Wii-k in review podcast summary

We have some really awesome readers. We didn’t get just one, but we have two Wii-k in Review podcast summaries today. Alkaline has put his review together, and reader CincyDrummer did one as well. Both put a lot of hard work into their summaries, so it’s my pleasure to post both.

No More Heroes
- Not an amazing 9.5 game, but still a lot of fun. Hardcore gamers should really dig it.
- Bozon is over halfway, but can’t talk much about it because of embargo.
- Very wacky, crazy and unpredictable - should appeal to those who enjoyed Killer 7.
- Fun combat but it becomes repetitive (most of the guys also sound the same when they die, which becomes grating). Matt wishes there was more variation as to how you can fight.
- The open world stuff isn’t that great, and graphically looks pretty poor.
- The best stuff is when you are fighting an assassin, and luckily the game lets you fight them just when you are starting to tire of the regular stuff.
- The censoring of the games in Europe is a big loss because the game is filled with blood and is better because of it.
- Should take about 15 hours to complete.
- Matt thinks the style is great but believes Suda would benefit a lot from working with more horsepower.
- Matt thinks the game will be able to slip under the radar from censors in America. If there were negative articles from major publications, then it might not be so lucky.
- If you fail a mission, you will be forced to trek over the overworld to try again, which can get really grating.
- However, gamers should definitely consider buying. It’s got too many issues to be one of the best Wii games so far, but it’s still lots of fun.

Wii Fit
- Got the japanese version in today. The board is pretty large and heavy.
- After putting in your bmi, it alters you mii to suit it. Matt’s mii was made fat.
- Very basic presentation but immediately accessible.
- Both think the game is pretty cool. Doesn’t feel so much like a game, then a fun workout machine.
- The balance board uses batteries rather than an AC adapter, so the thing is a real battery suck.
- Matt thinks the game is going to catch on in America, and it has already started off well in Japan.
- Matt likes the strength training games. Bozon likes the slalom game. The ski game is pretty basic.
- Best to play the game in workout clothes - playing in jeans makes things pretty tough.
- Sound effects in the Japanese version are really odd.
- You can select a male or female workout conductor.
- The yoga game is pretty tough, which convinced Matt that the game might actually be quite effective in getting a decent workout.

Offroad Extreme! Special Edition
- Gave it 1.0.
- “Quite the turd”
- The graphics look just like first-gen N64.
- Buggy camera, terrible framerate.
- God-awful controls - incredibly loose and unresponsive.

Mini Desktop Racing
- Gave it 1.2.
- You told the wii remote forward and tilt it like a flight game - both are very confused as to why this scheme was created.
- Made by the same people from NinjaBread Man and Offroad Extreme - in fact, every single game made by Conspiracy on Wii have the same layout, loading screens, etc.
- Similar to top-down racing games like Micro Machines, but not nearly as good.
- A tiny bit better than Offroad Extreme! but still incredibly bad.

Code Lyoko
- Ended up giving it 5.5.
- An average game that has some issues.
- Very basic gameplay design that is indicate of a last-gen effort.
- Worth considering if you’re a big fan of the license.

Sales of 3rd party shovelware
- Despite companies trying to get as much out as possible on Wii, it doesn’t seem to be paying off.
- However, some games manage to still do great - apparently High School Musical is selling well on Wii.

Industry Insider feature
- First edition went up recently (insight provided by developer of Medal of Honor Heroes 2).
- However. Matt also wants to try to get negative opinions as well.
- It’s tough to get people to contribute - indeed, the other day Bozon tried to find out from activision as to which consoles Call of Duty 5 and Guitar Hero 4 were coming out for, but they declined.
- Have some impressive results - there should be an upcoming issue revolving around the failure of 3rd parties to get proper results out of the Wii, and in contrast, a possible insight from Retro Studios on how to get good visuals on Wii.

Reader Questions
- Street Fighter 4 - Matt doesn’t see the game coming out on Wii. Instead sees it on PS3/360. Both warn that this should be an expected trend over the next few years, especially for genres like fighters that are hard to do on Wii.

- Matt’s favourtie genres are adventure, platformers and fps. Bozon loves shooters, strategy, racers and fps. Matt is not a fan of RTS games, because he feels he doesn’t have the time and is managing rather than playing. Bozon doesn’t like soccer games or mmo rpg’s. Matt has found himself become less and less interested in eastern RPG’s, and now prefers western rpg’s.

- EA is doing an internal survey to find out how they can make MySims a better experience. Matt will get to tell them what he liked and what he didn’t like.

- Lukewarm Twilight Princess, Mario Galaxy and poor No More Heroes sales - Matt thinks it is because the market in Japan is just so much different, and more casual games sell better in Japan.

- Bozon thinks motion controlled combat has been done best in Soul Calibur and No More Heroes, though it hasn’t been perfected yet. Matt likes how it was done in Twilight Princess, although there are obvious issues.

- Capcom retailer list - Matt was in texas at the time and unable to check into it, but he’ll find out more about it. Both think it is probably real, and if Zack and Wiki 2 is actually coming out, then Capcom should really try to actually market the sequel.

- Sonic Riders - the last game was very average and both don’t expect this edition to be much better. Expect a bit more coverage soon.

- They get NiGHTS in the next couple of days - expect more coverage soon.

- Think that it will take a while for Square-Enix to really support Wii. They are confused as to what is going on with Final Fantasy on Wii. Think they might just be holding Crystal Bearers back - they think the EGM issue is not the case.

- One reader thinks the original Metroid Prime looks better than Metroid Prime 3. Matt thinks the art direction is probably better in the original, but Metroid Prime 3 has a definite technical edge over it in all areas.

- Rumour of Square-Enix Mario RPG on DS - both think it will probably happen given the size of SE’s support of DS.

- Rumour of Ogre Battle on Wii - not sure as to whether this will end up happening, but both hope it does. It should make it’s way over to America if previous games are any indication.

- Rumour of Golden Sun to Wii - both think it is pretty much confirmed. Camelot are big Wii (and Nintendo) supporters. Expect the game to be more action orientated.

- Load times on Wii - though some Wii games might take some time to load, like RE:UC or Medal of Honor, it’s a breath of fresh air after playing PS3 or 360.

- Matt thinks the next Fire Emblem game should use Wii controls, unless it isn’t viable (which it should be). Bozon wants to see a whole new character roster, better visuals, more customization, and a faster/cleaner battle system (Bozon thinks it should not turn real-time).

- Best scrolling shooter on Virtual Console, according to IGN, would be R-Type 3. Baseball Stars 2, which came out today, is worth a buy.

- Both would like to see MegaMan X in Smash Bros. Brawl. Both think that the game will probably be a bit gimped if played globally online, especially in terms of lag.

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-Real WW-k in Review on Friday
-Matt out of office, dealing with death in the family. Appologize for his absense.
-Positive feedback to “No More Heroes” week
-No More Heros won’t hit “9.5-10″ review mark
-will appeal to fans of Killer 7
-Matt likes characters, stories
-Matt/Bozon can’t quite talk about everything in No More Heroes yet
-Matt mentions various throwbacks to Killer 7 that appears in No More Heroes
-Matt wishes Suda had “power to work with from another system”; Suda not quite pulling the most out of the Wii
-Great style, but still “could have been a gorgeous game”
-Bozon points out various complaints about No More Heroes; flawed check points, some challenges feel like chore work

-Matt talks about racy material on IGN podcasts-now being reviewed by their boss “Jeremy”, on a weekly basis
-Wii Fit arrived in office, it discovered immediately that Matt was a “fatty”
-Wii Fit adjusts on-screen Mii to your current body physique
-Wii Balance Board takes 4 AA Batteries; Matt/Bozon complain about extreme use of batteries for Wii, mentions new Wiresless Nunchucks from Nyko
-Matt thinks Wii Fit will catch on in America; “Don’t play it in jeans”–Matt likes “Yoga” option; no one will get it on first try unless you’ve previously done Yoga

-Matt/Bozon talk about horrible Wii games they’ve played, such as “Off-Road Extreme”, “Mini Racers Desktop”, “Ninja-Bread Man”
-Mentions how 3rd party games aren’t doing “so hot”- Highschool Musical Wii selling very well
-Matt plans on downloading Poke’mon Snap from Virtual Console.

-Matt talks about new feature, “Industry Insider”-Insight from developers; numerous ideas planned for the future. No schedule for updates, but more updates coming soon
-Bozon talks about how hard it is to get comments from Publishers/Developers-Hopes to get more comments in the future

READER MAIL:

-”What are chances of new street fighter coming to wii”-Matt doesn’t see it happening, at least in near future.
-Bozon thinks they would have to make a whole new Street Fighter game in order to work on Wii
-”Favorite/Least Favorite Game Types”-Matt: Favorite: Adventure, Platforming, FPS Bozon: Favorite: FPS, Shooter, Racing
-Matt NOT a fan of RTS Games. Matt likes RPGs like “Mass Effect”, more western style RPGs. Bozon not big on Soccer games, Sim games. Likes most games
-”Will 300LBS be too much for Wii Fit?”-Yes, according to Bozon. 300 LBs is the weight limit. “Start running now, drop the twinkies..”
-”What do you think about PAL version of No More Heroes not having blood?”- Both think that the choice is lame. Blood adds “so much” to the game
-”Favorite Wii Fit minigames so far?”- Matt likes strength training, Bozon likes Skiing. Wants EA to make SSX Blur 2
-”What’s wrong with Japan? (in regards to Game sales/trends)-Unconfirmed that No More Heroes isn’t selling too hot. Matt says he “doesn’t know what’s up with Japan. Scientific fact that they are crazy.”
-Matt cannot confirm leaked Smash Bros. roster. Thinks Krystal being in Smash Bros. is “bogus”.
-”Which Wii game has done hack n slack combat the best?” Bozon: No More Heroes does it best. But no truly good hack n slash Wii game.
-”How do you think media will handle No More Heroes”-Matt thinks it will slip under radar for the most part. But it will only take a headline from a major publication to get the ball rolling.
-Matt thinks Wii Fit is very different from Wii Sports- Wii Fit is an actual game on its own. Wii Fit doesn’t really feel like a game. If you got tired from Wii Sports, go to the gym more. Wii Fit is “Wii-Sports meets Brain Age”.
-Matt is very keen to look into leaked Capcom release list. Bozon thinks it is real.
-Lots of things for Sonic Rider coming up; videos, etc coming. Matt/Bozon not sold on Sonic Rider
-Nights coming in very soon.
-FF VI remake on Wii? Not so fast. Bozon/Matt think it will likely be on DS.
-Matt “confused” on Final Fantasy front on Wii. Thinks current FF situation on Nintendo is weird.
-Thinks original Prime had better art then MP3. But MP3 had the technical edge.
-Bozon thinks more Nintendo/Square Enix collaborations coming soon.
-Ogre Battle returning to Wii? Bozon can’t “believe that the series is still alive.”
-Matt thinks its “99.9% confirmed” that Golden Sun Wii is definitely happening. “Just a matter of time.” says Matt
-Bozon thinks No More Heroes is 12-15 Hours long, maybe a bit more. Bozon says No More Heroes is “fun as hell.”
-Matt says there are various issues with No More Heroes, but its “very different, more adult, violent.” “Gameplay design is off.”
-”Crystal Bearers development in trouble?”-Bozon thinks they are just holding it back. Matt and Bozon both do not think that Crystal Bearers is in trouble.
-Wii load times do not really bother Bozon or Matt; “Cruis’n” is different, though. Bad load times.
-Top 3 multiplayer games to play with family over holidys: Matt: Wii Fit, Smarty Pants, Wii Sports– Bozon: Wii Sports, Quake 3, Zelda 4 Swords
-Matt wants “True Wiimote support” for Fire Emblem series. Bozon wants new character roster. Faster, cleaner, more customization.
-Bozon would want to see 8-Bit Megaman and Megaman X IF Megaman were to be announced for smash bros.
-Matt thinks overall Smash Bros. will be an awesome game. Not so sure about how online component will play yet. Scared about LAG in smash bros. online.