Nintendo might just be a little too attached to Ganondorf. I get that he's as much a part of the series as Link or Zelda, but the plot in LoZ:TP worked wonderfully until he showed up. You're right about Zant, IMO. He was shaping up to be one of the best villains of any game released that year.
There are 70 hours of my life sunk into Twilight Princess, and they were some great hours of gaming. I was a lapsed Zelda gamer in the PS2/GC/XB-era, so maybe that's why I like the game...
Well put, mastiff. OoT isn't just one of the most important Zeldas ever released, it's one of the most important video games released, period. Sure, Mario 64 made a significant blueprint for 3D gaming, but OoT was the completed architecture.
It's like the Citizen Kane of gaming. Not the first of its type, but the first one that did so much right, and one that everyone copied off of.
TBH, I think most people have a much higher opinion of WW in retrospect. The "Celda" craze was in full effect on release. But now, it seems like a lot of the gaming media looks back and sees a game that looks timeless (like Okami).
MM had the unfortunate burden of being launched in October 2000, right alongside the PS2's launch. Combine that with following up OoT, and it was pretty much doomed to being a forgotten gem.
I think it's at least worth getting for VC. It stands out in the series. But it's an acquired taste.
OTOH, I really did like the story in Twilight Princess (until they showed Zant to be nothing more than a weak puppet), which gets hated on relentlessly. Midna was the least-annoying sidekick of any in LoZ, and it seems like Nintendo purposefully went with a darker story overall. I hope they continue working in that vein for the new Zelda.
Man, tough choice between this and Silent Hill. Probably the two most promising third-party games on Wii so far.
But if Square and Konami don't do any marketing for their games, then they're setting them up for failure. And that sucks, because they both look like quality titles.
:youtubes more FFCC stuff:
From the article:
"I think Dead Space Extraction was one of the best pieces of software built on the platform and it did not perform well. It's a strong IP but for some reason it did not resonate in a way that brought consumers to the store to buy it. And Madden hasn't performed to my expectations so far this year, even though it's a fabulous piece of software."
-------------
So you thought Dead Space was gonna do great with no advertising push? You t...
Three good Wii games included from third parties, and none of them are rail shooters, mini games, rushed ports or licensed cash-ins.
("...b-b-b-b-but there's no games on Wii!")
Muramasa is just ridiculous. Remember playing Okami and just stopping to admire the scenery? Yeah, same thing happens in Muramasa. All the time.
Full of flashlight win.
Hats off to Climax. The youtube video quality isn't the best, but some of the other vids and screen caps I've seen look absolutely phenomenal. No, it doesn't look like a 360 game (and no Wii game ever will), but it looks better than 99% of other Wii games. This game engine looks like it truly pushes the hardware it's running on.
Third parties, you're on notice. This is how graphics should look on Nintendo's console from here on out.
Spoony -- Yeah...Kotaku being full of it is pretty much par for the course.
Umm, I already have put in marathon sessions of 5-6 hours. Next?
As for the review itself, I think it's almost spot-on. COD:MWR is pretty much the exact same game, minus a few cuts that had to be made. No one thought it could even run on Wii, yet there it is. And it does look good in motion with great controls.
The reviewer is correct about how much the art style makes up for other graphical shortcomings, but I don't see how this game out-techs Conduit. For all ...
I think most "gaming journalists" have just given up on even providing the appearance of impartiality. Yes, it took longer to ramp up production when they in no way expected an outrageous level of demand. This shouldn't be surprising.
Meanwhile, the system will still probably end up on top of monthly sales, even if it isn't by as wide a margin as when it was a pop culture phenomenon. And why anyone needs a console to sell -- or not sell -- to boost their ego is beyon...
I have never understood the mindset of people who are emotionally invested in hating on a console. It makes no sense. Don't like it? Don't buy it. Simple.
Unless you catch a 360 raping your grandmother, a PS3 pouring sugar in your gas tank, or a Wii urinating in your corn flakes, there's no reason to be a fanboy/apologist.
I've seen this sentiment echoed on here (you around, oobob?) before.
Honestly, I think it makes sense. A lot of the top-tier titles the PS3 and 360 have over the Wii are FPS. If you're a die-hard FPS player, you'll get better graphics and control on a PC.
Then you'll still have a console for the types of games associated with one: platforming, action/adventure, RPG, RTS, puzzle, etc. The Wii is covered in a lot of non-shooter genres, and it's hard to beat first-pa...
"...but 300k lower than last year. Quite a dip, I think."
Yes, it is a dip. It's for a console that is also on its third year. 550K is still a big haul, and the Wii will likely remain as the best-selling console for the month. That's impressive.
The thing caught lightning in a bottle once, and that success isn't going to be replicated. You can't engineer a sales phenomenon in a marketing meeting.
"For starters, the controls can be adjusted to suit your needs. This is fantastic but it also is a curse in the sense that no control set-up is perfect.
"Throughout my time with Reflex, I was constantly fumbling and adjusting the controls in an attempt to find the best set-up. I would play for a few minutes, only to have to re-adjust the sensitivity and dead zones to get the best performance possible. What made things worse is that I essentially had to play this with th...
Seriously?
I mean...really?
Assassin's Creed II, which is a big-budget project with a ridiculous marketing push (I've lost count of how many times I've seen that frickin' commercial on TV) sells better than...Rabbids Go Home and shovelware?
Get outta town! That is SO shocking!
[/sarcasm]
Who the heck writes crap like this pathetic excuse for gaming journalism?
Speaking of price cuts:
http://www.nintendoeverythi...
So you can buy the Wii for $199.
And the Metroid Trilogy for $29.
$228 total for a new system and 80 hours of the best gameplay ever pressed on a disc.
It's a good time to have a Wii. Or buy one.
I'm with Mastiff on this one. MadWorld is a niche game, and it sold niche numbers. And $50 for a six-hour long game with no multiplayer or replay incentive? C'mon. That's a horrible value.
I saw that it's been marked down to $20, which is a much better deal for what you get. Unfortunately, the cost of porting it to the HD consoles would probably make the price go up, not down.
For all of the panic ("oh noes, it isn't selling like it did last year!"), Nintendo has still been selling a lot of consoles. And I don't see any reason why that wouldn't continue this year.
Spoony -- The difference with games like Halo or COD is that multiplayer is the biggest time sink. You may only spend 6 hours on the single player, but then you've got a lot of online fragging to take care of. I think I've put 30 hours or so into COD:MWR so far.
Extraction and MadWorld, OTOH, don't really have much replay incentive...5 or 6 hours for $50 is a bad deal. People can put over 100 hours into an online shooter. That's $0.60 per hour of gaming (using 360/PS3 pricing...