Strikers Charged is fun

My predictions about Super Mario Strikers: Charged (SMS:C) were spot on. I had a friend come over this past Saturday and we played for about 5 hours straight, to his great frustration as he only won a single game. Yesterday I played online against my brother and his friend for a couple of hours. Playing competitively on the ladder would take a lot of time (the leader as of yesterday had 100 wins; I have yet to play 20 ladder games in total) and would require dealing with stupid, cheaty moves. I had some great series against my brother. In fact, the last series we had going was quite the nailbiter. I won the first game 7-6 amidst a frenzy of megastrikes by both sides, then my brother came back to win the second game 1-0, with the game’s only goal being scored in the last 15 seconds. Then we got disconnected before we could play the deciding game. It was quite sad, but I wasn’t all that torn up about it (I probably would have lost). The stability of the Nintendo Wi-fi connection has not been that great during these first few weeks of SMS:C, but once Nintendo gets a few more weeks’ experience under their belt and the server load drops in September when school starts stability will probably be less of an issue.

No more WoW, lots of other stuff

I have been even worse at updating this part of my site than I have been at updating the main page, despite the many games I play. My new aim is to update this page often with short posts, throwing in longer pieces when I have time. In short, I want it to be a lot more blog-like: “today I played this, beat this level, and think this quick thought about the whole thing.” It really will be a log of all my gaming, instead of a random place for me talk about gaming when I find the time.

The main reason that I want to start posting more in the glog is because of a momentous event that occurred today: I canceled my World of Warcraft account. I’ve been playing WoW pretty seriously for the last year, and decided that I really need to stop. I love the game, don’t get me wrong, and I wish I had been better with my glog over the past year so that I could have shared some good WoW stories with you. Recently, however, my love for the game has taken a bit of a hit. After a certain point, WoW can get really, really repetitive. I came close to realizing this once my main character hit 70 (the post-expansion level cap; the expansion came out in mid-January) and truly realized it when I was working on leveling up a second character. The game just doesn’t change much. You pretty much hit the same 2-3 buttons over and over again to kill shit, then you loot said shit, then you keep going. While most games can be reduced to this same basic formula, other games end. WoW never ever ends, and loses its luster after a year. I’m amazed that there are people who still play who started when the game first came out. They must have longer attention spans than I have.

I picked up a DS Lite the other day. I figured that since I am spending less money on WoW, that money should go towards something game-related. The second iteration of the DS platform is totally worth the investment. It’s far more comfortable to hold than the original DS, and since it’s a handheld gaming machine, this is a pretty important quality. I’m less impressed with the brighter screen. This isn’t to say that I don’t like the screens (they’re great), I just don’t see a huge difference between the Lite and the original DS in this area. Regardless, the compact form factor and lighter weight make it a must for anyone playing more than a couple of hours of DS gaming a week.

With my new DS in hand, I started playing New Super Mario Bros. It’s a simple platformer, with throwbacks to all the older games in the series. It’s as fun as the first and third, with better graphics akin to those in Super Mario World, and has plenty to do to keep the player busy even after one completes the main adventure. I’m currently working my way through the game after winning to collect coins. I’ve cleared Worlds 1-6 completely, and am working on 7. I only recently opened World 7 (it’s not immediately available; it has a secret entrance) so it’ll be a while still before I rape it for all its coins. Then there’s only World 8 coins keeping me from that illustrious second star next to my game on the title screen.

Wiimpressed

I love my Wii. I managed to score one through my contacts within a secret society with strong ties to retail sales (my mother works for BJ’s Wholesale Club and snagged me a Wii the second one came through the door). I must say, my worries about the system being gimmicky were removed the second I booted up Wii Sports. It was fun to play, a lot of fun to play, and this the game that comes with the system and is advertised more as a tech demo than a full-featured game. At the risk of sounding like a Nintendo ad, the control system makes playing what would otherwise be a crappy simulation of six sport games into a great deal of fun. I admit that the controls aren’t perfect (disclaimer: they may be perfect, I could just suck) and gamers will find that they take getting used to. But it is just cool that you swing your arm to control a miniature version of yourself (you can make an Wii-based avatar called a Mii) missing shot after shot in tennis. The true test of the console, however, is to see if this fascination with motion and light sensing will wear thin. I am quite sure that it will not, because even now I can bowl or box for hours and still have fun.

I can understand how hardcore gamers may be turned off by the Wii. The target market, as stated by Nintendo, is not hardcore gamers. Nintendo wants to attract people who do not usually play games. If the success of the DS has taught us anything, Nintendo will most likely meet this goal. But it must be kept in mind that while expanding into new markets is great, there is already a rather large market of gamers. Losing this market to gain another may not be the best decision. I believe that gamers of all types will still flock to the Wii. The reason that some hardcore gamers have written the Wii off as a party-only device has more to do with the launch lineup of games than the system itself. The Wii has no online functionality, meaning that people who want 16-man fragfests are left out, at least for the time being. Nintendo is promising online gaming for the Wii by 2007. Graphics is the other problem with the Wii. The other next-gen systems support HD (the PS3 supports 1080p); the best the Wii can do is 480p. Because many hardcore gamers are also hardcore videophiles, they are disappointed by this. I was of the camp that graphics don’t matter if the game is fun until I recently got a 37″ Sharp Aquos as a wedding gift. HD doesn’t just look good, it looks very good. I still believe that fun trumps graphics for ultimate gameplay experience, but many gamers will disagree with me, and I understand their point.

In short, my experience with the Wii have made me a believer in the capability of the system for fun. There is a lot that can still be done with the control scheme: I look forward to a variety of first-person shooters and sports games, and while some of them won’t be great (Red Steel hasn’t received the best of reviews), many will. Metroid Prime 3 is bound to be amazing, as are the rest of Nintendo’s franchises. There is a lot the Wii can do, and we’ll see lots of great games for everyone in the future.

Wiimpressions

I’ll admit, when I first saw the Wii (then called by a better name, the Revolution), I thought it a bit gimicky. It seemed more a toy than a full-fledged, powerful next-gen console. It certainly didn’t seem to have the power of the 360 or the (if it ever comes out) PS3. I’ll also admit that I’m not completely sold on it not being a gimmick, even after reading and watching several reviews (the best I’ve seen is this one from IGN, taken from Nintendo’s booth at the Liepzig gaming show). The controller is more or less a light gun with motion detectors: this isn’t amazing, 21st century technology. After seeing an official teaser trailer (found here on Youtube), I got pushed even farther into the gimmick camp.

All this, of course, isn’t going to deter me from getting one on launch date or as soon as possible thereafter. The reasons for this are two. One, I’m a huge fan of Nintendo’s franchises. I’ve been hooked on Zelda, Metroid, Mario, F-Zero, Smash Bros., etc. for years now. I like what Nintendo’s developers have done with these franchises. I’ll use Metroid as an example. I loved the old 2D scrollers and generally hate the entire genre of 1st-person shooters but love the Metroid Prime games. These franchises have kept the basics of solid gameplay that made them great in their first iterations and successfully updated them for modern gamers. I simply cannot go on gaming without these familiar faces and solid gaming franchises.

The second reason is that I think Nintendo’s gimmicks work. Look at the DS. At heart a simple device with no mind-blowing technology or graphics, it has succeeded to be a great handheld with a growing list of great games. Nintendo seems to be on the right track as regards innovation in interaction between gamers and their gaming environment. I am not saying that they are the only innovative company in the gaming market. I am not hard core enough to judge this nor do I think it is true: many companies come up with unique and interesting games all the time. I’m saying that Nintendo is changing how we play games, first with the DS and soon, I believe, the Wii. This is why I’m desperate to get one as soon as it launches, because the Wii looks to introduce a fun, new way to play games, even if these games are not all that different than ones I’ve played before. For hardcore gamers, this should be fun because of the challenge. For casual and non-gamers, this will make games more approachable and intuitive to learn and play. I won’t be able to judge if I’m correct until November 19, but I’m excited to try.