WiiWare Review - Pong Toss: Frat Party Games
If I was to put as little effort into this review as developer JV Games did with its current WiiWare title, I’d merely print ‘DON’T BOTHER’ in capital letters, and slap a score onto the end. But I like to think I’m above that.
The biggest problem with Pong Toss isn’t the fact that it’s clearly based on the student ’sport’ of Beer Pong with the beer removed, nor that its gameplay is fairly simple. After all, Pop merely asks you to do one thing all the way through, and that’s not bad. No, it’s that it’s just hopelessly executed. The graphics are appalling, with terribly drawn, static character models, and backdrops which are either garish or incredibly dull. The controls, which require you to aim with the d-pad and throw by flicking the remote forward, don’t seem to work properly half the time, and the nature of the task in hand is so mind-numbingly tedious that after the first level you’ll immediately want your 800 points back.
Even at 500, there’s no way I could recommend this drivel. It positively reeks of a lazy cash-in, hoping to somehow rake in a few quid from unsuspecting punters who’ll try anything as long as its new. It’s probably the the most compelling reason yet for Nintendo to offer downloadable demos of WiiWare games. At least the title is fairly accurate - it pongs and it’s toss.
“Pony up-it’s Pong Toss time” sighs the can’t-be-bothered press release. I implore you all: Don’t.
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Captain Rainbow goes beyond fan service…
…and into the realms of the truly obscure. According to GoNintendo, this rather risque character is one Crazy Tracy, who last made an appearance way back in GameBoy title Link’s Awakening. It certainly fits with the theme of the game - the island Captain Rainbow is one is inhabited by peripheral Nintendo characters, probably the most famous being Birdo. The object is to fulfil their dreams, which in turn will allow them to leave the island.
Helpfully, this vid has subtitles so you can understand what’s going on. Though the finished game may be a little impenetrable, it just looks so gloriously weird that I’ll be importing it as soon as it’s available.
It’s due for release on 28th August, for 6800 yen. Don’t get your hopes up for a western release, though.
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The DS gets its first football management sim
While the DS isn’t renowned for its processing power, it’s still a surprise that the stat-heavy football management genre has yet to make its debut on the handheld. But all that is about to change in September when Sports Director Ltd releases Football Director DS.
Featuring an official Football League license for added authenticity and over 3800 players available for transfer, it’s been created by the man behind the original Championship Manager Roger Womack. You’ll have control over your first team, youth squad and backroom staff, and the game’s interface will use the stylus extensively to make all those menus easily navigable.
It’s certainly a hole in the DS software line-up which needs filling. Let’s hope Football Director DS can give Football Manager PSP a run for its money as the premium handheld management sim.
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Why WiiWare needs more games like PixelJunk Eden
I’ve just spent the last hour or so playing Q Games’ latest downloadable title on the PS3, PixelJunk Eden. It’s a mere £4.99, and already I feel like I’ve had my money’s worth. It’s essentially the weirdest, artiest platformer you’ve ever played. You play a little creature called a grimp, who has to swing and jump from flowers in a set of colourful gardens, spinning and jumping into floating enemies to make them release pollen. This in turn helps your garden to grow, which allows you to collect the glowing Spectra which enable your hub garden to grow so you can access further, harder levels. It’s a real sensory experience, with some gloriously abstract visuals and a pulsing ambient soundtrack - but aside from the HD, it could easily be done on Wii.
Which leads me to wonder why it isn’t on Wii, particularly given Q Games previously cosy relationship with Nintendo (the developer was behind Starfox Command and Digidrive, a Japanese-only puzzler which formed part of the Bit Generations series of experimental GBA games). The Bit Generations games were exactly the sort of thing you’d expect to see on WiiWare - simple ideas turned into interesting games, which might not necessarily appeal to the casual crowd, but which gamers would love to see more of. With Q Games now creating titles for Sony’s service, it makes one query why Nintendo hasn’t snapped up an independent developer of its own, and set it to work on WiiWare titles, released exclusively on Nintendo’s download service alone.
Of course, this might all be moot if Nintendo already has such plans in places - but there’s no way of knowing thanks to its policy of keeping quiet about WiiWare games until the week of their release. But while it’s nice to be surprised by an unexpected gem, us Nintendoites could do with knowing that these sort of ideas are at least at the back of Nintendo’s mind, even if it’s reluctant to talk about them.
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Wii MotionPlus demo impresses
Ailive, co-creator of Nintendo’s forthcoming Wii MotionPlus accessory, has posted a YouTube video showing off how well it works. Oh, and advertising its own LiveMove 2 product, which is intended to help developers get to grips with the new motion-sensing hardware.
Though it’s only a very basic demo, it certainly shows what a difference MotionPlus makes to remote movement. You can skip through the early parts - the good stuff starts at around 1:48. Is it just a coincidence that the ’sword’ looks exactly like a lightsaber. It’s almost as if it’s saying “Lucasarts - phone us”.
Definitely worth a watch. As always, let me know your thoughts in the comments thread.
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Tetris Party Details Released
Tetris, easily is the most popular puzzle game ever released. Fans of Tetris have been eagerly awaiting details of its debut on the Nintendo Wii. A press release has just been dropped that provides such details, while still leaving a lot of questions about Tetris Party. The biggest announcement is that Tetris Party will be releasing this fall on WiiWare, which is sooner than some were anticipating.
Here is a list of some other details of the press release:
-Tetris Party will have 18 different modes in all
- Wii Balance Board Compatibility (no details on functionality yet)
- Tetris Party will support local and online multiplayer
- Tetris Party will utilize the point-and-shoot features of the Nintendo Wii remote
So although we have been given some tidbits of information about Tetris Party, Nintendo is keeping key details on some of the big announcements secret. HudsonSoft is developing Tetris Party though, so my hopes are high thus far.
Bowser’s minions vent their frustrations
Filed under: Fan stuff
It isn’t easy being one of Bowser’s minions. Aside from the constant defeat at the hands of the Mario brothers, apparently there are some severe restrictions each class of baddie must adhere to in their roles as Bowser’s employees. It’s a tough life, we imagine, and a job we would certainly not enjoy. They must get amazing health benefits, because, in all honesty, why would you put up with it over and over again?
We’ve embedded the video past the break, due to some possibly-NSFW action. So, check it out, if you so please.
Space Invaders Get Even cheaper, more nostalgic
Filed under: News, Imports, Screens, WiiWare
We thought we had already hit optimum levels of yaaaayness over Space Invaders Get Even with the announcement that the game would be heading to WiiWare, but it just gets better. Fresh scans from the innards of Famitsu have revealed that the title will be as cheap as a WiiWare game can possibly be: a measly 500 Wii Points. To put that in perspective, that’s the same as half of Cruis’n USA or SPOGS Racing.
That cost could escalate slightly, for Famitsu confirms that there will be downloadable stages (Square Enix is no stranger to DLC on WiiWare), but 500 Wii Points for the barebones package is still outstanding value. Oh, and there’s even the odd Taito tribute thrown in for good measure, such as the ability to play as ships from company classics Darius and RayStorm. Want, want, want.
The VC Advantage: Art of Advertising 2
Filed under: The VC Advantage
Even more than the world depicted in the bizarre Street Fighter movie, or the outrageous horror-and-Zubaz presentation of the Mortal Kombat movie, we imagine this Art of Fighting 2 commercial is what a fighting game would look like in live action. Huge guys with terrible hair delivering awkward dialogue in semi-yelled monotone, standing totally still until launching into an unnatural-looking punch.
Even though they’re awesome to play, fighting game-style combat in the real world would look less like an expert martial arts tournament and more like pro wrestling with less Spandex.
The VC Advantage is a weekly look at the secrets inside games — not just cheat codes, but assorted trivia and oddities. We aim to bring back the feeling of the hint columns from game magazines, except when we do something else.
Comcast sweetens ‘Triple Play’ package with a free Wii
Filed under: News
If you’re willing (or, like many who want to watch TV and use the Internet, forced) to be gouged by Comcast on their “Triple Play” package, they’ll go to the trouble of tracking down a Wii for you — and then pay for it as well. Of course, there are catches to the free Wii program — other than the fact that you have to pay for the digital phone service that is one of the three components of the Triple Play.
If you want a Wii, you have to sign up for two years of the service, and you have to be a new customer. And you have to do this by August 17. But at least this offer is better than dealing with Comcast sans bribe!
As was the case with Comcast’s free DS offer, this promotion is accompanied by an excellent commercial.
[Via Joystiq; commercial via WiiNintendo]
