Tag Archive for 'Nintendo'
This year, the typical signs of spring will be accompanied by the sweet sound of revving engines and the sight of lightning-fast shells whizzing around every corner. Mario Kart Wii is zooming toward its launch in the United States on April 27. The game comes with the intuitive Wii Wheel, which makes it easy for novices to compete against veterans, so no one is left in the dust. And with a broadband hookup to Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, players can compete with up to 11 other drivers from around the world for racing dominance.“Mario Kart Wii transforms one of our most popular franchises into a race that every member of the family can join,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “Driving with the Wii Wheel could not be more natural, and this is one place where speeding is encouraged.”
You’ve gotta check out this game! It’s like a mix between the old school arcade titles of Tempest and Asteroids but with a hint of steroids and a dose of acid. The game mechanics are easy to pick up, you simply shoot at different baddies (which move at different speeds and in different ways, making some more threatening than others) and fly around to avoid the respawning waves.
The first version of this game exists as Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved (most notably it’s appearance on the Xbox 360). Galaxies is a Nintendo specific version (namely for the Wii and DS). In Galaxies you are given a number of stages to survive, with varying shapes, baddies, and complexities. You are also given a companion NPC ship which can provide you with attack, defense, and collection abilities (for Genoms, used to unlock other stages). Your companion levels up the more you use it, and proves necessary in more advanced challenges. The wiimote and nunchuck can be used as controls, as well as the Wii Classic Controller; unfortunately the GameCube controller cannot be used with Galaxies. The game can also connect to the internet and download leaderboards for each stage so you can compare your skills to the world. There is no online multiplayer for the game, but cooperative gameplay exists. And as an added bonus, Galaxies includes Retro Evolved on the disk. While a storyline or sequential experience does not exist for Geometry Wars, the arcade style pick-up and play nature brings out addictiveness that I haven’t felt in many recent Wii games. Find a copy and you won’t be able to put down your controller!
A unique title coming to the Wii on January 21. It may seem a little fruity but something about it looks strangely relaxing!
1up, “Previews: Endless Ocean”
If you ever wanted to explore your own oceanic aquarium, here’s your chance. Forever Blue (that’s the Japanese name — it’s coming to the U.S. as Endless Ocean this October) gives you, a licensed diver and tour guide, a ship to sail in, a suit to dive with, and a whole sea full of fish and creatures to explore. While this game has the trappings (suit, diving weights, compass, air and depth monitor) of a diving simulation, it’s more about discovering underwater locations and learning about the animal inhabitants of the Manaurai Sea than watching your meters and fiddling with valves.
Though you have a ship, the Gabbiano, acting as a “home base” if you will, you spend most of your time under the water, poking and rubbing fish. Yes, poking and rubbing. The Wii Remote makes an easy endeavor of molesting the fish (in a nice way — the sparkles that swirl around mean they love it, right?): point to the fish of interest, press the A button to go into the camera tracking mode, zoom in with +, press A again to poke it, or hold A and wave the remote to rub it. Voila, you’ve “discovered” your first fish. Through your inquisitorial gestures, you uncover the name of your subject, along with the first of three informational tidbits. (For more, you’ll have to re-examine it on a different day.)
Continue reading ‘Endless Ocean: Dive, Discover, Dream - Wii’
