Turtle Power!

I was doing few vector illustrations since the beginning of the week, and out of nowhere I created something that I liked very much.

Isn’t he the cutest thing ever?!

Wii

I don’t want you guys to think that I’m always gonna write about my Wii whenever it gets a month older. Ugh! I’m not such an obsessive Nintendo fanboy that I mark each “monthsary” date in the calendar with a red pen or, heaven forbid, red lipstick. Not that I have one *shrugs*. See, the one thing I like about myself (and I’m not a Randian objectivist who always think of stuff to like about myself) is that because I own videogame consoles from Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo, I can examine the games coming from all pipes without any personal agenda as to defend one of the three companies while blasting the other to death. This is not to brag that I’m rich, but that I waste a lot of my disposable income on diversions that are essentially virtual worlds rendered by dorky programmers. As for my Wii, I got some people telling me that I just wasted my money on a videogame console that will eventually be collecting dust. Have the doomsayer’s prophesy been fulfilled now?

Well, nope. My Wii is doing fine thanks to the titles I bought since I’d gotten it.

First, there’s this game called Super Mario Galaxy, and it just happens to be the best game I’ve ever played since I last cut my hair. Even if that is just a month ago. But seriously, spectacular does not even begin to describe Super Mario Galaxy. A bit of history here: in ‘96 Nintendo released a game that set the blueprint for all 3d games to come: Super Mario 64. It changed the objective of a Mario game, which in the 2d predecessors was going from point A to B without dying, while in 64, it was collecting Stars, whose appearances would depend on various conditions. The camera control and the freedom of exploration become two areas that other games have since tried to emulate. Super Mario Galaxy refines everything Super Mario 64 did, with intergalactic travel as a very welcome change of scenery, and the breathtaking soundtrack sure made the game even more of a pleasant flight.

106 The Comet Observatory

Next, there’s Punch-Out!! I still haven’t beaten this game, but anything Punch-Out!! strikes a chord with me. Wii’s Punch-Out!! remakes the original NES game, and includes a few boxers from its underrated sequel Super Punch-Out!! (which you can download and play in Wii’s Virtual Console – I’d do it if I were you). Winning games in NES Punch-Out!! rely on memorizing the patterns of your opposing fighter so that you could evade their attacks. The same rule applies with Wii’s Punch-Out!!, so if testing of reflexes sound like great fun to you (it should be, or you shouldn’t call yourself a videogamer you softie!) you’ll have a blast with Punch-Out!! Oh and stop correcting me on the punctuation of the exclamation points; that’s the original title, you grammar-obsessed schoolmarms!

Speaking of downloadable games, I hope you guys have heard of Megaman 9, Capcom’s attempt to send to franchise back to the grassroots. Nevermind that there’s nary a villain named Grassroots Man. Anyway, I’m not gonna bother giving you a primer about Megaman because if you don’t know who Megaman is, you’re in the same position for videogamers that I was for rock enthusiasts when I admitted to not knowing about Radiohead much (see previous post). That is, you should be so utterly ashamed of yourself you might consider paying Viki Belo a visit, preferably so that after you’ve made your face unrecognizable to everyone (even by your own mother) you could bombard her with inquiries about her former boyfriend’s sex scandals. Current issues all put aside, though, Megaman 9 ditches all Megaman’s abilities from Megaman 3 onwards, which means he can’t slide and charge his shots. The developer’s intent for this decision is so that the true spirit of the Megaman games will shine in this game; that is, players would have more reasons to use all the weapons Megaman acquire. Maybe you should ask about how a spirit could shine, and we’ll start a philosophical discussion, but as for the usefulness of weapons, a couple of them still aren’t; otherwise Megaman 9 forces the use of certain weapons more often than other games of the series. Gaming media like Gamedaily often cites Megaman 9 as being one of the most difficult games ever made, but the only conclusion I can draw from that claim is that they’re wussies who are so averse to hardship they sound like people from the suburbs (which they probably are). It’s not that hard! Sure, the stages are filled with cruel obstacles – what Megaman game isn’t? Don’t believe in the hype; Megaman 2 is way harder than this. Still, the difficulty level put aside, Megaman 9 is a great game especially for people who grew up playing Megaman and were otherwise lamenting on the decline of quality of those games.

Finally, I’ve finished Resident Evil 4 for the first time, on the Wii. I also have a PlayStation 2 copy of the game, but the CD got cracked while I was midway. Having played both versions, I can assert Wii’s version as the one with the best control; using the nunchuck for movement and the Wiimote for aiming and for shooting doesn’t sound like much on paper, but in reality they’re very intuitive – and if you don’t believe me you should try playing Resident Evil 5 after this game. It always feels great to point the Wiimote to the TV while shooting zombies in their heads, but this is where I complain about the Wiimote – my hand gets sore for holding it up for more than an hour. I tried to finish RE4 in one sitting, but after reaching 12^th hour in one day I gave up with the “one sitting” plan. The whole game took me 3 days to finish, which highlights both my problem with using Wiimote for too long, as well as a problem inherent to the game: it’s way too long. The game loses a lot of the steam by the midpoint when zombies are replaced by corny religious hooded zealots. Shooting zombies are all very fine, but it’s not an experience that should go for 16 hours, for all I know.

And now that we’ve gotten my Wii longevity problem out of the way (for now), the greater question remains: is it good at what it sets out to do? Remember, Nintendo touted the Wii as a revolutionary console that uses motion sensing technology as a way of adding new levels of immersion to the game. Here’s where I drop my optimism for a bit: the motion thing often gets overpraised. In reality, only a few of Wii’s titles use it in a way that makes you say “Hmm, I can’t imagine this game being any good without the motion controls”. Of the four games I mentioned here, only Super Mario Galaxy and Resident Evil 4 has a good implementation of motion controls, and even then, they aren’t very conducive to long play sessions. Just try to imagine the pain of holding up your tv remote for more than an hour, with constant movements during that length of time. As of now, the only game that seems to have completely understood the Wii motion sensitivity is Wii Sports, not only because it’s a great demo of how the Wiimote can be used, but also because you don’t have to play it for very long to get the most out of it.

Nevertheless, I’m still a happy owner of Wii, and I won’t be resting it anytime soon since a few promising titles (The Conduit, Muramasa Demon Blade, New Super Mario Bros Wii) will be released later this year.