jbanes

That's a cop-out answer. Activision is supposed to release downloadable content for GH3 soon, and the SD Card slot provides more than enough storage for new songs, characters, and guitars. Here's the problem. One of the party features of Rock Band was the ability to create a band, create your own avatars, then take your band on a world tour. This is completely without worrying about online support. Harmonix removed it. I'm sorry, I just won't support a company that shoves substandard products on the market as a way of "cashing in" on the latest craze. The Wii is not the GameCube. We don't have to feel lucky that "at least we got something". It's the most popular console of this generation, and the ONLY console to be supply-limited over a year and a half after release. It's currently on track to be the most popular console EVER. Treating that market like crap is a great way to put your company out of business.

Give it some time to dry, then try reading it with your best floppy drive. Floppy disks tended to be pretty hardy when it came to moisture. (I spoke with a guy who used to hide a disk in a small brook. He'd just set it out to dry for a few hours and it would work fine.) Just don't do anything like use a hairdryer on it. That will most certainly damage the disk. Of course, if the disk is one of the more recent floppy disks (pretty much anything after 1996), it may have already been toast. Most of those floppies were so cheap that they would fail on their first write. That being said, if the floppy turns out to have contained a working prototype of Sonic X-treme, I'm hanging you up by your pinky toe.

Rock Band for the Wii will be released on June 22! Joystiq did an in-depth interview with Harmonix and found out that we have the following features to look forward to: A straight PS2 port! No online play! No downloadable content! No character creator or Mii support! No support for the Guitar Hero III guitar! The drums are white! 5 bonus songs that are already available for download on the 360 & PS3! How much would you pay for such an incredibly nerfed product? $100? $120? $150? NOOO!!! Only $170 if you buy immediately on June 22nd! What a deal! In case you didn't catch the sarcasm flying over the inter-tubes, this product sucks. Activision may have screwed up on the Guitar Hero III release, but they didn't screw up this badly. There *is* online play in GHIII, Activision *is* replacing the mono discs on request, and Activision *is* going to release downloadable songs for GHIII. (If they don't after all their promises, they can expect a proper tar and feathering by the fan-base.) Meanwhile, Harmonix seems to think this stuff is just okay. Wii players don't care if you do a crappy port of a PS2 game and charge lots of money for it, right? Right? Never mind that they're asking us to pay One Hundred and Seventy Dollars for the game. We obviously wish we all had PS2s because they're sooooo expensive. Am I the only one who's royally peeved about this? I mean, PS2 conversions have been a part of the Wii's library since the beginning. We've gritted our teeth and beared it. But this? This is just outright hostility toward customers. I don't care if Harmonix doesn't think online play is ready on the Wii. (Which seems like a thin excuse given that GH3 does it just fine.) Work with Nintendo to get it fixed. And what do they need permission from Activision for? They obviously went ahead and made the XBox guitar compatible. The Wii guitar is even easier. It's just a Classic Controller from a software perspective. I don't know about anyone else, but I refuse to purchase this pile of garbage. If all I wanted was a nerfed copy of Rock Band, I would have bought a PS2. Given that I'd be spending $160 anyway, the extra $90 for the console isn't exactly going to break the bank. I hope Harmonix realizes their mistake and corrects this crap in their next game.

Believe it or not, that's because you're putting a spin on the ball. Try putting a right spin on it and see if it doesn't go the other way. Note that in real bowling, bowlers recognize when they have spin and compensate. So if you want a strike, you may need to bowl slightly right, then let it arc back toward the center. Yes. You can sort of see it at the beginning of this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIE57N-2aG0

Everyone seems to complain about that, but I actually didn't mind. Of course, I've been able to speed-read since I was a kid, so it may just be me.

Fairly decent reviews. Now I'm actually wondering if I shouldn't pick up Game Party! A few comments on your Rayman review: We covered this before. , not Gamecube quality. The original design for Rayman Raving Rabbids had much nicer graphics, with extra touches like fur effects and dynamic lighting. At some point the choice was obviously made to make the game multi-platform, which is probably what killed the extra effects. PS2 graphics were the bane of the Gamecubes existence. It looks like they'll continue to be the bane of the Wii's existence. Agreed. I actually wonder if this isn't due to the last minute change of the game's design. Originally it was going to be a platformer of sorts, but was switched around when Ubisoft received Nintendo development kits. Since the E3 promo (mere months before the Wii's release!) demonstrated more of an adventure/platformer game, I have to wonder if the stadium wasn't sort of cobbled together. Which would also explain why there's only a handful of animations (pre-rendered or in-game) related to the arena and Rayman's captivity. I mean, seeing the same bunnies cheering, the same plunger moving, the and same bird leaving droppings gets old after a while. On the bright side, the big-bunny eventually acts more friendly. That's very odd. I passed that game without much difficulty. If you're having trouble with the Wii Remote, have you tried adjusting the sensitivity with the calibration screen? It may be picking up odd IR reflections that are throwing it off. Just as a test, try turning off the lights in the room (Including decorative lights like christmas tree lights ) and see if the remote behaves any better. Another issue to watch out for is the positioning of the sensor bar. Make sure the front edge is slightly hanging over the front edge of the television. That will prevent the TV from blocking the IR lights at certain angles. Keep in mind that those pads on the bottom of the sensor bar peel off to reveal a sticky surface. Use that if the sensor bar's positioning is unstable. Not sure what the issue is here. I've beat 3 different variations of it. It was hard at first, but practice makes perfect! It's not much different than the traditional table-top game, save for the fact that the developers SHOULD have made you use the remote sideways (ow! my wrists!) and that you're on a rather tight timer. Here's a hint, though: The grey walls can be smashed through if you apply enough force. I agree about this one. But I disagree about your decision to blame the remote. I honestly think this failure deserves a bit of developer-love. I played this game half-a-billion times trying to beat it, and failed miserably every time. I can get within a half-second of the target time, but past that I just can't beat it. The problem at first blush appears to be that the game begins to ignore the nunchuck after a while. But upon further playing, I was able to find fault with the door physics as well. WHERE you position the cursor appears to affect the success rate of slamming the door. It's not hard to position the remote with the door slightly ajar, but when it reaches fully open, it's a crap-shoot to get it right. You can get the hand to "slam" three times and the door won't budge an inch, only to slam randomly on the next try. The problem is that as the minigame progresses, the doors open faster and faster. Which makes it more and more difficult to get the doors closed due to the random nature of doors that are nearly or fully open. Eventually, you just can't slam the doors fast enough to win. Even more telling is that this TOTALLY should have been found in beta-testing. I mean, if a player is just beating his head against the game non-stop, never winning (on a level 2 game no less!), maybe it's either too hard or there is a fatal flaw?

Probably not. SSB is very much a party game. It's something that's far more fun against other people than by yourself. As such, I've never found it to be all that interesting. (Kids aren't quite old enough to provide a good challenge.) Online support in Brawl probably helps, but competing with random people you can't interact with just isn't as interesting as having a room full of trash-talkn' friends.

BTW, thanks for posting this. I managed to pick up Ghost Squad for only $15 with FREE shipping! Thanks to you, I don't need to troll the stores looking for an inexpensive Zapper game. (Well, one that's not about zombies, blood, and guts anyway.) You rock!

Hyperbole. The N64 lacked a method of aiming, thus it was NOT a replacement for a light gun. However, the trigger WAS intended to be a gun trigger for FPS games like Golden Eye. Which it did accomplish fairly well. And how do you think those guns work? Take the Top Gun for example. Exact same technology as the Wii Remote. The only difference is that there are two rails instead of one. This allows the gun to be auto-calibrated for the screen size. You say the job isn't getting done. Yet you have not tested it. I have, and I know the job *is* getting done. The original poster said the job is getting done. Plenty of Link's Crossbow Training customers have stated the job is getting done. What *exactly* are you basing this fallacy of yours on?

That depends on your viewpoint. It has aiming capabilities based on interpolation of the IR LEDs in the "sensor bar". It's not a precise as a light gun, but it gets the job done. ??? You can use the Wii Remote like a gun just fine. Nintendo (and several third parties) also sell a shell that makes it feel more like a gun: http://www.amazon.com/Wii-Zapper-Links-Cro...9016&sr=1-1 1. Go play Link's Crossbow training, then come back and tell me it's horrible as a gun. Different? Yes. Horrible? No. 2. The original Zapper was based on CRT electron scanning. A technology that does NOT work with modern LCDs and HDTVs. Nintendo doesn't have much choice in this respect. Look carefully at the Wii Remote. See that button on the bottom? That's the B trigger. As in, it was designed for use in gun-mode. The only real issue with using it as a gun is the stability of the remote. That's what the gun shells attempt to solve.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: it boils down to torque. A joystick by its nature of design is going to have a lot of torque applied to it. This is not a problem when it's attached to a heavy arcade machine. But when you place it on a handheld base, it immediately begins to translate that torque to your hands. (Technically, the 2600 controllers are designed to be placed on a tabletop. Thus the rubber feet.) However, there are two factors that mitigate the torque: 1. The length of the shaft 2. The width of the base The longer the shaft is in relation to the base, the more the torque from the stick is able to overcome the counterforce of the base. The shorter the shaft is, the more the force can be spread across a larger surface area. The same basically holds true for the base. If you increase the size of the base, you can support a longer shaft on the controller. Now take a look at the 7800 Proline controllers. Thin base, long shaft. Exactly the WORST design possible for a joystick. The effect is that you end up pitting the strength of one hand against the other. The more force you apply to the stick, the more force you must apply to the base to keep the controller steady. Of course, the flaws in the 7800 controllers didn't stop there. It's one thing when you're applying torque to the base of the stick. At least then you can brace your arm and use it to absorb much of the force. It's a completely separate thing when the control board is inverted! That's right, the second major flaw was that the contacts were on the BOTTOM of the joystick rather than the top! What that means is that effective gameplay requires reverse torque. Which means that you end up PULLING rather than PUSHING. This makes it nearly impossible to brace the base. You're back to fighting with yourself over the controller, except that you've lost a lot of leverage. And just when you thought the design couldn't get any worse, Atari added insult to injury. The upside-down mechanism was very poor at maintaining the nubs over top of the switches. As you struggled with the joystick, you actually pushed the criss-cross inside the stick out of alignment! (One of the easiest repairs you can do with a Proline is open it up, realign the cross, and tape it in place. The results are stunning, albeit somewhat brief.) This causes players to apply even more force to the joystick just to get a direction to register! End result? Tired hands, tired arms, and grumpy players. What's interesting is that Atari was totally on the right path with the 5200 controllers. They had a great feel about them due to the short shaft and large base. Where they failed miserably was that the things disintegrated in your hands. If Atari had released the original Sylvia sticks (which were the base model for the 5200 sticks) I think we'd all be praising Atari's good joystick designs rather than remembering how horrid they were.

Hey, didya hear? Ikaruga came out on XBox Live. Total and complete gyp for anyone who invested in a (rather expensive!) Gamecube copy, and/or anyone who kind of like the identification of the game with the Dreamcast. Of course, it also exposes this great shooter to a lot more players. So six of one, half-dozen of the other. Now to get Radiant Silvergun in a modern form. I (sadly) don't have a Saturn to play the original. (Same problem with Nights, of course.)

For some reason, a link is never made between the PS2 version of games and the Wii version of a lot of these games. I'm not sure if it's because they were so poor on the PS2 that no one paid attention, or if the excitement over the Wii simply eclipsed the originals. Either way, you can usually find a review (or at least an information section!) by searching for the game name plus "PS2". I'd say that's probably a fair estimate. Once you strip away all the PS2 ports (being careful to pay attention to the few times that they are actually different games by different developers), the Wii isn't left with a very large library at all. It primarily has first-party games from Nintendo and their second-party developers, plus some third-party partners who are trying very hard to produce unique titles for the Wii. (e.g. Ubisoft, Majesco, and Atlas.)

Good list! A few notes: Monster Trux Extreme: Offroad Edition is a port from the PS2, not a Wii original. This is true of pretty much EVERYTHING Data Design Interactive makes. The reason why we haven't heard of the games here in the states is that they were only released in Europe for the PS2. You listed Kawasaki Jet Ski as both a PS2 and PSP port. It's pretty much a PS2 port. (Oh lookie. DDI. Whodathunk?) Chicken Shoot is not an original. It's a port of a really cruddy PC game that was a port of a really cruddy Flash game. Interestingly, there are several games that have been ported from the PC thanks to the mouse-like abilities that the Wii offers. (e.g. Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None) Unfortunately, they tend to be the same sort of shovelware crap that has been ported from the PS2. But with a mouse! (Whoo! Yay! Wow. Great. Aren't you excited?) Interesting bit o' trivia on Spy Games: It's actually supposed to be an updated version of Elevator Action. That's why in Europe it's just called "Elevator Action". Hopefully Capcom will do a better job with Bionic Commando than 505 did with Spy Games. Edit: I just realized that when you said "Offroad Extreme", you were referring to a DIFFERENT DDI game. (Don't they have such original naming?) Yeah, that one is ALSO a PS2 port.

Lemme see here: Billy the Wizard Ninja Bread Man Anubis II Star Trek: Conquest Prince of Persia Alan Hansen’s Sports Challenge Alvin and the Chipmunks The Ant Bully Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Burning Earth Avatar: The Last Airbender Backyard Football Barbie: The Island Princess Barnyard Bee Movie Brunswick Pro Bowling Cabela's Big Game Hunter Counter Force Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 Okay, that's enough. As you can see, I got through 'D' before giving up. :-/ Even some of the "good games" either port their graphics from the PS2 or are otherwise affected by cross-platform compatibility with the PS2. Which is why they look worse than the Wii (or even GameCube!) can produce. A few examples: Call of Duty 3 Guitar Hero 3 Rayman Raving Rabbids[1] Pinball Hall of Fame[2] What you have to remember is that the Wii caught the industry off-guard. A lot of studios took one look at it, said "not next-gen", and ignored it in favor of the PS3 and 360. (As Atari5200's company did.) Then when the Wii became a smash-hit, the market was caught with very few game producers for the Wii. Thus the modus-operandi of Wii game makers became: 1. Take a PS2 game 2. Covert it to Gamecube 3. Add waggle 4. Instant Wii game! Tada! [1] I am positively annoyed about the loss of .[2] Noooooooooo!!!!!! Khaaaaaaaaaaannnnn!!!!

An amusing feature that someone pointed out online: 1. Go to the Options screen 2. Select "Audio Options" 3. Try adjusting volume to max If you did it right, you should be able to crank this baby to 11!

Yeah, I wish. The ball managed to get stuck between two targets in the upper-right corner of the board. It just kept bouncing back and forth, almost a vibration. I could have let it go on, but eventually I got tired and bumped the board until it was free. As I said, the physics are AMAZING, but there will always be those virtual-world glitches. I actually do like the board, but the distance between the flippers is infuriating. It's not so much the outlanes that give me grief (though they can be a pain in their own right), but the fact that the ball is regularly able to stroll right past my flippers with nothing I can do about it. I understand that you're supposed to activate the lamp-post, but how about a bit of a *chance* guys? Hmm... guess I'll be needing a Delorean to fix this one...

Dear Lord. I'm gone for a year or two and you're still trolling up a storm!* Your arguments don't hold water. You're complaining over what amount to demo-discs for the system. You don't really think Nintendo would cut themselves off from lucrative royalties from games like Super Swing, Tiger Woods (x5 years), Pool Party, and EA Boxing, do you? In any case, the Wii's target market (which you are not part of and know you're not part of, yet you get incensed that Nintendo isn't targeting YOU) is quite happy with Wii Sports. The lack of options is actually preferable as there is no fiddling required to enjoy the game. Any player of any sorts can pick up the controller and swing it. Super-easy. As for why there's so much crap in the Wii's library, well, that's partly Sony's fault. (And partly Nintendo's for agreeing to such horrendous titles.) See if you can find the conclusion from the following facts: 1. The PS2 is popular. 2. The Wii is popular. 3. Sony approach to games on the PS2 promotes a large number of crappy "budget" titles. 4. Software exists to translate the PS2's graphics into Gamecube graphics. 5. The Wii is based on Gamecube hardware. Catch my drift? Of course, you know all of this. You know it better than I do. After all, you work in the game industry. Ergo, you must be trolling. This supposition is further supported by your signature (which apparently hasn't changed since 2006) as well as your blatant claims of "liking to troll Nintendo fanboys". Seriously, it gets old. Find a new hobby. * I will never understand why mod powers are given to trolls. It seems like such a poor reflection on the forum.

I got this game last night based on the recommendations here. To be honest... this game is simply amazing! The physics are absolutely perfect, right down to the "I can never get the ball all the way up the Shuttle-ramp" difficulty I remember as a kid! The controls are also amazing, with the exact amount of delay and force as the real machine provides. You can even bump the table by bumping the controllers! If I had any complaint, it would be that the bump is just a bit *too* sensitive. When I get into a game, I tend to move the controllers a bit as I press the buttons. Which results in a slight bump on the machine. Nothing major, but it's there none the less. You kind of need to train yourself to watch your movements if you don't want those accidental bumps. Also, I think I may have an idea of what the "ball fell off the table" thing is about. As I recall, some of these machines had cutouts in the playing board behind various bumpers and targets. Technically, your ball shouldn't be able to get inside those areas. Yet I have seen it done on real pinball machines. Given that the physics still can't be as perfect as the real thing (though it's as bloody close as I've ever seen!), I imagine those areas are slightly more dangerous on the virtual reproductions than they are on the real machine. Speaking of which, read 'em & weep boys! Yes, that's right. Over 2 million on Jive Time. I managed to roll the counter. Not once, but twice.

See? I wasn't just making it up. It really is an awesome buy! Especially for $20. Even if you want to use a different gun shell (or no shell at all), the package is STILL worth the $20 just for the game! Oh, a few tips for those who don't know: - You can make the scarecrows larger (and thus worth more points) by hitting the plate on the poll - Make sure you ALWAYS blow up the scarecrows at 800 points. Sometimes they unlock secrets! - Some scarecrows are hidden. Keep a sharp eye out! - Take the time to aim for the center of the target. You'll get more points for chains of center-targets than with a whole load of edge shots. - Speaking of which, don't miss! Each time you miss, you lose your points multiplier! - One of these skeletons, is not like the other one... Shoot it a bazillion times in a row for an AMAZING multiplier - Forget everything you read here so you can rediscover it for yourself. - You don't really think I told you everything, now do you?

I doubt it's much of a problem with the Wii. The Wii uses a slot-loading mechanism designed for vertical use rather than the tray-loader used by the PS2, PS3, and 360. On top of that, Nintendo has ensured that they put a minimum of wear on the mechanism by recording the discs using Constant Angular Velocity rather than Constant Linear Velocity. What this means is that the drive spins up to a certain speed and never slows down or speeds up. This puts far less stress on the motor. Especially when the laser is skipping around the disc. (That's the high-pitched squeak you hear when some games load.) I just examined my Wii for any evidence of venting that would be blocked by having it in a vertical configuration. I can find no signs of such venting. The Wii appears to be designed for vertical use. The large vent on the bottom sits over a special hole in the stand which ensures airflow. In fact, there is also venting on the left-hand side near the face-plate that is better exposed when in a vertical configuration. Furthermore, keeping it vertical ensures a greater degree of airflow over the surface. Sooo.... I think I'll keep mine vertical.

Overrated?!? Overrated?!? No such thing! Ikaruga is one of the best shmups of all time. The black/white element of the game adds a huge amount of strategy that is not found in any other shooter. Giga Wing is nice if you're a huge fan of bullet-hell, but if you want a shmup with more depth, Ikaruga is where it's at.

A lot of people liked Raving Rabbids. I picked it up at MGC for $20 and so far my impression has been "Meh". It has its moments, but it mostly feels like work rather than play. I recommend trying Wario Ware instead. It's much more frantic and holds your attention much longer. Oh, and I wasn't kidding about Link's Crossbow Training. It's is a 100% MUST HAVE, especially for women. (Who really seem to like it for some odd reason.) There's even a multi-player challenge mode where you can duke it out for high scores. Just be warned, though: If you're really good at shooting games, be careful about doing too well. When my wife and I competed, she won the first round or two after which I started beating her by ever widening margins. (Not that she was doing bad, I was just warming up.) She nearly filed a divorce over that one. Another fun little mini-game collection is Cooking Mama. You have to use the Wii Remote to slice, dice, and julienne your way into some tasty meals. Great fun for the whole family. Just make sure that before you buy it, the idea of a cooking game doesn't turn your wife off to it.

USPS is notorious for not updating their delivery info. The package will arrive at your door long before the tracking information states that it left Austin. UPS and FedEx are MUCH better about tracking, but then they (unsurprisingly) cost more.

You might find it a little less painful to use the SmashLevels tool for sharing stages: http://www.smashlevels.com I haven't used it personally, but everyone else who has seems to like it. IGN also has a similar tool, but theirs kind of sucks. (e.g. No screenshots of levels.) Disclaimer: SmashLevels is produced by WiiMedia. WiiMedia is part of the WiiNode network along with WiiCade. I am associated with WiiCade. Got all that?