Nintendorks http://nintendorks.com/ For dorks who love Nintendo. en-us Nucleus CMS v3.24 © Weblog http://backend.userland.com/rss http://nintendorks.com//nucleus/nucleus2.gif Nintendorks http://nintendorks.com/ Nintendo announces 3DS release date release date http://nintendorks.com/index.php?itemid=494 Exciting photo courtesy garman.Nintendo will be revealing the release date for the 3DS on September 29, according to Bloomberg Japan. This would seem to preclude a 2010 launch date. Nintendorks will be there* live to report on any release date release date announcements that might occur.

*on the Internet refreshing Google Reader]]> News Thu, 29 Jul 2010 11:49:29 -0400 Cory What? New article? http://nintendorks.com/index.php?itemid=493 cooing about the Nintendo 3DS. He told Business Insider, "The 3DS is just incredibly cool. The 3DS is magical. You put that in your hand, you look down, and all of a sudden it’s in 3D without glasses. That’s an amazing experience. I’m a huge fan." I feel like he's talking about my penis.

Schappert also glistened mightily when he added, "I think it’s going to do incredibly well, and in typical Nintendo fashion they have re-energized the industry, yet again."

What about Sony? "I think the PSP business has been challenged for a little while now," Schappert mused, perhaps with a hint of whimsy. ]]> News Sun, 25 Jul 2010 23:24:04 -0400 Chris Video games are gay http://nintendorks.com/index.php?itemid=492
]]> Blogs Tue, 6 Jul 2010 23:14:34 -0400 Chris Wii Party and Mario Sports Mix: A Comparison http://nintendorks.com/index.php?itemid=491 Shocking news! Wii Party features 2d6 instead of 1d12! How will the competitive Mario Party scene react?

Nintendo's new Wii party games were not only announced at the same press conference – they were right next to each other on the E3 show floor. On one hand you have "Wii Party," the Mii-filled heir apparent to the now-dormant "Mario Party franchise. On the other, "Mario Sports Mix," the Square Enix-developed expansion of their "Mario Hoops" title on the DS, now with volleyball, hockey, and more.A common complaint levied against "Mario Party" is that player skill determined very little by the end of the game. Sure, you can choose your path occasionally, and do well at minigames, but so many random events are flying around that a player could go from first place to dead last in the last two turns of the game.

"Wii Party" seems a bit more simplistic and less decision-based than "Mario Party," but this isn't really a bad thing. The board available on the show floor was basically a straight line, and minigames earned you an extra six-sided dice as long as you weren't dead last. The board game mode basically seemed to be watching things happen to you on the game board while occasionally playing a fun minigame. It's so upfront about random chance being inherent in the game structure that it's impossible to be upset when something bad happens to you. I got randomly teleported into a volcano and was still amused at the end.

Lakitu would seem to have an unfair advantage at Mario Sports Mix basketball.

"Mario Sports Mix" is almost the opposite. In a game of basketball, a single two-point shot was transformed into a 30-pointer thanks to a 15x multiplier appearing below the player taking the shot. He didn't plan for it, but it was there, and that was basically the end of the game. A similar problem plagued volleyball. The game was set to end at 11 points, and my team was at 10, up by four. We just needed one more shot to win, but a 5x multiplier appeared for the other team, enabling them to come from way behind and win on one shot. This is certainly not a Camelot-developed Mario sports game.

"Wii Party" embraces its random sillyness, while "Mario Sports Mix" moves the needle toward that same randomness while pretending player skill has something to do with victory. I know which one I'd rather play.]]> Impressions Mon, 21 Jun 2010 13:55:28 -0400 Cory E3 Odds & Ends: Some closing thoughts from Garret http://nintendorks.com/index.php?itemid=490 Garret:

3D TVs - Upon meandering into the Sony booth, working my way through myriad screens showing Playstation Movers and shakers, waggling away at casual games with a visual edge, I found a section dedicated to the ever growing and expanding 3D television craze. Sony, being a company that makes all kinds of electronic marvels, of course would be touting their new line of TVs and glasses that support the technology. As you might already know, the Playstation 3 is now able to display 3D games so long as you have all the necessary equipment. So why wouldn’t Sony be showing this all off? There’s games here, guys. Games in THREEE DEEEE!

I waited a moment or two for a strapping young gentlemen to put down the glasses that were tethered to a glowing white table. Once he moved, I pushed my way in and girded myself for the onslaught of this 3D phenomenon. On the screen in front of me was a demo of a racing game that will end up on the PS3 that will also be in 3D. I put on the glasses. Before me the screen went from two fuzzy images to one slightly better, depth filled image.

The demo began and the car raced down a busy city area, complete with explosions and fire for some reason. I could tell it was very mature and extreme because the car hit a few people and no one cared. Also, there was some rock music or something.

It’s hard for me to find the good in having to wear glasses to experience 3D after having played and salivated over the 3DS. With the glasses, even though the lenses are not necessarily tinted, I always had an ever-present knowledge that they were there, even outside of simply physically feeling them. The added depth somehow made things darker for me. I don’t know if that was just my viewing angle (I was slightly askew because there were three people watching at the same time), or if I just have poor eyesight. I should probably throw in the disclaimer that I’ve had eye surgery before so my eyes are probably broken or something. Maybe I’m just not seeing things like everyone else; who knows?

Outside of those unanswerable questions, I feel like you would end up forgetting that you’re wearing the glasses, just like in the theater. At first you really know you have those glasses on, but after a few minutes they’re an afterthought. With a three to four minute demo, you always know they’re on your face.

Speaking of the theater, it’s basically what you can expect from this technology at this point. You remember watching Avatar in 3D and it looking pretty good? Well, that’s about how this is. It working like they advertise isn’t necessarily the problem for me, it’s the cost of admission coupled with the fact that I actively avoid 3D movies like the plague. I don’t enjoy them at the theater and I have a pretty good inclination that I won’t at home, with or without the steep costs associated with it.

After a couple of minutes the demo locked up (the game was in alpha, I don’t fault anyone for that), and I left wondering if I could get back into the 3DS booth.

Socom 4 - Hey you guys remember MAG? It’s a game of massive action that you can play on the internet with a ton of people who have a difficult time commanding others but will whole heartedly yell at you for also being equally incompetent at it. Well, Zipper, the makers of MAG (honestly MAG is pretty fun, but what I just said still applies), is back with Socom 4. It’s the game people probably wanted MAG to be.

I waited in line for someone to leave their station. A gruff looking person from the “Dev Team” pointed me to the open console and I was ready to bomb some dodongos be a Navy Seal. I sat and the demo commenced.

This particular demo was only single player, although I do know that there will be a coop component (yay!) and multiplayer (yay...? I totally blow at Socom multiplayer so that’s not wholly appealing to me). Anyhow, the demo begins in the downtown area of a city. I unfortunately didn’t catch which, but it was very urban. A rogue ground to air missile shoots up from the streets, catching a Space-Needle-esque building right in the breadbasket, causing it to crumble and fall. Holy shit, guys! You are a no helmeted squad leader who doesn’t take kindly to those who don’t take kindly, and with that the demo begins.

The game controlled like your standard FPS. You are not running into any new territory here in that regard. Along with your four person squad, as leader guy you have control over blue squad and gold squad. Similarly to how you’d control your dudes in Mass Effect, you can point your reticule towards an area and with the D-pad send either team in that direction. If you’re a lazybones like I am, that means everyone else walks into firefights first. Some new things added to the Socomverse is the ability to take cover behind cars and obstacles. I really enjoy when games do that depth of field effect, and during cover the game focuses really tight on your character who is crouched behind whatever-the-hell. If you begin to aim the focus is drawn to things in the distance. Uncharted 2 did this a lot and it’s a great effect. Here it seems a little more dramatic and it really draws your eyes to what is in focus.

Speaking of graphics, there was a trailer that was released a few weeks ago that made it seem the game was not really that visually great. I can tell you that they were good, but not as awesome as we’ve seen in other upcoming big budget titles.

The demo basically had your running around on a bombed out freeway as you go from cover to cover, Gears style. I don’t say that as a bad thing, but it you’ll use the now-standard cover system quite a bit. Prepare for it. I unfortunately didn’t get to finish the demo because I had to go film Travis being REALLY bored in the Kirby line, but from what I played I was excited to get back into some Socom. One of the best memories of the PS2 era was playing coop Socom 3 throughout the entire game. It was a blast.

I look forward to doing more shoostings in Socom 4.

Travis: While copy/pasting this I was eating Cocoa Puffs. Is there anyone in the world that doesn't like Cocoa Puffs?]]> Impressions Sun, 20 Jun 2010 13:26:34 -0400 Travis Metroid: That Other Game http://nintendorks.com/index.php?itemid=489 Garret: As the only one of us who actually had a chance to play Metroid: Other M, I figured I'd write up a little something something about it.

The demo that I played involved some backstory, so just know they didn't take any of that business out of anything they showed. If you've been dreading the day when you actually have to learn something about Samus via something other than context clues or scanning environments, in a couple of months you'll have to endure a new type of storytelling for a Metroid. Get yourself into the mindset of getting over it. That's the new direction.

The demo was basically the one you may have read of before, the one they've been showing press for the last couple of months. Samus is sent to a scary derelict space station. As she enters, she is shot at by some crazy space marines. As Samus ninja-dodges out of the way, a cutscene enters. You learn a few things via the cutscene that we might not have known before. And how do you know that this information is something you might not know? Well, Samus says, "This is something that you might not know about me…" So there you go.

After a short cutscene that also teaches you how to use the charge beam, you blast open a door, your new found old friends run ahead, and you are left to follow. Unluckily for you, after walking through the door you are surrounded by flying evil purple space bats, and they knock you off a bridge to fall into the heart of the space ship. You then have to fight your way back to your space buddies and ultimately to a boss.

So how does it play? Well, awesomely. I can't say that it's not odd to switch between holding the controller sideways and then turning it to point and shoot, but after a few times it's not a huge issue; you get used to it. With that said, though, it's still kind of an odd decision. The game right next to Metroid was Donkey Kong Country Returns, and IT uses the nunchuck. Why? Not really sure, actually, but wholly-side-scrolling Donkey Kong has analogue control and Samus doesn't. Go figure.

Moving on, Samus runs and shoots at things, and she flips and jumps with aplomb. It's very fast and fun, with enemies jumping in from all directions. Similarly to Shadow Complex, Samus can shoot in all directions. Not similarly to Shadow Complex, you don't actively choose what to shoot. If you're pointing towards the right, she generally aims at the closest thing and goes to town. What you need to do is look and see in which direction (left, right, front, back) to point her to make sure you don't get hit. And that brings me to my next point.

While the game is basically a side scroller, the hallways have depth. Everything is rendered in 3D (because you can go into first person at any time), so you can actually move Samus back and forth in each hallway. You can run around some ground enemies, for example. On occasion the hallways turn and you have to run forward or back. IT'S CRAZY! Just know that it's not a strictly 2D affair when moving around.

And then you fight a boss! The room has you friends you met earlier in it, and they help you freeze parts of the giant purple blob monster. The main boss "authorizes" the use of missiles, so for the fight you get to blast the purple bastard with arm powered rockets. Using crazy freezing guns, your impromptu comrades freeze sections of the boss and you blast him with missiles, effectively exploding the blog into oblivion. After that, the little booth lady rips the controller out of your hand and pushes you along.

I will leave these impressions with simply saying that it feels like a very solid game and I will be buying it. So there, take that.

Travis: I wish I got to play this game. I m sad now.]]> Impressions Fri, 18 Jun 2010 18:04:30 -0400 Travis [radio] E3 Pizzacast 2010 http://nintendorks.com/index.php?itemid=488 here.

Pizzacast 2010
Our official E3 festivities for 2010. A retelling forged with one microphone. We discuss 3DS, Kinect, Move, Zelda: Skyward Sword, Kirby: Epic Yarn, Metroid: Other M, NAMBOJAM, and more!

Nambo Jam is so good, you guys.




We hope you enjoyed the E3 coverage. It's been more work than you think! Write us at radio@nintendorks.com.]]> General Fri, 18 Jun 2010 17:46:58 -0400 Travis Goooood Night, E3 http://nintendorks.com/index.php?itemid=487 ]]> Editorials Fri, 18 Jun 2010 03:54:50 -0400 Cory The Legend of Kirbster: Back to Kirbing http://nintendorks.com/index.php?itemid=486
This Kirby is made out of a couple strings of yarn. He doesn't inhale enemies, he turns into a car and parachute on a whim, he moves through a world of cloth and zippers! This game is so weird and delightfully cute. And it's two players! The game isn't super hard based on the demo, and I have a feeling it won't ever be anything ridiculously challenging, but it's such a peaceful and relaxing little 2D platformer with some creative ideas.


It's a hard game to write about. I could spend an hour describing exactly how it looks, but you really need to see it for yourself. Videos don't even properly do the game justice, though they help. It doesn't matter that you can see what it looks like. You just need to run through a level as Kirby, sliding under pieces of cloth, peeling open pieces of the level, squeezing the life out of enemies, and doing more things that require this game to be described with lots and lots of comma heavy sentences. The first time I went underwater (which involves Kirby moving to a blue piece of cloth and swimming around, I was so remarkably impressed with the ingenuity that went into this title. Reading that sentence back, it makes little sense. This just reinforces my point. You need to play the game for yourself. Or I need to be a better writer. Probably both.

As mentioned, the title supports two players. The second player controls a blue Kirby look alike named Prince Fluff. He wears a crown and has the ANGRIEST EYES. He's so adorable in his unbridled rage. This game is so delightful. He has an animation for looking up so I kept pressing up over and over in quick succession to make it look like he was arguing with Kirby. I had way too much fun doing this.

Worth noting is that "Kirby: Epic Yarn" looks an awful lot like this old Japanese commercial for a Kirby game that came out a decade ago. It's so interesting that it can't not be shared.

]]> Impressions Fri, 18 Jun 2010 02:32:34 -0400 Travis The Third Day http://nintendorks.com/index.php?itemid=485
So for day three of E3 I didn't play much that hasn't already been covered. I took a look at Zelda (because I wanted/needed the Zelda t-shirt they were giving out). Kevin has already covered this, but I'd like to add that it's really fun and BEAUTIFUL. I had zero trouble controlling it.

I played some sort of mysterious Socom 4 but heeeey this is a Nintendo site. If you're interested in my thoughts then ask Garret/Garman because he's played other Socom games and can give you a better idea of what to expect.

I also played some Kirby: Epic Yarn, but more on that later!

Today was the day of E3 that I sat around a lot and felt old. Oh man, I am so old, you guys. I don't want to stand in lines and watch these people talk about the game before they play it like they know everything about it. I don't want to see a loyal army of ladies trying to lure journalists to play games they wouldn't. You guys, I don't want to fight for food in the media lounge. We're supposed to at least be pretending to be professionals.

I'm not entirely sure what I'm intending to say here. This started off as a means to write quick impressions about a few things and now I'm complaining about the kids on my lawn. So I will simply close with a most accurate statement regarding E3. When it starts you are filled with wonder and when it ends you are so sick of it you can't even take a minute to say goodbye. We left a bit early today and I couldn't have been happier to leave.

Hey, come play Kinect. NO LEAVE ME ALONE!]]> Blogs Fri, 18 Jun 2010 02:04:46 -0400 Travis