I’m in a rather unique position as a reviewer of Goldeneye right now: I’ve never actually had the joy of experiencing the single player campaign of the original 1997 title, and I certainly never saw the 1995 movie that goes along with it. Because of that, I feel like I almost have a special perspective on this re-imagining of that classic N64 title that not many people get, but playing through this game has convinced me that perhaps I should go back and give the original game a shot, if only to understand where this sequel came from and what has changed since then.

Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 review

Posted on 13 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Reviews, Wii | 7 Comments

Game Info:

System: Nintendo Wii
Category: Platformer
Players: 1
Developer: Dimps, Sonic Team
Publisher: Sega

It goes without saying that most modern Sonic games haven’t exactly been great. After the hedgehog made the jump from two dimensions to three, he’s been stuck in a downward spiral filled with annoying animal friends, werehogs, and bizarre interspecies romances. Sonic needed a return to his glory days, and who better to attempt this than the developers of the surprisingly good Sonic Rush and the Sonic Advance series, Dimps. With Sonic 4, Dimps were tasked with creating a Sonic game that would both bring back fond memories of Sonic Team’s early games on the Sega Genesis and Mega Drive, still be an entertaining 2D platformer, and please Sonic’s unappeasable fanbase. Did they manage to pull off all of these things? No, not really.

The Case of the Cursed Cartridge: A Goldeneye 007 Story

Posted on 13 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Features | 3 Comments

Note: The following feature was written entirely by Adrian Madriz, one of our Goldeneye 007 contest winners.

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I seriously think that my physical copy of GoldenEye 64 was cursed.

Not cursed in a bad way mind you. It actually turned out to be quite handy on certain occasions. But there was no denying between me and my friends that there were some seriously strange and spooky things that happened around that game cartridge—things that might be explained by coincidence… or maybe demons?

Anyway, some context for your curious eyes. I bought my copy of GoldenEye in conjunction with my (then) best friend Giovanni. He payed for one half of the game, and I the other half. This would later turn out to be a decision that would lead to the end of our friendship as we simply couldn’t decide who was the “true” owner of the game. Petty I know, but this was no small matter. This was GoldenEye. And not just any copy of GoldenEye, the copy of GoldenEye that anyone would pay 10 times the amount that we paid for if they knew what it could do.

Note: Game Night will be at 7PM CST (8PM EST, 5PM PST)

Posted on 13 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Features | 0 comments

Just a quick note: Game night tonight will be at 7PM Central (5 minutes from now) rather than 6PM as I said on Thursday. We are still playing Goldeneye, so grab your copies and join the IRC when it gets posted in an hour!

Look forward to seeing you there!

NintendoEverything Interview – Epic Mickey

Posted on 13 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Features, News | 6 Comments

Junction Point talks game length, choice mechanics, and the future of the series in our ‘Epic Mickey’ interview with them.

Last night, we posted up an interview regarding the upcoming game Okamiden for everyone to read, and tonight I’m excited to get back on the interview train with a game that is coming out a little sooner than that one! About a month ago I got an e-mail asking if I wanted to have an interview with some of the guys working on Epic Mickey, and I was ecstatic! Needless to say, I accepted right away, and posted up about it on the site for all of you to give us some questions!

Of course, being the fantastic readers you are, you gave us some things to ask about, and we sent em off. Well, now we’ve got our answers and we’re very excited to let you all read over them. There’s some pretty good info in here, so I encourage you to take a peek.

Okamiden interview

Posted on 13 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, DS, Features | 6 Comments

My experience with Okami is a somewhat odd story. Of course, I was aware of the title’s existence when Capcom was readying the game for the PlayStation 2. I knew it played like Zelda, and I knew that it had a unique art style. That was pretty much it, though. For one reason or another, I just wasn’t keeping much of an eye on it.

Fast forward about a year later, and we heard that Ready at Dawn was porting the game to Wii. I started to become a bit more interested in the title due to the the fan excitement surrounding the controls, but I still wasn’t completely sold. Following the game’s release on Wii, I decided I might as well take the plunge. After all, it would be just like Zelda, right?

And boy, was I floored. Immediately I was captured by the game’s incredible graphics and story. I felt that the characters were fascinating, the musical pieces were melodious, and the gameplay was indeed similar to Zelda, which I absolutely love. Sure, the two franchises aren’t exactly the same, but there are a number of gameplay similarities. I remember being quite disappointed when I finished Okami – I thought there’d be no possible way we would ever see a sequel. After all, Clover was gone, and the sales for both the PS2 and Wii versions were underwhelming.

Well, I was in for a shock once more when Famitsu finally unveiled Okamiden last year. My jaw almost hit the floor when I saw the first screenshots of the DS title – it looked remarkably comparable to Okami on the PS2/Wii. It feels odd that the title is already out in Japan – I almost can’t believe it’s real. Unfortunately, fans in North America and Europe will be forced to wait until March 2011 to get their hands on the game. It’s going to be long wait, but hopefully our interview we recently conducted with Capcom Product Marketing Manager Eric Monacelli will hold you over until then!

Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock review

Posted on 13 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Reviews, Wii | 5 Comments

Game Info:

System: Wii
Category: Music
Players: 1-4
Release date: September 28, 2010
Developer: Vicarious Visions
Publisher: Activision

Over the past several years, a number of different gaming competitors have challenged Guitar Hero in the music genre. Similar products have been introduced, with the main one being Rock Band. Guitar Hero has been around since 2005, and has seen a number of different versions since then. As a result, some fans have felt that the franchise has started to become a bit unfocused and stale. With increasing competition and decreasing sales, Activison has decided to liven up the license by making Warriors of Rock similar to the original title, which was very well-received. However, even though the game is very well-made, it doesn’t stray too far away from where fans have become accustomed.

November – What’s in store

Posted on 13 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in DS, Features, Wii | 6 Comments

If October was a massive month for gaming, then November is an absolutely colossal, gargantuan, other-synonym-for-big month. Seriously, there are a ridiculous number of games releasing for Nintendo Wii and DS in November, but how many of them are actually worth your time and money? No idea, so here are all the ones I could be bothered to write about! Enjoy!

Monday Short – Third parties and the Wii

Posted on 13 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Features, Wii | 11 Comments

First off, I want to make a quick note of our Goldeneye contest- great support so far! I’ll take article submissions for a few more days (the ones I’ve gotten so far are fantastic!), but the commenting piece of the contest ends tomorrow! Best of luck to all of you!

I’m a proud Wii owner. Even with a lot of my friends making fun of the system and talking of the betrayal by Nintendo, I stick by that cheap little white piece of plastic like it’s my conjoined twin. Why? Because I love it, I love the games, and I love Nintendo. There is really nothing like beating a Zelda game, nothing like traversing tens of levels in a Mario Bros. game, nothing like exploring the emptiness of the sci-fi Metroid world, and nothing like bringing some friends together for some of the fun that can be had with the various local co-op games Nintendo brings to the table. It is for these reasons that I think many hardcore gamers own the Wii and own it proudly; we love our system, and want it to be treated with the same respect that the other systems get. We expect that a third party developer won’t announce a Wii exclusive game, and then port it to other systems, water down their Wii games to “appeal” to us, or cancel Wii versions of games due to system limitations.