2007 Retrospective: Introduction

It's been a long time coming, but here it is, the first installment in my series of 2007 Retrospective blogs. Last year, I did something similar, but I didn't feel I elaborated as much as I needed to so this year, I'm going to do things a bit differently. This is just the introduction, and more posts will follow in the coming days as I finalize my thoughts, culminating with my top ten games of the year.

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Throughout the years, as gaming has matured, longtime gamers have seen the transition from two dimensions to three, numerous new gaming platforms and most importantly, literally hundreds of great games. As the years pass, the years themselves become somewhat of a catalog for these games. When a new year begins to approach, people begin to nominate their personal “Games of the Year”, putting the best games of that particular year in the spotlight and for this reason, some years begin to stand out among the rest,

2007 was one of those standout years. Gamers were practically inundated with quality software, regardless of which platform they owned. From Super Mario Galaxy to The Orange Box and Call of Duty 4 to Halo 3, there was certainly no shortage of great games to be had this year, perhaps even more so than any other year before it.

I must take time here to thank the ones who made all of this possible, the ones who slaved away hours upon hours day after day until their game had that special something that brought everything together. Every year, as we commend these great games for how well crafted, beautifully executed and above all, highly entertaining they are, we seldom thank those people who made that magic happen. The myriad of excellent developers such as Infinity Ward and Bioware made all of this happen, for if they had not sown the seeds, there would have been nothing to harvest.

In his monthly letter to his many readers, Andy McNamara, Editor-in-Chief of GameInformer magazine prefaced the letter by saying, “It is weird when you think about it. The year that was 2007 could arguably be the best year for video game software to date.” Looking back on the previous year, reminiscing on all the fond memories I had in just that year alone; I can easily say he and I share the same opinion. With the Xbox 360 closing the book on its second year and the Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii closing out their first, it is indeed weird to think so many quality titles would be released in just one year.

If anyone walked up to you and said 2007 could quite possibly be one of gaming’s best, would you have believed them? Skepticism would have likely been my first response. While I expected such titles as Super Mario Galaxy and Halo 3 to deliver, many titles, such Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune and Crackdown took me by surprise. But of course, as has been said many times, the best surprises are the ones you don’t see coming.

Over the course of the next few days, I will take the time to break down many of the current platforms one by one, to pinpoint just what made 2007 such a great year for each platform.

So Many Projects...

Well, It’s been a little while since I last blogged, and I figured, since I’m sitting here in front of my PC doing absolutely nothing that I’d write a quick update. So without further ado…

Editorial Minute Episode 2 is still being worked on. I know I posted that I already had the voice work done and all I had left to do was the video. Well, the reason it isn’t finished yet is because I’m lazy. That, and I’ve taken on a number of different projects as of late, things that have taken over most of my time and pushed the Editorial minute further and further down the list of things I need to finish. I imagine I’ll get to work on it tomorrow…that is if I don’t get distracted by yet another project.

One of the many projects I’m currently working on is a revival of an old project I pretty much abandoned months ago. Now, under a new name (“Project Era”) and a renewed focus and shift in direction, I think I’ll be able to see it through to the end. Before, the project got a little too ambitious for those of us working on it and it all spun out of control. Well, we realize now that what we need to focus on is getting the core finished first then worry about the periphery at a later date, once we’ve finished a substantial amount and clearly laid out what we intend to accomplish.

You might have noticed that throughout the entire preceding paragraph, I didn’t reveal what “Project Era” is. Of course, that was intentional. All things will be revealed in time.

Well, another thing that takes up a good portion of my time nowadays is my reviews for Talk Xbox. I’ve written quite a few in the short span of time I’ve been working there. My most recent review, published a few days ago was for Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground. Having played Skate (and reviewed that too) it was hard going back to the button based control scheme the Tony Hawk series is known for and due to the series’ lack of change and innovation (especially when compared to Skate) I didn’t really like it as much as I thought I would. It’s not a bad game, but I can’t see myself recommending it over Skate to anyone besides the most hardcore Tony Hawk fans.

Of course, I’ve been working on my writing creatively as well as technically. I find that if I write in one style for too long, it bleeds over into the next. While this is good for my reviews, I don’t want to grow too technical with my creative writing, and thus, I’ll be sitting down to write the second chapter of my “Story in a Blog” very soon.

As the Christmas season approaches, the usual deluge of games is upon us. This is the time of year when the majority of the year’s best games are released and because of that, I can usually find my wallet crying in a corner somewhere as it tries to cope with the fact that it will soon be empty. Well, I may be offering my wallet a little reprieve….at least until the end of the year. Despite the current and impending releases of Super Mario Galaxy (a game I’ve been waiting for since I finished Sunshine) and Mass Effect (a must have RPG) respectively, I told myself that I wouldn’t buy any of them until after Christmas. I have quite a few games to tide me over in the forms of The Orange Box, Bioshock, Halo 3, PGR 4 and many more so I certainly won’t be lacking in great games to play until Christmas when I should have the aforementioned huge releases and possibly Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune to play.

Between all the things I have going on right now, it’s odd that I found the time to write all of that stuff. Funny thing. I usually don’t believe in horoscopes, but I checked mine a few days ago and it said I would be open to taking on a number of new projects and today it had this to say…

“You may be more interested now in expressing your creativity any way you can…”

Wow. Seems to me that this is right on the money. Maybe there’s some truth to this Astrology stuff after all.

The Gaming Industry and the Adults Only Rating...

The Adults Only rating, one of many within the ESRB’s videogame rating system, is one of gaming’s biggest taboos. No one wants to speak of it. It’s rarely seen, but its influence is heard far and wide. Many within the industry fear it, shying away from including content that would even remotely constitute such a rating. Nevertheless, despite this, many have spoken out against it, saying that it should be accepted if the industry is to move forward, and I agree for a number of reasons.

Let’s take for example, Manhunt 2, which has revived much of the debate around the AO rating. While I fully understand that Manhunt 2 is pretty much violent for the sake of being violent, shouldn't the developers be able to express themselves however they like? Would this not fall within their right to Freedom of expression? Things far worse than what is depicted in this game have been expressed in movies, pictures and other entertainment mediums and they're deemed socially acceptable.

So why should Take-Two, or any other developer for that matter, be forced to censor their artistic vision to satisfy the “politically correct” console manufacturers and retail outlets that refuse to carry anything with the AO rating? Isn’t it highly hypocritical of retail outlets to refuse to carry AO rated games, but at the same time, stock all manner of violent horror films?

Let’s pause for a moment and examine the differences between movies, and video games. There have been countless hyper-violent horror films in which people are depicted being brutally murdered, mutilated, and tortured, and yet, none of them have been bad enough to warrant the highest rating the MPAA can issue, NC-17. Instead, these films are rated R, as in “Under 17 not admitted without parent”. Now, this sounds highly familiar to the Mature rating handed out by the ESRB, doesn’t it? Well, not exactly, because it seems that there are a number of things that are acceptable in films that would earn an AO rating in games. Things such as full frontal nudity and sex scenes being prime examples. When such a scene was depicted in a game (the infamous “Hot Coffee” mod), it led to Grand Theft Auto San Andreas being slapped with an AO rating and subsequently pulled from store shelves until a newer version, sans sex scenes, was released. All of a sudden, the two ratings don't seem so similar do they?

I guess it can be argued that Manhunt 2 is worse, since it gives the player the power to commit these violent virtual murders and that level of interactivity is what makes it worse than a film, which puts you in the non-interactive role of the observer. But…isn’t that the point? As we approach the limits of graphical fidelity, the Uncanny Valley as it were, aren’t developers looking to create more immersive experiences? To draw you into the game’s world in the most realistic and believable fashion as possible? Some developers do this with captivating stories; some achieve this through other methods. Rockstar on the other hand simply chose to allow you to simulate virtual murders with stabbing motions of the Wii remote. Some say that’s crossing the line. Others say it’s immersive. You be the judge.

I don't see why this should be singled out for expressing its own brand of hyper-violence. As of late, video games have been far more scrutinized for their depictions of violence than any other medium to my knowledge and it doesn’t make sense to me. It seems the industry hasn’t grown up with its supporters. According to the ESA, the average gamer these days is 33 years old, but apparently, the masses continue to view games as nothing more than a child’s plaything and because of that, games are subject to more attacks than other mediums.

The bottom line is, the gaming industry needs to grow the fuck up. I say this because I care, not to cause controversy and not because I want to see the ratings system destroyed. I’ve grown up. I understand that violence exists and I’m mature enough to draw the line between fiction and reality. I don’t want or need someone to tell me what I can and cannot view of my own free will and this form of censorship and sense of political correctness that follows it is wrong. I am an adult as well as a gamer. I think it’s time I’m trusted to make my own decisions.

Weekly Update: Gran Turismo 4, Pokemon Battle Revolution Impressions and OMG! Halo 3!

To kick things off, I'm going to be a bit late with my Pokemon Pearl review. I just haven't had the time to really get my thoughts together. I'm going to try to finish some of it tonight and perhaps I'll have it posted tomorrow. For now, I'm hoping my Crackdown and Fuzion Frenzy 2 reviews are substantial. Between Pokemon Pearl, Forza Motorsport 2, Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition, and Pokemon Battle Revolution, I've got a lot of reviews ahead of me.

So, onto those first impressions. I'll start with Gran Turismo 4. I bought it on Saturday of last week and I've been playing it off and on since then. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about and at 11 bucks, I couldn't pass it up. Well, it's as good as I thought it would be. The car selection is excellent despite the fact that there's no Ferraris, Lamborghinis, etc. and the track selection is great. I haven't gotten deep into the career mode yet, as I'm still plowing through the B class License tests.

Vehicle handling is as good as I expected. Being weaned on the Forza series' dynamic driving line, it took me a while to get used to driving without it. Naturally, until I got used to driving without it, I did very poorly in races. Over time, I've gotten used to the game without it and I've improved significantly. I'll have more to say about it once I delve deeper into the game but so far, I like it.

On to Pokemon Battle Revolution. I'm having mixed feelings about this one. On one hand, it is fun to battle with the Pokemon I trained in Pokemon Pearl on the big screen and the online opposition is certainly promising (for the record, I haven't played it yet). On the other hand, aside from the battles, there's no minigames to play and no other modes. Seeing your Pokemon in 3D is cool but it's going to get old eventually and if you don't have a copy of Diamond or Pearl for the DS, you can kiss the DS connectivity options goodbye and in those respects, the game is a bit shallow.

But, if there's one thing the game does right besides the battles themselves and the online throwdowns, it's the graphics. For a Wii game, these graphics look pretty damn good. I'd place it up there with Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition visually. I wouldn't say it's better than RE4, but it's certainly one of the best looking games available for the Wii.

On to Halo 3. While I was picking up GT4 and checking out PBR from work I preordered my copy of the Halo 3 Limited Edition. I was considering going all the way and getting the Legendary Edition, but I don't really feel the need to. Perhaps I'll upgrade my reservation to the Legendary Edition nearing release, once the hype gets to me. I might be picking up the Halo 3 Zune later this week, provided I don't get it for my birthday later this week.

By the way, if you haven't seen the new Halo 3 screen shots at IGN, you really need to go check em out. They showcase the new, customizable, Spartan armor. Yes, you read that right. The Spartan armor in Halo 3's multiplayer component is now fully customizable. There are now three main types of armor to choose from. The basic MJOLNIR armor we all know and love and two new suits, dubbed EVA (Extra Vehicular Activity) and CQB (Close Quarters Battle). There's also been hints that there are even more armor permutations that haven't revealed yet.

Graphically, this looks a bit better than what we've seen in the Pubic Beta that concluded earlier this month. It could just be me, as I'm likely blind from the slew of new info and screens about Halo 3, which is my personal most anticipated game of the year. While it's not close to the best the Xbox 360 can offer, it sports a clean look that I can't stay mad at for long. Keep in mind that footage of the single player campaign hasn't been shown yet and typically, single player campaigns tend to look better than their multiplayer counterparts, so we'll soon see if Halo 3 can hang with the likes of Gears of War.

My First Video Blog

Here's my first attempt at a Video Blog. I was sitting around one day, a bit bored and I just decided to start filming one. It took me a while to edit, but I'm satisfied with the results.

I hope you guys like it. Keep your eyes peeled for more in the future.

Okay, I'm Finally Back (Did you miss me?)

Well, it’s been a while since my last blog post and I’ve finally decided to stop being lazy and write something.

The winter drought, one of the hardest times of the year to be a gamer, is upon us. This is the time right after the steady stream of great games has finally run dry after the holiday season, leaving gamers out in the cold, and wanting more. This time is especially difficult if you have just purchased one of the recently launched consoles (PS3 or Wii). After the launch hysteria wears off, you begin to realize that there’s very few really worthwhile games coming out in the next couple of months

I am personally feeling the chill of the winter drought since I purchased a Wii at launch. After you finish the Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess, you begin to realize just how shallow the rest of the Wii’s launch lineup really was. I’m not saying the games were bad at all; it’s just that they don’t have much depth. Many games were just minigame collections designed to show off the Wii remote’s many motion based functions. January was met with WarioWare Smooth Moves, which was by far the best of the minigame collections, but it lacks staying power, and loses a bit of its novelty after a few hours and besides Sonic and the Secret Rings (which isn’t faring too well) February looks pretty bleak.

I’m not regretting my purchase (I’m sure things will heat up again soon) but I am thinking I should’ve waited a bit until a few more worthwhile games were released before buying it. But then again, I do have the Virtual Console to keep me entertained until the next big Wii game comes out.

The Playstation 3 is doing a bit better than the Wii after its rather weak launch lineup in which Resistance was the only game truly worth buying a PS3 for. January was bleak, but the excellent Virtua Fighter 5 has arrived to end the gaming drought for the PS3. In March, PS3 owners will see the release of the highly anticipated MotorStorm, which will likely be one of the first exclusive titles since Resistance really worth buying a PS3 for. Add to that some great multiplatform games (Rainbow Six Vegas, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and NBA Street Homecourt) and PS3 owners are just about finished with their gaming drought.

The Xbox 360 on the other hand has been keeping me very entertained during the winter drought. There have been some really great demos of Crackdown (which convinced me to purchase the final game) and NBA Street Homecourt released on the Xbox Live Marketplace to keep me entertained and I’ve still got the spillover from the holidays (Rainbow Six Vegas and Gears of War in particular) is keeping me very entertained. Lost Planet has kept many 360 gamers happy in January and Crackdown has arrived to save February.

On the subject of Crackdown, this game is great. It’s got an extremely fun single player campaign and the addition of drop in any time co op makes the whole experience so much better. Jumping from rooftop to rooftop as a super-powered agent never gets old even after doing it for hours in the demo, as well as crushing thugs with cars, sending them flying over balconies, blowing them sky high with a well placed grenade and blasting them up close with a shotgun. Oh, and did I mention there’s co op? Well, allow me to mention it again. Doing all of the above activities is twice as fun with a fellow supercop right alongside you. Oh yeah, and there’s the Halo 3 beta just sitting there, waiting to be played when it finally releases.

At the moment, the Xbox 360 is seeing the most of my play time, but that may change once I buy the Wii points needed to purchase Super Mario 64 and a classic controller (must…collect…stars…). But I rest assured that the Wii’s gaming drought will be over soon enough and I’ll have reason to strap my Wii remote onto my wrist and begin flailing my arms around like an idiot (I mean that in the best possible way…seriously) in the near future. And since I finally landed a decent job :D I might have the cash to drop on a PS3 sooner than I expected.

Final Blog Post of the Year

Well, as mentioned in the title, this will be my last blog post of the year. During this time I'll be hanging out with the family, catching up on some old games, finishing up some projects I’m working on (articles, reviews, stories, etc.) For the duration of the break I’ll be on Xbox Live (probably playing Gears of War, my newfound gaming addiction :P) and AIM so if you wish to contact me, you have both of those options…oh and there’s email. As 2006 comes to a close, I think I use my final blog post of 2006 to reflect on the past year of gaming.

The Year 2006 in Retrospect (Abridged version)

The Xbox 360 has really hit its stride this year after its pretty rocky launch in 2005 spilling over into the first few months of 2006. March however saw the releases of several highly anticipated games for the Xbox 360, GRAW, Fight Night Round 3 and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, all worthy of your gaming dollars even today. There was a bit of a lull after that point, as there were no really good titles until the summer. Early summer was met with Chromehounds, a vastly underrated and underappreciated game in my opinion. Late summer saw the releases of two much talked about and surprisingly good games, Dead Rising and Saints Row. These managed to tide 360 gamers over until the fall when some of the best quality Xbox 360 games released. November saw the releases of many great games such as Viva Piñata (which was another shocker) Rainbow Six Vegas and the most hyped game this year, Gears of War. It completely lived up to its massive amounts of hype and as such, has been named GameSpot’s 2006 Game of the Year. In the end, I think it’s safe to say the Xbox 360 has done an incredible amount in its first full year on the market, and I hope it continues to deliver.

The runaway hit Playstation 2 also had another exceptional year, and with the release of its big brother the PS3 looming on the horizon that was no easy feat. But the six year old PS2 showed everyone it still had some legs and stood strong once again with a killer lineup of exclusive games proving that you don’t have to upgrade to the next generation of consoles to have great gaming experiences. Throughout the year there were a ton of stellar releases including the much hyped Okami, Final Fantasy XII, Guitar Hero II, Singstar Rocks! (which I really want to play), and Bully.

The Playstation 3 on the other hand didn’t have such a year leading up to its release this past November 17th. E3 2006 was not too kind to the Playstation 3 (I’m pretty sure everyone remembers the “Giant Enemy Crab” and “Ridge Racer” debacles during the pre-show press conference) and for some time afterwards it had its fair share of bad press in the months that followed. Even after launch, it still had bad press coming from all angles, including Time Magazine and the New York Times. Still though, the launch of the Playstation 3 was pretty smooth, despite missing intended shipment marks (an estimated 200,000 consoles reached North America on launch day instead of the promised 400,000). There were very few of hardware malfunctions that plagued the Xbox 360’s launch (and quite frankly, even now) and despite missing their original shipment targets, they have kept up a steady stream of PS3’s coming to keep retailers relatively well stocked (I recently called a local Best Buy store and they told me they had some PS3’s in stock). The actual launch titles fared about as well as 360 titles did the previous year with a few highlights (Resistance: Fall of Man) and a few flops (Genji: Days of the Blade, Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom). All in all, the PS3 was a bit on the disappointing side this year but, to its credit, almost all consoles have a shaky start (as did the PS2, and we all see what happened there) and its first full year on the market and some of its biggest blockbuster titles are coming up in 2007.

The Nintendo Wii on the other hand has seen its share of good press. At E3 2006, members of the gaming press got their chance to play the Nintendo Wii (some for the first time) and see how their new fangled motion sensing controller affected the way games would be played on the system. Since then, very little bad press has come Nintendo’s way, as those who had the chance to play it often left with great first impressions. Nintendo also decided to give gamers across the United States the chance to try the Wii out for themselves before it released at the Nintendo Fusion Tour this past fall. After my first time at the controls, I was very satisfied as were many others who had the chance to experience it. The launch went very smoothly, and although Nintendo didn’t meet their goals of shipping 1 million Wii consoles to North America on launch day, they still managed to get 600,000 units stateside. The launch titles were as expected, with one really huge game (The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess) and a bunch of other great titles (Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz, Rayman: Raving Rabbids) to round out the collection. Surprisingly, there was a pretty big flop in the form of Red Steel, but other than that, there wasn’t much to lose sleep over. 2007 looks to be a good year for the Wii with three big name titles (Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Super Mario Galaxy, Super Smash Brothers Brawl) on the way.

All that said, this was a very good year for gaming. I plan on expanding this short feature in the next week so look for it when it’s finished.

Well, that’ll do it for my last blog post of the year. I’ll be back next year in full force so be on the lookout! :D. I hope everyone here has a Happy Holiday and a Happy New Year!

First impressions of the Wii

On November 19, 2006, the Nintendo Wii console was officially made available to the public. I had my console preordered at my local GameStop, so I didn’t make a fuss about rushing out to pick mine up when the store opened. At around 2 PM that day, I made my way up to the store and finally picked up my Wii console. Excitement rushed through me as the clerk went into the back room and brought out the small white box containing the object at the root of much excitement and anticipation over the past few months.



The Wii remote itself is everything I remember from my experiences with it before. In hand, it’s one of the most comfortable controllers I’ve ever used. It’s got a good feel to it in terms of balance and weight, and it fits naturally in your hand. The nunchuck attachment is incredibly light (almost to the point of feeling a bit cheap) but is well designed, and is comfortable for long playing sessions. I also noticed the analog stick is a bit smaller than the one found on the Gamecube’s controller, but that’s neither here nor there. The only gripe I have regarding the Wii remote is the speaker. The sound quality just isn’t that good. The sounds are tinny and lack the clarity you’d find from most good quality headphones or speakers you’d find today.

The Wii console’s interface is well designed and is easy to work around. Flipping through the Wii “channels” is oddly reminiscent (in a good way) of flipping through channels on a television. Due to the similarities (at least in a physical sense) between the Wii remote and a traditional television remote, the channel interface was probably intentional. It’s simple, it’s easy, and very intuitive.

After playing my share of Wii Sports (the only game I have at the moment), I have to say that I am very pleased with how this game turned out. It’s pretty much every thing I expected and more. If you recall, I had a chance to play it last September at the Nintendo Fusion Tour event. After that small taste of Wii Sports, I was itching to play more. Wii boxing and Wii bowling are easily my two favorite modes, and boxing is great fun with a friend (but then again, all these games are great with a friend).

So far, the Wii has lived up to my expectations. I’ve had a ton of fun with it so far, and the only way I can go is up. I’ll be picking up some additional games soon and I’ll post my impressions on those as I get them. Has the novelty of actually swinging my arm (or flicking my wrist) to control my games worn off yet? No, not yet. In time, it probably will. It’s up to developers to come up with innovative and exciting ways to use the Wii remote’s motion sensing capabilities to keep the gameplay fresh and keep gamers and non gamers alike coming back for more. It’s certainly got me intrigued.

Umm...Yeah

I feel like making another blog post, so here's what's on my mind at 10:19 AM as I sit in the Library to kill time between classes.

Gears of War has lived up to my expectations and in many ways, exceeded them. The game is just awesome on so many levels. The singleplayer game is great but what really takes the cake is the multiplayer. It's so satisfying and fun. Unlike Halo 2, where people just run at each other guns a blazing, Gears of War actually requires teamwork and effective use of cover. You can't just run off and do your own thing. If you do, you'll likely end up overwhelmed by the other team. I love it. It's not the deepest game ever, but its fun and rewarding. Nothing beats sneaking up on someone and taking a chainsaw to them or gibbing an opponent with the Gnasher Shotgun. I could go on and on, but I won't. It would take far too long. Trust me, if you have an Xbox 360, get this game. Odds are, you won't be disappointed.

The Playstation 3 and Wii will be launching soon and I will be in line on launch day for one of them. Can you guess which one? I'll give you a hint. It starts with a "W" and ends with a...well, I think I've made it easy enough. The PS3 is looking better and better the more I hear from it, but it's not five or six hundred dollar worthy yet. I'm waiting until it gets a few more games I'm interested in before I take that plunge. Resistance seems to be getting rave reviews though, and since I love FPS games, that'll likely be my first purchase when I do pick up a PS3.

The Wii on the other hand has me extremely excited. I can't wait to play some more of Wii Sports and Red Steel. Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz seems to be getting some good reviews as well so I might end up picking that up at launch too.

Okay, looks like it's just about time for me to be heading off. I'll be back later with more updates on Gears and the impending launches of the Wii and PS3.

So a few days ago, I got to play the Wii...

The Nintendo Fusion Tour rolled into my neck of the woods yesterday, and a friend of mine and I decided to go. When we heard the Wii (a console we had already been very excited about) would be playable at the event, we knew we had to be there. Nintendo’s mantra as of late has been playing is believing, and after my first hand experience, I agree with them 100%.

In my few short hours at the event, I managed to get some play time on Wii Baseball, Wii Tennis and WarioWare Smooth Moves. I would’ve played Metroid Prime 3, but the line was incredibly long.



The Wiimote itself is definitely an amazing controller due to its motion sensing capabilities, but the first thing that became immediately apparent as the attendee handed me the controller, was the comfortable ergonomic design. The remote itself was smaller than it looked and felt natural in my hand. The B button sat perfectly above my index finger and the A button sat below my thumb. I instantly got a feel for it as soon as I began playing my first game, WarioWare.

WarioWare was the perfect first game to play, due to the many ways it uses the Wii controller features in quick succession. The many microgames I played all used the Wii controller in different ways. One game involved holding the Wii remote sideways like a handle bar and pumping up and down to pop a balloon, another had you putting the controller on your head and squatting, and the final challenge had you holding the controller like a steering wheel and guiding a car along a track to the goal. The game itself was fun and made great use of the Wii remote.

The next game I played, (after a rather long wait) was Wii Baseball, part of the Wii sports compilation that comes bundled with the Wii at launch. While waiting in line, we watched a few gamers ahead of my friend and I really got into it. We looked at each other, thinking we could never get that into it, especially in public. Well, once we got our hands on the controller and started swinging for the fences, we were just as immersed. Seriously, it’s just that fun. The two of us played simultaneously, one of us pitching while the other swung. It was incredibly fun, although it’s a lot harder than it looks. Your timing has to be excellent to score big.

The third game I played was Wii Tennis, which was just as multiplayer focused as Wii Baseball. It was awesome. I liked the fact that it splits the screen to give each player an optimal view of the action. It was a very nice touch, and one I would like to see implemented in future tennis games. The controls were spot on, and actually felt like we were in a real tennis match (okay it wasn’t that real, but it was close). While playing I remembered reading that you could actually spin the remote to add topspin or backspin to the ball, I decided to try it out for myself. It works. Another plus to the realism and immersion.

After playing these games, it’s clear that Nintendo is still the unchallenged king of the multiplayer game. Every Wii sports title I plated seemed like it was designed for multiple players, and they were all incredibly fun. I think my friend said it best when he said the Wii is the next generation of multiplayer gamplay. I agree with that on so many levels after my experiences. He and I developed a bit of a Wii Sports rivalry during our time at the controls. After he completely slaughtered me at Wii Baseball (9-0…) I took it to him in Wii Tennis, winning three straight games and the match, with a blowout round in there too. When the Wii launches, we’ll have our rematch at both. Stay tuned for updates on that.

In the end, the Wii turned out to be even better and more fun than I originally expected. I will definitely be picking one up on launch day. I don’t think I can wait any longer. The worries I had about the Wii controller (lag between movement and on screen action and the novelty of the motion sensing wearing off quickly) were put to rest now that I’ve experienced it for myself. The only thing that would’ve made the already great trip even better was if I brought my camera. Ah well. I know a few of you might remain skeptical, and I can’t blame you. It’s hard to put into words exactly how much gameplay has evolved on the Wii. All I can say is wait until you play it. Reading about it and actually playing it yourself is totally different. I truly believe the Wii is ushering in the next generation of gameplay, and I can’t wait to play it again. If the Fusion Tour is making a stop in your town in the near future, go there. You’ll be blown away.