Weeeooo

Weee-ooo.

Ok, I’ve got that out of my system now. But come on, really? You’d have thought the big N would have learned their lesson with naming by now…

Anyway, I thought that now E3 is over, I’d start arranging my rambling and dangerous thoughts into something vaguely coherent. Today I’m exploring my thoughts on the newly announced Nintendo Wii-U; some Ninty fanboys may want to look away now…

The nPad

It would be daft to start anywhere other than the elephant in the room; that controller. It’s like the bastard offspring of a DS and an iPad, and frankly doesn’t live up to the lofty heights of either parent. It looks like a FisherPrice toy, and enjoys something of an identity crisis as I can see. Is it a controller? Is it a handheld? Is it a tablet? I’d put my money on Nintendo trying to use it as all three, and coming up short.

wiiPad

To be fair to it, it’s certainly innovative. The idea of switching between handheld and console is certainly an interesting one, and used innovatively could be a fantastic step forward for the industry. However, I have concerns. It has been announced that so far there only plans for one of these controllers to be used with a console at a time; other players will be forced onto wiimotes/classic controllers. Not so impressive.

Also, I can see Sony sneaking up and stealing Nintendo’s thunder with the Vita. It’s close to PS3 spec, and will inevitably interact with the console in the future – Naughty Dog have already stated that the Uncharted game for Vita will interact with Uncharted 3 on PS3. Sony has a track record here, too; the remote play function of the PSP is not well known, but it was fantastically implemented. In trying to be too clever, Nintendo could be late to their own party.

PS Vita - Weeoo killer?

Spec

So far we know that the Wii-U will handle up to 1080p graphics, but we so far have no details on actual spec. Several third party developers have said that their cross-platform games will appear on the Wii-U, but that raises some questions for me. If the Wii-U is (as rumoured) of superior spec to even the PS3, will the ports take advantage of this, or be straight ports from the other consoles, thus rendering the extra spec pointless? Or will they be optimised, but inevitably take longer to arrive, thus leaving the Wii-U at a time lag disadvantage?

As with the previous couple of generations, the Wii-U will live or die on its first party exclusives. Rabid fanboys will eat up the inevitable HD iterations of Zelda, Mario and the like, but will that be enough to sway other gamers that have already been spoiled by the HD class of Xbox360 and PS3? Nintendo’s leap into HD isn’t nearly as jaw dropping as Microsoft’s and Sony’s, simply because it is already the norm.

Price

A big one, this. How much will the controller drive up the price of the system? Are Nintendo going to have to abandon (to an extend) the ‘casual’ market that made the Wii so successful? Will the hardware and more ‘serious’ games appeal to a generation of gamers that’s already shelled out for one or both of the established HD giants enough to part with yet more cash? Ninty have so far proved recession proof by driving into a new market, but trying to step back into an already (over?)saturated marketplace in challenging economic conditions will certainly represent a big gamble. Indeed, Iwata himself has said that this new console ‘won’t be cheap‘.

Until more is announced about the Wii-U, I’m certainly not leaping on the ‘day one purchase’ bandwagon. Rabid Nintendo fanboys won’t care a jot about anything I’ve just said; they’ll just be salivating at yet another facsimile Zelda adventure made shinier with HD graphics. But what about everyone else? The floating gamer that just likes to bust out Wii-Sports or Rock Band every now and then?

Let me know your thoughts on the new console. It would be interesting to see what effect the announcement has really had.

E3: What you need to know!

Once again it’s that time of year; when every gamer prepares themselves for a week of non-stop information about what to expect from the industry in the next year. This E3 is one that promises to be one to remember for a number of reasons, from the long list of high quality titles, to the potential for new console announcements. The run up to E3 has left us with a many questions about many of the potential releases that will come in the next twelve months and beyond. Read on to find out about the ones you need to be aware of.

Halo: In The Right Place At The Right Time.

I’ve kept quiet for long enough on this subject. I find it difficult to speak about; simply because the total onslaught of opposition I have on the topic. It’s no surprise to anyone that a good portion of video gamers are ridiculously devoted to certain games. Some gamers would defend them, even in face of indisputable evidence, that a certain feature was poor in comparison to another. Some of them are ‘fan boys’, some are people who genuinely enjoy the game and some are just jumping on the bandwagon because they love a good bit of mindless devotion. It’s for these reasons that I tentatively approach the subject of one of the world‘s biggest first person shooters: Halo.

Multiplayer Mayhem (I Miss You)

Multiplayer Mayhem

So after a long hiatus from writing (I’m blaming the combination of a broken finger and an even more broken laptop), I thought it was about time I bored the internet with my thoughts
again. The basis for this blog struck me a few weeks ago – those of you not living under a rock will, of course, realise that this was slap bang in the middle of the PSN down time.

Is Replayability Disappearing From First Person Shooters?

Today’s gaming industry is a fast moving one. Trends come and go, games flourish or wither depending on a large number of variables – developers on the climb one month, find themselves languishing and in danger the next. At the heart of the goings on is the game and the humble gamer. Generally we are an easy bunch to please. I know that we have a reputation for being a fickle crowd, but those people I truly believe are in a minority. There’s plenty of variety out there currently and getting hold of games has never been easier or cheaper. Are we really getting value for our money though? Are developers giving us what they were ten years ago? In some ways that humble gamer has never had it better but in others we’re being robbed.

“To the last man and the last round!” Or Why I Fail At Real Time Strategy Games

I’m not a bad gamer. Not by a long shot. When it comes to first person shooters I’ve pulled off some insane shit over the years. I’ve made that last second kill in deathmatch, grabbed the last point in a game of capture the flag, and literally been the last man standing. This is usually a mix of my own skill and that of the people I’m fighting with. I’m responsible for me. I kill the enemy. We win. As that annoying meerkat from the idiot box says “Simples” I also tend to be not be too bad at other game genres. While there are dozens to chose from, I can hold my own in racing, puzzle, sports, action and adventure games. However when it comes to Real Time Strategy games or RTS as they shall be known from here, I’m hopeless. Utterly Utterly hopeless.

Portal: Cutting into the cake of innovation

Hello Antiherogamers. Welcome to today’s post, where we look at Portal and imminent release of Portal 2. This post does contain some spoilers, so consider yourselves warned. This week sees the release of arguably one of the most anticipated games of 2011. As we all wait, anticipation reaching mind bogglingly high levels, we should look back at just why so many people are now “thinking with portals”

Don’t Wake Me Up

I’ve just spent what feels like hours travelling through the dark, twisted woods that lead down to the lake. With every flicker of movement, every change in the shadows, I nervously look, snapping my head from side to side, making sure I’m safe. I can hear my friend below me, calling out to me, telling me he’ll meet me at the farm. Don’t leave me alone, I think; but it’s too late, he’s gone, and I’m left to fend for myself.

A thin layer of perspiration settles on my brow, my clammy hands gripping the beaten up torch that feels like my only salvation. They’re coming to get me. I evade shadows, dodging and writhing from their grasp, diving into any pool of light I can see, grateful for the salvation it provides. How much longer can I go on like this? I want it to stop….but at the same time, I never want it to end.

Into Oblivion (Again)

Hello antiherogamers!

Despite not having the internet, I’ve kept up with the majority of gaming news. (God bless word of mouth and magazines) and have seen the coverage of “Skyrim” the new Elders Scrolls game.

I bought Oblivion, the previous entry to the series and played it religiously when it first came out and after sinking around 200 hours into it, I lost my saved game to a PC virus. Total fail.

I didn’t play it for some time until now as I thought it due to recent announcement it would be good to go back and finish the game

When it comes to Role Playing Games, ‘ something of a moron. This is because I totally miss the fucking point of them. If im playing an RPG, I generally go for the most human looking character, a male, whose main skills revolve around the use of guns/swords, bartering/speech and generally going for a combat/personality angle.

The thing is I want to break the mould. I want to try something different. I don’t want to play the same person in a different setting over and over.

So, as part of this little experiment I’ve started Oblivion again and will be recording how I get on. I’m going to be well outside my comfort zone and while I won’t be going finding every little quest in the game, there will be enough random run ins and side quests that pull my attention from saving the world.

Look for an update for the next couple of days for my first days in-game!

Have a good week

CptToffer

Twenty Minutes In the life of Isaac Clarke

Hello antiherogamers!

While I’ve been totally cut off from the internet it has given me a lot of time to game, and one game I’ve been playing is Dead Space 2. It is a simply fantastic game, very scary and very action filled. The developers have managed to bring the same sense of dread that the first had with faster paced combat. Rather then write a review of the game I’ve given you a twenty-minute slice of my time in the shoes of the very unfortunate Isaac Clarke.