DonWii on 19 October 2007
http://wii.ign.com/articles/828/828949p1.html
Summary:
- Swamped with games to review.
- While they worried Zack & Wiki would be a short and easy game, they couldn't get the review up because they had not finished it. Difficulty increases exponentially. Puzzles rarely repeat. Buy It.
- More than 15 hours of puzzles, if you are good. Tons of fun. Buy It.
- 8+ Material. Best use of Wiimote. Best puzzles in decades. Buy It.
- Full week of Zack & Wiki campaign Push. Buy It.
- Brawl is much better than Melee. Characters Balanced.
- They still love Super Mario Galaxy more. 'Planet' Designs allows for a hell of a lot variety from one part of a level to the next.
- Developers: Soo many different ideas. Put them into level. Once idea is done, just 'blast off' to another one. No restrictions on creativity. Gravity ties everything together and then some.
- Second Player can make Mario jump. Fun to just mess around with friends.
- Bioshock vs Galaxy for GOTY (But probably only from IGN
) - BWii was played. Wiimote/Nunchuck combo could have been implemented better. Minor improvement from Gamecube (I'm sad)
- Zelda Crossbow Training is good. Still not impressed with Zapper. Get the game, throw away the zapper.
- Some games can't be reviewed 'early' unless they meet a certain score determined by publisher. If IGN decides not to agree, they won't post their reviews. Currently working with some publishers on some games, though they do not let the publisher know the score. They will either agree or disagree on the terms.
- Manhunt 2. They are aware of the changes when they play. They are upset that it was toned down. It may affect the final score. Tons of vulgar stuff still in the game, but less vulgar 'kills' are toned down? Obvious that controls had to do with rating.
- Had gaming media toned down on how great it felt using Wiimote/Nunchuck for killing/castration, ESRB would have not taken note. Press influenced ESRB. Unfortunate.
- Good Halloween Game. Dementium: The Ward much more violent/scarier than Manhunt 2 NOW.
- Soul Calibur Legends. 60FPS, Polished, but basic design. Controls work. They are amazed that they work correctly. Not Blown Away, still a Spin-Off.
- So many games that should be on WiiWare. Priced WAY too high as retail.
- Balls of Fury is terrible, but not Nagano Olympic Hockey '98 terrible.
- Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution is the Wii's best fighter... released. Marketers get to quote IGN until Brawl is released.
- Naruto Fan or not, the game is solid.
- Rayman Raving Rabbids.... Rayman gets the boot in this game. Next one should just be Rabbids. No one cares about Rayman anymore.
- Guitar Hero 3 for Wii is solid effort. Great Game for Wii. DLC would have made it the definitive version.
- Nintendo needs to start moving with DLC. Possibly with launch of WiiWare?
- Okami Wii could be GOTY again, except it's on a Nintendo Console.....
- Capcom MegaTons in Japan are Wii focused (MH3) vs Western Megatons PS3/360 (Dark Void, Bionic Commando)
- Bold Predictions: Matt: SSBB will outsell Halo 3 in the long-run. Bozon: Wii sold out until, at least, Summer 2008. Possibly until Christmas 2008.
- More advertisement needed for games? It wouldn't hurt.
- Metroid too niche (Series was never Mario/Zelda big)? Reason for lack of advertisement, as well as BWii? That may be the reason for lack of push, or as great a push as Super Mario Galaxy. Matt thinks game should sell more, but maybe people just don't care about it.
- Nintendo makes money and sells hardware with casual games, keeps rolling out the 'hardcore' games. If you want them, they are there. However, maybe more advertisement for casual games. Nintendo still makes games for gamers.
- Nintendo could have put more effort into Fire Emblem, but Matt believes target audience won't care.
- If you liked Battallion Wars, you will like BWii.
- Reminder: Zack & Wiki week starting monday. Buy it.
