Wii Sports Resort
– Craig gave it a 7.7
– Matt pretty much agreed with Craig’s score, was hoping it wouldn’t be overrated
– Game does insane stuff for the casual crowd…Bozon’s niece got addicted to swordplay, family didn’t want Bozon to take the game home
– Some games in there that aren’t super great
– Really good compilation of mini-games but in terms of polish, doesn’t have everything you’d expect out of a really awesome Wii title
– Feels like step 1 for the mini-games
– Matt thinks that not having a Mario Bowling is a missed opportunity
– Ideas you’d expect Nintendo to use but then they don’t really use it that often
– Craig thinks the airplane controls well, skydiving portion is actually fun
– Can tell which games are tacked on and which are good efforts
– Bicycling isn’t fun
– The more Craig plays Wii Sports Resort, the more he understands what MotionPlus actually is – More like a glorified tilt sensor
– MotionPlus still not 1:1 but makes Wiimote much better controller
– Cycling is Bozon’s least favorite game, Craig thinks it’s the boxing of Wii Sports Resort
– In terms of controls, basketball isn’t the best
– Review scores have been all over the place
– Wii MotionPlus already over 150k+ sales
– Tiger Woods selling very well with the pack in
– Also showed up as multiplatform (NPD), Matt wants to know how well the Wii version sold
The Conduit
– The numbers are out there but IGN can’t say exactly
– Less than 100,000 copies sold
– Released in the middle of June so it only had a few days of sells
– In its first true month, Bozon thinks it’ll sell over 100,000 in its first true month
– It’ll gain speed, has a huge ad campaign behind it
– Bozon thinks it’ll do fine
– Matt thinks it’s very sensationalist to say that the Wii’s last hope has bombed at the retail
– It’ll have legs
– There’s been issues with the online component, Craig’s heard that the online experience isn’t too protected
– High Voltage would love to release an update in the future but not sure if the system is in place for them to do that
Metroid Prime Trilogy
– Trailer released last week
– IGN has the game, can’t say much about it
– Bozon played a little bit of it
– Matt going to visit Retro Studios
– Trailer a compilation of the three games, can see a little bit of the interface
– Great value but many people have played these games before
– It’ll get a high recommendation for those who haven’t played the games
– Slight downer is that widescreen mode is sort of faked – zoomed in/cropped for cutscenes
Club Nintendo
– Prizes announced
– Platinum members can choose between Mario hat or Doc Louis’ Punch-Out!!
– Will send members a code to download the game
– Won’t need the actual game
– Still a demo but pretty cool
– Craig a little concerned that they might have pulled out Doc Louis from the actual game just to put him in here
– Just fighting Doc Louis
– Gold members get a calender
– Craig/Bozon don’t think the prizes are crappy but want stuff from Europe/Japan
– Good first start
– It’s free
– Need to start changing the prizes like the classic controller
Might and Magic
– Really cool
– Sort of has a match three element to it
– More about strategy then plying a bejeweled game
– Line up units that are the same color/type, freely move them around
– Certain amount of moves for each round
– Can build walls or do attacks
– Based on unit you have, wait a few turns, then launches attack
– Level up units
– Becomes hybrid between strategy and RPG
– Original IP that has Might and Magic name attached to it
Mega Man Star Force 3
– Craig liked the series when it came out on the GBA, now getting sick of it
– Capcom is remaking the original Battle Network game for the DS
– 3D mechanic isn’t as good as the 2D one, doesn’t look as clean
Spyborgs
– Matt played it
– Have to go in knowing that it’s a straight up brawler
– Doesn’t have a gimmick/hook which is kind of disappointing
– Not a bad game
– Looks really good
– Has a nice art style, good tech behind it
– Matt thought the controls worked pretty well but has more waggle in some cases than Matt would like (can turn it off, it’s in the finishing attacks)
– Good that you can switch between characters and play with co-op
– Better looking than a lot of Wii games
– Look isn’t too gritty or adult but it has aged up, Matt thinks it’s more visually appealing
– Controlled camera
– Fight armies of bosses and characters
– Eventually fight the big epic boss that ends the level
– Can use IR to point over things that look like they’re cloaked
– The title is horrible
Reader questions
– Daemon Hatfield is not on the IGN Nintendo Team anymore – he’s in charge of the downloadable content
– Nintendo Team would go with Punch-Out!! over the Mario hat for Club Nintendo
– Matt recommends avoiding LCDs for playing Wii, plasma has a softer look
– If Nintendo chose not to include Wii Sports in the box, Matt/Bozon don’t think the system would be the sales juggernaut that it is today
– Craig’s Wii Sports Resort review score is the average of the UK + Australian IGN scores (it was a coincidence) – going to sell a lot
– Bozon didn’t get a chance to play Fossil Fighters but it’s basically like Nintendo copying other people’s dig up copy of Pokemon – animation is terrible…Might end up being a good game but Craig isn’t impressed (he hasn’t played it yet either)
– Not many Wii games that have truly stronger controls than 360/PS3/PC
– Bozon played Darkside Chronicles again, has hope, comes down to the levels/how much shaky cam there is, better than Umbrella Chronicles, depends how much the bar has been raised
– Drift/lag isn’t a huge deal in Wii Sports Resort but it’s not perfect
– Wii does have a technical edge over the GameCube but it’s not as gigantic as some people were trying to say when the system first came out
