Nintendo Wii: A Year Later

The Nintendo Wii console has been on store shelves for just over a year now, and many owners (including myself) are left feeling a little let down by the console. Granted, I’ll be the first to say that graphics aren’t everything, but there comes a point when you begin to wonder whether or not the combination of first-party and gameplay can carry a system in today’s gaming market. Sure, there are tons of people who still want to purchase the Wii a year after launch, but gamers who own both a Wii and oh, I dunno, a Playstation 3, feel a bit shafted on software selection. Even the journalistic heavyweights over at Electronic Gaming Monthly recently did an article on the poor quality of third-party software on Nintendo’s little system that could. Sure, Nintendo does still reign supreme as far as first-party software is concerned, but even they have slip-ups every now and then *cough* Mario Party 8 *cough*.

In today’s market, there are games available that could be taken to the next level with the Nintendo Wii’s interactive controls. Unfortunately, due to the graphical limitations of the system, we’ll never see titles like Devil May Cry on the Nintendo Wii. If titles like this were available to purchase on the Wii, the Wii version of the software would be the first option for many gamers worldwide. It’s widely known that interactivity is attractive and fun, so why not give people an option to put a new spin on a franchise they’re already familiar with? A perfect example of this is the game, Manhunt 2. This title was released for both the Playstation 2 and the Nintendo Wii, when it came time for reviews, the Wii version of the game receieved higher reviews, based solely on the fact that interactivity added a fantastic element to the game. Of course, the game was originally made for PS2 and not PS3, which is one of the only reasons why a Wii version was even possible.

In the year 2008, Nintendo plans to launch 3 colossal titles for the Wii, which are Super Smash Brothers Brawl, Mario Kart Wii, and Wii Fit. The last of the three titles mentioned will help Nintendo put a new spin on the ever changing meaning of a “video game.” The Wii Fit software will come bundled with a pressure sensitive pad, which will allow the user to perform daily exercise routines in order to stay healthy and happy. The amount of potential with this app is endless and will ulitmately boil down to whether or not Nintendo can produce enough units to keep it on store shelves. Honestly, just look at the impact that Brain Age has had on the market. Now, everywhere you turn there’s a knockoff “brain-training” game on the shelves just waiting to cash in on Nintendo’s success. Hopefully the Big N can do something this year to truly “wow” the veteran fans, because the upcoming 8th incarnation of Mario Kart already doesn’t do much for me.

KOF XII Rocks AOU 2008!

The King of Fighters XII trailer was unveiled today at the AOU conference in Japan and the fighting game world was officially turned upside-down. As soon as the first Street Fighter 4 images were released the first thing out of the gaming communities collective mouth was, “3D?” Many were baffled by Capcom’s choice to opt for polygons instead of the traditional sprites. Were they not interested? Did they not think they could acheive their vision for SF4 with sprites? Well, whatever it was, SNK taught us today that sprites are still alive and well, whether or not Capcom was ready to move forward!

So after gazing at this teaser and absorbing the Street Fighter 4 match vids from my previous post, which looks better to you?

Street Fighter 4 is here!

After what has seemed like an eternity of waiting, Street Fighter 4 is finally playable at both the GDC in San Fransisco and at AOU in Japan. Though we can’t determine exactly how complete this demo build of the game is, we can be sure of one thing, this game looks GORGEOUS so far.