Mini-Article: A new genre of gaming

Every time an appropriate movie comes out, a game developer makes a video game adaption of it. In fact, sometimes the movie doesn't even have to be a good fit for a game conversion and it'll still be made (See: Alvin and the Chipmunks). But what if we were to take a different look at movie games? What if, instead of your standard platformer or FPS adaptions, we instead had...


...interactive movies? I know, you're probably thinking "This is the same as a normal movie game!". But hear me out. For this example, I'll be using the movie Cloverfield (As seen above). This movie follows the story of a group of young twenty-somethings as a horrific monster attacks their home town of New York. We follow them throughout their insane ordeal had when trying to escape from this unknown threat.

What if, in the interactive movie, we didn't follow them, but instead became them? We would take on the role of Rob, the movie's unofficial star, as he runs through the streets of Manhattan. And that's it, really. Other than that, this would be exactly like the movie, but we're the main character. Every second of gameplay would be through his eyes. We'd control him, of course, but there'd be no additional fight scenes or anything like that. Everything that happened in the movie happens here, and nothing more.

Sure, you're thinking "Well, why not just buy the DVD?". Well, really, there's no reason to buy either one over the other. It's all based on preference. People can watch the story unfold, or take part in it. It would be exactly as I said: An interactive movie.

Actually, that's not entirely true. There would be a few minor changes. For one, we could walk around and inspect things that in the movie was never even glanced at. We could talk to the other terrified people of New York, seeing if we can get any idea about what this monster is. We could even run off course a bit and scout out the area. But mostly, things would be exactly as they were in the film.

Okay, this may sound a little boring and unappealing to the masses, but hey, didn't Brain Age sound the same way at first? That's because this wouldn't exactly be aimed at us core gamers. It would be more for those who want to get a little more out of their movies without doing too much work or learning too many things. It would also be for those who want to feel the thrill of running from some unknown being, something I'd love to experience (Not for real, of course!).

I guess it's somewhat difficult to express my ideas in words. Just imagine any old movie, but instead of watching it, you're in it. But it's different from a traditional game adaption. But it's sort of the same! AUGH! This is so hard to explain... I hope you get the basic idea.

Discuss this brain-fart on the forums

The Duck Has Spoken.

Pokémon: Why it needs to go back to go forward

I love the Pokémon series of games. Ever since I first got Pokémon Yellow way back in 1999, I've been hooked. I pick up each new game in the main series as soon as possible, even buying Gold Version and Diamond Version on their release dates. I have just about as much fun now as I did all those years ago, but something is starting to feel different about the series. It's not quite like the game I got for Christmas almost a decade ago. I really feel that, in some ways, Pokémon needs to go back to go forward.

First of all, I really hate how nice the rivals are now. I remember back in Pokémon Red, Blue and Yellow, how Gary Oak use to say "Smell ya later, gramps!" and "You stinker! I took it easy on you!". He was a jerk, and you really wanted to put him in his place. But now, the rivals are nice. You don't want to fight them. They're good sports, they encourage you to get better, hell, they're mostly childhood friends! I wish we could go back to the way things were in the first two generations, with jerks like Gary Oak and the mysterious red-haired kid.

Unlike Dawn and Lucas, the jerky crook in the second generation
was a rival you really wanted to beat the crap out of.

And what's the deal with how complicated the Pokémon contests have gotten? In Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald, it was as simple as entering and using appropriate moves to wow the judges. But in Diamond and Pearl, that hardly even seems like the focus of the contest any more. First, you have to dress up your Pokémon (What?). This is a really weird and somewhat abstract step, as your asked to dress them according to such bizarre themes as "The Alive", or some crap like that. They don't even tell you what class each accessory falls under, just to go ahead and slap some crap on your Pokémon.

And then there's the dance competition, which is just plain odd, and incredibly easy. For the first three turns, you mimic the moves of the lead dancer Pokémon, and on the fourth turn you perform your own dance. Except they aren't really dances, but more like timed button taps on the lower screen corresponding to one of four colours/directions. These just take away from what should be the main focus of the Pokémon contests, which is the actual competition stage.

One more thing that's really changed for the worst over the last three generations is the slot machine mini-game. In the original games, they were as easy as lining up the right symbols to win credits. But now there's things like bonus time and weird countdowns and stuff... What happened to the actual slot machine part? Other than the timed button-presses to stop each individual reel, there's almost nothing in the current slot machines like that in the originals. My dad always used to ask to play around in the slot machines in Yellow, but I think that all these changes and complications would only turn him away from them now. In fact, they're even turning me away. I've barely spent any time at all in the Game Corner in Diamond. Can't slot machines just be slot machines again?

And what's with all these weird and somewhat useless HMs? What the heck is with Defog? There's only one, maybe two places in the entirety of Pokémon Diamond where there's fog to disperse, and it just seems like an excuse to make up a new move. Not only that, but Defog is practically useless in battle. All it did was take up space in my Empoleon's moveset. I think they could have done well without the thick fog, and thusly without this useless HM. They could have easily gone with a light fog and gotten the same atmospheric effect, but without the annoying space-waster that is Defog.

Defog's not the only problem with the current HMs. What's the point of Rock Climb? It just serves as an annoyance to me. These climbing sections could have easily been replaced with, say, a staircase or ladder. As for serving as a way to impede progress until later on in the game, I'm sure something else could have been worked out. Anything to avoid the uninspired Rock Climb HM.

In fact, what if we just went back to how it was in the beginning, with five HMs? Cut, Fly, Surf, Strength and Flash were all good enough for me. I wouldn't mind if they added in one or two of the newer HMs like Waterfall or Rock Smash, just for a bit of variety. Just no "clone" HMs, like Defog and Rock Climb are. After all, they're just variations on Flash and Waterfall, respectively.

While the core gameplay of Pokémon has gotten nothing but better, there are so many parts of it that have done little but get worse. Making things complicated isn't always how you move forward with a franchise. Quite often, it's just the opposite. In Pokémon's case, I sincerely think that going back is the only way to move forward.

Discuss this article on the forums

The Duck Has Spoken.

Poll #38: "Would you buy a new DS model if it were released this year?" results, banner

"Definitely." 6 votes (20%)
"Most likely" 3 votes (10%)
"I'm not sure. I'd have to see it first." 11 votes (36%)
"No, I'm happy with my current handheld" 8 votes (26%)
"I have no idea." 2 votes (6%)

So, it seems that how people feel about a redesign is somewhat split down the middle. I was thinking that maybe things to lean a little more in the direction of "Definitely", but this is still pretty much what I expected. Also, am I the only one who thinks the number of voters has been dropping lately? It's odd, because site traffic seems about the same... Oh well.

This week's banner comes to us from forum member camieman10. As you most likely know, I've been a pretty big supporter of getting a Luigi's Mansion 2. camieman10 decided it would make a good subject for a banner, and I quite like the result. I hope you all enjoy it, too!



Remember, if you ever want to submit a banner to One Duck's Opinion, you can do it in one of two ways. First, you can e-mail it to me via the address listed in the sidebar. Just give the message a name like "One Duck's Opinion Banner" so I don't think it's spam, and attach the file to it. Second, you could just post it in the Banner Submission Thread in the forums if you're a member (If not, feel free to join!).

Whichever submission method you choose, make sure the banner fits the specifications listed in the above thread. So then, I hope so see some new submissions soon!

And finally, we have this week's poll: "Would you be interested in a hard drive for the Wii?". I'm sure more than one of you out there is having troubles with the small amount of space available on the Wii's current 512MB of memory. With WiiWare just around the corner, it seems that problems will just become even more common. So if Nintendo released a hard drive for the Wii with, say, 20GB of memory, would you get it? I think I'd go for it, as long as it doesn't cost too much. I'm not made of money, after all!

Tonight's article will be up in a little while.

The Duck Has Spoken.

Mario Kart Wii review

I like writing reviews, and I love getting more games to review. But damn, I've done so many reviews lately, I think I'll stick to the opinions and such next week.


Developer: Nintendo EAD
Publisher: Nintendo
Release Date: April 27th, 2008
ESRB Rating: E for Everyone
ESRB Notes: Comic Mischief

Mario Kart is a unique sort of franchise. A new installment is released only once for each console, and nobody ever asks for a sequel before the next system comes out. Mario Kart games just have insane staying power, and players will be satisfied with any one release for years on end. I still play Mario Kart DS every now and then. In fact, I don't think it's gone too far from my DS ever since I got it in 2005! With Mario Kart Wii, the game finally makes the jump to Nintendo's revolutionary new console. Do things keep moving well, or has this kart finally run out of gas?

When it comes to gameplay, this kart still rides as if it just rolled off the lot, but a few parts are a little rusty. Mario Kart Wii sports 32 tracks to race on, 16 of which are brand-spanking new. The other 16 are a selection of Mario Kart's excellent history of circuit design, featuring gems such as Bowser's Castle from the Nintendo 64, Yoshi Falls from the Nintendo DS, and Peach Beach from the Gamecube. Players can also select from a massive group of racers, with a grand total of 25 playable characters (Although I question why some racers are present. Baby Peach? Diddy Kong?). To go with that, there's 24 different vehicles to choose from, eight for each weight class. Needless to say, there's a lot of choices in Mario Kart Wii, so there's bound to be the right vehicle and character for everyone.

Speaking of vehicles, Mario Kart Wii adds a new class of machine to it's roads: Motorcycles. Players can make the swap from four wheels to two, adding the ability to do wheelies. While doing a wheelie, players get a slight speed boost, but sacrifice some maneuverability and can lose their balance in a collision. Kart racers cannot do wheelies, but they do enjoy higher acceleration when performing a mini-boost. So really, it all depends on which you like best.

Also new to Mario Kart Wii are a vast assortment of items. There's all the old standbys like Lightning, Koopa Shells and Mushrooms, as well as a few new items such as the Mega Mushroom, POW Block and Lightning Cloud. While most of these items are fair, a few seem a little cheap. The Spiny Shell, for example, always takes out the lead racer, and with 11 people behind you, being in first place can be quite dangerous. This can be really bad if it hits you while jumping over a chasm or right before passing the finish line, letting the guy in second take the gold. However, there is one other item that bugs me even more than the infamous Spiny Shell, and that's the POW Block, one of the newcomers. Not only does this cause every player in front of the user spin-out, it also shakes all their items away, leaving you helpless in the middle of the road. It's such an incredible pain to see that block appear above my head, because then it's only a matter of seconds until I'm spinning out and dropping my precious items. Thankfully, the POW Block cannot reach me in mid-air. But that does little to reduce my hate for this item. It's cheap, unfair, and incredibly frustrating to be on the receiving end of. Oh, and there's no more Boo item. That reeeeeeeally sucks.

I hate you so much, POW Block. So. Very. Much.

So, you may be wondering what the controls for this game are like. Well, Cowboy Jed says "Get behind the wheel!", and he seems like a pretty okay fellow. Really, the controls are just that simple. Wanna turn left? Turn the Wii Wheel left. Acceleration? 2 button. Brake? 1 or B, take your pick. Items? Press up on the D-pad to toss 'em forward, down to drop them behind you, and hold left to equip and drag the item until you're ready to use it. The controls couldn't get much more easy to understand.

As for how accurate the motion sensing is, I think it's pretty great. Turn the wheel a little and Yoshi starts a shallow turn. Turn it a lot and that dinosaur's careening around corners. You can take even the sharpest of turns by drifting into them. Besides allowing players to take sharp turns at high speeds, drifting also brings another benefit: The afore-mentioned mini-turbo. Drift long enough and sparks will fly from your back tires. Stop drifting and your vehicle will get a nice boost. Drift long enough and you'll get an even bigger boost. No need to rock back and forth with the controls to mini-boost like in previous games, just wait for it to happen. In addition to making things a little easier, this gets rid of the pesky snaking problem that plagued Mario Kart DS. So no need to worry about that anymore. If you were a snaker, well, I guess you're out of luck.

When it comes to the Gamecube Controller, Classic Controller and Nunchuk Style control schemes, I really can't say how well they perform. I just haven't had any time to try them out! I usually sit down and play Mario Kart Wii, meaning to try out the other control schemes, but I just get too caught up to think about it. Before I know it, two hours are passed, and I need to go do something. The addictiveness of the game is almost too much to bear! I'm just too used to and comfortable with the Wii Wheel controls. They just really work for me. Plus, I don't want to lose my golden Wii Wheel icon...

To say this game is hectic would be an understatement. You'll often go from first place to twelfth and back to first again. Definitely not for those who are expecting a perfect run every race. Even in first place, you're anything but safe.

Speaking of being in first place, I've heard a lot of people say that it's a very bad idea to be in first place for the entirety of a 150cc race, the highest of the difficulties. They complain about being bombarded with Spiky and Red shells left and right. Strangely, I haven't been beaten around anywhere near as much as these guys, even when playing in the same situation. It seems they're exaggerating to me. Or maybe I'm just incredibly freaking lucky.

As for how the game looks, I'm pretty happy with it. Everything's good and cartoony, with vibrant colours and some decent smoke effects. On paper it's not quite as impressive as Super Mario Galaxy or Super Smash Bros. Brawl, but it's still a pretty damn good looking game. Some of the character models are a little under whelming (I'm looking at you, Donkey Kong), but almost everything else looks great. Even the little shells and bananas you see for less than a split second look pretty great. A good looking game with a few rough bits here and there.

Mario Kart Wii, like every other game in the franchise, carries with it an amazing selection of music. Each track has it's own catchy tune to go with it, from the spaced-out Rainbow Road theme to the dark and fast-paced Bowser's Castle song. The music even adapts to the situation, becoming strained and freaky-sounding when your character's been squished or shrunk. And as always, it plays at double-speed in the final lap, making you just want to go even faster.

Now, the following has been getting on some people's nerves. All the characters are really talkative in this one, from Baby Peach's high-pitched rambling to King Boo's bizarre screeches. It doesn't really get to me that much, but those with a low tolerance to repetitive and random jabbering might want to take caution.

Some sound effects play through both the Wii remote and the TV speakers, which I think is pretty neat. It can also come in handy if you're engaged in local multiplayer, making it more clear just who has a red shell headed for their ass. Every little collision plays through the Wii remote speaker as well, which, when paired with the rumble, adds a good bit of immersion.

One of the most talked-about features of Mario Kart Wii would have to be it's "awesome-yet-at-the-same-time-a-major-let-down" multiplayer, specifically online. When it comes to the awesome part, lag is virtually non-existent, even if your opponent lives on an entirely different continent. Plus, every mode supports up to 12 players at once, making for some insane online gaming.

If you have a pal visiting your house, you can even let him grab a controller and join you online using the same console. It plays just like normal online play, except it's all viewed in split-screen. However, there are a few minor problems. To start, only the first player can select a map to play on, with the second player's choice always mimicking that of the first. Not only is this kind of a rip-off to your pal, but now you pretty much get two votes in this draw, making things kind of unfair for those playing solo.

And what if your pal wants to join in on a race you're already playing? Well, he can't. You have to disconnect from the Wi-Fi Connection, select two-player online, reconnect, reselect your character and vehicle, and wait for the game to find another match for you to join. It's not exactly seamless. And what if the second player has a Mario Kart Wii profile on your Wii? Well, they can't earn any points, even if they choose to play as the Mii assigned to their save file. Kind of a raw deal.

As for where it falls short, every battle mode is now team-based, with no way to opt for free-for-all. This, quite frankly, sucks the big one. I loved going all out against my friends back in the day on the Nintendo 64, and now that's all gone. It seems it was implemented as a way to give casual players more of a fighting chance, as the team with the most points wins, and not the best racer. I'm really not opposed to the concept of team battle mode, but it's a problem when all-out, every-man-for-himself gameplay is sacrificed for it. And they got rid of Block Fort! Come on, man, that was the best battle arena!

Speaking of arena issues, I find that every single map is far too big to be a good battlefield. I often find myself driving around aimlessly for ages waiting to find an opponent, stumbling across nothing but empty space and allies. It makes sense for the map to be so big to account for 12 players, but if those players are divided up into teams of six, the arena just seems too big. I miss the hectic battles from Double Dash and Mario Kart DS...

Another problem with battle mode arises in the Balloon Battles. Each player starts with three balloons, and it's their goal to shoot out the balloons of the opposing team by attacking their karts. It used to be that when you lost all three of your balloons, you had to either watch everyone else play, or you got to roll around as a bomb and attack people. But in Mario Kart Wii, losing your balloons doesn't seem to have any consequence except for the lost points. You just reappear on the map with a fresh set of three balloons, and you set off to play again. Was elimination play too much to ask for?

There's another mode for battles, and that's Coin Runners. Basically, each team competes to collect more coins scattered about the course than their opponents. You can beat the coins out of other players with items, and you can lose them by getting hit or falling out of the stadium. That's really all their is to it, but it's fun.

Every mode of online play is also available in offline multiplayer using one Wii console, and Battle Mode is available in single-player mode, although it's against computer-controlled characters. Still a good way to practice when you don't have any friends with you to play.

Mario Kart Wii does one thing that only one other Wii game so far has done, and that is it brings it's own channel with it! Right on the disc lies the Mario Kart Channel, a portal for online tournaments (Such as globally-ranked time trials), Ghost Races (Compete against the "ghost" of someone else and try to beat their time), and check to see which of your registered friends are online (Yes, it uses Friend Codes. Get used to it, pal). The channel can be installed onto the Wii Menu from the disc, meaning you can access it even when the Mario Kart Wii disc isn't in the Wii. Of course, you'll need to put in the disc if your want to take part in any of the events linked to from the channel.

As for the previously-mentioned tournaments, the currently-running tourney is a time trial on Mario Circuit with one minor change: Chain Chomps run wild on the track, causing destruction everywhere they go. Also, it's not quite a time trial like in the you're used to, as you also have to deal with CPU opponents while pushing for a record. While this is kind of fun, it would be nice if future tournaments did something more than just pit our best time trials against other players. Being able to actually race other players from around the world in a big competition would be wicked. Also, will their be prizes for the winners of these tournaments? A special graphic for their vehicle or something like that would suffice. Just something to show that "Hey, I'm one of the best Kart players in the world!", you know?

Now, it should go without saying that this game is going to last players a long, long time. With so many characters to unlock and uncountable amounts of opponents available online, there's plenty here to keep anyone coming back for more. And it's always fun to try and beat your best time on a certain track. Maybe you'll make it to the top of a tournament! Like all the Mario Karts before it, Mario Kart Wii is going to be a staple in my gaming diet for quite some time.

SUMMARY

Gameplay: 9.0/10
As with every installment, Mario Kart Wii delivers great gameplay in bulk. The Wii Wheel controls are great, and the track design is excellent. And with so many characters to choose from, you could go ages before finding the one that's right for you. But the POW Block and lack of Boo item really irk me. And seriously, who invited Diddy Kong?

Graphics: 8.75/10
The environments, items and karts all look great. There's some pretty neat lighting effects, too, making everything look even better. However, the character models are a little lacking. Still, everything has a great cartoony look to it, and it's very nice to look at.

Audio: 9.25/10
I love the music in Mario Kart Wii. It's all so darn catchy and upbeat. The way the music changes when things happens is really great, too. Some of the characters are a little annoying sounding, though, so beware.

Multiplayer: 7.8/10
Mario Kart Wii is still a great multiplayer game like all the other installments, but the battle modes are severely underwhelming. Mandatory team battles are a real pain, and the arenas are way too large for two teams of six. Some of the older stages even seem to be magnified from their original format!

Longevity: 9.25/10
As is the case with every game in the series, Mario Kart Wii is one of those special games that people play throughout a whole generation and never seem to complain about their infrequency. Even after unlocking all the characters and getting gold trophies in all the races, you'll still be coming back for the multiplayer. You'll probably stick to the basic racing, though, and avoid the battles on the most part.

OVERALL: 8.75/10
While Mario Kart Wii isn't perfect, I still see myself playing this one for years on end. Sure, the team-based battles are a little disappointing, but the twelve player races online are insanely fun. And plus, it's just one of those games people seem to come back to over and over. Any Wii owner who likes to race and has a fondness for something a little crazy needs to get Mario Kart Wii.

So then, that's that! See y'all Monday.

Discuss this article on the Forums.

The Duck Has Spoken.

Gaming Oddities 3: How many more will I have to write?

Hey, folks. Gotta make it short and sweet tonight. So here's another gaming oddities! (The entire list of oddity articles can be found here)

Gaming has been around for decades, and the bizarre anomalies associated with it have been around just as long. I've already exposed fifteen of these oddities, and now to point out even more.

I guess Mario has invisible rudders.

Ever jump in a video game, second-guess yourself, and slam the analog stick backwards to turn around? I think it's happened to all of us. But... How the hell does this work? Last I checked, it was physically impossible for someone to change their trajectory in mid-air in such a manner. No, Mario isn't holding an invisible jetpack, and Sonic the Hedgehog doesn't have command over the laws of physics. Yet for some reason, they can manipulate their speed and direction in mid-air. Perhaps game characters are just magical like that.

Perhaps you can take it with you when you die...

I noticed this one a few weeks ago while playing Godfather. I was walking through a back alley and stumbled across a black market merchant. His price was a little steep for me, so I left. Then, he dies in a bizarre accident (It was an accident, I swear! My finger slipped!), dropping nothing on the ground. The weapon he was going to sell to me seems to have passed on as well.

On the other side of things, buying stuff from a guy then killing him never yields the money you just payed him. Are there heavenly bank accounts now? I should invest in that. And this isn't just restricted to The Godfather. Go kill the merchant in Resident Evil 4 and check out all the goodies he doesn't drop for you. Bugger.

"Well, she's dead. Nope, Phoenix Down won't help at all. Let's go."

Ever notice that when an RPG character dies outside of battle, your Revives and Phoenix Downs strangely cannot bring them back to life? But if they incurred their fatal injury in a non-scripted fight, it works just fine? Noticing a problem here?

The most famous example of this has to be Aeris' death in Final Fantasy VII. Sephiroth flies in out of nowhere and stabs her through the abdomen, she falls, end of story. But Phoenix Downs? Nope, can't use 'em. Funny, because I could have sworn I revived her a good fifty times previously. I guess the storyline can get in the way of thinking normally sometimes.

"Oh, don't worry, it's much more spacious inside!"

That must be a popular line with real estate agents in the Pokémon universe. After all, every building in the Pokémon games is far bigger inside than out. Take a look:



The building that once took up a few tiles on the screen now needs to be scrolled through in order for everything to be seen! Heck, the sprite for the lab's outside would fit in the inside map multiple times! You'd almost think that each building was actually a disguised entrance to a subterranean cavity much larger than the entryway above. Hmm... Come to think of it, Professor Oak has been looking awful pale lately...

So then, that's four more oddities out in the open. You really don't realize how many of these there are until you go looking for them! So then, I guess you can talk about this in the comment section, or in this forum thread. I, on the other hand, need to get some sleep. See ya'll on Friday!

The Duck Has Spoken.