Shauntu شان

Game Blog July 2008

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 02:07:00 GMT

This month I played mostly on the DS; however at the end of the month, for my birthday, Farah surprised me with an Xbox 360! Now I can try out all the downloadable demos from the Live Marketplace in addition to looking into 360 games I have wanted to play…

(1st Timer) Alone in the Dark (Wii): Wow, this game is bad. I had read how bad it is, but didn’t remove it from my Gamefly queue in time, so tried it for a bit. Crappy graphics, crappy controls, got stuck for no reason, and had to blink the character’s eyes for 10 minutes for some stupid ‘immersive’ reason. The game has a DVD style Chapter select option, so chose to skip to the end, and couldn’t figure out how to open the door in front of me. Horrible.

(1st Timer) Civilization Revolution (DS): Played my first game on the easiest setting, and I kicked serious ass as Saladin. Actually, it made me realize that the easiest setting is way too easy, as I had all technologies researched, with a Nuke and Tanks while Montezuma, who suddenly thought he could challenge me, had Archers. Played a 2nd full game on the 2nd difficulty setting; still kicked ass, though the other civs did try to challenge me throughout and technology wise one was able to keep up rather well; however, my Ninja Knight Army wiped out the Arabs, and then later my Stealth Tank Army, accompanied by a Rifleman with a Great General, wiped out the Romans and the Spanish. Won a Cultural Victory in the same turn that I would have won a Domination Victory… Would have been my Game of the Month, if not for Professor Layton…

(1st Timer) Manhunt 2 (Wii): Wii’s likely most violent game so far, started disappointingly with, soon after starting to play, having a wheelchair drop down ahead of my character, and his legs getting clipped/stuck to them. Couldn’t move anymore, had to restart from scratch. Realized that tilted the Nunchuk changes the view and stops movement. Played up to the 3rd stage, where I got stuck with 3 weird dudes that I can't get past -- I still hate stealth based games, it looks like, due to their trial and error nature in dealing with enemies while hidden.

(1st Timer) Blast Works: Build, Trade, Destroy (Wii): A bizarre sidescrolling ship shooter where enemies attach to your ship, which becomes really fun when your ship has become bigger than the screen with dozens of enemy ships attached and firing. Played through the campaign mode up till the 5th Campaign, at which point it got too hard for me to be able to make progress. Played co-op with Farah as well, in the Arcade Mode, where once Farah used up all the continues, I played alone until I reached the 2nd mission of the 5th Campaign, at which point I was all out – but not before getting to a point once where I had enough ships attached firing enough bullets that the frame rate actually lagged a bit! Tinkered with the editor, and realized too much effort would be needed there – it really is quite extensive.

(1st Timer) Dementium: The Ward (DS): The goriest game I have ever played on the DS. Its a FPS, though in the first few chapters I have only had use of a nightstick and gun. The environment, a hospital with blood all over and enemies that look like humans with their chests ripped open (they form the shape of a mouth with the heart as the tonsil), is extremely creepy (other enemies are little sliding things that originated in the babies ward). Its also the first game to make me actually jump while playing – one of the primary focuses is the use of a flashlight, and while crossing a railing on the rooftop in the dark while it was raining, sweeping the flashlight around to see the scenery while I was crossing, an enemy climbing the railing right next to me suddenly coming to view when I swung the flashlight in that direction almost caused me to drop the DS. Very effective.

(1st Timer) Professor Layton and the Curious Village (DS): A collection of puzzles and brain teasers, very effectively presented as the obstacles within a story where you are trying to solve the puzzle of a will. The brain teasers themselves are very cool – definitely stumping me regularly, but never unfairly; the hint system – unrelated to the scoring that is affected by how many times you try a puzzle – ensures fairness, while encouraging exploring the village for the coins needed for the hints. Its a charming village too, where everybody loves to present puzzles at the drop of a hat just cause that is what they love. Plus, a curious story too, with a treasure to find, a mysterious inheritance, a murder, and kidnappings of people not feeling well… my ‘Game of the Month’.

(1st Timer) Soul Calibur Legends (Wii): A very generic action game, where all the sword fighting is done with motions. The gameplay is rather repetitive, and for some reason while there is co-op, its only in a ‘Party’ mode, not the main Quest mode.

(1st Timer) We Ski (Wii): A skiing game, but didn’t play it much due to Alisha hogging the Balance Board.

(1st Timer) Bioshock (360): My first played game on the 360, which happened to be a free rental from Hollywood Video (free Birthday rentals? Cool). Wow the graphics look good, and its very atmospheric as well. Though, the controls feel weird; the game would control so much better with a Wii Remote… I guess as far as controls are concerned with FPS games, I am spoiled…

(1st Timer) Solitaire (Cell): Played the included Solitaire on the cellphone when bored once. Solitaire sucks.

Mario Kart Wii (Wii): Played the Coconut Mall tournament, picking up the coins – managed to do it under a minute on my second try, which I think is pretty good. Then I later checked the rankings, and my brother did better. The 2nd tournament, a race through the Battle Mode map, DS Twilight House, I did better in, I think, managing to race the whole 5 laps in almost one giant unbroken powerdrift… I could have done better I suppose if I had made use of the powerdrift boosts. I also finished the first cup at 150cc, came 2nd due to a horrible first race performance, and unlocked the strange Birdo.

Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword (DS): Continued playing, finishing the game. For a while, the gameplay seemed to be getting repetitive, but eventually the enemies got faster and you had to fight faster, and that made it quite a bit fun. After completion, submitted my score to the WiFi leaderboard, placed No 9121 on Normal difficulty (Head Ninja mode got unlocked upon completion). My ‘Karma’ score was 4,188,678; all the 30 top scorers shown were 999,999,999, which seems ridiculous as a difference. As an examp,e my uploaded score says 13 Chapters, 5:06 play time, 14 defeats, and 78 UTs; the 1st place person’s score says 13 Chapters, 5:04 play time, 0 defeats, and 3 UTs. So, what, is it the defeats that leads to this huge gap? No idea.

Boom Blox (Wii): Played 3 player multiplayer at a friends house, where the game again proved what an awesome party game it can be, instantly accessible by people of all types. Played it again for a few hours, 3 player multiplayer, at another friend’s house. The quick sample mode is awesome. The game is awesome.

Wii Fit (Wii): Dropped just a tiny bit.

LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures (Wii): Played the 2nd stage. I am really liking the extra variety and specialties given to characters. The camera killing characters by pushing them off ledges is a problem, but less than before due to being Widescreen.

Toki Tori (WiiWare): Completed more of the tougher 4th level (underwater) stages.

DEMOES:

(Demo) Pictoimage (DS): The objective: An AI person (showing gender and age) draws a picture, write out what it is. Umm, and that’s rather it. There was a mode to draw a picture yourself and have someone else identify it, I didn’t bother trying that.

(Demo) Carnival Games (DS): I haven’t tried the hit Wii version, as a couple of people I know have told me it stinks. The DS Demo had 3 minigames, and I really don’t understand the point after playing them, which took a minute to play through all 3.

(Demo) The Incredible Hulk (DS): Rather mindless 2D sidescroller where you beat up whoever is in the way, but it managed to be fun enough for me to play the demo twice… though I think it would get old fast if their isn’t variety in it.

(Demo) Kung Fu Panda (DS): Two of my recently enjoyed DS games (Zelda and Ninja Gaiden) have utilized touch controls for combat. This demo does the same, with an additional twist: the game pauses when you touch, allowing you to move the stylus around and see what move will take place and thus decide on exactly what you do, then performing the move when you release the stylus. So you can still have the fast combat, or you can have more precise combat. Intriguing idea, shows even the ‘quick turnaround movie license cash-in’ games developers can come up with unique gameplay concepts on the DS.

(Demo) Rock Band (Xbox 360): Tried the Bass Guitar on Medium in store, and was actually a bit disappointed. Bass doesn’t seem to co-relate to the music as much as Guitar and Drums do.

(Demo) Heavenly Sword (PS3): Tried out the demo in store, and was rather disappointed. The combat didn’t seem too fluid – I was just button-mashing and the heroine was just repeating certain attacks, and auto-blocking some attacks presumably when I wasn’t pressing buttons. Then again, games where you are placed in one location, with waves of enemies continuously dropping in for a while, tend to bore me. I need to be moving towards a goal or objective.

(Demo) Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 (DS): Played the demo operation, removing tumors from a patient, on Easy, Normal, and Hard. The game seems like a much more polished version of the previous game; I also liked how it tabulated the score now, actually giving me a much better idea than the previous game as to how well I did.

E3 2008: The Big Three’s Conferences

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 22:16:15 GMT

Microsoft: Well, they have some good games headed to the system, but not many that I am yet too excited about. Resident Evil 5, Banjo Kazooie, and Portal: Still Alive ended up being my highlights; Your in the Movies and Lips were the low points of the conference, sad to say. I will say the Avatars, Mii-Toos, do seem to be done fairly well and their use in-game has potential. The Netflix partnership is appealing as well. For the most part, MS seems to be making the case that PS3 is irrelevant, while also saying that they want to be where the Wii is.

Nintendo: While I enjoyed Nintendo’s conference, they still disappointed by basically staying away from the ‘hardcore/avid gamer’ market. Their new peripherals, Wii Speak (room based voice chat, as compared to headset based) and Wii MotionPlus (adding true 1:1 motion support to Wiimotes) are cool, and Wii Sports Resort was a huge surprise. Wii Music looks awesome to me, and Animal Crossing: City Folk could be huge. However, that appeared to be all they had to announce for the Wii… other than that, they just showed off 4 3rd party Wii games, of which I am most interested in Call of Duty: World at War. For the DS meanwhile, they again hardly announced anything, leaving me wondering what GTA Chinatown Wars will be like, but not much else.

Sony: As far as games go, Sony probably focused the most on the hardcore audience; though they did have the traditional charts section where they try to convince everyone they are on top of the world, using LittleBigPlanet to show the presentation was awesome. Resistance 2 looks pretty good, and so did the new Ratchet and Clank game. Sony does still seem to have the tendency of announcing big games long in advance, which they did now with God of War 3 (even as Killzone 2 still goes missing, after being first shown a few years ago as the reason to get a PS3). Their Home (which MS has co-opted with part of the Avatar functionality as well) still is in perpetual beta and still uninteresting. They also showed a 256 people online game, MAG. Sony does seem rather humbled right now though.

Game Blog June 2008

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 13:31:00 GMT

This month, I started a 2 month GameFly membership, thinking it would be handy in trying out some games that I otherwise would skip.

Mario Kart Wii (Wii): Played in the two tournaments (the Topmen boss battle and the reverse Mushroom Gorge stage). Finished the last cup on 100cc. Played online a bunch with Farah, often connecting with Kamran.

Wii Fit (Wii): Exercised a bit, unlocking more modes, including the rather fun penguin minigame. Tried the only 2 player mode, jogging, and didn’t think much of the idea of doing it 2 player.

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS): Got to the first dungeon and completed it.

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Wii): Played a few songs at Medium. Even with the 4th fret button added, I still manage to mostly get above 90% of the notes… Beating Morello in the boss battle was tougher though, took me a few tries. A friend once described Guitar Hero as an elaborate Simon Says – while I agreed with him then, at medium it’s definitely a pretty frenzied Simon Says. Have now done 17 songs in Medium…

Geometry Wars Galaxies (Wii): Tried out co-op, but Farah had difficulty following the action.

LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (GC): Played couple of stages with Farah, who was excited for the upcoming LEGO Indiana Jones :).

(1st Timer) Worms 2 (DS): Picked up for $10 at sale after having tried and being intrigued by demo. I can see the game being particularly fun online, possibly… best part was naming my Squad – always fun to see messages like ‘Shauntu makes it personal’ and ‘Captain Lota sleeps with the fishies’ and ‘Fahadist is no more’. My fourth Worm is called Schizo Buddy.

(1st Timer) Toki Tori (WiiWare): My first WiiWare title, debated heavily with myself between this and LostWinds… finally picked this as it was developed by the developers of the quirky but fun Worms 2. Fun puzzle game that, while also quirky, is really highly polished. I love the point and click controls of moving the strange chicken character as it searches for eggs, though the game supports manual movement with Nunchuk or Classic controllers. A 2nd player can help by drawing hints on screen, and the game is sending a log of the chicken’s travels and adventures to the Wii Message Board, which is a rather neat surprise and add’s to Toki’s personality. I have now played more than 30 of the stages, and after some consideration (thinking mainly of Ninja Gaiden and Guitar Hero III), have decided that Toki Tori was my ‘Game of the Month’.

(1st Timer) Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword (DS): Started. Played 4 chapters so far, pretty awesome controls and rather fun so far.

(1st Timer) LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures (Wii): Played first stage, part-way co-op, until Alisha bugged Farah to the point that she dropped out. From the first stage, it does seem more interesting than the LEGO Star Wars games, due to managing to integrate puzzles and traps that suit Indiana Jones into the gameplay.

(1st Timer) Sega Superstar Tennis (Wii): My first Gamefly rental. This game is boring. Where in Wii Sports Tennis, each swing takes fully into account how you swung (angle, speed, timing, all of it), in this one the swing is just a replacement for pressing a button, and in fact timing is irrelevant. Once the core game mechanic is broken, the rest just becomes boring.

(1st Timer) NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams (Wii): Gamefly rental – while the core gameplay mechanic (controlling the flight path of a flying jester who always has forward momentum) is a little weird, the game has atmosphere and great music, and it is captivating Alisha, who is reacting worried to ghosts in a cutscene and pretending to fly herself while the NiGHTS character flies. Overall the game has great atmosphere and an intriguing story, and the music is awesome. But, the controls are not the greatest, and some of the objectives can get frustrating.

(Demo) Cake Mania 2 (DS): Dealing with customer orders for cakes, involving 4 shapes of cakes and 4 types of frostings. Overall, pretty simple.

(Demo) Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (DS): Crappy action combat and boring level.

(Demo) Worms 2: Open Warfare (DS): Quirky ‘Gorilla’ style game (comparing with this old gwbasic game I had on the PC long time ago) with some powerful alternatives to bananas… got me interested enough to pick it up later in the day when I say it for cheap in a store.

(Demo) High School Musical: Makin’ the Cut (DS): A single, 30 second song in the demo, where the gameplay is like Elite Beat Agents, tapping on-screen icons as they show up with the beat of the music. Except the icons have no numbers and thus if there are many on screen, unless you remember the order they came in, you will be guessing. No sliding or spinning moves like Elite Beat Agents in the demo, instead there was an ‘interlude’ in the music where you have to drag basketballs to baskets. Overall, quite crappy.

(Demo) Arkanoid DS (DS): Pretty standard Arkanoid, complete with familiar music, with the novelty of stylus controls. Which, while they work pretty well, didn’t really feel that different though. What did feel different though is that the gap between screens is treated as part of the game, with the ball going missing there, and until the ball speeds up, it is disorienting when it spends time in the unseen gap…

(Demo) The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (DS): A 3d action/adventure in the spirit of the Tomb Raider games, unfortunately the developers made a poor demo due to one reason: Bad level design. Basically, I get to an area where the traps kill in one hit, the shotgun (fired & aimed using stylus in an unintuitive manner, where the action is on the top screen but you still aim by pointing on the bottom screen in the proper direction…) has limited range to shoot the statues in the way, and thus I have to move the character using the D-Pad into the trap zone to get in range. Mess up, die, and freakin’ restart from the beginning.

(Demo) Spore Creature Creator (PC): A trial of the creator editor for Spore, downloadable from http://www.sporepedia.com/, where you can also upload, download, and view other’s creations. It’s an interesting approach to previewing one of the core aspects of the upcoming Spore game – certainly some bizarre creatures can be made.

(Demo) Crosswords DS (DS): This was a demo of the Word Search, with a easy and a normal Word Search puzzle. Pretty nicely implemented, and I did enjoy finding the words. I guess if you enjoy Word Search and Crosswords in the newspapers, then this title is better than the newspapers!

(Demo) Crosswords DS (DS): Another demo for this game showed up on the Nintendo Channel to show of the Anagrams portion of the game. Again, the interface is well done, and those who like these things in the newspapers would love it.

(Demo) Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 (DS): This demo just had 1 of the many minigames in Raving Rabbids 2, and it wasn’t much fun, but at least it only lasted a minute.

(Demo) Guitar Hero: On Tour (DS): Tried the store demo, played one Jet song on Medium. I did rather well, though it was uncomfortable holding the DS with the Guitar Hero add-on strap while the DS is still attached to the Demo Station.

(Demo) Contra 4 (DS): The demo was just the first stage of the new Contra 4, and it was tough! I died many times before managing to complete it, each time getting a little further. Even though it was so hard, that I was getting further each time and that the stage isn’t too long made it fun.

(Demo) Wall-E (DS): The demo was boring, as all I seemed to do was pick up garbage cubes and throw them at floor switches to create bridges I could then cross to get to the next section.

Just when I wondered how far they can take Rabbids funny videos…

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 06:04:00 GMT

Game Blog May 2008

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 02:37:28 GMT

Oh look, here I am, continuing with my crazy idea of keeping a monthly gaming log... I guess I really am crazy! BTW, though I don't mention them, I continue to make use of many of the Wii Channels, in particular Everybody Votes Channel (which Farah and I haven't missed a vote on since it came out -- and we both have higher than 74% accuracy rates with our predictions...) and the Internet Channel. The new Nintendo Channel is pretty cool too, what with weekly videos as well as DS Demos (though when will the recommendations/reviews we are submitting for games start getting tabulated and displayed for games?). Anyway, games I played during May include the following... with Boom Blox on the Wii being my Game of the Month!

Mario Kart Wii (Wii): Played through and won almost all of the 100CC cups, unlocking the use of Miis in the races. Also defeated some of the Staff Ghosts, unlocking 4 Fast Staff Ghosts, while trading ghost challenges back and forth with my brother, who in the end topped me on every course so far... Also participated in the first tournament a bunch, where Chain Chomps were added to the middle of a standard race, but only really tried the second tournament, a race through gates on an empty course, a couple of times.

Riviera: The Promised Land (GBA): Played part of Chapter 3. Getting rather repetitive.

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Wii): Finished all songs on Easy, plus a couple on Medium. Alisha loves to rock out with the guitar.

Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day (DS): Unlocked Triangle Math, Clock Spin

Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day (DS): Played a bit... Got myself a Brain Age of 20...

Elite Beat Agents (DS): Worked on the last remaining *** difficulty song, but it's pretty difficult!

Wii Play (Wii): Played a few hours or Tanks, Shooting Gallery, and the rest of the modes with a friend, Khurram, at his place -- and they remain fun as ever. I was surprised to see how good my friend played Tanks, my favorite mode, in which he beat me pretty continuously...

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS): Started this game from scratch, and reached the first dungeon.

(1st Timer) Wii Fit (Wii): The latest sensation to hit the gaming world, Wii Fit comes with a new weight & balance sensing 'Balance Board' controller, one that already has a bunch of games announced as supporting in the near future. Wii Fit, the game with comes with the Balance Board, meanwhile, is all about measuring your weight (in lbs or BMI), setting goals for adjusting your BMI, and performing exercise. 4 basic types of exercise are included: Yoga, Strength Training, Aerobics, and Balance Minigames. The Balance Minigames, which include things like Skiing, are the most game-like and fun parts of the title, and are handy for taking a break between the heavier workouts. The Yoga is pretty neat, the Strength Training makes me sweat, and the Aerobics makes me sweat even more. Also, the game, quite rightly, labels me as Obese from my BMI. Both Farah and I are enjoying the concept of getting exercise from Wii Fit, and what makes it particularly neat is the immediate feedback, through measuring your movements and balance, that it gives during exercise. I do get the feeling that if I can get into a steady routine, it will be good for me. The hard part is how to use Wii Fit with Alisha wanting to join me on the balance board in the middle of exercise...

(1st Timer) Portal (PC Windows): Finished, and it definitely took me more than 3 hours. Pretty neat game, though I regret knowing the 'plot' beforehand.

(1st Timer) Boom Blox (Wii): For a game that, when described (throw balls at blocks to make them fall, or conversely, pull blocks without the whole structure falling), sounds so simplistic, Boom Blox, designed of all people by Steven Spielberg, is a real gem of a game. Your ball throwing strength is determined by your moving the wiimote, the physics are amazingly realistic, the modes many and varied (many making use of creatures in the game, like clearing a path for a Gorilla to reach her babies), and the multiplayer (available in co-op and competitive) is guaranteed to make any party a blast. I can seriously say anyone can enjoy this game. Definitely, my 'Game of the Month'.

(1st Timer) Master of Illusion (DS): Not so much a game as it is a 'Magic Training' software, it has 3 modes. Solo mode is where the DS plays magic tricks on the user, often the type of tricks where you are asked to pick things on screen in such a way that the end result is predetermined through mathematical or otherwise certainty (though Finger Yoga, where the DS kept predicting how I was holding my fingers, took me for a loop for a while until the game decided to let me learn how the trick worked). The Magic tricks section teaches you various tricks, utilizing the DS as part of the trick, that you can perform on others -- certainly more entertaining to show off and make others wonder, even if most of them are performed by sneakily inputting information into the DS, whether through the shoulder buttons, the mic, or drawing something in a very specific manner; of course, being able to read the marked deck of cards that is included is part of the trick. Finally, there are some minigames that aren't anything special. The crappy part of the title, though, is that you have to unlock everything, and there is a limit to how much can be unlocked per day.

(1st Timer) Ninja Gaiden Demo (DS): Finished on easy, medium, but hard seems quite impossible for me. Still, pretty neat action game... That said, the demo didn't give any idea on whether there is anything other than fighting... Pretty neat to have an action game in book orientation though (where you hold the DS like a book, normally used by Puzzle titles).

(1st Timer) Crosswords Demo (DS): Finished the demo on all difficulties (though I gave up on hard some time after running out of all the hints), and have to say that for a Crosswords title, it's actually pretty neat.

(1st Timer) My Word Coach Demo (DS): This demo was of a Tetris style mode where letters fell from above, and you had to spell out words written out on the side screen. It was fine as a gaming mode, but not necessarily that fun, as the necessity of giving you letters for the words you can build made the letters falling rather predictable.

(1st Timer) Eco-Creatures Demo (DS): An RTS style game where you control a character and move him around the screen, and can then tap on your 'army' to send them to attack enemies. The environment friendly message is pushed down your throat, and the gameplay really too easy to be interesting.

Rock Band Demo (360): Played the same song in store first on Drums, then on the Guitar, on medium difficulty. Did well with both instruments, though I did better on the drums, even with my prior experience with Guitar Hero... I also have to say, I enjoy drumming more than the guitar... too bad Rock Band is so expensive.

(1st Timer) Flash Focus Demo (DS): The demo had an Eye Test of Focusing, as well as a minigame involving Hand-Eye coordination using Baseball... While simple, surprisingly decent.

(1st Timer) Iron Man Demo (DS): Touch Screen for shooting, using locking/homing missiles, and a charging beam, D-Pad to move, L to afterburn, and occasionally any other button for EMP... action game that plays like an original version of Desert Strike... while it was a bit fun in the short burst of the demo, the number of buttons mixed with stylus aimed shooting got tiring on the hand very quickly.

(1st Timer) The Spiderwick Chronicles Demo (DS): RPG with Mario RPG style stylus drawings during battles to increase damage, fully touch controlled motions and actions, nice interface. Played surprisingly well, though shaking each bush is worse than standard RPG barrel/pot busting... My overall impression is one of being impressed at the quality of a title that seems likely to be only picked up by kids.

(1st Timer) Apollo Justice Demo (DS): Standard Phoenix Wright style game, with new set of characters and new hero. Demo does good job though of trying to pull in existing fans by having you defend Phoenix Wright himself -- who seems nonchalant and mysterious even while accused of murder, with oddities like him being a piano player now who is also a poker champ in a potentially illegal gambling den where the murder took place... that said, having played 2 Phoenix Wright games previously, I feel like I have had enough.

Lost Season 4 Finale: Guest Cast Lists

Tue, 13 May 2008 14:00:44 GMT

Will mention pre-Season 4 spoilers, but try to keep Season 4 spoilers out of this post for anyone who is waiting for DVD's to watch Season 4. Unless a guest cast list is a spoiler for ya, in which case, don't read further...

Lost has it's Season Finale for it's 4th season coming up, 3 hours long. Part 1 will air this Thursday, Parts 2 & 3 will be aired 2 weeks later. It's been a great season so far, rather concentrating on telling one specific story (basically, how the story got to the point shown in the Season 3 Finale's last scene, where Jack and Kate, some time in the future, talk about Jack wanting to return to the Island). Obviously, Season 3 ended with the survivors getting into contact with a Freighter that is there to rescue them, so the story for Season 4 did focus heavily on the Freighter...

The Guest Cast lists for the S4 Finale, publicized by Lost Press Releases, is below (I am concentrating on mentioning characters that have been on the show before only, and also not mentioning characters that are part of the main cast). Keep in mind, that due to the nature of the show (with flashbacks and flashforwards, among other things), characters can show up whether dead or alive, so nothing can really be inferred or given away by a cast list. Also, note that there are many times when guest characters with small roles, or major surprises, are omitted from Press Releases...

There's No Place Like Home, Part 1:
Rose (815 survivor)
Richard Alpert (Other)
Frank Lapidus (from Freighter)
Keamy (from Freighter)
Omar (from Freighter)
Nadia (Sayid's friend)
Mr. Paik (Sun's father)
Mrs. Paik (Sun's mother)
Carmen Reyes (Hurley's mother)
David Reyes (Hurley's father)
Margo Shephard (Jack's mother)
Carole Littleton (Claire's mother)

There's No Place Like Home, Parts 2 & 3:
Rose (815 survivor)
Richard Alpert (Other)
Frank Lapidus (from Freighter)
Keamy (from Freighter)
Omar (from Freighter)
Walt (815 survivor)
'Mom' (Walt's grandmother)
Christian Shephard (Jack's father)
Penelope Widmore (Desmond's girlfriend)
Charles Widmore (Penny's father)
Henrik (man who detected EMP and told Penny in S2 Finale)
Dr Marvin Candle (aka Dr Wickman, aka Dr Halliwax)

PS: Lost is Awesome...

Game Blog April 2008

Wed, 07 May 2008 06:28:48 GMT

I'm crazy, I know. I like to spend time looking at statistics and analyzing patterns and cataloguing all sorts of stuff. I not sure how many people know this about me, but I used to pore over Cricketers statistics when I was in high school and make lists of all the books I ever read.

That said, I like to think that is human nature. I wonder whether most will agree?

Thing is, I also like to commentate on stuff. Anyways, I felt like doing something totally 'catalog' and 'commentate' worthy, probably totally nerdy to some. I felt like trying out keeping a monthly log of games I played and commentating on them. Not so much reviews, as opinions and observations. Both on new games I played as well as older games I played. Whether I played a game only a bit or a lot. Obviously, writing at once rather than as the month goes on, I could forget about something I played or I might mistakenly have something I played earlier than April and mistakenly placed it here. Oh well, still counts, my brain!

I'll note, I lost my DS and bunch of games last Thanksgiving (); Farah got me a DS for Valentines, and just before and during April, I picked up some of my favorite DS titles again at bargain prices, usually used -- which is why this list is so heavy on old DS titles!

Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii): My main game from March, continued playing it through April, unlocking all the characters, finishing the story mode, playing Classic, Boss Rush, and All-Star modes with a few characters. Completed all the solo Events, as well as the co-op events with Farah. Continued playing the story mode in co-op with Farah, which is at about 35% or so complete now. Got 1 Boss Trophy, fighting Petey Piranha on Intense difficulty. Completed many of the challenges, unlocking lots of good music tracks, some neat stages, etc. Built a few more custom stages. Didn't play it online much, though did use the spectator mode and 'gambled' a bunch.

Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day (DS): Played it pretty frequently for minutes a day, generally about 5-10 minutes every few days. I tend to do a few of the training exercises each time, alternating between them, usually 3 of them at a time. I actually still enjoy 'Reading Aloud', where you simply read a passage from classic English Literature, the farthest from any 'game' type activity ever. Oddly, the exercise where you count people entering and leaving a house, once a favorite, is now my most boring exercise. Unlocked a few of the training exercises.

Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day (DS): Generally, I tend to play the 2 Brain Age titles as a pair. I also tend to not do the Daily Test, rather, only doing some of the training exercises. In 2, my favorite is actually Word Scramble, with rotating letters you form together anagram style. My most boring one is one similar to the house guests one from 1, where you keep track of what position a runner ends up in as others run past him. Unlocked a few of the training exercises. BTW, the piano playing exercise has the worst piano playing controls I could imagine, yet I can't help but choose that exercise at times to hear what classical piece will be played this time.

(1st Timer) Jam Session (DS): A sophisticated simulated Guitar, that is more a utility software than a game. While I could see that it's a pretty accurate guitar simulator, I can also see that with 'real music', I am unfortunately pretty hopeless. Thus, only really tried this for an hour. Also, my fingers hurt using the D-Pad as 8 chords/frets.

(1st Timer) Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Wii): Now this kind of Guitar I can get into -- fake guitar playing what is basically an elaborate 'match the colored buttons with the accurate buttons on the fake guitar peripheral'. But its so much fun! You get in a groove, the music is great, everything looks wobbly after playing it due to staring at moving colors for 4-5 minutes a song, and the Guitar peripheral with the Wiimote attached (giving it a built in speaker for feedback when making mistakes as well as vibrations when rocking out) is a pretty cool 'controller'. Plus, Alisha loves to rock out with me when I play, holding a PS2 guitar I have and pretending to play it while I play. Awesome. Completed all 42 songs on Easy, defeating Lou the Devil at the end and unlocking some 'bonus' songs. Completed a couple of Medium songs...

Picross (DS): Picture Crosswords, one of my favorite 'logic puzzle' games ever. Started it from scratch again after having lost it Thanksgiving -- and finished all the Easy puzzles in a brief sitting. Still fun, but I look forward to the larger, more sophisticated puzzles where I actually get stumped again.

Elite Beat Agents (DS): My favorite lost game. The used copy came with *** Chieftain Difficulty already available, which was fine by me as I had already completed all the songs on * and **, and had been midway through *** anyway! Completed a few of the *** songs, which are tough and take a bit to get used to the beat. I need to find my earphones for best performance in this one...

Metroid Prime Pinball (DS): My favorite pinball game ever, replaced anew. Looks like whoever used it before didn't even play it, certainly never made the high score tables. Played through it in the amazing 'story' mode a ton, eventually making it to and beating Metroid Prime and thus unlocking the higher difficulty and all the boards in 'High Score' mode. Awesome game still.

(1st Timer) No More Heroes (Wii): Started it and played it through about the first 4 assassins. Looks like 7 more to go. The 'grinding' you have to do between assassination missions to be able to start them looks like it could get tiring. Game is ultraviolent, completely weird and wacked out, and language can be offensive at times, not to mention the plot being totally crazy at times, so stopped playing it while my mom was visiting.

(1st Timer) Bully (Wii): Tried this rental due to all the positive reviews the older PS2 version had received, and was honestly under-whelmed. I could see merit in the school environment, with the game making a point about bullying the bullies, and the classes were interesting, but so much of the game boiled down to running around the map to meet people to get missions then going to place to complete mission, that it got boring before the game was due. Plus, the combat motions were too simplistic, simply swinging the Wiimote and Nunchuk.

Rayman Raving Rabbids (Wii): Farah and I pulled out this old game from the shelf and played a few co-op on-rail shooter stages -- which are still fun and the Rabbids are still crazy. Then I completed all the Rabbid Songs minigames, swinging the Wiimote and Nunchuk like crazy maracas.

(1st Timer) Mario Kart Wii (Wii): Comes with Nintendo's version of the 'Wii Wheel' shell, which really does make the game better! I honestly didn't think a new Mario Kart game would be anything special, and now I think this is likely the best one ever! Playing online with my brother and his wife has been flawless, and trying to beat Kamran's ghost saves on the beginning stages has been so much fun, that I can see myself playing this game for a long time. Farah loves it too, and we have played it online a lot since I picked it up. Got a 2nd Wii Wheel too! I will have to end up saying that this is my 'Game of the Month'. Also, Alisha loves the Wii Wheel, she likes twirling it around pretending to play :).

(1st Timer) Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (Wii): Got it in a deal with Mario Kart Wii, and have tried it out once, completing basic training camp and playing 1 Exhibition match against the CPU. The controls, where you get to play as the whole team at once, are revolutionary and amazing, compared to most sport games where you only play as the person who has the ball at any given time.

Wii Sports (Wii): Lou visited early in the month, and ended up playing a few hours of Bowling. He's too good now, though took him a bit to warm up so was still close in the beginning. Played Power Throws mode, where he showed me how he rebounds off the rails on the side, and I showed him how to knock out all pins in Round 10 by rolling the ball on top of the rails. Something I had not actually been able to pull off, but he went ahead and practiced for a bit and was able to do it!

Big Brain Academy (DS): I never scored too high in the DS game, like a C, even though on the Wii game I have done much better (B+ I believe). With playing the Brain Age games, figured I would give this one a try again, by actually trying out the various challenges in different difficulties. After getting better in them, was able to score C+ in the test. BTW, I can now say with authority that the Wii sequel of the game is indeed a lot better and a lot more polished.

(1st Timer) Riviera: The Promised Land (GBA): My current 'old GBA game', deleted the used save files from the used copy and started a new one. I have to admit, the gameplay is completely different than any other RPG I have played. Leveling up through the use of individual weapons enough times is novel. The lack of exploration of the game world feels unusual (you basically never move your character, only using menu commands to move, look in places, etc -- all with limited 'explore points' that you get in battle), yet I am enjoying exploring the new ideas and gameplay concepts in the game. Have finished 2 chapters so far (another oddity, chapters in an RPG where you thus cannot 'explore' previous areas even if you have collected some 'explore points'). The story of being a 'Grim Angel' summoned to destroy the land of Riviera, and all humans ('Sprites') living there, before the land turns into a demon's base, only to turn on the Gods to save Riviera instead, could be interesting.

Balloon Fight (Wii VC -- NES): Kamran sent me Balloon Fight and I ended up playing it a few times. Still fun for such an ancient game.

End Thoughts: Well, I played a nice variety of games between the Wii (8) and DS (7), a Wii VC title, and even a GBA game, played on the DS, for a total of 19 games played during the month. A lot of music based games, too, I'll note (3, plus piano exercises in Brain Age 2 and Maracas in Rayman Raving Rabbids). Overall, actually a pretty big month for gaming...

Will MS have its first year of profit from the gaming business?

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:00:48 GMT

First, a chart:

FY     Sony              Nintendo            Microsoft
1998 974,000,000    629,000,000
1999 1,130,000,000 645,000,000
2000 730,000,000    421,000,000
2001 -409,000,000   726,000,000
2002 623,000,000    800,000,000    -750,000,000
2003 939,000,000    560,000,000    -1,191,000,000
2004 650,000,000    316,000,000    -1,215,000,000
2005 404,000,000    777,000,000    -485,000,000
2006 75,000,000      894,000,000    -1,262,000,000
2007 -1,969,000,000 1,489,000,000 -1,892,000,000
2008 -965,000,000 2,480,000,000 614,000,000
Totals 2,182,000,000 9,737,000,000 -6,263,000,000

The chart above shows the profit from Sony (Playstation division), Nintendo (as a whole, seeing as how their only real business is the gaming business), and Microsoft (showing their division that is responsible for Xbox, but also over the years things like Zune). Also note, that the 2008 numbers show the full Fiscal Year for Nintendo, but only includes 3 quarters of data for Sony and Microsoft, whose 4th Quarter data isn't released yet.

My question is, will Microsoft be able to have its first year of profit from the gaming business? I honestly think it will, I really don't think their 4th quarter will dampen things any. And to me, that means that unless they do something boneheaded, they should continue to have profit for the next couple of years for the remainder of 360's life cycle... and that, given how much they invested in getting into the gaming business, is a huge checkpoint for them.

Sony meanwhile is having transitional pains. They had them when they transitioned from PS1 to PS2 (as can be seen in the 2001 loss), but were able to recover really nicely and take over the market for the next few years. Their transitional pains in moving from PS2 to PS3 is even deeper however, and it does seem unlikely they can be 1st in the market this time around. My advise to them would be to not over-tech the PS4 (I would also give Microsoft the same advice btw, for their eventual Xbox 720).

Finally, Nintendo, whose conservatism with wanting to maintain profit against all odds seemed to contribute to the Gamecube coming 3rd behind PS2 and Xbox, is showing how that conservatism can own everyone when they do it right. I mean, their last year's profit alone has exceeded Sony's total for the last decade -- and their projection for the next year is $3.13 billion...

Wii Domination

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 04:43:52 GMT

I will let the numbers do the talking.

US March 08 (5 weeks of data) Hardware

Wii - 721K
360 - 262K
PS3 - 257K

DS - 698K
PSP - 297K
PS2 - 216K

Japan Media Create 4/7-4/13 08 Hardware

Wii - 46K
PS3 - 8K -- { ok I can't help but comment: wha? }
360 - 1K

PSP - 85K -- { my balancing comment: impressive comeback! }
DS - 47K
PS2 - 7K

US March 08 (5 weeks of data) Software

WII SUPER SMASH BROS: BRAWL NINTENDO OF AMERICA Mar-08 2.7M
360 *TOM CLANCY'S RAINBOW SIX: VEGAS 2 UBISOFT Mar-08 752.3K
360 ARMY OF TWO ELECTRONIC ARTS Mar-08 606.1K
WII PLAY W/ REMOTE NINTENDO OF AMERICA Feb-07 409.8K
PSP GOD OF WAR: CHAINS OF OLYMPUS SONY Mar-08 340.5K
PSP CRISIS CORE: FINAL FANTASY VII SQUARE ENIX INC Mar-08 301.6K
WII GUITAR HERO III: LEGENDS OF ROCK ACTIVISION Oct-07 264.1K
360 MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL 2K8 TAKE 2 INTERACTIVE Mar-08 237.1K
360 *CALL OF DUTY 4: MODERN WARFARE ACTIVISION Nov-07 237K
PS3 ARMY OF TWO ELECTRONIC ARTS Mar-08 224.9K
(* indicates including Limited Editions)

Japan 4/7-4/13 Software

01./00. [WII] Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo) - 593,576 / NEW
02./01. [PSP] Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (Capcom) - 221,781 / 1,590,000
03./02. [PS2] Musou Orochi: The Evil King Returns (Koei) - 55,506 / 283,000
04./07. [WII] Wii Fit (Nintendo) - 31,325 / 1,865,000
05./06. [NDS] Pokémon Ranger: Batonnage (Pokémon) - 30,159 / 436,000
06./08. [NDS] Tottado! Yowiko's Deserted Island Life (Bandai-Namco) - 26,109 / 65,000
07./04. [PS2] Pro Baseball Spirits 5 (Konami) - 21,510 / 102,000
08./03. [PSP] Star Ocean 2: Second Evolution (Square-Enix) - 17,591 / 108,000
09./10. [WII] Deca Sporta (Hudson) - 17,171 / 133,000
10./09. [WII] Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Nintendo) - 14,297 / 1,563,000

Nintendo's Developers

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 14:00:14 GMT

Here is just a list I compiled, utilizing personal knowledge and Wikipedia heavily, of Nintendo's development studios (1st and 2nd party, as well as 3rd parties that have developed for Nintendo in recent times -- I didn't mention studios that have, to my knowledge, either shut down or are confirmed not working for Nintendo anymore). The purpose is to sort of see how many studios, big and small, have had a lack of game releases recently, in an attempt to maybe realize what may be in store for the coming fall... Check out my previous blog entry for more details.

FIRST PARTY:

Intelligent Systems -- Best known for WarioWare, Advance Wars, Fire Emblem, and Paper Mario games, they had a busy release schedule last year with WarioWare: Smooth Moves, Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, and Super Paper Mario for Wii, along with Advance Wars: Days of Ruin for DS. That said, their Wii stuff was all complete and released in somewhere in the world by April 2007, with Advance Wars showing up August 2007. A remake on their first Famicom Fire Emblem game is headed to DS, but I doubt that would keep them so busy in all this time that they wouldn't have new stuff coming this Fall, specially considering their output last year!

Brownie Brown -- Consisting of former developers of Square, their last game was Magical Starsign for DS last year. I'd expect more DS RPGs from them, though they seem to be a small team.

Monolith Soft -- Nintendo's latest acquisition, Monolith Soft has been developing Disaster: Day of Crisis for the Wii since before Wii came out (and since before they were bought by Nintendo). They also developed Soma Bringer for DS, which just released in Japan and likely should head to the US for Fall. Obviously, DS's fall lineup is starting to fall into place!

NST -- Nintendo's first major US based developer, they developed Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2 for DS last year, and are apparently the developers for the soon releasing Nintendo Crosswords on the DS. For Wii, they had been working on Project HAMMER, but that apparently was cancelled -- which means their output, like HAL Labs, has been pretty quite for a while -- and like HAL Labs, they are one of Nintendo's bigger developers...

Retro Studios -- Nintendo's second major US based developer, who have so far only really made the 3 Metroid Prime games, including last year's awesome Metroid Prime 3: Corruption for Wii. They have so far normally released 1 game every two years, so I can't expect anything from them this year, necessarily...

Nintendo SPD -- Nintendo's internal set of studios that manages overseas projects along with internal development, currently split in 4 groups.

Group 1 works mainly with Intelligent Systems, with the last games being WarioWare: Smooth Moves released on Wii February 2007, and Card Hero DS which released in Japan in December 2007 (which may or may not ever come to US). Likely working with whatever Intelligent Systems is doing that doesn't happen to be Advance Wars, Fire Emblem, or Paper Mario.
Group 2's last games were Tetris DS and working with Tose (a big independant developer) on Super Princess Peach, both from early 2007, and are the developers of the just released in Japan WiiWare title, 'Dr Mario & Virus Buster'.
Group 3 mainly oversees overseas development, like Retro Studios Metroid Prime series, Excite Truck from Monster Games for Wii's launch, and last fall's Battalion Wars 2 from Kuju Entertainment in Europe. Random surprises can definitely come from here, since development is done by 3rd party developers from Europe/US...
Group 4 does the Wii Channels primarily now, and US is late getting the Nintendo Channel Japan got December 2007 anyway...

Nintendo EAD -- Nintendo's largest software development group and considered the core of Nintendo in many ways, headed by the legendary Shigeru Miyamoto. EAD is made up multiple groups as well.

Group 1 just finished Mario Kart Wii.
Group 2's last published title is Wii Play (they also did Wii Sports). Obviously, nothing for almost 2 years come Fall; however, the rumors of Animal Crossing coming to Wii would likely be developed by Group 2 -- and with the time frame, that makes Animal Crossing being a reality much more likely...
Group 3 is the Zelda team, and they did have Link's Crossbow Training on Wii and Phantom Hourglass on DS in fall 2007, so expect them to be quiet.
Group 4 does most of the core Mario platforming games -- however, they didn't develop Super Mario Galaxy. That said, their last game is Big Brain Academy on Wii last summer -- leaving a year to work on something for this fall. So definitely possible for them to have something this fall...
Group 5 just finished Wii Fit, though technically most of it would have been done by December 2007 for the Japan release.
Group Tokyo is possibly their most exciting group, having developed Super Mario Galaxy, which released fall 2007. I don't think they would have something new in just 1 year though.

SECOND PARTY (studios that chiefly only work for Nintendo, but are not majority owned by Nintendo):

HAL Labs -- Best known for Kirby, Mother, and Super Smash Bros (as well as where Iwata, Nintendo's President, came from), HAL Labs output has been pretty low recently, specially when you consider that the latest Super Smash Bros Brawl game was developed freelance by ex-HAL Labs employee Sakurai through his new Sora company, with contract based work by independent developers Game Arts. HAL Labs recent work has been a Kirby DS title as well as Pokemon Ranger, both of which released last year, along with a recently released in Japan sequel to Pokemon Ranger (which will likely come to US for DS this fall). Its possible they could have something in development for Wii -- their last in development home console title was a Kirby title for GC that never got released, and is presumable still in development/conversion for Wii.

AlphaDream -- Small team, their last title, Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, was a DS RPG in 2006.

Ambrella -- Makers of the just released in Japan WiiWare 'utility software' Pokemon Ranch, obviously a small team.

Game Freak -- Developers of the super hit Pokemon RPG games, with their last title, Pokemon Pearl/Diamond, coming to DS April 2007. While they experimented with non-Pokemon development with Drill Dozer on GBA in 2005, their main success has been Pokemon, and I wouldn't be surprised to see a new DS Pokemon game from them this fall, following their pattern of releasing a follow up 'combined' title that joins Pearl/Diamond together.

Genius Sonority -- Continued their line of Pokemon 'battling' games with Pokemon Battle Revolution on Wii last summer (minus an RPG adventure attached, so simply a battle game with online play), and also developed Square's Dragon Quest Swords which releases this year in the US (though it released last year in Japan). So their output in recent times does indicate possibility of a new game this fall...

Noise -- Small team that only makes Custom Robo games, their last one being on the DS March 2007.

THIRD PARTY (listing a few that work primarily for Nintendo or have a lot published through Nintendo, though they could always be busy working for other publishers)

Camelot -- Known for Golden Sun, Mario Golf, and Mario Tennis titles for Nintendo, though currently working on We Love Golf for Wii, published by Capcom.

Fuse Games -- Did the Mario Pinball Land the supremely awesome Metroid Prime Pinball games, with nothing in a couple of years.

Kuju Entertainment London -- One of 7 studios belonging to Kuju Entertainment, the London studio makes the Battalion Wars titles published by Nintendo; the last one just released fall 2007 though.

Skip -- Developers of Chibi-Robo along with other Japan only titles Nintendo has published like the bit Generations series and GiFTPiA; the last Chibi-Robo title on DS was published fall 2007 though.

Artoon -- Developed some Yoshi titles for Nintendo, with the last one in Fall 2007.

Cing -- Developed Trace Memory and Hotel Dusk for DS, published by Nintendo; both are in a way old-school adventure titles, and its been 1.5 years since anything new from them...

Hudson Soft -- Now part of Konami, Hudson does make lots of their own games, but is also the developer of Nintendo's Mario Party series, for which they tend to have 1 title per year -- last fall they had Mario Party DS, so unless being part of Konami changes things, they are due this fall as normal.

iNiS -- Developer of Japan only Nintendo published music rhythm game series Ouendan, along with the Western version, the awesome Elite Beat Agents. Ouendan 2 released May 2007 in Japan, and I would really hope they would continue the series in the US too.

Mitchell -- Nintendo publishes some of their puzzle titles, specifically Polarium and Magnetica. They do have a version of Magnetica scheduled for WiiWare in Japan right now.

Namco -- They have been working with Nintendo in creating many Nintendo published titles in recent times, and are currently the developers responsible for the upcoming Mario Super Sluggers on Wii.

Capcom -- They used to create handheld Zelda games with Nintendo, but Minish Cap was the last such collaboration on the GBA a few years back -- nothing recently.

Next Level Games -- They developed the Mario soccer titles for Nintendo, with the last one, Mario Strikers Charged, releasing in August 2007. Since Nintendo doesn't normally have quick sequels (minus Mario Party games), its doubtful they will have anything, unless they do a DS version...

Paon -- They have created a few Donkey Kong games for Nintendo, with the latest ones being DK Jungle Climber and Donkey Kong Barrel Blast in fall 2007.

Sega -- They usually do their own thing, but did once develop F-Zero GX for Nintendo, which I would love to see a sequel to. They last worked with Nintendo on the Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games titles for Wii and DS, published by Nintendo in Japan but by Sega in the US in fall 2007.

Sora -- Basically Sakurai's 'freelance' base, they technically headed Super Smash Bros Brawl development, which just shipped last month.

Square-Enix -- They collaborate pretty frequently with Nintendo now, from having Brownie Brown develop some of their GBA and DS RPGs to developing Mario Hoops 3-on-3 and the so far Japan only Itadaki Street on DS. No current collaborations are announced though.

Level 5 -- Currently developing an epic RPG for PS3, but also the developer of the Professor Leyton series that while they self-publish in Japan, Nintendo publishes for them in the US. The first game came out in February this year to critical acclaim; meanwhile, the 3rd is currently in development for release soon in Japan. Its pretty likely the whole trilogy will get released in the US over time as well.

Tose -- The ultimate 'anonymous' independent developer, Tose is huge with many teams, and they like to get hired by others to perform work that never gets credited to them. That said, they do have a series of games, Legend of Starfi, that started on GBA and has continued on DS, published by Nintendo. Unfortunately, the series has stayed in Japan.

Atlus -- Occasionally, Nintendo helps publish titles in Europe that are published by other companies in the US, and an example would be Atlus, whose Trauma Center series, for e.g., gets published in Europe by Nintendo. Atlus has at least once returned the favor, publishing Cubivore on the GC in the US after Nintendo published it in Japan but didn't in the US. This entry is here just for completeness, of course, since I am mostly concerned with the US market!

Rare -- I almost forgot to mention Rare, who were once a Nintendo 2nd Party until Nintendo sold them to Microsoft. That said, Rare has still been developing Donkey Kong Country remakes on GBA and more recently Donkey Kong Country conversions for Wii's Virtual Console, all published by Nintendo. Still, most of Rare's work is for Microsoft and so this entry here doesn't mean much anymore...

What is up Nintendo's sleeve?

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 14:00:29 GMT

Nintendo is at an all time high, it seems nowadays. Mario Kart Wii, a game that flew under the radar until it released earlier this month in Europe is suddenly turning out to be a killer game, selling really well both in Europe and in Japan, where it just released. US release by the end of the month, complete with what looks to suddenly. Wii Fit, their killer Balance Board using title, already a big hit in Japan, releases in the US in May and I suppose soon after in Europe -- the announcement of Wii Fit yesterday as retailing for $89.99 prompted Amazon's pre-orders to apparently go up 800,000%, according to Amazon's page. Super Smash Bros Brawl released last month with super hype and as a super hit. Wii's are outselling everything else, still hard to find in stores. Nintendo DS continues selling at phenomenal rates.

Analysts are predicting March US sales for Wii and DS to be 700k each (in comparison, the analysts predict 360 and PS3 to have sold 310k and 365k respectively). Software sales are doing great as well: Next-Gen reports the top 100 selling games that released in the last fiscal year for US and Europe included 12 and 11 exclusives on Wii and DS (compared to say, 3 exclusives on 360 and 5 on PS3 -- and 0 on PSP!). Japan, other than Monster Hunter 2 on PSP and the odd PS2 Soccer game, is all Wii and DS titles -- and Monster Hunter 3 is exclusive to Wii.

Now analysts are predicting Nintendo will sell 26 million Wii's in the newly started fiscal year (compared to an estimated 18.5 million in the last fiscal year). In comparison, 360's total worldwide sales since it released in 2005 is estimated at 18 million units, and Nintendo's own Gamecube sold little more than 22 million in it's total lifetime!

With all this, comes the rather surprising question: What are Nintendo up to? Beyond Wii Fit and Mario Kart Wii, as it turns out, Nintendo hasn't really announced much in regards to what software is coming to Wii and DS in the future! That's right, nobody knows what big titles are coming for the coming Fall! Whereas Microsoft already has Gears of War 2, Too Human, Fable 2, Banjo-Kazooie 3, and Halo Wars scheduled for 360, and Sony already has Resistance 2, Killzone 2, LittleBigPlanet, SOCOM: Confrontation, Echochrome, and Motorstorm 2 scheduled, Nintendo in fact has only really announced Mario Super Sluggers, and briefly previously shown off (but not scheduled) Disaster: Day of Crisis and Wii Music (similarly, on the DS, they only have Pokemon Mysterious Dungeon 2 and Nintendo Crosswords scheduled -- both by May/June in fact, with Fire Emblem DS and Professor Leyton 2 previously shown likely for Fall).

This is where I get conspiratorial. Nintendo has many internal studios and teams along with partner development companies that are owned by them, and I figured, lets see what they have been up to recently. Oh, my rule of thumb is, if a developer hasn't released something since summer of 2007, they likely are contributing to Nintendo's Sleeve ;) (though smaller 2nd party teams sometimes just assist other teams). (Oh, also, my guess is that most WiiWare and DS development would have shorter cycles, as well.) I will detail my results in another post tomorrow or so...

Lost: So It Begins

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 07:22:41 GMT

So, over the last couple of months, ABC has been releasing these small 'Webisodes' or 'Mobisodes' of Lost, initially on Verizon cellphones and then on their webpage. 13 in total, they have been newly shot, and fall under the umbrella of 'Missing Pieces', basically small scenes that fit in between what has already been shown and provide a little more insight in characters (e.g., showing Jin losing it due to not understanding anybody, showing Doc Arzt's reason for travelling as well as why the monsoon never happened, showing Juliet meet Michael, showing the Others panicking about Walt and birds). My favorite was a scene that paid off finally a theory of mine, that Sun and Michael almost got too close...

Still, this, the last of the 13 'Missing Pieces'... I don't know what to make of it! Certainly, it suggests the show may take another unusual direction with Jack and his father -- but also that we may get some explanations regarding Jack halucinating Christian and only finding an empty coffin during Season 1 as well...

Check it out... and then check out the other 12 at ABC's webpage...

Thursday, Lost returns... and I can't wait!

Console Wars and Wii Would Like To Play

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 01:34:41 GMT

Lets start 2008's blogging with a Wii Bang! But first, I wanted to cover some history on how Wii has been accepted in the market...

Before Wii came out, everybody had counted Nintendo out of the console race. Nintendo's announcements of no HD support was met by the response that they were giving up. The announcement of the name Wii was met by mockery. The controller startled people, and generated unprecedented interest (remember the huge lines at E3 2006?), but Microsoft PR started mocking the controller as being 'too tiresome for peoples arms' -- and the video game industry journalists followed suit!

We all know how it turned out. Sony came out of the gates swinging with the PS3, and the cost drove everyone away. It didn't help that cross platform titles just looked better on the Xbox 360, or that key titles (Metal Gear Solid 4 and Final Fantasy XIII) still haven't come out. A quick retirement of a 20 G model, a shelf-clearing price cut on the soon retired 60 G model, and the reduction of features (PS2 backwards compatibility, USB ports, memory card slots) in the new 80 G and newer 40 G models, have shown the problems Sony has been having. A format war between HD-DVD and BluRay (for which the PS3 is the only decent and recommended player, btw -- another story) hasn't helped, though it could help in the future if HD-DVD does indeed lose...

And while MS capitalized with 360 gaining the market, the Wii surprised everyone by continuously outselling 360 in hardware every month. Turned out, people's arms didn't really get tired using the light controller -- on the contrary, the Nunchuk/Wiimote combo is actually more comfortable to hold than a standard controller! Meanwhile, Wii actually expanded the gaming market, inviting a whole new audience to play...

That is when the new 'meme' started... I first heard this from MS employees along with Epic Games (makers of Gears of Wars), claiming that Wii can't work for 3rd parties as only Nintendo sells on Nintendo systems (never mind the precedent set by the DS handheld). MS even pushed this point home at E3 2007. Soon, video game journalists everywhere were spouting this theory, and more recently, more developers (both Western and surprisingly Japanese developers) have been promoting this theory. Some idiot at CNet even made this his reasoning for why Wii will soon fail, with 360 and PS3 stomping it into the ground.

Which is where I get to the point. December, always the biggest time of the year for the gaming industry, has passed, and sales results have come in... and this is what they show:

US Sales

System	December Hardware	2007 Hardware	Lifetime Hardware	December Tie Ratio	December Software	Lifetime Tie Ratio	Lifetime Software
Wii	1.35 Mil	6.29 Mil	7.37 Mil	8.11	10.95 Mil	4.64	34.20 Mil
Xbox 360	1.26 Mil	4.62 Mil	9.15 Mil	7.76	9.78 Mil	7	64.05 Mil
PS3	0.80 Mil	2.56 Mil	3.24 Mil	5.04	4.03 Mil	4.26	13.81 Mil

Look at that chart, and tell me, seriously, that software and 3rd party software can't sell on the Wii! More importantly, tell me why anyone talking about Wii software doesn't mention PS3? Guitar Hero 3 and Mario & Sonic at the Olympics (made by Sega) are 3rd party games that have crossed a million units in sales. Previously, Ubisoft has claimed that Rayman Raving Rabbids and Red Steel did the same. Many other 3rd party titles have also seen great sales, including M rated titles like Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles. Games aimed at a broader audience like Carnival Games have also done really well. Ohh, and the above chart doesn't count bundled games like Wii Sports (or Motorstorm on PS3 or Forza 2 & Marvel Alliance on 360). It also doesn't count Link's Crossbow Training, which is being counted by NPD (the sales tracking group) as an accessory due to the Wii Zapper (although Wii Play, which comes with a Wiimote, is counted as a game).

If the argument is that Nintendo's own titles sell even better than the 3rd parties, I would put forth that Nintendo's own titles also tend to be highly rated (Super Mario Galaxy is rated the 2nd best reviewed game out there at www.gamerankings.com, and the top 10 list there has 4 Nintendo titles!). I would also point out that most of the big sellers on 360 are MS published (Halo 3 anyone? Mass Effect? Gears of Wars?). In fact, other than Call of Duty 4, Rock Band, Guitar Hero 3, and Assassin's Creed, the rest of the high sellers on 360 and PS3 are MS and Sony published games!

Anyways, my conclusion is this: It is not that Nintendo is the only company that can succeed on the Wii. If a company wants to succeed on Wii -- they need do nothing more than make games worth playing... for as the Wii mass audience is readily declaring: Wii Would Like To Play!

Other US HW sales for December:

System December 2007 Annual 2007
PlayStation 2 1.1 million 3.97 million
PlayStation Portable 1.06 million 3.82 million
Nintendo DS 2.47 million 8.50 million)

BONUS: Japan Sales from 12/31 - 1/6 (1 week period) for comparison:

Hardware - This Week | Last Week | YearToDate | LifeToDate
1. NDS - 266,568 | 218,894 | 266,568 | 21,439,619
2. PSP - 218,234 | 161,370 | 218,234 | 7,819,828
3. WII - 207,797 | 152,209 | 207,797 | 4,823,957
4. PS3 - 64,183 | 52,706 | 64,183 | 1,705,859
5. PS2 - 32,010 | 25,569 | 32,010 | 20,959,047
6. 360 - 9,763 | 8,304 | 9,763 | 517,104

Top 50 Software Summary (Top 10 was all Nintendo Console games):
NDS - 32 titles
WII - 9 titles
PS2 - 3 titles
PSP - 3 titles
PS3 - 3 titles

The 4400 Cancelled

Thu, 20 Dec 2007 16:52:24 GMT

Just read that The 4400, one of the better serialized shows out there, just got cancelled. Rather unfortunate, seeing the potential the show could have had with the setup from the season finale (Seattle basically becoming it's own country run by Jordan Collier and the remaining 4400 along with the tens of thousands of Seattle people with new powers, including most of the cast whose job so far has been to track the 4400).

Ok, these people are serious

Wed, 03 Oct 2007 06:05:23 GMT

I have never seen people so serious about a video game before.

Ever.

Wow.

Read about it here. And definitely, watch the YouTube video on that page. It WILL surprise you.

If you explore the site just a bit, notice how this specific game shares categories with stuff like Football, Golf, and Softball for these people...

New Pictures Added

Sun, 30 Sep 2007 21:40:37 GMT

I have uploaded new pictures of my sweetiful baby Alisha -- the new pictures (ranging from May to 2 weeks ago) start from picture number 86 till 110.

Also, with the new functionality in Spaces, these are higher res than before -- and the new full screen slideshow feature is great! Do leave comments :)

Top 5 Games: 2006

Tue, 04 Sep 2007 14:00:22 GMT

These, to me, were the Top 5 games from 2006. This is completely my opinion, and is based only on the games I actually played. If you have other games to suggest, feel free to comment! Note: I am adding some comments regarding the game series since then up till now, giving suggestions in case someone does want to play the original games as to which of the sequels may be the better experience!

Elite Beat Agents (Nintendo DS): One thing I have learned through my exploration of new game genres is that I love music based games. While games like Donkey Konga and Guitar Hero are fun though, original new concepts that utilize music in new ways are what video games are all about. Elite Beat Agents plays like nothing before it, totally original, and completely awesome.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii): Twilight Princess is the 4th Zelda game played fully in 3D, and also has the largest scope, with lots of awesome dungeons to explore. The wolf mechanics are a neat addition, and the new character of Midna, who bosses you around, is one of the fresher new characters in gaming. The Wii version also adapts the Wii Remote nicely, specially with using aiming weapons like the Bow & Arrows, and fishing feels great. I also loved the integration of the village kids through most of the games progression. However, I have to say -- I miss the cel-shaded style from Wind Waker.

Wii Sports (Wii): With Wii Sports, a new era of gaming has been started, as you actually have to physically get involved to play games like Tennis, Baseball, and Bowling. You create caricatures of yourself (Mii's) and then use them to play somewhat simplified versions of these sport titles -- for e.g., you only control the swing in tennis, not movement. The game is a blast with multiple people, and the movement based controls are easy to learn for just about anyone. Personally, I love Bowling the most, followed by Tennis and Boxing. My least liked of the package would be Golf.

New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo DS): After skipping the N64, the Gamecube, and the Game Boy Advance, we FINALLY have a new 2D sidescrolling Mario platform game, and it retains the spirit and challenge of the original classics. Every level feels fresh, fun, and simple to play, while still giving you a challenge. If there is anything to fault, it would be that minus the new Koopa Suit (which is particularly challenging to make use of) there isn't much that is really new in the gameplay, and yet it manages to feel fresh.

Clubhouse Games (Nintendo DS): This is my oddest pick in my personal Top 5 picks yet. It's basically a collection of 40+ card and board games, throwing in some miscellaneous oddities like Darts and Dominos. All are well made, even if the names of some card games have been changed from the original (e.g., BS is called 'I Doubt it'). What makes the game awesome is that you can play almost all of them online, either with friends or with randomly matched opponents, leading to unlimited playability. Plus, any game that includes Ludo (Farah's favorite board game ever), playable online? No contest.

Beyond the Sword

Mon, 20 Aug 2007 13:00:37 GMT

While most of my gaming nowadays happens on consoles (chiefly Wii and DS nowadays), there is one PC game that still deeply holds my interest: Civilization IV. Released 2 years ago, I have continued to occasionally play a game since then.

In July, Firaxis Games released an expansion pack for the game, Beyond the Sword, which my wife got me for my birthday. So over the last 3 weeks, I have been playing a game of it when I have had the time. My dad, visiting, has also gotten hooked and so we have spent a lot of time together while I show him all the nuances of play. My own game finally led to a full night session, where I played from 10pm to 7am last Saturday with my dad sitting with me. Fun!

Fun, and also, my first all night session playing games since when I used to study in college -- back then the game in question would tend to be Alpha Centauri (made by, coincidentally, Firaxis Games, with the design having evolved from Civilization II).

What makes the game so much fun to play that by 5am you can be thinking 'time to save the game and quit playing', save the game, and then actually continue playing? It's hard to say... the game has the ability to give you about 10 different things to think about at the same time, all while keeping a 'turn-based' design. You may end up planning to build some buildings in one city, settle a new city to grab some Iron at another spot, create some military troops to build up an army ready to assault your neighbor for his Copper, while negotiating with other civilizations to stop trading with your neighbor to deny him the Iron he will need to be able to mount a suitable defense. By the time the turns have reached the point where you are assaulting your neighbor, new decision points show up (do you agree with the Vikings that attacking your friends the Portuguese is a good idea, or risk a showdown with the Vikings instead?), leading to playing for 'just one more turn' so that you can put the finishing touches on your current strategy before moving on to the next.

Like in this game, I started playing with heavy and decent expansion, until the Vikings asked my to join the fun in defeating my friendly neighbors, the Portuguese. Normally, I would say no, but frankly the Portuguese were too weak, and I decided what the hell. After wiping them from the continent and accepting their vassalage, I concentrated on spreading religion as my empire just grew stronger. Eventually, a holy war was declared by the French against Spain (who had alone held out against the world's chosen religion: Hinduism), and I had no choice but to join in. Mid-fight, the French likely lost most of their army, and sought my protection through vassalage; I soon captured 3 Spanish cities and accepted their vassalage as well. That was the end of any wars; the Greeks, Ottomans, and Vikings would be stupid to attack the combined might of my Aztecs, the French, and the Spanish (I doubt anyone cared for the Portuguese' lone tundra island city anymore). I ended up winning the game through a 'Cultural Victory', my empire's culture far ahead of anyone else.

My secret weapon incidentally? Building Wall Street in my only city with a founded religion: Islam, which I spread throughout my empire (and the Ottomans and later the French) to generate tons of gold, while also spreading all other religions in all my cities to make them happy and cultured. Capturing the holy cities of Buddhism, Judaism, and Christianity from the Spanish was just icing on the cake, and near the end, the Ottoman's holy city of Confucianism ended up joining my civilization cause they just liked my culture so much. Creating the HQ's for the corporations of Mining Inc and Sid's Sushi Co in my Islamic holy city and creating branch offices in multiple cities just made that city insanely rich.

Just an awesome game.

TV Season Finales

Fri, 20 Jul 2007 00:52:19 GMT

My favorite type of TV show is 'serialized' shows -- shows that don't hit the reset button at the end of each episode. This started with Wiseguy long ago, and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is my favorite TV show in part due to this. Even my favorite cartoon show, Gargoyles, followed this format.

Well recently, Lost started on TV based completely around being serialized, and has been a big hit. At the same time, Battlestar Gallactica's new version has also been a big hit on cable, and is also serialized. Thus, many other shows have started to air that allow stories to continue and characters to grow as the show goes on... though not all are great or successes :).

I wrote most of this in May, season finale time (but postponed postingas I had to catch up on Battlestar Gallactica). All the main TV shows I watch were having their season finales, hoping to return next season. Since the number of shows I enjoy and watch has gone up recently (in part due to Media Center), I figured I will do a quick summary here of the shows and their seasons... ohh, and Spoilers (I discuss plot points, season end points, and even character deaths) for those who haven't watched them follow... especially for Lost!!! So if you haven't watched a show and want to avoid spoilers, only pay attention to my star ratings ;).

Lost *****, Season 3: My favorite TV show out there, Lost is just amazing. This season started with a singular focus on Jack, Kate, and Sawyer, who were captured in the season 2 finale by the Others, but once Kate and Sawyer escaped and started trying to rescue Jack, the show turned up things a notch with Locke going on a rampage, blowing up communications stations and submarines, killing the eye-patch wearing Mikhail (and then beating him to a pulp when it turned out he didn't die), having Sawyer kill his father after finding him on the island, and taking the Others leader Ben hostage. Locke finally forced Ben to take him to the Others real leader, Jacob -- leading to the show's most shocking episode ever, as we learn how the Hostiles purged DHARMA from the Island, and Ben adds Locke to their mass grave. But the finale managed to top all, a bloodbath with 15 people killed, and a change to the storytelling method that makes the story not only about the Island and the characters past before the crash, but also the characters future after they leave the Island!!!

Prison Break *****, Season 2: My breakout show of the year. Season 1 hooked me midway through when I realized the show was taking it's serialized nature seriously, with the return of the insane Haywire character into the storyline after the prison break had to be changed to involve the psych ward. Season 2 took the characters lead by Michael and Lincoln out of prison, on the run, with multiple storylines running for the various characters -- ending with Lincoln officially being set free, but Michael, Mahone, evil T-Bag, and Bellick in a Panama prison -- and President Caroline stepping down rather than being exposed. I liked how they built Kellerman (assassin)'s character to end up working with the heroes, and loved Mahone (FBI agent)'s character, complete with him taking no prisoners. The story was clearly not without risk for it's characters, many of whom died... RIP Abruzzi, Veronica, Kellerman, Tweener, Haywire, Steadman, Gov Tancredi, Geary, Aldo Burrows, and smarmy Bill Kim. On second thought, Bill Kim can rot :).

Heroes ****, Season 1: A cool concept show, about people discovering super powers, and getting involved in an attempt to stop a nuclear bomb (actually a radioactive 'hero'). The characters are all over the place though, and many don't have much of a connection to anyone else. Plus, two of the heroes seemingly can't really die, atleast not easily... Still, the evil Sylar has been built up as a significant villain, and the best character on the show, Mr Bennet (formerly shown as a villain, yet caring father) has turned out to be a highly intelligent and awesome character -- and he is perhaps the only character without superpowers. The finale disappointed however, with the long awaited super battle between Sylar and Peter lasting only a couple of punches, and all characters acting stupid at various points.

Supernatural ****, Season 2: Supernatural is mainly a show with an 'episode of the week' structure, encountering a new supernatural ghost or monster every week -- however it does it while maintaining a continuing storyline involving a Yellow-Eyed Demon who killed the 2 heroes (Sam and Dean) mother and who is planning an end of the world battle. The show ends it's second season with the Demon opening a gate to hell, releasing an army, but the heroes father (who had last year made a deal with another demon and given up his soul) also came out of the gate, and helped kill the Demon. I guess next year is going to be about tracking down the army, and finding a way to save Dean's soul (as he made the same deal their father did to save Sam).

Battlestar Gallactica ***, Season 3: It started with a bang, with a neat set of episodes about survival on New Caprica, and ending with a killer escape / battle. But then it got embroiled in an overlong love quadrangle between Starbucks, Apollo, Dualla, and Anders, with Starbucks character in particular continuing on a self-destructive path until she finally, surprisingly, dies... Plus, the Cylons really didn't have much involvement with the fleet for most of the season. Dr Baltar remains the most interesting, complicated character, even though for all the heroes, he is the villain. The ending meanwhile appears to have come out of nowhere, specially with Starbuck coming back and characters being revealed as Cylons wholesale seemingly randomly... here's hoping they have something good planned for next season, which has been announced to be the last.

The 4400 ***, Season 3: In this summer cable show, 4400 people who were abducted by future humans all returned, and gradually discovered they have various powers -- all apparently a plot by future humans to save the future. Season 3 ends with a new drug being distributed, which has a 50% chance of either killing you, or giving you an ability. I guess Season 4 (which started in June 2007) will be all about all the new people with abilities.

Jericho **, Season 1: It used to be that shows I really liked, usually died off their first year... Examples include Invasion last year, Nowhere Man some time back, and Legend when I first came to the US. Jericho is the latest such show. Basically, Jericho is about a small town that survives when 23 American cities are nuked, and how it survives. More than that though, is the story of how America rebuilds, possible Civil Wars between survivers, etc. Jericho ended with a war continuing between the towns of Jericho and New Bern (which wants the farmland Jericho has), while the military from the new US government headed to Jericho intent on finding the nuke that didn't go off (hidden by a CIA agent in Jericho). Sadly, the show's pace was slow, with a heavy emphasis on farmers and grocery store owners and so on, that likely led to it's lower ratings and just announced cancellation (though it got renewed after a fans 'Nuts' campaign, and will return after all for a shortened second season). Farah gave up on Jericho early...

24 *, Season 6: Of all the shows I watch regularly, 24 has been running the longest. 24 normally only keeps it's plot for the season, resolving it at the end and then starting a new 'threat' for the next season. Season 6 is where they have actually tried to connect the show with the past, revealing Jack Bauer's brother and father as being the evil people behind President Logan in Season 5, as well as ending Season 6 with Jack going up against the evil Chinese who held him prisoner from the end of Season 5 to the start of Season 6. Unfortunately, this has meant that the main plot Season 6 started promisingly with (terrorist attacks on the US culminating with a nuke going off in LA) has seemed pointless, and 24 had it's worst season ever... 24 needs to stop killing off characters for shock value, as it has nobody interesting left now other than Jack! Or is it too late?

Doctor Who *, Season 2: The current incarnation of Doctor Who continued the mostly episodic season 2 with a new reincarnation of the Doctor, and while he was good, I still preferred the season 1 Doctor. What was worse though, was the emphasis on the family of his companion, Rose -- with a loosely serialized plot that ends up sending Rose and her family to live in an alternate dimension in the finale. Thus, Season 3 will have a new companion for the time traveling Doctor Who... Farah didn't care for Doctor Who after the Doctor changed as well...

E3 2007 -- Wii (and DS)

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 22:27:56 GMT

The annual E3 conference is taking place, and Nintendo just had their big press conference, showing off what they have in store for the Wii and DS for the near future. My highlights summary follows...

The big focus is on the fact that they are successfully expanding the gaming market (in recent history with games like Nintendogs, Brain Age, and Wii Sports, not to mention the Wii controller), and will continue to do so. As such, they showed off Brain Age 2 and Flash Focus (a DS title for 'vision training') as well as announced stuff like Nintendo Crosswords, Picross, and Professor Layton for the DS -- all are basically some form of puzzle titles. Their killer app for the expanded audience though is on the Wii: Wii Fit. Check out the video here and tell me it won't be a hit. Unfortunately, Wii Fit is scheduled for the US in 2008... They also announced a new upcoming (free) channel for Wii, the Check Me Out channel, where people can compete on their created Mii's with others worldwide.

Overall, Nintendo does appear to be in a really good position. They are hitting the casual market hard. They have a strong online network for the DS now (almost half the games nowadays seem to support it), with the Wii now catching up as well, with Mario Strikers Charged, Battalion Wars II, Super Smash Bros Brawl and Endless Ocean some of the online titles coming, along with Madden 08, FIFA 08, Medal of Honor w/ 32 players, Guitar Hero 3, etc... and the newly announced Mario Kart Wii will be online too, coming 1st quarter of 2008.

They certainly do appear to be getting good 3rd party support too, with titles like My Sims, Boogie, Red Steel 2, Rayman Raving Rabbids 2, Trauma Center 2, Geometry Wars, Civilization Revolution, My Word Coach, and more heading to it.

One other thing I am noticing, is that the Wii is going to end up being peripheral friendly -- Wii Fit above is using its own completely unexpected Wii Balance Board controller, Guitar Hero 3 comes with a Guitar controller that the Wiimote snaps into, rumors of Rock Band coming to Wii indicate another Guitar controller and Drum Set controller... Boogie and High School Musical both come with Microphones, and Mario Kart Wii comes with a Wii Wheel for the Wiimote to snap into. On top of all that, they showed off the Wii Zapper attachment, which combines the Wiimote and Nunchuck controllers into a gun controller, that will come with an unannounced game and also be useable in Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles, Ghost Squad, and the above mentioned Medal of Honor (which, unlike the other 2 here, is a full FPS title).

Finally, we got dates for the big games. Fire Emblem on Nov 5; Metroid Prime 3 on August 27; Super Mario Galaxy on Nov 11; Super Smash Bros Brawl on Dec 3; and Zelda: Phantom Hourglass on the DS Oct 1.

Interestingly, they didn't show of anything that looks to be later than Q1 2008...