Snowboard Riot
– Craig threw a controller while playing (out of frustration)
– Has worst rubberband AI he has ever experienced in a racing game
– Offensive weapons on one button, speed weapons on the other
– He can’t beat the first level
– 1000 points – Craig says you don’t want to spend that money
LONPOS
– Basic marble puzzle game
– Try to fit pieces together
– Use Wii pointing to guide where to put pegs
– Twist wrist to rotate pieces
– Doesn’t support widescreen – all stretched
– Craig doesn’t recommend this game either – skip it
– Deadly Creatures (later this week, probably Friday), Tenchu (tomorrow), House of the Dead: Overkill (Weds/Thurs) reviews coming – all surprisingly good games
– Tenchu looks really nice on Wii
– Final version of Deadly Creatures is very polished – sounds like they fixed many of the bugs
Rune Factory
– Really fun
– Bozon is 5 hours in right now, having a blast
– One of the best console Harvest Moon games since N64
– Direct feed footage up, hands on
– Game has been out in Japan for awhile
New Play Control! Pikmin
– Matt really likes it
– It’s 8 years old and Nintendo’s charging $30 – Matt says it’s overpriced – Thinks it’s a $20 game
– Widescreen mode is a real widescreen mode
– Visually some textures don’t hold up
– Zoomed out Pikmin is still one of the prettier games on Wii
– Control advancements are awesome – feel really good, makes the game a bit easier
– Line management more tricky now with Wiimote – have to point in direction where you want Pikmin to line up
– Matt can’t wait for Pikmin 3
– Average review score for the game is a 7.5 (based on 2 reviews), don’t agree with it
Boom Blox sequel
– Matt thinks the game will be great
– Only thing they’re still lacking is online multiplayer mode (which is a debatable inclusion)
– Ton of WiiConnect24 support
– New physics
– Coming out in Spring
– Not doing Wii MotionPlus
Tenchu
– Matt thought it would be lackluster but it’s surprisingly good
– Review score will be better than you think
– Wii owners looking for traditional software should pick it up
– Has some flaws but Matt still had fun with it
– Cat mechanic is cool
Jungle Speed
– WiiWare game of the month
– Unlikely winner for game of the month
– Game all about identifying cards
– Presentation is very nice – good interface
SimAnimals
– Good game burried in there
– Game doesn’t run well, framey, ugly, controls are frustrating
– DS version turned out pretty well
– Mostly for kids – shallow learning curve
– SimAnimals DS good for kids
– Big Bang Mini – Great game, very innovative, difficult, flashy levels – Matt likes the style
Nintendo Minute
– Denise Kaigler responded to comments from question of previous week
– Basically said it’s up to us (listeners/gamers) to spread word about Wii online functionality
– Wii Fit + Wii console sold very well in January
– In third week of January alone over 300,000 units of Wii Fit were sold (US)
– Iwata was hyping up E3 – teased E3 software specifically, but did not say it is hardcore software
– Rumored leaked photo from Kid Icarus leaked – Factor 5 still hasn’t responded to calls
– Latest round of DSiWare was recently released – overall impression of DSiWare – not a must-have lineup but it’s enough to get people excited about the future
My World, My Way
– Pretty cool – not mind-blowing but a cool little quirky RPG
– All tile-based
– Can use points to leave random battles – spend points on tweaking the rules
C.O.R.E.
– Very generic
– Straight-up FPS
– Has multiplayer
– Now can tell where shots are coming from
– Uncreative FPS – does everything that others have done
– Not a stinker but it’s not very innovative
– Rarely more than 2-3 enemies to fight at a time
– 30 FPS and below
– Can now email podcast questions to [email protected]
Reader questions
– No set release date for The Conduit – 1st half of 2009
– Next Nintendo press event won’t be until after GDC – Iwata will probably talk about DSi at GDC
– Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World has sold just over 95,000 – NPD numbers
– Out of The Conduit, No More Heroes 2, MadWorld – MadWorld will see the most retail success according to Craig – Matt bets on The Conduit selling the most – Will be playing The Conduit the most
– Re-releases of Pikmin 1 and 2 won’t take away anything from Pikmin 3 – Pikmin can introduce some people to the series – re-releases won’t be a negative thing
– Status of Sword of Legendia unclear
– Usually can’t test online functionality with the community for reviews of games
– FF: Tactics Advance 2, Advance Wars, Fire Emblem, Disgaea all good tactical RPGs
– Matt not sure if EA Hasbro scrabble game for DS can play competively on one DS but can play wireless
– Craig will start creating Super Mario Galaxy for the DS (joke)
– LIT coming out for 800 points next Monday
