2009 vs 2007

Probably the craziest freaking thing I have ever written. This is what happens when I don't get enough sleep. You've all been warned. Also, there be Twitter in the sidebar. Expect to see even more nonsense than usual around here.



Many people consider 2007 the year to beat when it comes to the quality and frequency of Wii software. 2008 was a slightly disappointing year, with few Nintendo titles and a major drop in third party quality. 2009, however, is looking to be one of the Wii's best years. How does this promising new year stack up against the quality offerings of 2007? That's what I'm going to find out.

Announcer: "In this corner, weighing in at a hefty 365 days and sporting a game library vast enough to make the Nintendo DS tremble... TWOOOOO-THOUSAAAAAAAND-SEEEEVEEEEEEEEEEN!!!

And in this corner, weighing in at 12 months and bringing with it an upcoming release list sure to make any gamer's day... TWOOOOO-THOUSAAAAAAAND-NIIIIIIIIIINE!!!"

*Starting bell rings*

Announcer: "2007 comes out swinging with Super Mario Galaxy and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. 2009 blocks with Punchout! Wii and Sin & Punishment 2, then delivers a blow with a Madworld uppercut! 2007 staggers for a moment, then retaliates with Mario Strikers Charged. Ooh, a direct blow to 2009! Slightly woozy, 2009 manages to strike back with Wii Sports Resort with a MotionPlus finisher. 2007's on the ropes!"

*Bell rings*

Announcer: "And that's round one! Let's have a talk with our two fighters to see how they feel about the match so far..."

2007: "That 2009's nothing, man. Nothing! I got something up my sleeve for him... A real hidden gem. He'll never know what hit him!"

2009: "He may think he has me now, but I'm nowhere near done. I know all his moves, but nobody knows even half of what I have in store!"

*Bell rings*

Announcer: "And it's into the second round! 2007 looks poised to bring out that 'hidden gem' he mentioned earlier... Oh, and it's a devastating blow with Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure! And what's this...? Oh my! 2007 whipped out The Godfather: Blackhand Edition, delivering a mighty hit to 2009! 2009 weakly attacks back with Klonoa, but 2007's seen it before and knows what to expect! 2007's just too fast!

Wait... 2009's acting strange. He's standing up slowly... He's got a strange look in his eye. OH! A DEBILITATING BLOW! 2009 just slammed 2007 with the best punch I've ever seen! 2007's down for the count! ...8 ...9 ...10 ...and it's a K.O! 2007 is out cold! 2009 takes the title! Now then, I've got to know, what was that last punch? 2009, care to comment?"

2009: "Can't say just yet, man... but believe me... It'll be worth the wait."

Announcer: "...well, that seems to be it, folks. 2009's not about to let us in on the secret, and I doubt 2007 even saw that coming. It looks like we'll just have to wait until he's ready to reveal it all. Until then, this is your announcer 2008. Couldn't get a better job with my track record..."

...and that's why 2009 will be better than 2007. Yup.

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PC vs console gaming

Like I said back in May, I'm currently both a PC and a console gamer. I'm in a unique situation now, you see, as many PC gamers consider their choice superior to that of console gamers. Of course, the console gamers feel quite to the contrary. While I don't hope to once and for all end this argument, I will lay the facts down right here and now and decide whether one choice truly has any sort of advantage over the other.

Round 1: Price

When it comes to a good, gaming quality PC, you're quite often going to be spending big bucks just to make par, so to speak. Most every gaming-level PC out there is going to cost you upwards of $1000, and that's just for the CPU. Add in a $300-$400 high-quality monitor, a keyboard, mouse and speakers and the price is sure to be at least $1500. Going PC when it comes to gaming is never cheap unless you have some major connections and the know-how to put together your own computer from scratch.

Consoles, on the other hand, currently cost between $280 and $400 plus tax here in Canada. At those prices, you'd be able to get one of each consoles and a few games for less than a fully-loaded gaming PC. Of course, there's the addition of peripherals and, in the case of the XBox 360, online subscription fees, but even factoring in these would at most overshoot the PC price point by no more than $100 or so. Still, you'd be getting three game consoles, peripherals, games and subscriptions for the price of a computer, monitor and accessories. I feel that's reason enough to conclude that round 1 goes to the consoles.

Round 2: Game Selection

The PC gets a relatively mixed-bag of games. Many major console games eventually see release on the PC, sometimes simultaneously, especially games otherwise exclusive to the XBox 360. Mass Effect, Fallout 3, Left 4 Dead, Grand Theft Auto IV and BioShock are all good examples of this. The PC's library of exclusive games is somewhat lacking, though, with only a few significant titles coming to mind, some of which are many years old. Finally, due to how open the world of PC game development is, the amount of shovelware clogging up the shelves rivals that of the Wii and DS combined. Back on the bright side of things, the PC has a game library going back about twenty years, with many classic games such as Fallout, RollerCoaster Tycoon, SimCity, and so much more available for little or nothing. No console in history can match the shear size of the PC's library.

As for the console scene, there tends to be far more exclusives than on the PC. If you were to add up all the exclusive titles available out there for the 360, Wii and PS3 you'd surely come up with a number many, many times that of what you'd find doing the same with the PC. Heck, the AAA exclusives for the Wii alone over the last two years probably outnumber those of the PC. Super Mario Galaxy, Mario Kart Wii, Metroid Prime 3, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Super Paper Mario, No More Heroes, Wario Land: Shake It, Battalion Wars II... The list keeps going! However, as I said before, even counting services like the Virtual Console and XBox Live Arcade, no console can even come close to the gargantuan amount of classic games available for the PC. Round 2 ends in a tie.

Round 3: The Social Factor

Even the most die-hard PC fan would have to admit that there's just no matching having a bunch of friends all crowded around a single TV wailing on game controllers in a frantic race to outdo each other. Unless you have a dedicated circle of PC-playing friends with easily-transported rigs, you just can't match the same-room mayhem of consoles.

When it comes to being a social gaming experience, the PC isn't entirely behind the consoles. Like the 360, PS3, and soon to be the Wii, the PC also has live voice chat during games. That being said, although this does help close the gap a little, the consoles still claim round 3.

Round 4: Compatibility

When you bring home a new XBox 360 game, do you have to check what version of the console you have, or what your processing power is? Nope, you just pop in the disc and get playing. This isn't the case with PC gaming, though, as I nervously approach any new game and carefully read the requirements on the back to check if I can run it on my mid-range PC. Even if I can run it, it probably won't be at full graphical quality. This is where price comes back into play, as PC gamers have to continually upgrade their rigs in order to keep up with the ever-changing standard of processors and graphics cards. Console gamers? We just buy the successor every five years, sit back, and relax. Without a doubt, consoles claim victory this round.

Round 5: Controls

If you're reading this article on a computer, look right in front of you and see one of the greatest controllers ever made: The keyboard and mouse. With the keyboard's nearly infinite possibilities for customization and the mouse's pinpoint accuracy, the PC can adapt to just about anyone's preferences. Heck, if you don't like to use a keyboard and mouse, you can even hook up an XBox 360 controller and play with that instead!

In the consoles' corner, the only controller that comes close to matching the precision of a keyboard and mouse is the Wii remote. With its infra-red pointer, the Wii remote is every bit as accurate as the mouse, if not more so. Of course, the Wii remote, along with the Dualshock 3, have motion sensing, something no PC input device I've heard of can match. This round is too close to call, with motion sensing on one hand, and customization on the other, I'm going to have to call this a tie.

Round 6: Multitasking

The latest round of consoles come complete with many features other than playing video games, from web browsers to weather updates to virtual stores for customizing. However, no amount of additional features on a game console can match the insane multitasking abilities of a PC. After all, PCs are generally computers first, game consoles second. Just about every PC out there has word processing, web browsing, photo editing, movie making, music playback, a DVD player, and so much more. Without a doubt, round 6 goes to the PC.

VERDICT

With each victory counting for a full point, and each tie counting for a half-point, the consoles win the round with a 4 over the PC's respectable 2. Don't go thinking that a PC isn't worth your time for gaming, though, as these are just numbers. While the consoles may have won when it comes to the score, the PC isn't entirely inferior. It's a complicated sort of battle, really, and it's the kind that really never will have any sort of clear winner in the end. However, based on the above facts alone, the consoles do beat out the PC. Just remember that preference is the one true deciding factor, since that's all that really matters.

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Mario vs. Sonic: The battle for the DS

Here it is, folks! It's that "*Hint, hint*" article I've been mumbling about! This is gonna be an all out war!

VS

Mario and Sonic have been rivals for over fifteen years. And now, here they are, both on the same system. Of course, SEGA and Nintendo are now anything but enemies, but still, one of these games has to be superior! So then, in this article I will decide the winner of this round fought on the DS. Which is better: New Super Mario Bros. or Sonic Rush?

Now, you may remember that in my reviews of New Super Mario Bros. and Sonic Rush, both games received a 9.2/10 overall. But of course, no two games are equal, regardless of the score I give them. One is better, and I'm gonna find out which one it is. I will be judging each game in several specific categories. Each time one game is deemed superior to the other in a particular category, it will receive a point. In the end, the game with the most points will emerge as the victor. So then, LET THE BATTLE BEGIN!

Round One: Playable characters

In both games, players can take control of two characters. In New Super Mario Bros., Mario and Luigi are selectable (Although Luigi is somewhat of a secret), and in Sonic Rush, Sonic the Hedgehog and Blaze the Cat are playable. When it comes to numbers, they are equal. However, when it comes to character diversity, there is quite the difference. In NSMB, Mario and Luigi play exactly the same, while in Rush, Sonic and Blaze feature different movesets and separate storylines. With that in mind, Sonic Rush wins Round One.

Round Two: Number of playable levels

In NSMB, each World is divided up into several levels, with a grand total of 80 separate stages. In Rush, Stages are divided up into three levels (Except for Zone F, which is one giant boss battle). That makes 22 levels in the whole game (Not counting the levels in Blaze's story, as they are the same as the levels in Sonic's story). There is also one extra level available after beating the game as both characters, which brings the grand total for Sonic Rush up to 23. It doesn't take much of a genius to see that NSMB greatly defeats Rush in this category, with more than three times as many levels. Thusly, New Super Mario Bros. wins Round Two.

Round Three: Enemy variety

In Sonic Rush, many enemies are simply drone robots which take little more than a swift jumping on or dashing through to defeat. There are a few variations, such as robots with deflecting shield (Vulnerable only from above), and two other types of bots which take three hits to defeat instead of one.

However, in NSMB, enemy variety is much greater. Sure, most enemies in this game require a mere one hit to defeat, but their weaknesses and strengths are far more diverse. There's the Koopa, which can only be truly defeated via fireball or being hit be another Koopa shell (If it merely falls off the stage, it will return if you leave and come back). There's Pokey, a large, segmented cactus which can withstand every one of his parts being destroyed up until his head section is beaten. There's the Boo, which is actually nearly indestructible, and is vulnerable only to Mega Mario and invincibility. Without a doubt, New Super Mario Bros. wins Round Three.

Round Four: Boss battle diversity

In Sonic Rush, there are 17 boss battles, compared to NSMB's 9 (Plus mini-bosses). However, eight of the boss battles in Sonic Rush are the same as some of the other battles (Blaze faces the same bosses in her story arc), so in reality, there are only 9 bosses. But this isn't about the shear number of bosses, this is about how different each encounter is.

In Sonic Rush, each boss takes eight hits to defeat (Six in Easy Mode). In each battle, the only way to harm the boss is to attack the pilot's cockpit (Each boss is a huge robot). The bosses attack patterns are all greatly varied (Except for one boss, who is a slightly changed version of another), and many of which take unique advantage of the game's three-dimensional perspective.

New Super Mario Bros. matches Sonic Rush's number of bosses, but the variety leaves a little something to be desired. For example, while many of Rush's bosses feature several attacks, the ones in NSMB only boasts one move. For example, the boss of World 2 simply pops out of the ground and spits crap at you, and nothing more. Also, with the exception of the first and last two bosses, every fight requires you hit the enemy three times. Really, NSMB's bosses are quite basic compared to those in the blue blur's adventure, so Sonic Rush wins Round Four.

Round Five: Storyline

Neither Sonic or Mario games have ever been renowned for their gripping storylines. That being said, one of them still has a greater plot. In Sonic Rush, there's quite the extensive story, involving dimensional rifts and mysterious characters. In New Super Mario Bros., Bowser kidnaps the princess. Check, please! Sonic Rush wins Round Five.

Round Six: Power-ups

New Super Mario Bros. brings over many of the classic power-ups from the series to the table, including the Super Mushroom and the invincibility-granting Starman. It also introduces a few new power-ups, in the form of the Mini Mushroom, the Mega Mushroom and the blue Koopa shell.

In Sonic Rush, the list of power-ups is pretty short, with a one-hit resistant shield, a variant of said shield that attracts rings, and a couple of other minor boosts such as a filler for the Tension Gauge and temporary invincibility. Really, the power-ups are hardly worth mentioning in this case, due to how few of them there are. This is a pretty easy one to decide. New Super Mario Bros. wins Round Six.

Round Seven: Art style

Sonic Rush came out way earlier in the DS' lifespan than New Super Mario Bros., so I will not compare graphics for the sake of being fair. However, I will compare their art styles, something that is very important in the overall appearance of any game. Now then, both games employ a three-dimensional character on a two-dimensional backdrop style, and that much is equal. However, the two-dimensional backgrounds in Sonic Rush are, in my opinion, far brighter and livelier. In contrast, the backgrounds in New Super Mario Bros. seem rather stale and lifeless. Thusly, Sonic Rush wins Round Seven.

VERDICT

With a score of 4 to 3, Sonic Rush barely manages to squeeze past New Super Mario Bros. and win this challenge. That's right, the plumber himself lost on his own home turf! Sorry, Mario, but maybe next time! Both games put up an incredible fight, but in the end, there can only be one winner. Regardless of who won or lost, both games are great additions to any DS owner's collection.

The Duck Has Spoken.