It's been close to two and a half years since the launch of the Nintendo Wii and you are barely starting to be able to find them regularly in stores. Moms, Dads and kids alike can't seem to get enough of that little white box. With how versatile, exciting, and involving the system is for people of all ages, who honestly isn't in love? Actually, most gamers aren't; anymore at least. Let me explain what I mean.
If you're someone like myself, who plays video games more than you probably should and own a Wii, chances are you haven't touched your Wii (no, not like that) since your last Smash Bros or Mario Kart party however many months ago. You've opted for the better selection of quality games the 360 and PS3 have to offer. Only seven of the couple hundred Wii games available have averaged a rank of 90% or better (gamerankings.com). That says a lot about the quality of its library. I've heard it over and over again from plenty of gamers; there just aren't a whole lot of appealing games for people like us.
The system is littered with heaps of crap (excuse my French). Games like Chicken Shoot, Balls of Fury, and NinjaBreadMan are among the countless game titles the Wii has to offer which keep me, and gamers like me, dissatisfied. I understand we aren't the target market anymore. The infantile controller schemes and pretty pictures can't win us over like they can the parents. With the DS practically printing money and the Wii selling like hotcakes, I would hope that Nintendo partners with some top developers to come up with the kind of awesome and high quality games that just might win me back.
I may sound like the typical angry gamer whose standards are so high that nothing can ever satisfy my never-ending thirst for perfection, but that's definitely not the case. I just want to be able to play my Wii and feel good about it. I just want to be able to play my Wii, period. I want to be able to view the Nintendo Wii as a core gaming system again, and not just as an entertainment system.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Skulls and Headaches
Skulls and Headaches
For those of you that have either got the Mystic Maps through Halo Wars or purchased them yesterday, 4/10, on Xbox Live and want some new achievements, here are some tips. Mainly on finding the skulls on each map. They all should be found in monitor mode on forge. Orbital and Assembly are relatively easy to find when flying around since these two maps are small, close range maps. The other map, Sandbox, is the map that will take some thought to obtain the skull once you find it. Again, you should play these three maps on forge and fly around as the monitor.
Have fun hunting!
For those of you that have either got the Mystic Maps through Halo Wars or purchased them yesterday, 4/10, on Xbox Live and want some new achievements, here are some tips. Mainly on finding the skulls on each map. They all should be found in monitor mode on forge. Orbital and Assembly are relatively easy to find when flying around since these two maps are small, close range maps. The other map, Sandbox, is the map that will take some thought to obtain the skull once you find it. Again, you should play these three maps on forge and fly around as the monitor.
Have fun hunting!
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Nintendo DSi: Worth the Investment?
Nintendo DSi: Worth the Investment?
***Short one today, but the DSi is getting ready to hit North America, so here we go!***
Maybe not. It all depends on what you want to get out of your Nintendo DS. Below is a link to IGN's Nintendo DSi Starter Guide. I encourage you to read their guide before you read the rest of my article, so that your opinion is not skewed right from the start:
DSi Starter Guide from IGN.com
Now that you have read about all of the cool features and all of the 'new' things that the DSi can do, let me try to help you save a few bucks before you go out and buy the system on impulse.
First off, if you purchased this system for the long road trip to keep the irritants (read: children) quiet in the car, then stick with the DS or DS Lite. The new DSi has a shorter battery life by up to 5 hours as compared to its predecessors.
In addition, there is no slot for GameBoy Advance Games! While I understand that Nintendo is intending to bring the DSi more in line with the Wii and the Wii Online Store to download games and store them to the console to play for decades to come, let's not forget that while on the road, you probably are not going to have access to a WiFi connection while you trek through the Mojave Desert just as your AC decides it doesn't want to work anymore and you get a flat tire just as you travel out of range of the nearest cell tower.
Right now, I do not see any GBA Games available in the DS Game Mall, so I think Nintendo may have missed the boat on this one.
There are some added benefits to having the DSi as compared to the previous two models in terms of all of the cool technical aspects and added functions that it can perform. I intend to address these in a special article on Saturday, April 4th.
Until then, I felt the need to get this out to prevent unhappy customers on launch day.
To recap, if your primary reason for buying any of the Nintendo DS portable systems, is to keep the munchkins occupied on the long summer road trip, the small weekend trips, or just occupied at home in general, the DSi is probably not the system to go with.
With the shorter battery life and virtually half of the video games no longer playable due to the elimination of the GameBoy Advance Slot, the Nintendo DSi will end up being one of the most expensive paper weights that you have ever purchased.
Instead, stick with either the original Nintendo DS or the DS Lite. Both of these systems are readily available used from BRE Software in Fresno, CA. Or, if you are outside of the Fresno, CA area, check out the BRE Software Online Store.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Resident Evil 5: Survival horror sellout.
Resident Evil 5: Survival horror sellout.
Now before everyone reads the title and gets all huffy and puffy, I never said Resident Evil 5 was a bad game. It just isn't much of a survival horror game, trading in its slow monotonous puzzles, long treacherous story lines, and terrifying zombies for car chases, large upgradeable weapons, and gun wielding infected. Personally, I just think the Resident Evil apple has fallen far from the survival horror tree. (Take a moment, try and picture a Survival Horror tree!) Resident Evil, dare I say it, used to be my favorite series of all time; now I feel it's trying to cater to the masses with fast, action packed levels, wild gun play and large explosions.
When I first placed my RE5 (Resident Evil 5) in my Xbox 360, I was astounded by the graphics, which had given me high hopes, but now that I am only minutes away from the ending, I still have yet to see a zombie. If you would have told me five years ago that the fifth RE wasn't going to have zombies in it, I would have laughed my ass off. Yet the atrocious reality of it has finally hit me. There. Are. No. Zombies. Yeah, I said it, Resident Evil has no zombies. And I'll leave you with this: Can Resident Evil truly be a Resident Evil without zombies?
Now before everyone reads the title and gets all huffy and puffy, I never said Resident Evil 5 was a bad game. It just isn't much of a survival horror game, trading in its slow monotonous puzzles, long treacherous story lines, and terrifying zombies for car chases, large upgradeable weapons, and gun wielding infected. Personally, I just think the Resident Evil apple has fallen far from the survival horror tree. (Take a moment, try and picture a Survival Horror tree!) Resident Evil, dare I say it, used to be my favorite series of all time; now I feel it's trying to cater to the masses with fast, action packed levels, wild gun play and large explosions.
When I first placed my RE5 (Resident Evil 5) in my Xbox 360, I was astounded by the graphics, which had given me high hopes, but now that I am only minutes away from the ending, I still have yet to see a zombie. If you would have told me five years ago that the fifth RE wasn't going to have zombies in it, I would have laughed my ass off. Yet the atrocious reality of it has finally hit me. There. Are. No. Zombies. Yeah, I said it, Resident Evil has no zombies. And I'll leave you with this: Can Resident Evil truly be a Resident Evil without zombies?
New Maps for Halo
New Maps for Halo
It has been months since Halo 3 released new map packs and everyone has been waiting for the mystic maps. When you purchase the Halo Wars Limited Edition game, it does come with 3 of the 7 maps for Halo 3. Bungie decided to help out this company, as well as introducing the RTS system for Halo. If you are one of the "impatients" then buy the game so you start playing the new maps.
It has been months since Halo 3 released new map packs and everyone has been waiting for the mystic maps. When you purchase the Halo Wars Limited Edition game, it does come with 3 of the 7 maps for Halo 3. Bungie decided to help out this company, as well as introducing the RTS system for Halo. If you are one of the "impatients" then buy the game so you start playing the new maps.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Connect Your Xbox 360 to Your Wireless Network
Connect Your Xbox 360 to Your Wireless Network
***Programming Note: This is a departure from my current series of articles. I have been getting a lot of questions as of late on how to connect a Microsoft Xbox 360 to a wireless home network. Instead of repeating myself over and over again, I thought it best (and more productive) to post a video tutorial on the whole process. Don't worry, my regular article will appear later today.***
Click on the link below to the video on how to connect your Xbox 360 to your home wireless network:
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