on Friday about the story – more on the controls, multiplayer coverage coming soon
– Unclear why no 480p in MadWorld – might be related to the game’s visuals – still looks incredible
– Can play MadWorld on normal or hard (which is ridiculously hard) – Enemy AI ramps up on normal as you go through (not incredibly hard on normal)
– Story is special in MadWorld – deeper than Matt thought it’d be – Good half hour of cut-scenes
– Not entirely smart to release MadWorld close to RE5 – Daemon, Matt more excited about MadWorld than Resident Evil 5
– Daemon thinks Pole’s Big Adventure is a very funny game – traditional old-school 8-bit platformer – crazy stuff happens in the game – your head can explode
– Played Boom Blox Bash Party – Can’t really write about it (or talk about it) – Game is awesome
– No plans to bring World of Goo to the DS
– Ocarina of Time could be ported to the DS but who knows if Nintendo will do it
– DSi can take video in certain games – no built in function on the DSi – no reason why it couldn’t be done
