I Want Mother… Among Other Things!

 

 

Recently, President of Marketing for Nintendo, Reggie Fils Aime, told the world that they are preparing a “big” holiday to later announce at E3 in Julu. I’m not going into the whole story, but if you want to know why I think what I think, click here. Anyway, Reggie basically said that they are focusing on their current franchises, which is of course stuff like Mario, Zelda, Metroid, and Pokemon. The secondary franchises that Nintendo has like Star Fox, Donkey Kong, Fire Emblem, Kirby, Pikmin, and Wario Ware also seem likely at this point. Instead of mindless guessing of what could be here by this Christmas, I’m just going to lay it down with some organization for game that appear likely, unlikely, and what I want. Don’t worry; I’ll add a pinch of chaos for you.

LIKELY: 

PIKMIN 3 (Wii)- There hasn’t been a Pikmin game for over 3 and a half years, and it seems like the franchise that would interest many groups of people, casual and “hardcore”.  The Wii would be the perfect system for the series because of its unique controller and Pikmin’s control scheme. With Olimar’s revival as a character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl also leads me to believe that Nintendo still has faith in their newer addition to their family of great games.

STAR FOX (Wii)- They have yet to announce a Star Fox for the Wii and it seems about the right time to make one after the DS version, Star Fox Command which came out in 2006. I don’t know if the controls would make the game completely inovative, but Nintendo usually has something clever up their sleeve. I’m not sure if Star Fox is a series marketed towards everyone, though.

KIRBY (Wii)- He’s cute. Cute sells. Nintendo likes selling. It’s been forever since a home console Kirby adventure, and people want some Kirby! I remember that there was supposed to be a Kirby game for the Gamecube (besides Air Ride, which was terrible) and he shows to appeal to all audiences including current gamers who have known Kirby for a long while.

UNLIKELY:

ZELDA (Wii or DS)- Why is it unlikely? Well, the amount of time between Zelda games is huge. Ocarina of Time came out in 1998, Majora’s Mask came out in 2000, Wind Waker came out in early 2003, Twilight Princess came out late in 2006.  I believe that there is a possibility of an anouncement, but it won’t come out this year. 

METROID (Wii/DS)-  Metroid is that kind of series that comes and goes for strange periods of time. Hunters for the DS came out in 2006 and Corruption came out in the middle of last year. The likeliness of a new one is very slim.

WHAT I WANT:

MOTHER 4 (Wii/DS)- Ah, Mother, how long has it been since you graced my Super Nintendo? 1995… DAAAAAAAAMN! It’s been a long time since Earthbound came out and stole my heart and hardly ever one time had I heard about Mother coming to the US once again. I know so many people would like to see Ness, Jeff, Paula, and Poo* back on thier home consoles, and maybe… just maybe this can be a reality. Reggie told Geoff Keighley in the interview that both markets would be excited. Could it be that both markets mean Japan and Non-Japan? I hope so! There is doubt in my beliefs, however, but if Santa Claus can work miracles, so can Nintendo.

ZELDA: A LINK TO THE PAST Remake (Wii)- With so many re-releases of Link to the Past, I believe that Nintendo appreciates it as one of the best Zelda games of all time… and it is. Recently, I’ve also been playing some of LTTP on the Virtual Console and I started to remember how much I want a 3D remake. Zelda creator, Shigeru Miyamoto said he would love to do a 3D version of Link to the Past, so why the hell not make one? Besides budget, time, resources, marketing, designing, funding, and paying workers, of course. It doesn’t seem very far-fetched, but Shigeru wants to focus on new installations and that makes more sense than doing what’s already been done. 

*not what you think

GMIcast 3/12/08

I now introduce you to the quite new, low (no) budget podcast that I decided to spawn into the interwebs. I basically just sat down, by myself, with no script, no cuts, and no mercy. I must warn you, however, this is as not up to snuff as my beautiful writing, so don’t expect the quality of The Hotspot, The Arrow Pointing Down Podcast, or Bungie Podcast, etc., but please don’t give me feedback like “you know nothing” or “your voice is so retarded!!!1!!” because… I know already.

http://www.zshare.net/download/885285638088d2/

Burnout Paradise Review

When has there been a time that I didn’t agree with crashing beautiful and expensive cars? Ah, yes, real life. Thanks to Burnout Paradise, gamers can now treat their gas pedal-happy hearts with crashing, jumping, racing, drifting, burning, and the ability to defy physics by turning your car over and wreaking havoc throughout Paradise City. Sound good? If it doesn’t, then let me elaborate for you on this great addition to a beloved franchise.

In the beginning of the game, you start out with a broken and beaten car, but have no fear, because the “drive-right-thru” repair shop will fix that up for you. These repair shops can become vital to you in races when your car has been taken down or has wrecked several times, but when in free roam, the damage taken is merely cosmetic. Unlike the past Burnout games, Paradise is completely open world with the given ability to start races, stunt trials, a survival game called Marked Man, and Road Rage where the objective is to take as many cars out until you die. To start an event, just look on your mini map and drive to said marked event.

The races are pretty straight-forward where you start at one point and get to another. You have a choice on what routes you take to arrive at the end, but take precautions on which ones will get you there, because every millisecond counts. In Stunt Run, you get as many points as you can by getting air, crashing through billboards, drifting and doing barrel rolls. Marked Man is basically a race, you just aren’t against anyone, but you can’t wreck or get taken down, so take your time and stay comfortable. The most amusing event for me is Road Rage, where you take down a number of cars before you die. The difficulty is a little easier than a race or Stunt Run however it isn’t too large of an issue. The reason you wish to win these objectives is to gain new vehicles and upgrade your drivers’ license and get more new vehicles… that and achievement points, which are a guilty pleasure of my own and plenty others. The one other mode that has also been added is Showtime where you press the bumpers and your car just turned into a rolling metal deathball. The objective is to create as much damage as possible for as long as possible. It may sound completely awesome on paper, but when a car is bouncing around the city for as long as seven minutes, you seem to forget that this is a racing game that you’re playing.

Sure, you want to see the sites. That’s the reason you are taking a vacation in Paradise City, right? The visuals are pretty when the cars are pretty and gritty when they’re gritty. Paradise’s graphics still don’t match up to Forza 2’s, but they certainly get the job done for a jam packed game. You won’t get a ton of time to admire the scenery when the annoying voice of DJ Atomica enters your mind every ten seconds or so. I swear EA could have gotten a better guy for free. I would rather have a homeless man who can hardly make complete sentences so I would actually be humored. You do, for the most part have the option to rid the “tips” voice, but DJ Atomica doesn’t die easy.

The online works seamlessly with the single player, so if you want to take down your buds or some random 12 year old, just press right on the D-Pad. There are a ton of online challenges and they can be fun or just plain frustrating. If youIf you A. Love Burnout, B. Like games, or C. Enjoy cars, you should definitely check out Burnout Paradise.