Punch-Out!!
– Matt thinks Craig overrated it
– Title Defense mode changes everything, made Craig bump up the score
– Playing through the regular mode Matt saw presentation elements he liked and disliked
– Interface not up to Mario Strikers
– Matt didn’t do Title Defense but he would have scored it a bit lower
– All about patterns
– Craig thinks that Mr. Sandman in Title Defense mode is just as hard as Mike Tyson in the NES game
– Lack of online functionality is a missed opportunity
– Feels like Punch-Out!! remade but no major gameplay changes
– Great for nostalgia/if you haven’t played it before
– Stuck with core gameplay then added presentational stuff around it
– In-game visuals very fluid – For Bozon, almost forget you’re not looking at 720p stuff
– Balance board is terrible
– Bozon thinks it’ll sell well
– Actually marketing the title
Boom Blox Bash Party
– Recommending it
– 8.5, editor’s choice award
– Great sequel all around
– Packed full of content
– Level editor a bit more seamless now
– More options in editor mode
– Connecting to EA’s servers are quick
– No online play, Matt hopes it’s in next time around
– For this game Matt is pleased with the user-created options
– Can rate levels
– Fun game
– Can theoretically play this game forever
– Hardcore and casual gamers should buy this game
– Easy for anyone to pick up
– One of those games that can only be done on Wii
– Has a few flaws (no online, technical limitations, some textures)
– Highly recommended
Secret game
– Nothing earth shattering but it’s cool
– Still good for the hardcore
– The hardcore Nintendo fans will appreciate it
– Mind might not be blown but again, you’ll appreciate it and it’s good for the Wii audience
– It’s like, if you have a Wii, buy Mario Galaxy, buy Boom Blox, and then this is another one which fits in with that family
– If your name is Matt Casamassina it’s good for you
– Something they want to talk about
– Don’t want to overhype it though
– It’s a smart move
Third-party games
– A few game announcements here and there coming up next week
– Some more details on some big games which have already been discussed (the usual suspects)
– 1 or 2 that we haven’t heard about in awhile, IGN will show, some big ones
– All the stuff next week concentrated on the hardcore
– Craig has an exclusive for a darkish game on the DS – it’s a sequel
– Lots of exclusives/videos
Art Style: Pictobits
– Puzzle game
– Surrounding presentation about 8-bit Nintendo
– Tiles that you remove basically pixels in 8-bit Nintendo sprite
– As you’re playing, you’re playing music to that game
– Unique because you’re not sliding tiles around
– Taking tiles out of bin
– Paint them back into play
– Crazy and addictive
– Gets super hard
– Wii MotionPlus device embedded with jacket
Virtua Tennis
– From what Bozon played it’s framey
– Haven’t played with MotionPlus yet but doesn’t have the presentation
– EA’s game is better
– Need for Speed: Nitro coverage coming soon (way better than you think it is)
Magician’s Quest: Mysterious Times
– 7.5
– Animal Crossing clone
Reader questions
– Starting to hear some good news about third-party E3 games
– Silver Star Chess is bad
– EA Sports Active a good workout but it’s tailored for women
– Matt, Bozon would be happy with Galaxy 2 from EAD Tokyo over a new IP
– Don’t know anything about the Bethesda Wii
– Will have some stuff on High Voltage’s new game soon
– Punch-Out!! Wii sales will be better than Excitebots
– There’s a lot of times when games won’t need Wii MotionPlus, some devs won’t put in the effort to implement it – More games will be supporting MotionPlus than the balance board
– Devs too lazy, not informed to include WiiSpeak support in their games
– Not sure why games such as Soma Bringer, Fatal Frame, etc. are releasing in North America – Matt heard Tecmo was asked to change controls/glitches in Fatal Frame, didn’t want to do that – Nintendo still not giving out official statement about the game
– Haven’t heard anything about online in Wii Sports Resort but they don’t really know – Shouldn’t be expecting it based on history of Nintendo games
– Haven’t heard anything about Metroid Dread either
– Don’t know if Metroid Fusion sequel will happen
– Might see No More Heroes 2 at E3
– Matt can’t say anything about his Miyamoto blog post – he just thinks “he will have something crazy”
– Red Steel 2 will be more focused on sword play
– Best case for Nintendo at E3: Live up to predictions/hope – Show Mario/Zelda/Pikmin/Something crazy new from Miyamoto that is Wii MotionPlus centric
– High Voltage Software’s project is a new IP – they have multiple games
