Wii Potential

FYI

2008-05-16T09:45:00.002-04:00

Hey everyone:

in case you're wondering what I've been up to, I'll have a new blog up soon. It'll be more focused on artwork and I'll show off things I've been working on and talk about different things that inspire me and whatnot.

As for this blog, i probably will not be updating it. I'll still talk about video games occasionally on my new blog, but there are plenty of sites around for news, great reviews, and insight. For now, I've said the things I want to say and I'd rather not regurgitate what other sites are saying. For Nintendo stuff, be sure to check out my links in the panel on the right.

Stay tuned! Thanks everybody!

Jesse

Barina's Got a Blog

2008-05-04T19:30:00.003-04:00

Barina Boxkid

My best bud just started his blog, def check out.

Hey everyone, just wanted to give some props to muh bud Barina, who I've spoken of several times on da hallowed halls of dese pages. Barina just started a blog at boxlande.blogspot.com , so please check it out. Have some laughs, have fun, and be good. He's irreverent but it's top notch stuff. Check in with him and leave him nice comments as he builds up a backlog of postings.

For those that don't know him, I won't say much except to say that Barina is my best friend and he lives across the street from me. We have somewhat similar senses of humor and share a couple interests.

What's your take?

Wut da freak!?

2008-05-01T13:34:00.006-04:00

Time Readers Vote Zelda Creator Most Influential of '08

Shigeru Miyamoto wins the popular vote in a landslide. Stephen Colbert gets third place, too!

Source: "Time Magazine Readers Vote Miyamoto Most Influential", Spong

Time readers voted Shigeru Miyamoto, famed Nintendo designer, as the most influential person of 2008. It's honestly a little ridiculous, but I imagine it can be traced back to the popularity of Wii Sports and the Wii itself. Check out the results at Time's website here.

To Samm: I haven't played Mario Kart Wii yet, but reviews have been really positive. It's supposed to be really good and a lot of fun. Check it out and let me know what you think because I'll probably end up getting it!

Who do you think was the most influential person this past year, for better or worse?

Nintendo's President Speaks

2008-04-30T10:55:00.003-04:00

Satoru Iwata Addresses Concerns Over Attach Rate

Nintendo claims Wii attach rate is good, better than DS, contrary to what some publishers and journalists are saying.

I saw this article, Iwata: Concerns Over Third Party Sales Don't Reflect The Fact, on Nintendo World Report yesterday. It was a really long analysis of some fiscal briefing Satoru Iwata gave about Wii's third party sales. Frankly, I didn't care enough to read it because it had all these great slides and graphs to illustrate it!

Here's one of them:

This graph shows that while Nintendo sells many games on the Wii, they're not selling as much, at least in the latter half of '07, as third party games. Yeah, so? I still see one company comprising two fifths of the consoles software sales! Which means that even if the attach rate is somewhat higher than people are led to believe, it's still mostly Nintendo games. Nintendo is one company here, and all third party publishers are lumped together for this graph.

This isn't all Nintendo's fault, except for the fact they make awesome games and you'd be an idiot not to buy them (if you like games and have a Wii). Third parties DO need to realize that Wii owners will buy their games, they just need to put more development resources into their Wii offerings. Third party Wii games suck (for the most part), and if third parties put half as much effort into their games as Nintendo does, maybe they could comprise a significant chunk of Wii software sales too.

Wouldn't you buy a good game, whether or not Nintendo made it?

A Great Influence

2008-04-28T18:06:00.008-04:00

Nintendo Games Don't Just Provide Me With Simple Fun

As my favorite games excite my imagination, they've had a big impact on my art style.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is far and away my all time favorite game; nothing has shaped my character, personality, and,above all, my imagination so much as this one game. When I was in fifth grade, this one legend in entertainment obsessed me and gave me my love of games. But when I turned off the TV and went upstairs to get in bed, I pulled out my strategy guides and the instruction manual. And before I went to sleep, I pulled out my sketchbook.

An old drawing from my late elementary school days.

When I was younger, I used to whip out my sketchbook every night before I went to sleep. Everything that made up my daydreams in school or made me restless during the day escaped onto the paper. The things that would inspire me the most could come from anywhere, but one thing that dominated my mind most often (as they do to this day) were the games I played. But Ocarina of Time was very special, so today I was happy to come across a neat interview with the game's lead illustrator: Yusuke Nakano. This is an old interview, mind you, and I found it here. It's taken from some issue of Nintendo Power a little before the release of Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

This interview is great, for me at least, because Nakano discusses his time illustrating Ocarina in detail:

"When I first heard about the Ocarina of Time project, and the need to create a new Link, I knew it was the job for me. I put my name out there for the project by creating some sample illustrations of my ideas. Fortunately,Yoshiaki Koizumi, one of the game's directors, liked the drawings, so I was put in charge of the illustrations. I loved the project and drew constantly; it was almost like I was giving vent to all of my passions through those drawings."

"And I'll tell you one thing: drawing bad guys is worthwhile work. It felt great to draw characters like Ganondorf, exaggerating his fearsome, powerful presence."

"But my favorite Ocarina illustration was of Impa, Zelda's royal protector: It was extremely rare that Nintendo had such a muscular woman in one of its games."

Since I don't read graphic novels or comic books much, most of my influence these days comes from artwork like this, and you can still see Nakano's influence in my drawings. Take, for instance, his illustrations of Link for Twilight Princess. You all saw the Shakespeare book covers I did, so compare the illustration I did of William Shakespeare and my Macbeth illustration with the lines in Nakano's Twilight Princess artwork:

Please bear in mind that I didn't look at these pictures while I was doing my illustrations! Certainly these images are already registered in my mind and create an influential framework within which I do any of my drawings. Truly, the similarities are almost a little embarassing to me; I thought I was more original! But honestly, I'm glad when I see my skills and style improve and adapt to the things I like.

Years ago when I originally planned to go to art school, I used to spend a lot of time studying Michelangelo and Da Vinci's sketches. My style has been influenced tremendously by those two. Especially my prominent hatching technique.

How many of you enjoy drawing? Who or what would you say influences you?

It's All A Journey

2008-04-28T16:37:00.005-04:00

Setting Sail for Philly (I hope)

Two and a half years after refusing to ever consider going to art school, I'm hoping everything works out so that, in a few months time, that's where I'll be.

WARNING: THIS IS A RAMBLING EXPOSITORY POST. READ ONLY IF YOU'RE TRULY INTERESTED IN KNOWING ABOUT ME.

I've been drawing almost my entire life– from the time a college student showed me how to draw humans that weren't stick figures when I was in K-5 I've loved it. Even when I was young I could satisfy my imagination by drawing things out on paper. Many people never draw because they aren't satisfied with what they produce, but I've always been mostly happy with the lines I put down and it's always felt natural to me.

Recently I decided I want to transfer to Tyler School of Art (Temple University's college of art) in Philadelphia. College has been an emotionally difficult thing for me from the beginning:

When I was in twelfth grade, I was at a portfolio review at Tyler when I decided, right there, that I did NOT want to study art. I did not want to spend my life competing for jobs with other artists and I did not want my profession to suck away my love of art. Art wears me out when I try at it, just like everything else. I was very nerve-wreaked by the whole college admission process to begin with, in addition to my senior year being a nightmare (academically speaking), and countless other things weighed on my mind as well. I just couldn't take it.

I started college as a freshman at Eastern University. I was an undeclared major, one of 24 students in their honors college freshman "cohort". For a variety of reasons, one of them being my still lingering, festering anxiety about college from before, I withdrew from Eastern within a month of arriving. Since then I've debated how much of a mistake that was. I was depressed, anxious, even anorexic. I came home and spent the semester working at Kohl's in Lebanon. That was the worst two months of my entire life.

Last spring I started at LVC. It was a great school close to home where I was given a great scholarship. I decided to attend LVC while I picked up the pieces of my academic career and decided what I wanted to do with my life.

I love LVC, but I don't like being a commuter. I'm not the most extroverted person in the world (and I can't drive), so it's very difficult to forge any meaningful new friendships here though I have made a few. I also just don't like living at home. I come from a family with two siblings, and it's very strange for me not to have them around in a familiar place: our home (one's in college, the other just graduated). I feel stuck when I'm at home, like my wheels are spinning in place: it's hard motivating myself to do something about my life when I'm stuck in a place I associate with my childhood. And God I want to be a child forever.

It's also hard to be motivated when I just don't care. Art may wear me out, but so does everything else. Everything else wears me out AND bores me. I've always been good at drawing, it satisfies me and other people appreciate it as well. College has been difficult, especially gen-ed classes, for this one reason: my heart just isn't in it –math, science, whatever- it just isn't me. That's why I'm an English major: it's the closest thing I have here to art that isn't actually "art". Writing papers is compelling enough for me to actually do, unlike regular homework papers in other classes, because I feel like I'm creating something. But it's not enough, and it's not what I want to do with my life.

I'm glad Bob had us make these blogs. It's fun to be able to create something personal and useful. It feels good when I click "view blog" and see how my efforts are realized. I love playing around with the type and finding good photos, creating my links to wikipedia (I love Wikipedia). These are the sorts of things I actually get excited about in my life and people appreciate them.

Beyond that, I can be lazy and useless if something doesn't fulfill me. Though I didn't bother applying, I know I wouldn't have gotten the job I had last summer (working for the computer services department at Lebanon High School) because I heard from friends who go to school there that my bosses were upset I spent too long engraving inventory numbers on calculators and computers. You should have seen the way I engraved those four digit numbers! That was artwork; (and sorry I'm a human, get a robot next time you want some drone doing that shit).

My sister is about to finish her second semester at Moore College of Art & Design in Philly, and seeing her go through the process has made me feel much more confident about it. The whole idea of studying art was daunting to me in the past. I've never felt comfortable being a leader anyway (not to say I can't be one, it's just out of my comfort zone), so I'm following in Sara's footsteps I guess (which isn't how I pictured it two years ago).

Getting into Tyler shouldn't be difficult for me; I passed the portfolio review years ago, so the hardest part is out of the way. Wish me luck!

This post is getting really long, so I'm going to make another. This is all pretty much background anyway, so if anyone actually takes the time to read it– thank you. And also many thanks to all of you for your nice comments about my book jackets. I loved that project and it really felt good to see how all of you felt about them; it meant the world to me. I have a very loose style of drawing that isn't always conducive to finished pieces, but in that case it worked beautifully. Thank you very much!

This is a book cover I designed several months ago. It was for a book I gave to my girlfriend, Michelle, which contained all of my letters to her. I publish my books using lulu.com. There are two illustrations on the design made out of construction paper. The first is on the back, and it's a scene from my short time at Eastern University: there's a pond with a stone structure jutting out into it. I used to sit there and read in the evenings. The front illustration is my profile combined with a flower blooming through a pile of rocks. This is taken from the first lines of U2's "Beautiful Day" (the heart is a bloom, shoots up through the stony ground), a song that reminds me of the first time I fell in love with Michelle (it was stuck in my head, and it was ironic because it was actually downpouring at the time). I put black boxes over some of the text on the cover for personal reasons!

IMHO Slow Day; Let's Talk About:

2008-04-25T23:19:00.003-04:00

Thursday's Office Episode

Just watched last night's office episode for the second time, and I like it even better. But I need your opinion on something...

I've got nothing on the Wii today. I haven't even played my Wii in a couple days because I've been so into Animal Crossing: Wild World. Honestly, I am so into that game right now! I've had outstanding status in my town for the past three days (that means my town is freeaaking beautiful!!) and I just nailed a classic carpet today thanks to my bud, Barina. Things have never been better for Gay Nerd in our tidy village of Nor' Tit.

*If you've never played Animal Crossing, I apologize if you had no clue what that meant. Noelle, since you asked, Animal Crossing is a quirky life simulation game where you play as a human who's set out on their own (just like all of us college kids!... sort of) and move to a small country town full of anthropomorphic talking animals. Those are your neighbors and they say the most hilarious things. You're pretty much free to do whatever you want. Lately I've been gardening and that's why my town is so beautiful. You get rated by the HRA (Happy Room Academy) on how well the interior of your house is set up, so when I say "classic carpet" I mean that I got the flooring that belongs to the "classic" furniture set, which I've been collecting. You can read more about Animal Crossing games here.

I want to talk about my current favorite show as of the past two years, The Office. I'm sure many of you, like me, watched the new episode the other night. "Night Out", as it's called because Dwight and Michael head out to the big apple to pick up femininas.

Like the "Dinner Party" episode two weeks ago, The Office has been really painful to watch, much like the original UK series. Watching Jim eff up everyone's night with what he thought was a good plan to prevent them from coming in on Saturday was not pleasant. This was interesting for me just to see the evolving dynamics between Jim, Pam, and the other coworkers.

The real hilarity for me, and why I love this episode, is Michael's whole "it's not the horniness as much as the loneliness" mantra. Seeing Ryan's new douche character turn out to be on drugs was a great dose of dark humor to compliment Michael's at times ironic behavior: best example of this is the classic ending Michael epiphany scene after Ryan passes out from the drugs and Michael looks at the camera to say "best night ever." Michael goes on to say how this night was so awesome in spite of him not "getting laid" because "it's not the horniness, it's the loneliness" and he's spending the night with "his boys" (Ryan and Dwight both sleeping in the background, after anything but a fun night -except perhaps for Dwight).

I'm wondering how everyone feels about Jim and Pam? I really think they're going to break up eventually. I know there's people who interpreted last week's episode as the pair's definitely going to be engaged, but I couldn't feel more the opposite. Jim said he got the ring one week after they started dating? I'd be amazed if he ever proposes. That relationship's gonna hit the fan eventually.

What do you all think will happen with Jim and Pam? What would you like to see happen? I've got more questions: What did you think of this episode or any of the post-strike Office episodes? Please discuss!

Taking A Closer Look at Wii Fit

2008-04-24T14:17:00.004-04:00

IGN Discusses Wii Fit With Fitness Expert

Esquire Magazine's fitness columnist, James Mitchell, tests out Nintendo's killer app: Does it live up to its name?

Great rundown of Wii Fit over at IGN today– they've brought in fitness guru James Mitchell of Esquire to help turn a better trained critical eye towards the game. You can read the story, Wii Fit: The Professional Opinion, here.

Overall he seemed to like it a lot, especially the aerobic portions and clever use of the Wii Balance Board.

"The good thing about the aerobics and balance stuff is that it's fun so just crack on. It's a great way of doing fitness, it's interactive. One of our biggest problems with clients is getting over the fact that training can be boring – some people can't stand gyms, can't stand running. Wii Fit can potentially make fitness feel more accessible to people who don't think it is –a gym is a very intimidating place for a lot of people."

"If someone has a use for it and uses it in a responsible, educated manner, then it's definitely worth it," says James, "after all, it's cheaper than an exercise bike and, frankly, a lot more fun."

It's going to be really crazy when Wii Fit is launched in North America. I can definitely see my mom being interested in it, not to mention millions and millions of other Americans. The fitness obsessed culture here is going to eat this up like noone's business.

Are you (or do you know anyone) interested in Wii Fit? What sort of splash do you think a Wii game like this will make stateside?

New Installment in Malstrom's "Disruption Chronicles"

2008-04-23T15:20:00.004-04:00

Malstrom Delves Deeper into the Blue Ocean of Disruptive Technology

Fascinating series of essays continues with Disruptive Storm

I happened upon Sean Malstrom's site today and found out he added a new piece to his series of articles about the Wii and disruptive technologies. The new essay is called "Disruptive Storm" and it's comprised mostly of quotes from business leaders and market scholars in addition to giving examples of previous disruptions. You can read it here.

These essays are really long, but I can't stress enough how interesting they are –even if it isn't video games you're interested in. If you didn't catch it when I blogged about Malstrom's article, "Birdmen and the Casual Fallacy", these are a series of essays explaining what Nintendo is hoping to accomplish (and, so far, succeeding) with the Wii:

"While the Wii may be inferior in graphics and horsepower, it contains attributes that fringe customers value such as cheaper, smaller, simpler, and frequently more convenient to use. Due to the experience and investment, the developers of disruptive technologies will always take over the older markets."

"Well managed companies fail because the very management practices that have allowed them to become industry leaders also makes it extremely difficult for them to develop the disruptive technologies that ultimately steal away their markets."

This may be of interest to those of you in our mass communications course when we're asked: why are newspapers giving way to the internet, blogging, and beyond? The internet has been a disruptive technology to more than one industry. These articles are great for understanding this concept.

What do you think of disruption theory? Do you think Nintendo's plan with the Wii is working, or is the real revolution a ways off?

Potential in the Press

2008-04-21T11:56:00.004-04:00

Gray Lady Discusses Wii's Poor Attach Rate

A New York Times article this morning looks at a problem belied by the Wii's tremendous success, a problem Nintendo fans are already well aware of.

I named this blog "Wii Potential" because the Wii has a lot of potential, mostly unused. An article in the Times today, "New Wii Games Find a Big (but Stingy) Audience", focused on that untapped resource. It's not often that video games garner a careful observation by the mainstream press, unfortunately.

An important thing in video games is the attach rate of a console, which refers to the amount of games purchased per console. The Times quotes one source saying the Wii's is 3.7, compared to 4.7 for the Xbox 360 and 4.6 for the PS3. This comes off a great month for Nintendo: in March, Nintendo sold 720,000 Wii's in the U.S. alone (a ridiculous amount, easily beating other systems by more than double) in addition to having the bestselling game, Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Unfortunately, many retailers are surprised by how quickly sales of smash dropped off:

"Some major retail chains – including Wal-Mart and Toys "R" Us – have already begun bundling the Smash Bros. game with Wii machines for sales online, a sign that the base of hard-core gamers who went looking for the game has been depleted."

It's something I fear all the time: that there are mostly people out there just buying Wii Sports, getting bored with it, and letting their Wii gather dust. Nintendo hopes to expand the casual market, and that's fine, but until they do that they must work harder to attract hardcore gamers to the console. Just this morning an article on Spong, "Epic: Nintendo's Wii Like a Virus", quoted an interview with the head of Epic Games, the makers of Gears of War. Apparently Epic Games has refused to develop for the Wii; here's what he, Mike Capps, said:

"It's a virus where you buy it and you play it with your friends and they're like, 'Oh my God that's so cool, I'm gonna go buy it.' So you stop playing it after two months, but they buy it and they stop playing it after two months but they've showed it to someone else who then go out and buy it and so on. Everyone I know bought one and nobody turns it on. Obviously there's a class of people who really love it and enjoy it and are getting into the games but I'm still waiting for that one game that makes me play it. Who knows, maybe Wii Fit will be it."

I'm not sure if he was being facetious by saying "Wii Fit" or not, because that of course is a game directed at the non-gamer –exactly the people he wishes not to develop for, and the ones he sees not playing the Wii after two months with Wii Sports. The entire interview with Mike Capps can be found here, at IGN's Xbox 360 Channel.

One analyst quoted in the Times Article would agree with Capps; his name is Colin Sebastian, and he had this to say about the Wii's user base:

"My in-laws from Texas have a Wii sitting on their living room floor next to the TV, which to me is kind of amazing. They have Wii Sports, a Brain Age game, Wii Play. That's about it."

Can't say I'm surprised. This is exactly what Nintendo wanted, but it could so easily backfire. And it already backfires for third party publishers who still can't seem to grapple, or are loathe to try like Capps, this new demographic. According to the articles by Sean Malstrom about the disruption theory and Nintendo, Nintendo hopes to raise a new, greater generation out of these non-gamers and casual gamers. If they succeed we'll be in gaming paradise, if not –we'll remember the fad that was the Wii and Wii Sports.

For the time being I have high hopes for growing the Wii base with Mario Kart Wii, set to be released on the 27th, and Wii Fit.

How do you feel about the games available on the Wii? If you only play Wii Sports, is there more you'd like to know about what's available for the Wii? Or are there types of games you'd like to see made in the future that aren't available right now?

Animal Crossing Diary

2008-04-20T21:15:00.005-04:00

Flower Fest in Animal Crossing Over, My Garden Begins to Bloom

Up until recently, gardening was one aspect of Animal Crossing: Wild World I took zero interest in. Now my special breeds are starting to appear: pink roses, pansies, and cosmos, and I'm sorry I've missed out up to this point.

My friend Stephen, "Barina Boxkid", tried very hard to breed flowers and beautify his town in Animal Crossing a few months ago in an effort to attain the golden watercan. If you've played Animal Crossing: Wild World, you know what I'm referring to –maybe. Barina would spend hours every day for weeks watering his flowers in the game for this purpose. One time I stole one of his Jacob's Ladders and he freaked out.

In Animal Crossing I've traditionally enjoyed fishing and bug catching, talking to my neighbors and designing clothing –and that's been about it. But now I've started to enjoy gardening too. Maybe it's because it's Spring, but I really think the concept of it just intimidated me before.

A week ago the Flower Fest ended in Animal Crossing. It was a week-long event where I compete with my furry neighbors to see who can maintain the best garden in our town, Nor' Tit. Unfortunately I lost to Bill (a duck in my town), but it got me started on growing flowers for once and, for the time being, I'm not looking back.

Now I actually understand how to arrange the flowers in order for them to breed properly, and I'm having a lot of fun with it.

In the past week, my first un-Nook-purchasable flower breeds have begun to appear -all pink- and it's always a joy to wake up and visit my town to see what new colors have sprung forth.

Have any of you spent time with the flower breeding component to Wild World? What types of flowers have you bred?

Looking Forward to Playing:

2008-04-19T12:07:00.005-04:00

Okami (Wii) Meta Wiki

This 2006 Playstation 2 classic has finally been rereleased for the Wii

I remember hearing about Okami two years ago because there were constant comparisons to the Zelda series, not to mention it was winning multiple Game of the Year awards. I've never played it, so I'll be happy when I get the chance to experience it fresh on my Wii in widescreen.

Okami is an action-adventure game heavily influenced by the Zelda series (as said by its director) about a god named Amaterasu, the sun god in the Shinto religion, who has taken the form of a white wolf. The game, as you can tell, builds a lot on Japanese religion and mythology. The game itself is well known for its outstanding gameplay, storyline, unique graphics and art direction.

Anyway, if you have a Wii, definitely look into buying this game; it won IGN's GOTY award in 2006, beating out Nintendo's own Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, and, from what I've heard, it's aged not at all.

What do you think of Okami? Do you like action-adventure games like Zelda, or do you find them too time-consuming?

Currently Playing:

2008-04-18T10:28:00.006-04:00

Super Paper Mario (Wii) Meta Wiki

Contrary to what I originally thought, this game is pretty fun.

I ordered this game from some dude on eBay back in January and got a really good deal on it. I downloaded the original Paper Mario on the Virtual Console and loved it, so I went to check out this Wii sequel. For some odd reason, I couldn't find this one game in any stores. Good thing though, because otherwise I wouldn't have been able to get Super Paper Mario AND Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door (GCN) for the price of one game! Pretty sweet. Unfortunately, Super Paper Mario wasn't what I expected.

Super Paper Mario is not a "true" Paper Mario. The Original Paper Mario and its sequel, The Thousand Year Door, are RPG's mainly with some platforming elements. Super Paper Mario is primarily a sidescrolling game (except when you "flip" dimensions, whereby it switches to a 3D perspective for a short time -though after a while it will affect your health if you do not switch back), unlike the two previous games, and is tilted a heck of a lot more towards being a platformer than an RPG.

The game feels very old school because of its sidescrolling style, but that's misleading due to its RPG characteristics, namely hit points. In a typical Mario game you get hit by an enemy and you die, but in this game you get a large number of hit points and you can take a couple (a lot) more hits. This makes the game very easy. Emphasis on very.

This is one of my favorite parts in the game (above).

The difficulty can make it tedious early on, but the game picks up after a few chapters. The game's focus is on puzzles, and the game really shines in that department. One of the main gameplay mechanics is that Mario can "flip", albeit for a short time, to another dimension. That other dimension is the same world, only turned to a different, 3D, perspective -as if from behind mario and looking down his path, down the level. It plays on and makes fun of the concept of the traditional sidescroller, and it's quite clever most of the time.

As in previous Paper Mario games, the writing is top notch and hilarious. Though it's not up to par with Thousand Year Door, the text and characters in the game are very funny and engaging. I put the game away for a while, but I'm giving it another shot and it's a lot of fun. Just don't expect it to be like previous Paper Mario's.

Have you played any Paper Mario games before? Have you played Super Paper Mario? What's your take?

Show and Tell

2008-04-17T10:46:00.003-04:00

Shakespeare Book Jacket Designs

I've been overwhelmed with finals as the semester winds to a close, but check out what's come out of it for my graphic design course!

This has nothing to do with Nintendo, but I hope you'll find it interesting nonetheless. I designed these book jackets for a graphic design course I'm in, and I think they came out stunning. Not to brag or anything, I'm just really pleased with them.

The assignment was to design a book jacket –I decided to do a series of Shakespeare plays. Here's the three I created: one for Hamlet, one for Julius Caesar, and one for Macbeth. Everything except for the typeface (Edwardian Medium) was done entirely by yours truly.

Tell me what you think!

This is getting ridiculous...

2008-04-04T10:12:00.007-04:00

Nintendo, Please Rerelease The Gamecube Controller!

Considering Gamecube backwards compatibility, combined with Virtual console games, and now actual Wii games like Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the necessity of this controller becomes undeniable.

Right now, my Wii is standing upright on the floor with its back flaps popped off so I can run Gamecube controllers out of it. Why? Because I happen to still play many of my Gamecube games and I have Virtual console games that require it. And now I have Super Smash Bros. Brawl which allows you to opt for that controller as well. Most people who've played Melee previously are going to prefer using the Gamecube controller because that's what they're familiar with and who can blame them? I'm certainly one of them.

But it's just really stupid. The Wii was designed to be as inconspicous as possible: the nice clean appearance, the wireless controllers that are designed to look like remotes, it's tiny size... but you can forget that when you've got wires shooting out the top of it and Wavebird receivers perched there as well. It's a mess. And you can't ever have them fit comfortably because, depending on how you prop your Wii, the wires are either coming out the top or the side.

So you're probably wondering why I say rerelease this thing if it's causing so much trouble? Redesign it! The flap that covers the ports on the side can be turned into a flat wireless receiver for redesigned rumble-enabled Wavebirds. Not a bad idea in my opinion.

And the Gamecube is just a better controller for a lot of games -the Wii Remote does not have enough buttons. The Gamecube controller had a great organic and ergonomic design to it that could easily be reimagined for the Wii. Heck, forget the ports on the side and just give us a Wii controller designed like a Gamecube one!

Will Nintendo do any of this? Maybe, but probably not. The focus is of course on casual games and the Wii Remote was designed not to intimidate non-gamers and lapsed gamers. Nintendo wants us to primarily use the Wii Remote. Even all the peripherals and other controllers for the Wii still manage to incorporate the Remote.

But I say give me my controller. The Gamecube controller. And stop making me buy nunchuk attachments.

Have you had this problem or are you satisfied with the Wii Remote and Classic Controller add-on?

In My DS:

2008-04-03T11:11:00.005-04:00

Animal Crossing: Wild World Meta Wiki

After a two-month hiatus, I return to my greatest gaming love: the Animal Crossing Series.

I've started playing Animal Crossing: Wild World again after a month or so of Pokémon Diamond. For someone who fears the casual gaming trend a little bit, Animal Crossing is one such game I can't help but love for several reasons. In fact, I think the Animal Crossing series as a whole (albeit just two games) is more dear to me than the Zelda games.

Animal Crossing is just relaxing. The game is my favorite way to end the day. My favorite thing to do is turn on Animal Crossing once I get into bed - then I just relax and go late night fishing in my town, talk to my neighbors, water my flowers and plant trees, collect new furniture and rearrange my furniture (wouldn't be Animal Crossing without that!), and get some coffee at "The Roost". Maybe it sounds stupid to some, but hey it's the life. And although it's not real life, I'm not ashamed of my escapist tendencies!

Humor. Animal Crossing is built on humor. The writing in these games is what makes it. I bought the original Animal Crossing on the day of its release back in September 2002 and today I credit it as a major influence on my love of English. Talking to neighboring animals in these games is never short of hilarious or downright ridiculous. From your neighbors with their insecurities, weird reactions, pop quizzes and the like, to the message board with its "Talking to Myself" segments, these games are always a riot.

Probably the first thing someone will notice about the game is its odd art style. At first it appears quirky and simple, but the look of these games will win you over instantly provided you play the game and actually have a heart.

Anyway, I'm going to have fun decorating my house and beautifying my town (I'm seriously not gay -not that there's anything wrong with that), in addition to designing some clothing (dear god) and planting flowers (just forget I ever said anything).

The Gamecube version is my favorite, but this one's portable and, hey, those days are behind me ): Have you played Animal Crossing before? Do you love it as much as I do or think it's boring/dumb?

Open My Eyes

2008-04-02T10:44:00.000-04:00

Nintendo's "Disruption" Spelled Out

An eye-opening article for core Nintendo fans like myself who've been losing faith in Nintendo and are frustrated with the Wii.

This morning I was pointed to a fascinating article that has given me new hope in Nintendo's strategy with the Wii. This article by a dude named Sean Malstrom (his great website can be found here, loaded with other articles about the games industry) describes Nintendo's strategy of "disruption" for all of us too blind to comprehend it. Color me convinced.

I am certainly one of many Wii owners frustrated with the third-party shovelware treatment for the Wii, it's relative underpowering compared to PS3 and the Xbox 360, and even Nintendo's own focus on games like Wii Sports. Please read this article.

That all said, I'm sure not everyone will see eye-to-eye with Mr. Malstrom. What do you think of the article?

Currently Playing

2008-04-01T16:04:00.000-04:00

Starfox 64 (VC)

Wikipedia Metacritic

Proof that quality design never gets old.

Just this morning I downloaded the Virtual Console release of Starfox 64 after planning to do it for some time now. I'm glad I did because my brother's had our N64 at his apartment in Philly for a while now, and it's one favorite of mine that hasn't been rereleased for the Gamecube or the DS (like the N64 Zelda's or Super Mario 64, respectively). Therefore I haven't played the game in a while.

The game is an arcade style shooter, so it's pretty fast-paced and short (you can finish the game in a half hour), and a great one at that. It's remarkable how well the game's aged, considering it's now over ten years old. It was my first N64 game back when I got it for Christmas in '97. It's design still holds up incredibly:

• Tight, responsive, and fluid controls.

• Moderate to Easy Difficulty, with greater challenge when competing for high scores

• Abundant Variety in Levels

• Outstanding and memorable voice acting keeps game fresh after all these years

• Graphics are simple though overtaken by ambitious level design

I really think the Virtual Console has been a disappointment so far, so be sure to pick up the classics that are available. I highly recommend Starfox 64 and Paper Mario if you haven't played them before. I have many memories of replaying Starfox 64 with my friends years after its release to earn higher scores.

Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes (GCN)

Wikipedia Metacritic

Definitely find a chance to play this unique MGS release on a Nintendo system.

About two weeks ago I purchased this game for just five bucks at a pawn shop in my hometown. I originally planned to purchase The Twin Snakes when it was set to release back in 2004, but lost interest in my Gamecube by the time it came out (A jobless kid in high school has many hobbies and only so much money!).

For those of you that don't know, this is a remake of the Playstation classic, Metal Gear Solid. This game was a lot more fun than I expected, but it's very short: I was able to play through the entire game in three days. Not a problem, though –it's a great experience nonetheless.

The signature stealth gameplay of Metal Gear Solid is something I've never quite experienced to this degree before. It's a lot of fun sneaking around as Solid Snake and the whole aspect of infiltrating and sabotaging a terrorist base is as satisfying an experience as you would hope. The graphics and animations are very smooth and pretty, the enemy AI is good, and the pacing of the game is as good as it gets. One problem brought up often with the Metal Gear Solid series is its long cutscenes. Typically I hate long cutscenes, but the story here is actually very engaging.

The game incorporates gameplay from Metal Gear Solid 2, some of which is welcome and some, depending on who you are, is not. I really like hiding and moving the soldier's bodies, but first person aiming has also been incorporated making the game very easy. For me it's not a problem. Bad control is an artificial way of making a game hard in the first place, and usually just makes the game bad; Metal Gear Solid was an easy game to begin with -just know it's even easier now.

The cut-scenes can be outlandish but are well choreographed and voice-acting is top notch. Very well done.

If you're a Nintendo fan, you probably haven't had much experience with Metal Gear Solid. I wouldn't get my hopes up for a Metal Gear game appearing on a Nintendo console anytime soon, so don't miss this great game. Make sure to use the Gamecube playing capabilities of the Wii!

Wii Shortage

2008-03-31T10:41:00.000-04:00

Analyst Blames Current Wii Shortage on Weak Dollar

Article at Dailytech quotes one analyst saying that excess Wii's are probably being sent to Europe, hoping to offset shortages there in time for a stronger dollar.

Here's the article.

Recap: During the holidays, Nintendo was accused of creating artificial shortages of the Wii to generate hype. I didn't really buy into it, and Nintendo had a good explanation:

The Wii does not follow typical industry trends because of its wide appeal. Many people who previously played games very casually or not at all are buying Wiis (probably just for Wii Sports). Whereas the summer is normally a slow period for games among the core gaming community, and the holidays especially strong, the Wii sold consistently throughout the year. Nintendo claimed they usually start stockpiling systems and games during September to prepare for the holiday rush, and they failed in doing that last year because of unprecedented demand.

However this story is more plausible. What do you think?

Get a load:

2008-03-25T15:24:00.000-04:00

RPG Genre: Inherently Flawed?

Do the basic components of an RPG render it a design cop-out? Is the notion of role-playing in an already fictional world redundant? Do RPG soap opera/cliff-hanging storylines and the promise of leveling up create an addictive experience out of shallow and always repetitive gameplay? I say YES!!

When I was younger I got into an argument with my older brother while trying to explain different video game genres. The problem was the concept of a role-playing game. Colin tried to say that I was being stupid, that all games were RPG's because you play as a character; in other words, when you play any game you're role playing. Looking at it Colin's way, a Super Mario game would be the same as any Final Fantasy game.

Obviously that's wrong because the RPG is a well-defined genre with common basic elements such as stats, overworlds, battle scenes, a plethora of items and characters, parties, magic abilities, long involved storylines, blah blah blah. We know what that's all about. But Colin is also right, because video games really are all RPG's. The RPG genre is simply redundant, and that's not it's only problem.

My sister's boyfriend and one of my best friends, Luke, is a huge fan of Dungeons and Dragons: the mother of role playing games. Every time they're home from school, Luke and some of my other friends get together in a small building adjacent to his house and act out their various characters and storylines. The need for Dungeons and Dragons in the real world is just that: the fact that this is the real world, and they must create their fictional one. In order to make sure everything makes sense and stays as believable as possible, they keep track of your typical RPG stats like experience points, and I can assume they have such things as hit points, and limited stats of various powers as well (I do not play D&D). This all makes sense, like I said, because it is make-believe, and in order for it all to make sense these stats must exist.

But what about video games? Why use these devices in a video game when the world has actually been created for you? Why can't we expect more immersion out of our video games than a storybook/board game played out on our tv?

I'm a huge fan of The Legend of Zelda, which is usually classified as an "action adventure rpg". Action is a key word because it changes it all drastically. My criticism here is not leveled at any type of "action" video game; it's the action games that have it right. Zelda is very much an rpg in several ways; it has the basic components:

stats:

HP: Your heart containers

FP/PP/etc: Magic meter

Experience: Aha! The person playing becomes experienced themselves as they become used to the very deep gameplay of a Zelda game, but beyond that experience is built through the learning of new techniques and more powerful weapons. You do not gain experience points, but are awarded with improved "stats" for your accomplishments and progression; why do we even need the experience points, then?

overworld:

Hyrule Field, for the most part, though it extends typically into Death Mountain and various other locales.

Party:

Link alone.

Why can a Zelda game acquire the "action" moniker and bypass the convoluted statistical mess that plagues other rpg's? The "action" subgenre should be recognized as a true feat in the field of video games.

So what's my problem with stats and overworlds anyway? RPG's depend a lot on story, too much if I do say so, and stats and rpg overworlds completely destroy any suspension of disbelief.

First of all, stats: why do I need experience points and an ever-increasing amount of hit points to tell me my training has paid off and my character is more powerful? This is never believable in a video game. I just read a thread on Gamespot's forums the other day about what video game characters are overpowered. The typical answer was "almost any rpg protagonist". In a typical rpg, your character no matter how small or humble can grow to be ubelievably powerful, almost inexplicably save for their steady acquisition of stats, hit points, and experience.

Second, the overworld: rpg overworlds, ugh! Am I the only one who ever thinks this? RPG over worlds are typically an uninteractive map that you can move your character around and bump into enemies. Once you bump into an enemy, it cuts to an entirely new screen and you realize, "hey! that wasn't what the overworld actually looked like! It's much bigger than that!"

And then there's actual battling: turn based rpg's are the worst for this. Instead of mapping all attacks to buttons or combos that you can pull off in real time, everything in rpg's are usually relegated to menus. In an action game, the overworld is the overworld as is: what you see is what you get, in battle: what you see is what you get, stats: what you see is what you get.

The biggest problem with rpg's is this failure to suspend disbelief and the redundancy of stats in a fictional created world. What you see is never what you get.

The gameplay is repetitive and shallow compared to action, real time games. Game length is artificially dragged out by the need to level up. Usually the main draw is to find out more of the excessive amount of storyline, basically "We'll tell you this story, but you must work for it". And friends: that work is not fun.

I'm sure some of you have played more RPG's than I have. Do you agree with this? Where have I gone horribly wrong, or are rpg's truly just a bad drug?

Good News for WiiWare

2008-03-19T12:41:00.000-04:00

Nintendo Entices Small Developers With Affordable And Easy to Use WiiWare SDK's After Fallout With Microsoft.

For those unfamiliar with it, WiiWare is Nintendo's soon-to-be-released service for downloadable content (games, mostly) for the Wii. Today IGN reports that Nintendo is preying on demoralized XBLA (Xbox Live Arcade, a similar service for the Xbox from Microsoft) developers to bolster WiiWare's library. According to IGN,

"Microsoft recently cut the royalty rate it pays developers in half, from 70 percent to 35 percent for games that earn less than $4 million. As a trade off, Microsoft is now handling some of the localization and worldwide rating work, but game makers are apparently still angry."

The IGN article explains that Nintendo's software development kits are easy to use, as well as up to four times cheaper than the ones for Microsoft's service. Read the whole thing here.

A Side:

I read that Nintendo is promoting (to developers) the fact it will not be pushing retro titles with WiiWare. Well, duh. This makes sense because WiiWare's meant to help out smaller, newer developers, –but it's misleading, isn't it? WiiWare is a companion service to the Virtual Console, which we all know is a service for nothing but retro titles. They're the same thing, just separated by this very important distinction; users spending money on WiiWare titles will not see it as too much different from downloading the old games from Virtual console, correct? So how can Nintendo say they don't have an emphasis on retro titles?

Super Smash Bros. Brawl Impressions

2008-03-13T11:04:00.000-04:00

Super Smash Bros. Brawl is the third title in Nintendo's long running and popular Super Smash Bros. series of party fighting games. Super Smash Bros. pits Nintendo's famous mascots and characters against each other in a very unique and hilarious take on the fighting genre.

I arrived somewhat late to the midnight launch of SSBB this past Saturday night/Sunday morning, and was surprised to see how many copies the local Gamestop still had of the game. It seems that retailers are expecting the game to do very well. Anyway, the game:

The first thing I noticed about the game when I put it in Sunday morning was how tiny characters appear on the screen. As all you SSB fans know, the camera zooms and pans in&out/across the stage constantly in order conserve space, yet at the same make sure everyone and all items can be seen at the same time. But the stages are grander and busier than ever now, and if you have an old television, or one that's just small, you will be hurting. In general, the game was not made to be played on a small television (I had trouble just reading some of the menus).

However, this was just on the television in my room –which is old and small. Though of course, Super Smash Bros. Brawl is beyond all else a multiplayer game, and the next day the Wii was moved back to the family room. The past several nights have seen some crazy brawling with many of my friends, including some who are new to the series.

All of your favorite characters from Melee are back, except for these four: Dr. Mario, Pichu, Mewtwo, and Roy. In their place we have fourteen new characters, a couple of which I still haven't unlocked.

One thing I immediately noticed are that the game's controls are much tighter, unlike the looser and fancy free feeling of Melee, and the pacing in fights is therefore a tad slower. This isn't to say the game is less frantic, because it's not; this is still typical smash bros. in the frantic department. I can't decide if the tighter controls work out better or worse. Reason I say that is because I use Ganondorf mainly, and he was a very slow character in Melee. Now he's much slower than that! So all of a sudden I went from being the best player among my friends to more average.

But because of this, some of my friends seem to perform better. Melee's controls were so sensitive that light and fast characters were difficult to handle at times. The tighter controls in Brawl seem to have balanced the game out considerably. Also, I used to be able to get away with mostly using Ganon's basic attacks, and now I find myself having to utilize all of his abilities. Once I get used to it, I can say what I'm already thinking: Brawl's controls are much closer to perfect and better balanced than Melee, even if it puts me at a slight disadvantage with Ganondorf.

More comments on Brawl tomorrow.

Welcome to Wii Potential

2008-03-13T10:49:00.000-04:00

I'm starting this blog as an assignment for a mass communications course. Video games are one of my obsessions and I also happen to be a Nintendo fan, so this blog will focus on that area of my life. I'll be commenting on the latest news concerning Nintendo's two systems, the Wii and DS, in addition to writing essays and reviewing games.

Video games still carry a strong stigma in our society as juvenile, mentally corrosive, or simply a waste of time, so I believe it's important that there be as many sources of discussion as possible for the world of interactive entertainment. That way we can all help communicate a better understanding of what games are and why they need to be appreciated. This blog in particular will look at the Nintendo DS and Wii, which both remain the best-selling current generation video game platforms (among the PSP, PS3, and Xbox 360).

The Nintendo DS is an incredible system, one of the best reasons to start playing games if you haven't done so yet. As the latest in Nintendo's long legacy of successful handhelds (succeeding the Game Boy line), this device offers an enormous value out of the box thanks to a design leaps ahead of its predecessors:

• The most wide-ranging game library in terms of demographics and gaming preferences.

• As of the DS lite, an ultra bright backlit screen that doesn't affect battery performance.

• The innovative touch screen, dual-screen design providing a simple but deep and accessible gameplay experience.

There are many reasons to own a DS, and for those of you who are interested I'll do my best to keep you updated on DS news and recommend games.

The Wii is a system everyone has heard of, even outside of the regular game-playing crowd. This is mostly due to the publicity of the system stemming from its appeal to nongamers and its innovative remote/motion-sensitive controller. While the Wii is enjoying much success currently, I foresee it facing an uphill battle in coming years as the novelty of motion sensing gives way to a more realistic perspective of what the system actually offers and what it can do.

While the Wii currently houses the greatest game of this generation, Super Mario Galaxy, and one of the most popular, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, it's library is limited and filled with mediocre titles. The Wii also suffers from being underpowered, poor online gaming implementation so far, and limited onboard storage space –among other things.

Even so, the Wii remains the only place to find Nintendo games (on a console), and that is reason enough to own one.