It was reported on FoxNews today that many retirement homes are experimenting with providing entertainment for their guests in he form of Wiis. In initial market testing, they were a huge success, especially with the Wii Sports games (particularly tennis and bowling). What's more? Kids may be a little more motivated to visit Grandma and Grandpa if they know they can challenge them in a video game.
Caught wind of some news about an obese 26-year old man in Beijing, China who aparently died after a marathon online gaming session. This guy was 330 pounds, and the full report seems to indicate the "problem" being the gaming itself... granted he spent the majority of seven days straight during break from school, but come on. My man was 330 pounds! It couldn't possible be how FAT he was that killed him. Nope. Prayers and best wishes none the less.
Three more classic titles, all from Nintendo's own NES console, are now available in the growing list of games on the Wii's Virtual Console. All three titles are 500 Wii points apiece. Here's what was released today:
Kirby's Adventure
Ice Climber
Kid Icarus
Though I can't imagine Kirby's Adventure and Ice Climber (well maybe the latter) might enthrall gamers into a frenzy, Kid Icarus is a game I've personally looked forward to seeing in the Virtual Console for some time. It's always good to revisit a classic.
Wear this hat. Not only is it super badass in the style department, but you'll be the envy of all who stand in your presence. You can get it HERE, only from the land of the rising sun. If any of you do get this, please post some pics of yourself toting this bad boy on your head.
A few days ago it was reported that Lost Planet cost 40 million dollars to produce. Not a big deal because a lot of "next-gen" games have been costing upwards of 20+ million lately, and also beacause Lost Planet is a high profile game featuring a famous asian actor as the main protagonist.
Forbes has reported today that this amount actually breaks out to 20 million in game development and another 20 million in advertising. Wow, I am blown away by these numbers, spending 20 million on advertising will get you a lot of ad space and I've only seen a few commercials for the game. [Albeit I don't really watch that much television]. So, how has the spending worked out for Capcom? As of Mid-January, Capcom has shipped 1 million units of the game. At $60 a pop, they've raked in 60 million, I'd say it was a success. Will this usher in a new era of gaming advertising? How much will be spent advertising games like Halo 3 or MGS4? I say, way to go Capcom for realizing that in this era of over saturation, new franchises need to be exposed in order to gain success.
Think back when you were younger, and you probably did not have the amount of videogames that you have right now. Did you enjoy and get more out of your games back then? I honestly believe that I got more out of my games when I was younger than I do now that I have all of the games I want.
Today, I can purchase any game that I want, play them in surround sound and in high definition. Yet, I seem to turn off games a lot quicker if I get frustrated or get to a part that I don't particularly like. When I was a kid playing NES, I would have to borrow games in order to play something different. When I was actually lucky enough to get another game I cherished it for a long long time and beat it many times over, enjoying every single time that I did so. In a world of achievements and online play, it seems like people have taken that for granted, including myself.
I wish that this wasn't the case but I can't really help it. If I get to a frustrating part in a game like Lost Planet, I can very easily turn off my 360 and turn on my PS3 and start playing Resistance. If the same thing happens I can jump online or switch to my Wii. I may never go back to Lost Planet or Resistance again because of the last major reason why we don't enjoy our games as much. There are simply too many of them.
Every week many games are released for all systems, and with Gamefly and/or a local gamestore just around every corner, there is nothing stopping you from trying most of them out. I believe that people play more games nowadays but don't get into them as much as they did when there weren't as many available. I am on the 4 game plan with Gamefly and I can't tell you how many times I've opened a game, thrown it into one of my systems and played it for literally 5 minutes before I realize it sucks and put it back in the envelope to go back. Why do I do this? Because I know I have a large line of games that are ready to be shipped to my house and I want to play them all [let alone the stack of games that I've been meaning to play for half a year now].
Sometimes I wish I only had 1 system and a few games for the system. Especially since it seems like I cannot focus on any online games anymore because I play too many. During my SOCOM or Counterstrike days, those were the only games I would play every day routinely because I strived to be great at them. The quantity of games that are out now force you to miss out on too many good games just to stay good at one, and I am not sure that I am willing to make that sacrifice.
The last game that I put down all other games for was World of Warcraft. But the only reason why it was able to do so is because it was so addicting. Perhaps it was the leveling up, but I felt compelled to play and keep up with all of my friends. Maybe if future games incorporate the fanatical leveling race, I might be able to stick it out and stay enthralled in it.
I guess it isn't all my fault, most games today don't have the charm or gameplay to hold my attention like they used to. Very little is "new" these days and we live in a world of sequels and upgrades. Look at some of the hottest games coming this year: Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Devil May Cry 3, Metal Gear Solid 4, Grand Theft Auto 4, Halo 3, GRAW 2...see what I mean? I am looking forward to and will purchase all of the games listed, but when will the novelty wear off? I wouldn't be surprised if I didn't finish half of the games mentioned just because of the shear number that are coming out.
I conclude with a challenge, stick it out. If you get to a frustrating or difficult part of a game, keep going and you WILL feel a sense of accomplishment that games were meant to produce. I have recently been pushing myself through most of the games that I play or at least keeping them and going back to them after a short amount of time. The reward is fulfilling and I encourage you all to do the same.
Nintendo's Wii is sitting firm atop a pedestal of greatness at the moment. Killer sales through the launch, an undoubted victory over Sony and the grasp of both hardcore and casual gamers alike have the Wii looking very good right now. But how long will the Wii greatness last?
If you look at this year and the future releases scheduled for the system, it doesn't look so good. Of course Nintendo will be releasing a few games, but only 3 of them are the AAA Nintendo titles that we have all grown to love, and they are all sequels. Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3 and Super Smash Bros Brawl. Everything else is hit or miss and most of them are ports [From last gen systems]. While we know that the ports will be different when moving to Wii due to the controls, that doesn't necessarily mean a good thing.
The only game people are playing on the Wii regularly right now, and the overall reason for the Wii's gigantic success is Wii Sports. Wii Play is going to be coming in a couple weeks and will carry the momentum for a few months but what is next? Where is Wii Sports 2? Where are all of the "Casual" games that will draw in the grandparents and non-gamers? It's not going to be Mario, Metroid or Smash Bros. In the past, these games catered to casual gamers but after many iterations of each, they have become quite complicated. I know my Grandma can not play a game in "3d" or anything with more than 2 buttons.
Let's go over the negative similarities between the Cube and the Wii:
-Both have no online play or any sort of plan to include online play [Pokemon doesn't count and neither does Phantasy Star]
-Both don't play DVD's [I don't see this as a big issue]
-They are not and never were the leader in graphics and technology
-They both have the exact same 1st party support [Mario, Metroid, Smash Bros, Mario Party]
-They both have useless features
----Gamecube: GBA to Cube connectivity and a handle
----Wii: News and Weather Channels
-Both are on the cheap end of their current generations when it comes to price
When it comes down to it, software is the life source of any videogame system. One of the major reasons why the Playstation was such a giant success is because Sony secured exclusives and helped create and usher in original content on a regular basis. They have gotten away from that and now they are struggling as well. In terms of 3rd party support, Nintendo is weak as it stands right now. I am hoping their will be a lot of surprise announcements in the near future to help generate more excitement, because I feel that the high that Nintendo is on right now is going to be short lived.
I worry about the novelty of their new console and the serious lack of games that are on the horizon. [most of the AAA Nintendo titles don't even have concrete release dates]. Will the Wii prevail from it's unconventional approach or will it be Gamecube'd into a sea of mediocrity?
Check out this clip [courtesy of gamevideos.com] of Conan playing Serena on his show. Place your bets!
