Filed under: Wii Warm Up

Wii Warm Up: Smashed Gameplay

by JC Fletcher { 11 months ago }

As reported yesterday, the new TMNT: Smash Up for the Wii seems to borrow liberally from Super Smash Bros. We're not going to argue about the "fairness" of lifting from other games to make your design, because appropriating other people's ideas and resynthesizing them is basically the essence of art. And every fighting game since Street Fighter II has cribbed from Capcom's masterpiece anyway. Basically, we wouldn't have a fighting genre if not for copying.

But on to Smash Bros. and the Turtles. Do you think the Smash Bros. gameplay is strong enough to work without Nintendo characters? Are there any particular ideas involved in the bizarre fighting series that more fighting games could stand to inherit? And is it going to become its own branch of the fighting game genre?

Wii Warm Up: Bikini Zombie Marketing

by JC Fletcher { 11 months ago }

The live-action Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers ads have taken a unique and creative approach to game advertising. Trailers tend to be totally dry affairs stitched together from in-game CG and occasional gameplay, but D3 decided to indulge in ridiculous skits set in a world where zombies live alongside humans, and suffer discrimination (or worse) just for ~~eating people~~ being different.

Did you find the ads funny? Did they affect your opinion about the game at all? And even if you didn't necessarily dig these particular skits, do you think publishers would do well to explore this kind of content as a break from the usual trailer format?

Gallery: Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers

Wii Warm Up: The new retro

by JC Fletcher { 11 months ago }

Mega Man 9 brought authentic 8-bit style to WiiWare. It was totally great, and totally a unique presentation for a modern game. Since then, two more faux-retro games have been announced for WiiWare: the currently Japan-only Eventful Journey! Pole's Big Adventure, which combines Famicom parody with Japanese TV-style comedy; and Bit.Trip: Beat, which takes its visual inspiration from even older games.

Now that it's a genuine trend, how do you feel about the fake-retro thing? Do you like seeing direct references to the history of gaming like this? Do you like it more or less now that it's not just Mega Man (and Retro Game Challenge) doing it?

Gallery: Mega Man 9

Wii Warm Up: Realism

by Alisha Karabinus { 11 months ago }

Not only is this a good question for gamers, but it's a particular good question for Nintendo fans: do you prefer realism in games, or not? Is it even an issue for you? Some people make their decisions based on other factors, and for them, whether or not a game is particularly realistic or more "cartoonish" isn't an issue. For others, however, it can be a big deal. Where do you stand?

Wii Warm Up: Renting

by Chris Greenhough { 11 months ago }

Renting at the start of a console's lifespan always made sense to us (and the N64 kid): at a platform launch, all games carry a premium price tag, so borrowing your games is plainly a good idea.

However, the Wii is now well past its second birthday, and cheap games are absolutely plentiful. Renting therefore seems redundant, but a quick Google search will reveal plenty of places willing to sling you a Wii game for a few bucks, so somebody is borrowing them.

Are you one of those people, and if so, why? Maybe there's a good reason to rent that we haven't thought of. Are current economic woes causing people to explore cheaper ways of playing games?

Wii Warm Up: Celebrities

by Chris Greenhough { 11 months ago }

Not so long ago, Nintendo was content to advertise its biggest franchises with kids rapping awkwardly on a sofa. Since then, things have changed somewhat. In a bid to capture more and more of the expanded audience, Ninty is throwing the celebrities at us, such as those in the UK advert above (Harry Redknapp's evident confusion during the Brawl segment is something we shall always enjoy seeing).

How do you view slebs being used to endorse some of your favorite gaming products? Is it a horribly cynical marketing ploy, or simply a very cunning tactic on Nintendo's part? Also, do you know of anybody who was nudged toward a Nintendo-branded system by one of these adverts?

Wii Warm Up: Is Sega right?

by David Hinkle { 11 months ago }

Sega recently made some opinionated claims toward the Wii and the future to the tune of "it's all about the hardcore" and "casual games are dumb." We're paraphrasing a bit, but you get the idea. When stacked side-by-side, the amount of core titles to casual titles isn't very comparable. But does the Wii need more core games in 2009? Is that the best approach for a third party on the Wii? What do you all think?

Wii Warm Up: The Gun of the Dead: Overseas

by JC Fletcher { 11 months ago }

So Sega is releasing an unbelievably awesome gun shell for use with The House of the Dead: Overkill ... in Europe and Australia. No word yet on the US. The Aussie version even (optionally) comes packaged with two of the things!

We can't imagine it would make a difference, but if you're on the fence about Overkill, would the availability of an officially licensed, quite cool-looking accessory push you over the edge? Conversely, does the lack of such an item in the US make you feel somewhat cooler on the title? Or do gun shells just not matter all that much?

Gallery: House of the Dead: Overkill

Wii Warm Up: Underused ideas

by Alisha Karabinus { 11 months ago }

We see a lot of games in which you race cars or karts, play as some sort of soldier or agent (sometimes in space), or a young man with a large weapon of some sort, which he and his friends must use to stave off impending doom. You get the idea, and you know the patterns. But what would you like to see that isn't used a lot? Through out your creative settings or ideas. Arctic regions? Werewolves? Mowing lawns? Oh, wait, we did that.

Wii Warm Up: Dracula's Choice

by JC Fletcher { 11 months ago }

We got release dates for various Sega games (and a Japanese release date for Muramasa), WiiWare announcements, news of available Rock Band DLC, and more this week, and yet, for us, the best news all week was about something old: the release of Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse. And now that all three NES Castlevanias (not counting stuff like Konami Wai Wai World or Boku Dracula-kun) are out and you guys bought them all (you bought them all, right?), we can ask you to pick a favorite. Yeah, we're asking you the same thing in the contest post, but that's of all time, and we'd like to exclude the Metroidvanias from consideration.

Is it the straightforward, brutally punishing action of Castlevania? The light platforming and completely obtuse puzzle-solving of Simon's Quest? The varying locations and playable characters of Dracula's Curse? Or do you just like whipping Medusa heads in general?

Wii Warm Up: Spore (Heroes)

by Alisha Karabinus { 11 months ago }

What? Spore on Wii? We thought it had disappeared completely, and after Spore failed to take the world by storm when it was released, we ... well, we kind of forgot all about it. Will Wright didn't forget, though, and Spore for Wii has resurfaced, only now it's going to be Spore Heroes and not a port of Spore itself, like the DS version. And speaking of the DS, another game is apparently slated for the handheld, as a companion: Spore Heroes Arena. Details are slim at the moment, but that doesn't matter; what does matter is how you feel about this development. Interested?

Wii Warm Up: Bit.Trip: Which Beats?

by Chris Greenhough { 11 months ago }

The debut footage of Gaijin Games' Bit.Trip: Beat received a mainly positive response from our (obviously very cultured) readers, but one comment in particular got us thinking. Reader Go1denchi1d suggested the game needed an editor, to allow us to compile our own chiptune ditties, and we could not agree more strongly.

No such feature has been announced (yet), but if it were, which song would you want to recreate (and deflect colored blocks to) first?

Wii Warm Up: To sport, or not to sport

by David Hinkle { 11 months ago }

Wii Sports is actually worth a bit of money. We know. We checked. Why? Well, we were thinking about how often we really play it when the idea for this Wii Warm Up came to mind.

So, what about you all? How do you feel toward Wii Sports? Have you gotten rid of your copy? Plan to now? When was the last time you played it?

Wii Warm Up: Card and board games (without the cleanup)

by David Hinkle { 11 months ago }

The news that Uno would be gracing WiiWare came as a pleasant surprise to us. We love card games, board games, and anything of the like, but we're just not big fans of cleaning them up. Or, in some cases, setting them up (looking at you, Axis & Allies).

What card/board games would you want to see grace WiiWare? Do you think a WiiWare is due for some Texas Hold 'Em or something?

Wii Warm Up: Will Sega tap out?

by JC Fletcher { 11 months ago }

An OFLC rating appeared last week for Sega/Prope's Let's Tap, indicating that Sega submitted the game to the Australian ratings board in preparation for a release in that region. This, of course, suggests that they're planning a worldwide release for Yuji Naka's innovative hands-off game.

We suspect, however, that the game was submitted for rating before the disastrous Japanese launch. Will Sega follow through on their plan to localize Let's Tap for other territories, now that it's already proven itself to be a bomb once? Or will they cut their losses? And would it be a terrible decision for Sega to try their luck outside of Japan?

Gallery: Let's Tap