Category: Wii

The Life and Times of Yoshi

This past Sunday brought us a fairly major landmark for the year in gaming in a brand new iteration of the Super Mario series. Super Mario Galaxy 2 hit store shelves, and from several accounts, it is pretty stinking good.

In honor of the game’s release, which now includes Yoshi, it seems that Nintendo has put together a little bit of nostalgia mining in the form of this Yoshi tribute video. It recounts his appearance in every game he’s been in, from Super Mario World through the Sonic Olympics. If you are into these games, it is certainly worth the watch.

So, who’s getting or has already played Super Mario Galaxy 2?

Pay For Play: A Look At The Big 3’s Digital Pay Systems

As the video game industry moves more and more towards complete digital distribution, I thought it would be a good idea to see where things stand right now in terms of how we buy our games and DLC. Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony all have platforms for digital distribution and each has strengths and weaknesses, but today I plan on talking about what I personally like and dislike with each of them, specifically, the manner in which we fork over our hard-earned cash monies.

First, the best: Sony’s PSN network is just the smoothest interface, in my opinion. No silly point systems, just straight up money. You can add a few different games to your cart and buy them all together or one at a time and they will download in the background. The only problem I have with this is that you always have to add at least $5.00 to your “wallet”, which sucks when you buy something that is only $1.99 because then you have money that you have spent in real life and is now just waiting to be spent digitally. A minor quibble, but one that can be annoying.

Microsoft comes in a close second. Xbox Live Marketplace has many of the same features that makes PSN so strong and in fact, there is only one thing that really holds it back: that mystical point system. See, whenever you go to purchase something, you need points. So you have to add points, but thankfully, your credit card is saved, so you don’t have to enter it in every time.
Continue reading Pay For Play: A Look At The Big 3’s Digital Pay Systems

SEGA Admits Mistake in Putting MadWorld on the Wii

madworldAh, the Wii. No other console in the history of gaming has done more to both bring together and tear apart the masses. While it is introducing a whole new generation of people to the joys of our hobby, the reception to Nintendo’s little white juggernaut by the enthusiast gamers has been nothing short of underwhelming.

Last year’s MadWorld, a black-and-white blood bath death match by Bayonetta creators Platinum Games, is a great example of the divide between the game’s target audience and the people who actually own a Wii. No one knows this better than Mike Hayes, President and COO of SEGA Europe, who recently commented that putting MadWorld on the Wii was a bit of a “mismatch”. He went on to elaborate why he thought that, in hindsight, MadWorld should have been a 360, PC or PS3 title.

“Clearly that was a mismatch with the Wii audience — particularly in terms of the amount of cross-ownership between Wii and the other home platforms. If you’re going to play a mature-rated game, you’re going to get your 360, PC or PS3 out to do so. But you can’t knock us for having a go.”

Continue reading SEGA Admits Mistake in Putting MadWorld on the Wii

April Fools: Cliffy B. and Miyamoto Team Up for Gears of Wario

Gears of WarioI’m sure many of you heard that next week, Cliffy B. is set to appear on Jimmy Fallon to deliver the dish on Epic’s new game, and quite possibly debut it for the whole nation. While many people foolishly assume that this is going to be the much anticipated Gears of War 3, other sources have learned that this is something even bigger than that: Gears of Wario.

We all know that the secret to good video games is collaboration, and that Epic Studios is no stranger to working across the Pacific to team up with Japanese gaming greats. This is more than evidenced by Epic’s willingness to let Gears of War characters appear in Lost Planet 2 this year. However, Gears of Wario will be an experience unlike any other, as the two super pimp producers Cliffy B. and Shigeru Miyamoto (Shiggy M.) team up to deliver one hell of a gaming curb stomp.

Gears of Wario focuses on Wario and Waluigi as they travel across a war-torn Mushroom Kingdom, on the run from the law and the locusts, who have come out of emergent pipes dotted about the apocalyptic landscape. The game is set to drop in March 2012.

Source- Joystiq

Metroid Other M Trailer Dishes Some Gameplay

I have never been in love with Metroid, but I know that there are many out there that are. I was not a huge fan of the Metroid Prime games, particularly the last Wii outing. However, the announcement last year that Team Ninja would be handling Metroid Other M got me excited for the franchise in a new way, especially considering the mix of the Prime style with what looked to be an old school platforming in some ways.

Up until now, we haven’t really gotten to see much in the way of gameplay, especially how these two will phase together on the fly, except in some small bits. Enter the new Other M trailer, chock full of gameplay goodness. What do you guys think?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrAWYvUG8N8[/youtube]

Super Mario Galaxy 2 Trailer is Out of This World

If there’s one thing that Nintendo knows how to do well, it’s stringing along the hardcore over and over again. Just when you feel like trading your Wii in, Nintey hits you with a one-two combination of their top tier franchises. This time it’s Mario Galaxy 2 and Metroid: Other M which have release dates of May 23 and June 27, respectivley. Below is a trailer for Mario Galaxy 2, so check it out why don’t you.

I remember hearing that Galaxy 2 is going to be significantly harder than the original, and judging by this trailer I can definitely believe it. Is anyone else excited about this?

GamerSushi Top 10 Games of 2009

Well, we’re a bit late on this, but that’s because we were waiting to make sure we had all sampled enough of these games to confidently vote on what we felt were the best 10 games of 2009. This kind of list needs next to no introduction, but suffice it to say that 2009 was one incredible year for our hobby. What once seemed barren and unimpressive became, honestly, one of the best years I can remember, and probably was the best year for the whole generation to date in a lot of ways. We saw new IPs, old ones re-vamped, and got some of the same awesomeness from franchises we already loved.

For the list, we put this together by having the GS staff (myself, Nick, Jeff, Anthony and Mitch) vote on our top 10 games, and then associated a point system with each to determine which games came out on top. So, without further ado, scroll down for the GamerSushi Top 10 Games of 2009!

 

GamerSushi Top 10
Continue reading GamerSushi Top 10 Games of 2009

NPD Numbers for December 2009 Offer Strange Stories

Mario NPDEvery month, it’s a big deal when the NPD group numbers are released. It allows industry bigwigs and fanboys alike to flex a little, flashing their bling-peens off to anybody who is willing to listen or give a damn. Obviously, the most interesting month of them all happens to be December, which usually shows what the deal was for the holiday season, gaming’s biggest cash haul. So what did this year’s December numbers tell us?

A few interesting things:

  • People love Mario. The Italian plumber’s new adventure easily outsold Modern Warfare 2 when stacked against individual PS3 and XBox 360 console sales, and nearly outdid the two combined. 2.8 million copies of Mario were sold last month. In fact, 7 of the top 10 software sales were Nintendo titles. Yikes.
  • Modern Warfare 2 is still top dog. The game didn’t do as well as Mario in December, but for the year has made about $1 billion big ones. That is insane.
  • PS3 exclusives haven’t yet found that killer sales title. The PS3’s biggest sellers this holiday season and on its platform as a whole are 3rd party titles such as Modern Warfare 2 and Assassin’s Creed 2 over games like Uncharted 2 and Demon’s Soul. Uncharted 2 has just barely broken 1 million copies sold (whereas the other 2 have done over 2 million each on the PS3), which I find interesting. Metal Gear Solid 4 has already been outsold by Halo 3: ODST. This isn’t an indictment on the system or its games at all, but on its install base: why in the world aren’t more of them buying these exclusives?
  • PS3 is climbing the ranks. Despite weaker first party sales, the PS3 had a great holiday season, seeing MS move into 3rd place for the time period. It’s about time, Sony. Let’s keep it going strong.

So, that’s the story of the December NPD numbers. What do you guys think about those? Anything particularly surprising that stands out?

Source- VG247

Rumor: NBA Jam Gets a Revival

NBA JamBoom shaka-laka! He’s on fire!

If anyone knows those words, then they will be excited to hear one of the newest rumors circulating around the video game realm this week. Namely, that NBA Jam is getting revived by EA Sports for an exclusive Wii title. That’s right, the Midway classic that we played in arcades and on our SNES or Sega Genesis are getting the Frankenstein treatment, coming back to us in the year of our Lord 2010. Allegedly.

While details right now are scarce, it seems that there is a pending announcement that could hit later this month. I’m not sure if you guys ever even played this game, but it ranks among my top sports games of all time, and probably as the greatest basketball title that I can remember playing. I loved getting on fire and doing the crazy make-your-opponents-weep kind of dunks to get absurd scores by game’s end. Even though I don’t have a Wii, I seriously can’t wait to see how this turns out.

Does anyone else remember playing this game?

Source- VG247

Franchise Fanboy Wars

Things are pretty messy out there in the video game realm. Gamers fighting against gamers, flames flying around the tubes left and right. People claiming superiority over one another because of a purchasing decision. What have we become?

I suppose it was only a matter of time before it came to this. Sure, everyone’s got their favorite system of choice, be it PC, XBox 360, PS3 or the Wii… But what about the franchises? To help feed the fanboy flames, I thought I’d throw some of our most beloved characters and stories together, to see who came out on top after a brutal battle to the death. It’s the franchise fanboy wars!
Continue reading Franchise Fanboy Wars

Review: New Super Mario Bros Wii

new-super-mario-bros-wii-box-500pxNew Super Mario Bros Wii is Nintendo’s attempt to make Mario a party game without calling it Mario Party or making it suck. They succeed. But NSMBW is also a fun single-player experience, akin to Super Mario World, which if you believe THIS joker, is the best Mario game ever.

The plot is not exactly anything worth mentioning, but I will anyway. The Princess is kidnapped by Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings, which means that now all of Bower’s children have teamed up to make Mario’s life hell. Mario, Luigi and two unnamed Toads set out to rescue her, through 8 worlds filled with obstacles and enemies new and old. Stop me if you think if you have heard that one before. The story is inconsequential, which is how it should be. Remember that they tried to throw story into the Sonic games and we all know how that turned out.

Mario is all about gameplay and it delivers. The game is set up with the overworld map seen in Super Mario Bros 3 and Super Mario World. Some levels have secret exits that, when discovered, open up new areas of the maps that lead to cannons which warp you to a later world. The control is tight, as Mario’s jump has been perfected over the years and it doesn’t change here. He can still do triple jumps, like in Mario 64, and they added a wall jump, which has saved my ass more times than I can count. The only motion controls found here are a quick shake to do a spin jump or launch yourself high into the air using the new Propeller Hat and occasionally you control a platform by tilting the Wii Remote accordingly. Both are done well and sparingly.

134716-NewSuperMarioBrosWiiMainImageThe levels are varied and colorful. The graphics aren’t going to blow your mind, but the game looks like the natural progression from Super Mario World. In fact, this game feels like the direct sequel to that one. Each world has a theme that every level exploits, such as an ice world, a tropical island world and wait for it…a lava world! Some things never change. And that is a good thing, if you ask me.

One thing that is different is, thanks to the power of the Wii, is the dynamic nature of the environments. Ever heard the term, “rolling hills”? Well, this game takes it literally, as the green hills roll and try to dislodge your timing. Pipes move up and down, platforms spin around and enemies are ever present. All of this makes for a challenging Mario game. Now that you will ever see the GAME OVER screen, as NSMBW is highly liberal with the extra lives, but you will die quite a bit.

Which leads me to that controversial feature, the Super Guide. All that uproar was for naught because I never even saw it. The only way you can lose it is if you die 8 times on a single level. While I admit, I came close a few times, I never died enough to unlock it. But if someone is having that much trouble, I see no issue with it and the hardcore fans should just deal with the fact that Nintendo wants as many people as possible to play and experience their games in full. So I have nothing bad to say about the Super Guide. If anything, it added an incentive for me to play better as I did not want to see the option pop up, thus maintaining my elite Mario skills status.

New-Super-Mario-Bros--Wii-7The other big deal is the multiplayer, which I did not mess with until I had completed the game. I took my Wii over to my fiancee’s house and played it with her cousins on Thanksgiving. And it was a blast, with one caveat: do not expect to breeze through the game with 4 people. This game, as already mentioned, is difficult enough when playing solo, but add in the chaos of 3 other people and you just have to smile and deal with it. The game pauses for a brief second when someone dies or gets a power-up, which has resulted in deaths many times over. Thankfully, as long as one person is still alive in the level, the others can be revived, which means you find yourself rooting for your teammates to clear that jump and bring you back into it. It’s a great addition to the Mario series and a fun way to hang out with friends or family.

Even using our new grading system, it is tough to judge this game. It doesn’t do a whole lot new, despite it’s title, but it gives us what we have clamored for: an old-school Mario game with updated visuals and gameplay. There are a few things that are annoying, such as the fact that you can only save after beating a fortress or castle, unless you do the Quick Save option. After beating the game you gain the ability to save anywhere, which is so pointless and so Nintendo-like that you just have to shake your head in amazement. Despite this, New Super Marios Bro Wii is a stellar entry in what is one of the most revered and popular series in all of games and if you have ever loved a Mario game, you should seek this one out. I doubt you will be disappointed.

GamerSushi Score:

C

How does our grading system work? Check out our grade chart!

Top Six: Super Mario Games

With the release of New Super Mario Bros Wii for the…uh…Wii, I decided to list my favorite Mario games. Now, this list only covers the traditional platforming Mario games. No Mario Kart (sorry, Eddy), no RPG and no Tennis. I looked at all 13 (including Game Boy games) and this is the list I came up with. It was much harder than I thought, mainly due to much consternation over innovation, originality and replay value. I have already steeled myself for a fan boy beating.
Continue reading Top Six: Super Mario Games

New Super Marios Bros. Trick Video

This game just came out, and there’s already a pretty sweet video showing three players carting Luigi across the level while the lazy ingrate does nothing. Check out the video and prepare to be astounded, bedazzled and other-wise stupefied.

Apparently there’s all sorts of fun to be had with this title, so I’m going to have to dust my Wii off and give it a go. Anyone else pick this up, or is thinking of picking it up?

GamerSushi Reviews: Quick Hits

quick-hitsWe play lots of games here around GamerSushi. So many, in fact, that there’s not possibly time to write reviews for all of them. While we would love to give some in-depth analysis of every title that graces our screens, we just don’t always get a chance to.

So, rather than neglect this bunch of titles, and make way for the deluge of blockbuster games that are about to appear on the queue, Mitch, Anthony and I decided to give you guys a new feature called Quick Hits.

What are Quick Hits? Quick Hits are fast and to-the-point reviews of several titles we’ve played recently, machine gunner style. Feel free to discuss the games at article’s end, and let us know what you think of them.
Continue reading GamerSushi Reviews: Quick Hits

Dead Space: Extraction Developer Diary Brings the Fear

One game that seems to be slipping under everyone’s radar this holiday season is Dead Space: Extraction, an on-rails prequel to last year’s surprise hit. Visceral Games is making every effort to ensure that their Wii based outing is set to match up with the chills and thrills that players felt when they explored the USG Ishimura as Isaac Clarke.

On-rail shooters definitely play to the Wii’s strengths, and the transfer from the 360 and PS3 doesn’t seem to have affected the awesome atmosphere of the derelict ship we all know and fear. Check it out:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abpTSLh8YqA[/youtube]

Miyamoto Says No to Digital Distribution

miyamotoAs more companies are turning towards digital distribution, the face of gaming continues to change. Heck, Steam is making forward progress in this realm all the time, while services like XBox Live and the PSN prove that new huge games can be released digitally like Battlefield 1943 and Fat Princess. Even Nintendo delivers some great old games on the Virtual Console.

While many point to digital distribution being in gaming’s future, one Shigero Miyamoto says this is not so. In a recent interview with Mercury Evening News, the man behind Zelda and Mario says that one thing you can’t do online is the distribution of new and exciting hardware. Uh… duh?

Entertainment is something that will not just become digital. If I look at Wii MotionPlus, this is something that you’re not doing via digital distribution.

Basically, digital distribution can’t be the future because you can’t give people new peripherals to waggle with over the Inter-tubes. Ah, Miyamoto-son… a pillar of ingenuity, he is. What do you guys think? Is digital distribution the future of gaming? Or is it just part of gaming’s future?

Source- VG247 and Mercury Evening News

GamerSushi Asks: Frustrating Tasks?

ghostbustersSo over the weekend, I played and finished the Ghostbusters video game. Overall, it wasn’t the best game ever, but it certainly had its decent portions. And heck, it was essentially Ghostbusters 3, so how can you not love it? I’ve been waiting years for more Ghostbusters content, and this provided it.

Anywho, Anthony played the game on easy, so he wouldn’t understand, but one of the game’s biggest issues for me was its “cheap death” mechanic, where it would constantly kill you just out of the blue and with no real way to prevent it. There’s not a very friendly dodge function in the game, so really you just run around and circles and take punishment from bad guys and hope to not get whacked.

Well, one particular part of the game proved to be one of the hardest things I’ve done in a video game. And it kind of sucked.
Continue reading GamerSushi Asks: Frustrating Tasks?

Your System Sucks: A Rant About Fanboys

fanboy-3A few months ago, I wrote a feature about the things that are wrong with the gaming industry on the whole. Some of that had to do with the games themselves, some of it had to with the journalists that covered and reviewed them, and some of it had to do with the gamers that played them. In terms of gamers that are hurting gaming and its culture unknowingly, console and even PC fanboys rank right at the top.

What is a fanboy? A fanboy used to be someone that just played and loved their system or machine exclusively. I think we’ve all done this at some point in our lives. I remember loving the Sega Genesis and the Nintendo 64 and being just fine with not owning the rival systems.
Continue reading Your System Sucks: A Rant About Fanboys

Why Motion Control Can’t Truly Work in Hardcore Games

natalMotion control. Everybody’s doing it, I’m told. For months, some of us have bemoaned the coming tidal wave of motion control and what it could mean for the gaming industry and games as a whole. On the positive, it could bring more casual folk into gaming and on the negative, it could just dumb down games as we know it.

GamesRadar has written a particularly convincing argument against motion control after their time with the PS3 and 360’s new motion hardware at E3. They pretty much assert that the demos at E3 have proven that motion control can’t work for hardcore gaming, and this is why the Wii is so full of minigame collections. When you think about it, even the hardcore games on the Wii just use the motion controls as kind of a bonus, while relying on traditional movement with the nunchuck and buttons. Typically, the only way to really eliminate the pain of movement with motion control is to stick the game on rails (a la Wii Sports). Here’s a tidbit from the article about our traditional analog sticks and face buttons:

As much as Molyneux and Iwata might bemoan the evils of the button fascia and dual analogue set-up, both elements evolved into the cultural landscape of gaming for a reason. They seriously bloody work for controlling modern games.

So what do you guys think? Can motion control work for hardcore games? Or will they inhibit the movement we’ve come to enjoy from our normal controllers?

Source- GamesRadar

Top 3 Hottest New Releases For June

proto1All my complaining about a sparse summer season for games has fallen by the wayside, as now I simply am struggling to keep up with it all. We just had Infamous drop and now here comes a few more potential blockbusters to soak up the summer hours:
Continue reading Top 3 Hottest New Releases For June