IGN Wii-k in review podcast summary
House of the Dead 2
– Basically two ports put together, but looks better – $29.99
– Gun calibration is good
– New feature: will talk about it next week
Sega Superstars Tennis
– Game looks very good, but slows down for some mini-games
– Essentially Virtua Tennis with Sega characters
– DS version isn’t as elaborate
– No online for both Wii and DS versions
– People can play with different controls against each other
Ninja Gaiden
– Craig doesn’t think it’ll do well (sales)
– Craig loves it so far – played training level
– Comfortable to hold as book setup
Mario Kart
– Not a pretty game: Craig, Bland look – Matt
– Fun – comparable to DS version
– Craig only played it for 10 minutes, feels there is a bit of a learning curve for Wiimote
– Control feels loser than Excite Truck
– Speed – very fast – 60 FPS. Good sense of speed, opportunities for boosting.
– Snaking seems to be gone because power slide is changed – Craig
– 12 people online. Can go online with friend at house (split-screen mode), 4-player local
– MANY stats in the game – 7 pages of stats
– 32 tracks (16 old, 16 new) – Mall level is crazy.
– Reggie feels Mario Kart Wii is a “bridge game.”
– Can choose from automatic/manual power sliding
Pay to Play
– Certain games will have red icon which means it’s a pay to play game – subscribe to particular game
– Bozon, Matt, Craig all think Animal Crossing will use it
– Downloadable content would go for AC as well
– Matt talked to Reggie during a lunch event about hard drive at E3 – Reggie said “Eh…We’ll see”
Soma Bringer
– Battles real time
– Looks great, has good style, music, presentation, animation
– Whole game looks smooth – Bozon
Battle of the Bands
– Craig thinks it’s cool
– Simple game, have Guitar Hero scrolling – follow along
GDC
– Nintendo announced Wii Fit will release for under $100
– Matt believes price will be $89
– Clones will follow: Ex: Nintendogs -> Petz
– 10 Wii balance board games in development
– 1 million units will be available at launch
– Wii Fit is like a real workout
Sakurai interview
– No new magic characters
– No downloadable content (just stages through level editor)
– Sakurai laughed when Matt said it was hard to believe that other third parties didn’t contact Sakurai about putting their characters in Brawl
Bloom Blox
– Has head-tracking
3DV -> Z-camera
– Camera you set up below TV
– Grabs locks on head, fingerpoints, etc
– IR camera to see 3D image
– Might be basis for Wii2 or PS4
– Can set cut off point for no interference
WiiWare
– LostWinds – looks better than many Wii games
– Direct wind, do puzzles. Like Kirby Canvas Curse
– Disc-based mini-games will have competition from WiiWare
– Tom Prata said WiiWare game releases will be like Virtual Console, Reggie said tons could release
– Craig was surprised about Commodore 64
Reader questions
– Voice chat coming, hopefully will happen in near future (E3?) -> Improved online system for pay
– Wiimote + Nunchuck MKWii setup (guess) – analog stick = steering, A+B = accel/brake, power-slide = Z, D-pad = items
– FFCC (not WiiWare project) – not canceled, in development
– Nintendo will be one of the last to get into head-tracking, if at all
– Mario Kart will be released later than Europe (we get Brawl first)
– Mario Kart graphics looked like it came from Nintendo’s B-team
– Storage: Something has to happen later – SD card or hard drive
– Craig will reveal DS game that people don’t know about soon (hopefully)
– No REAL hockey game for Wii yet
– Games can take advantage of other Wii channels
– Red Steel 2 was given to another team
– Okami version Matt has bars, doesn’t have filter
– Matt thinks some storage option coming because of downloadable content
