Wiifit

As you’ve probably noticed, this week has seen the high-profile UK release of two of this year’s biggest games – Grand Theft Auto IV and Wii Fit, the video gaming equivalent of Hollywood summer blockbusters.

The run up to their release has seen both Nintendo and Rockstar (with a little help from Microsoft) spend a fortune on television advertising. I saw the commercials for both products in the same ad break a week or so ago, and I found the differences between them fascinating.

The advert for GTA IV, with its funky soundtrack and editing, is one of the best video game trailers I’ve ever seen, while the pale, rather dainty Nintendo offering is arguably one of the worst.

The GTA IV commercial introduces new protagonist Niko, who trudges into the camera grim-facedly as a series of vignettes from the game play behind him. The advert’s masterstroke is its subtlety; its trendy, swaggering nature almost fools you into thinking it isn’t selling you anything, while in fact it establishes, in just thirty seconds and without the distraction of a voice-over, some of the game’s new mechanics and set-pieces. It demonstrates the use of mobile phones, the shoot-outs, the next-gen re-imagining of Liberty City, and at its conclusion, the more detailed and realistic theft of cars. The music – a key factor in all GTA games – is retro, arrogant and cool, the aural equivalent of both Niko’s character and the series as a whole.

Wii Fit’s UK commercial seems almost quaint by comparison. After the usual Wii ‘water droplet’ ident, we’re presented with the product (an unprepossessing looking flat plastic thing), and then told of its benefits by a soothing TV Doctor-style voice. ‘This is the Wii board. It can help you and your family… keep fit,’ it says, prosaically.

A male model (who, it should be pointed out, isn’t even remotely fat) is then shown standing on the board and is told by the console that he’s overweight.

It’s an absurdly simple, almost 1950s mode of advertising, but I must reluctantly admit that it works – my local game retail outlet was in meltdown last Saturday as several dozen people all clamoured to get their hands on Nintendo’s latest wonder-gadget.

For all the commercials’ cosmetic dissimilarities, the GTA and Wii Fit campaigns do have something in common. Like all advertising, they sell a ‘dream’, or at least an idea. GTA IV is all about the freedom its digital world provides – the freedom to explore, to steal and kill.

The Wii Fit, meanwhile, sells the idea of the video game as a lifestyle solution. If, three years ago, a focus group had been asked whether they thought a video game could improve your memory or help you to lose weight, the answer would have probably been a rather bemused ‘no.’ Before Wii Fit, the idea of a fat-burning video game was an idea as outlandishly utopian as slimming beer or a carpet that reverses ageing.

But like it or not, Nintendo have pulled off an impressive marketing trick – they’ve convinced an entire untapped audience to buy their product, though it remains to be seen whether the nation’s waistlines will improve as a result.

Don’t get me wrong – I don’t dislike Wii Fit as a concept at all; indeed, I’ll probably end up buying it myself eventually (and God knows I need the exercise). What startles me is Nintendo’s marketing approach – it almost doesn’t feel like a video game commercial at all. Its mood is strangely serene and austere, like an advert for an expensive kettle or a foot spa.

The adverts for these two games, released within mere days of each other, show just how broad and diverse the video game demographic has become; GTA IV’s offering is macho, truculent and aimed squarely at the hardcore gamer, while Wii Fit’s zen-like approach is gentle and unapologetically softcore.

As you’ve probably gathered, I hated Wii Fit’s style of advertising and loved the GTA IV’s, but my mother would certainly think the reverse – she’d hate GTA’s wanton violence, but think that standing on one foot in front of the television was a pretty good notion.

Proof, if any were needed, of video gaming’s increasingly diverse audience, one that will continue to grow and evolve long after our fitness boards have been resigned to the cupboard.

via : denofgeek.com

In 2005, when the then-Revolution was unveiled, the hearts of Nintendo fans everywhere swelled with hope, but it took a Ph.D. candidate at Carnegie Mellon to begin to actually fulfill some of the crazier dreams the console first inspired. Johnny Lee’s Wii remote projects have widened our perceptions of what’s possible with the technology sitting in our living rooms, and even broadened our ideas of what gaming could — and maybe should — be. Lee is a magician, and we’re not the only ones who think so; he recently blew the lids off smarter brains than ours at the TED conference with his cost-effective Wiimote whiteboard and head tracking demos.

But if you ask him, Lee insists he’s just this guy, you know? And we did ask; in fact, we recently sat down for a talk with the Wiimote genius, and he dished up some pretty interesting tidbits on everything from the future of head tracking to his own recent job search. Before you ask, no, he’s not going to Nintendo, but he may be headed back to YouTube soon for a few more project videos.

In 2005, when the then-Revolution was unveiled, the hearts of Nintendo fans everywhere swelled with hope, but it took a Ph.D. candidate at Carnegie Mellon to begin to actually fulfill some of the crazier dreams the console first inspired. Johnny Lee’s Wii remote projects have widened our perceptions of what’s possible with the technology sitting in our living rooms, and even broadened our ideas of what gaming could — and maybe should — be. Lee is a magician, and we’re not the only ones who think so; he recently blew the lids off smarter brains than ours at the TED conference with his cost-effective Wiimote whiteboard and head tracking demos.

But if you ask him, Lee insists he’s just this guy, you know? And we did ask; in fact, we recently sat down for a talk with the Wiimote genius, and he dished up some pretty interesting tidbits on everything from the future of head tracking to his own recent job search. Before you ask, no, he’s not going to Nintendo, but he may be headed back to YouTube soon for a few more project videos.

NWF: Speaking of what the companies are doing and/or not doing, there was some discussion that EA was going to include your head tracking in BOOM BLOX, and then suddenly it was announced that head tracking was no longer going to be available as the discussed easter egg. We’re pretty interested in what happened there, if you can discuss it at all.

JL: I was a little disappointed to hear about that. I have been in touch with Louis Castle, who was involved in that decision, and it’s actually a pretty complicated decision, and I don’t know if I’m at liberty to explain exactly why, but I understand why they decided to take it out. Rest assured that I know EA is still interested in including it, and so are several other companies, so even if it doesn’t come out next month, it will probably be integrated into games within the next year.

NWF: So you do think we’ll see it in this generation?

JL: I think so. If Nintendo doesn’t do it, I’m fairly sure that Sony and Microsoft may be interested in doing something similar. It’s simply … the kind of visual experience that head tracking provides is simply an evolutionary step in display technology and interactive displays, and it would be foolish not to embrace that progress in technology. It’s not so much a feature, it’s just a technological step forward, similar to 3D TV, that will eventually come. Nintendo may or may not decide that this is an okay idea, but even if they don’t, it will come in some other form from some other provider.

[NWF note: Sony, in fact, has a head tracking demo of their own]

NWF: You know, that’s interesting, because there’s a lot of discussion any time we see another of your projects. Nintendo fans just blow up with excitement, because what you’re doing with the Wii remote is so much more interesting than what a lot of actual Wii games have done with the motion controls. Why do you think that is?

JL: Well, I don’t have any rules to conform to. In truth, when choosing to make something for a game console, a developer has to sign a lot of agreements and play within a very well-defined space that determines what they can and cannot do. I have been talking to some Wii game developers and they’ve said that … if a game requires too much motion or requires … they had some word for it, but essentially, if it requires too much movement on the player’s part, Nintendo asks them to pull it. There are all these internal guidelines they have to conform to that prevent them from doing anything too — I hate using the term “outside the box,” but this is a box that has been defined by Nintendo and they literally can’t step out of it. The video game industry is also extremely market data driven, which is unfortunate. The investment levels keep going up and up, and the certainty of return keeps going down, and as a result, marketing has more control over development. And if marketing says something isn’t going to sell, or if marketing has no data on it, so if something is too radical or if it’s a new IP with a new story or new characters, and it’s untested, marketing tags it as high risk. If there are safer, but more boring [laughs], the decision tends to be to make the more boring title, which is unfortunate. That’s actually why I decided not to work at any game companies specifically, like Electronic Arts or Ubisoft, because my ideas would have likely been squashed quickly by marketing.

NWF: Do you think those same marketing people, or maybe anyone at these companies, is really paying attention to the reaction your projects are getting? Obviously somebody is listening, because they’re contacting you, but do you think the reaction is enough to change some of those things you were just talking about?

JL: I think so, or at least, that’s my impression. The wonderful thing about my videos is that they’re widely available, and they’ve given marketing departments some data that they can work with. It’s put something out into the world for very low cost — because all I did was make a video in my house, so I didn’t have to invest much money — but marketing can now look at the numbers associated with the video, like the number of views, or they can send out a survey or poll games about these particular features, and then marketing can make an assessment about the risk of the feature. So, I think the main contribution these videos have had, at least to the gaming industry, is that they’ve given marketing some data that indicates this is a worthwhile feature. Getting it integrated into near-term titles is a little difficult, though, because it takes a few years to build a game. If they’re going to retrofit an existing title with these features, it adds risk to the title. If they’re going to build a new title around this feature, it’s not going to hit the shelves for at least two years or so, or a year if they do a really simple title. It’s sort of interesting … I’ve gotten exposed to the business of video games recently. It’s unfortunate that the business of the video game industry almost seems designed to squash innovation, or at least discourage it, because it’s risky.

NWF: Well, that explains a lot of our Wii games!

JL: The Wii also has another complicated issue. Actually, I would say there are two. One is that the input control system is so radically different from the other two consoles that the only way to make a good game is to start from the ground up for the Wii. If you port an existing game, it’s usually not going to be very good, because the control schemes don’t map over very well. Cross-console game publishing has become a popular business model, simply because it’s a more attractive return on investment for game developers. So, for the Wii, they have to take on the risk of making a game just for the Wii instead of doing that.

Another problem … accelerometer data is actually very hard to work with, so most of the games have very simple shake recognition, sort of an analog shaking recognition, sort of like the Rayman games, where you make the person run faster by pumping faster. But really complicated gesture recognition is actually very hard to do. Some dancing games, for example, are very difficult to make trigger reliably, because you want to make sure you’re getting positive movement. You want to correctly register movement, but you don’t want to be too generous or too critical. If you’re too generous, the game is too easy, it’s not compelling, you can cheat at it …. If you’re too critical, the game doesn’t trigger properly and then you get frustration on the part of game players.

NWF: I’d also assume shaking speed and method is harder to translate in a game manual than something like “press A for action X.”

JL: Right. And game developers just don’t know how to use it yet, because it’s pretty new. It’s pretty radical, and it has a lot of its own technical issues, not only in coming up with interesting game content, but also in dealing with the control scheme. It may take another year or two before game developers are used to working with an accelerometer. They had a decade to get used to the joypad. The technology in the Wii remote is still new to developers and they aren’t necessarily using it in the best way yet, so there are a couple reasons why Wii games have at times been less than stellar, and maybe haven’t lived up to the hopes and dreams of Wii owners.

NWF: Are there any that you’ve noticed that actually do make pretty good use of the controls?

JL: Well, Nintendo has done the best, because they had the longest time to work with it. Wii Sports is fantastically done … in fact, I was talking to a Wii game developer, and apparently Wii Sports is so good that it’s a problem, because people buying the Wii almost don’t feel compelled to buy another game, so they’re having a hard time getting people to buy their games. It’s also hard to make a competitor. For example, if you’re making a baseball game, you’re essentially competing against Wii Sports, and that’s a challenge. There were some games I saw in prototype form, and I don’t think I’m allowed to talk about them, but there are some interesting things coming down the pipeline. They weren’t “WOW, AMAZING,” or world-changing, but they were much better examples of the controls than some of the things we’ve seen before.

NWF: Hey, that gives us hope! That said, I really just have one more question, and it’s probably the one you won’t answer.

JL: [laughs]

NWF: I’ve read in some other interviews that you have more projects coming. Can you give us any hint at all of what we can expect, or maybe when we’ll see them?

JL: I’ve been really busy lately… [laughs] It’s sad, because I haven’t been able to do any work since December. I’ve actually been on my job search the past few months, and dealing with my job search and dealing with the attention from the Wii remote projects has consumed my extra time. And then I’m defending my thesis — I’m graduating next week, so I’ve had to deprioritize making new videos. I do have a couple more ideas. I don’t know … it’s hard for me to tell if people are going to get excited about them. There’s also a closing window here. I don’t know how much time I can spend on publishing these videos, partially because once I start employment, I may not be able to continue openly publishing and sharing these Wiimote videos. My hope is that I can, but I don’t know. Maybe next week or the week after that, I can push out another video.

[NWF note: said graduation is now this week!]

NWF: Well, on behalf of our staff, and all of our readers, everyone wishes you the best of luck and probably thinks that, out of everybody in the world, you shouldn’t need much of that luck. I’m surprised you even had to search for a job.

JL: Well, it’s actually been a pretty easy search, and I had a lot of opportunities I didn’t even ask for. And oddly enough, Nintendo was not among them. Nintendo never contacted me.

NWF: Never contacted you at all?

JL: Nope. It’s okay. I don’t think I’d actually want to work solely at Nintendo. I have a pretty diverse set of interests, only some of which are relevant to gaming, so working at a gaming company isn’t very interesting to me.

NWF: Congratulations on graduating, and thanks for taking the time to talk to us during this busy time!

JL: No problem!

via : nintendowiifanboy.com

Guitar Hero: On Tour

• Nintendo DS
• Publisher: Red Octane
• Release Date: Summer 2008

First Look:

If you’re anything like me, your initial reaction when you heard the announcement for On Tour, a Guitar Hero title specially designed for the Nintendo DS, was one of immediate skepticism. Could they recreate the magic of everyone’s favorite guitar-based rhythm game on the small screen? And could their intriguing custom controller- it features four buttons and slots into the GBA port- actually work?

None of us will know the answers to these questions until we get our hands on the final product. Developer Vicarious Visions certainly got my attention with their presentation at this year’s Nintendo Media Summit. They showed off some of the game’s features, showcased their new controller, and released a preliminary track listing.

On Tour makes full use of the DS functionality, reinventing one of the best music games around!

First things first: the new controller has got me itching to try it. The development history of the new peripheral is long and colorful; the mad scientists at Vicarious Visions apparently conducted a lot -and I mean a lot- of different experiments trying to come up with a control scheme that would work. Some of the prototypes were functional while others, including one that contained a ridiculous number of buttons, were just plain silly. But then came the lightning-in-a-bottle moment: the engineering team hacked together a four-button prototype that utilized the GBA port. And from the very moment they tried it, they knew they had stumbled onto something.

Not having tried out the controller, I can’t comment on whether they succeeded or not. But you have to give Vicarious Visions credit for trying to innovative. Rather than slap some contrived control scheme that used the DS’ face buttons or the stylus, they really went the extra mile, and I really hope that the controller fulfills its potential.

Though a full song list hasn’t been released, from the look of this guitar we wonder if Van Halen will apper on in the game.

I was also intrigued by the work that they put into shrinking the iconic rhythm game experience of Guitar Hero so that it would fit on the DS. Early indications are that the butter-smooth gameplay remains intact and that the songs will push the limits of the DS’ audio. The preliminary track list was contained mostly familiar songs but I’m going ot guess that Activision is going to wait to announce the really big stuff until later.

There’s no doubt that there are a lot of question marks surrounding On Tour. The new peripheral and the reduced capabilities of the DS are just two roadblocks that Vicarious Visions has to navigate. Only time will tell if they succeeded but there’s no denying that On Tour is one DS title that definitely bears watching.

Wii Fit

• Nintendo Wii
• Publisher: Nintendo
• Release Date: May 29

Hands-on:

We’ve seen a lot of Wii Fit in recent weeks, but not as much as our overseas friends. The game came out in Japan at the end of last year, and is primed for a European release within two weeks, with us Americans at the end of the line. I got to play a completely localized version at Nintendo’s Media Summit, examining some new-to-us minigames while basking in the non-metric measurements thrown at me.

As small of an addition as it was, getting to play the game with feet, inches, and pounds really helped me understand Wii Fit’s viability as a fitness device. After entering my weight and height accurately–I had to guesstimate the centimeters and kilograms during previous demos– I was given a fitness overview I could trust. The game said I was slightly below the ideal body mass.

Achieving total fitness not only involves weight, but balance as well… holding this pose for too long can put you on the floor!

Imagine my surprise when the Nintendo rep tailored my fitness regimen to gain muscle weight! As a cardio-heavy guy, I’m intrigued by a game that promises other forms of working out. I got to check out the representative’s fitness progress, as his weight sunk and rose, with comments for the more drastic shifts, like “I snacked too much” or “I missed a workout.” There was also a detailed log for his workout regimen, including time playing Wii Fit, the mini-games he took part in, as well as non-Wii Fit activity he logged during the day.

One small leap for Dave’s balance, and a giant leap for the Wii’s versatility!

I started the demo with a simple balance test which required me to shift my body weight in order to match specific percentages on each side. I had trouble. Once again, the game gave a correct prognosis, surmising that my klutzy ass falls down more often than most. With that in mind, I performed a myriad of balance-strengthening activities, starting with yoga poses that allowed me to work out muscles I’d often ignored.

From there, I tried one of my favorite Wii Fit games, wherein you have to sink Mii-emblazoned balls into holes by tilting the course by shifting your weight. It feels like a barebones version of Monkey Ball or Marble Madness, but the game really reaches its stride when multiple balls are put on one course, and you have to tilt the board slightly to move balls to a goal without having the others careen off the board.

Putting balance to good use: Getting these balls in the center may look simple, but actually requires lots of concetration.

My progress in the previous events unlocked another minigame. The final game of the demo was one that proved I still had a long way to go before considering myself a well-balanced individual. In this one, my Mii walked a tightrope, which required me to walk on the board while keeping my balance. As my Mii swayed with every other step, I was humbled by my lack of proficiency while frustrated with the unnecessary addition of a jumping element that requires you to physically mimic a jump without your feet leaving the board. If anything, it proved that a game filled with dozens of unique physical activities can’t have all winners.

Don’t look down Dave… you’ve got a lot of Wii fit ahead of you to perfect your balance.

With the May release date for Wii Fit fast approaching, my workout is far from over. We’ll have some interesting impressions coming your way in the next few weeks, so try to keep up with us!

• Nintendo Wii
• Publisher: Sega
• Release Date: Summer 2008

This monkey’s got rhythm… and the Wii’s motion sensing controls put it to good use!

Hands-on:

Bringing the cult rhythm game hit Samba De Amigo to the Wii is like drinking water when you’re thirsty or washing your hands after using the bathroom- it just makes sense. The Wii Remote’s unique motion sensing capabilities is a perfect fit for the game’s maraca-based gameplay and eliminates the biggest hurdle that kept the Dreamcast version of Samba from achieving mass success- the need for specialized controllers.

The Wii version lets you use either two Wii Remotes or a Wii Remote paired with a Nunchuk and shake them to the beat of the included songs (final tracks haven’t been announced yet). You shake your virtual maracas in three ways- high, middle, and low- and either shake them in unison or singularly. There’s also special pose moves where you have to hold the maracas in specific ways, as well as “hustle” moves where you have to shake a maraca back and forth.

Strike a pose… landing a special pose can rack up the points!

It may sound complicated but much like every other good rhythm game worth its salt, it’s instantly accessible and intuitive. The graphical style retains its vibrant, colorful charm and the songs, at least the ones I heard, had a catchy bounce to them. It remains to be seen whether or not Samba De Amigo on the Wii will catch the interest of gamers the way Guitar Hero and Rock Band did but I’m convinced that the game has the potential to be yet another quirky and fun addition to the Wii’s already impressive library.

Major League Eating

• Nintendo Wii Ware
• Publisher: Mastiff
• Release Date: May 12

Hands-on:

You want to know what the coolest thing I saw at the Nintendo Media Summit was? It wasn’t Mario Kart Wii nor was it Wii Fit. Heck, it wasn’t even an actual video game. No, the coolest thing I saw was an eating exhibition starring Tim Janus, aka Eater X, who was on hand to help promote the new Major League Eating game for the Nintendo Wii’s WiiWare service.

A new world record: Eater X is featured in the new Wii Ware title where keeping it down is not as easy as he makes it seem….

Armed with a gut of steel and large cups full of lemonade, Eater X proceeded to demolish 141 pieces of sushi. No, that is not a typo, and he set an International Federation of Competitive Eating record in the process. It was a gross, yet awesome display of gluttony. The associated video game is a lot more sanitary and it doesn’t require you to actually consume your body weight in pizza or hot dogs, which is a good thing all around.

I have the admit that a competitive eating game sounded so ridiculous that I initially dismissed it as just another lame attempt to cash in on a pop-culture phenomenon. But after playing it, I have to admit that I found myself pleasantly surprised. Is Major League Eating going to blow your mind? Heck no. But will it entertain you and your friends and offer up a few laughs? Heck yes.

Let’s get down to specifics: you start off by picking an established competitive eater- familiar names like Crazy Legs Conti, Sonya Thomas and Joey Chestnut are present, though Takeru Kobayshi wasn’t- and choosing which food you want to eat. I saw items like pizza, hot dogs, jalape?os and chicken wings on the menu. Consuming each food type requires unique motions.

On-screen cues show how full your eater is getting… keeping food down takes a balance of speed and observation.

I competed against fellow editor Dave Rudden in a hot dog battle and we were required to flick the Wii Remote towards our mouths in order to get the virtual food stuffed into our virtual cheeks; a biting meter traveled back and forth across the food, requiring us to press the B button twice in order to chomp it down. Pressing the B button when your mouth is empty results in you biting your tongue, which renders you unable to eat for a few seconds.

You also had to keep an eye on your stomach acid level; with each bite, it rises and if you let it get to far, you’ll hurl chunks all over the place, resulting in a penalty to your total score. Holding the A button and shaking the Wii Remote results in the jiggle that professional eaters use to settle their stomachs. You can also reduce stomach acid using the antacid power-up, which was just one of the powers you can gain during battle the other power-ups allow you to do things like burp fire and noxious gas in your opponent’s face, stunning them for a few seconds.

The only way to keep your eater’s stomach in check is by shaking the Wii remote to jiggle their belly.

I had a lot of fun standing there with a crowd at my back, virtually demolishing a plate of hot dogs. Much like real competitive eating, Major League Eating for WiiWare is a hilariously gross and exhilarating experience. It won’t go down in the history books as one of the best games ever, but as a pick-up-and-play title that only cost a few bucks, it’s probably worth considering, especially if you have buddies over often.

• Nintendo Wii Ware
• Publisher: Nintendo
• Release Date: May 12

This is your kingdom, and you better get used to it, becuase in the FF game you’re not able to leave.

The Final Fantasy franchise is finally making its way to the Wii, but it’s not in the form you’d expect. It’s not an turn-based RPG, nor is it on a disc. The first Wii Final Fantasy is a Wii Ware launch title– a single-player sim-RPG from the Crystal Chronicles universe. You won’t engage in a single battle; heck, you won’t even leave the cozy confines of the city you start in. What will you get? Just the most imaginative new direction for the series we’ve seen in quite some time.

The best way to describe Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King is as a mix between Animal Crossing and SimCity. Your character is a young king named Leo who must rebuild a fallen kingdom. In order to do so, you need to harvest materials from faraway caves, forests, and other dangerous places. That’s no work for a king, so you must train an elite army to safely procure these important items. As you’ll soon find out, keeping a kingdom happy and safe is just as tough on the guy on the throne as it is on the men on the battlefield.

Part Animal Crossing, part Sim City, in My Live as King you’ll need to use all of your resources to make your people happy.

Leo’s kingdom has quite a few cogs he needs to keep turning to ensure it runs proficiently. You’ll need to build new homes to increase the population, research new weaponry, armor, and magic to keep your soldiers trained, and keep morale high by being an efficient leader. Your faithful assistant, Chime, is summoned with the shake of a bell (the Wii Remote), and provides vital information for running your kingdom properly. Chime provides important reports that keep you up to date on the most important aspects of your town–the status of your soldiers and the state of your finances. If you’ve got unhappy soldiers, they may not survive when confronted with danger. If you’ve got no money, they won’t be prepared to fight.

The greatest leaders keep in touch with the common man, which My Life as a King allows and requires you to do. You’ve got to visit people to find out about their personal problems and address them, and you’ve got to visit armories and guilds to make sure your soldiers are getting proper training. Most of all, talking with the people makes them happy, and makes your community a successful one.

What’s a Final Fantasy game without Moggles? In My Life as King they will play a helpful role.

You may not be casting a spell, equipping a sword, or using a Phoenix Down in Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King, but you may just get an entirely new perspective on the familiar franchise. Your new life begins in less than a month.

Sonic Chronicles

• Nintendo DS
• Publisher: Bioware
• Release Date: Fall 2008

With Bioware at the healm, Sonic is getting a darker presence.

Hands-on:

When a series in dire need of a comeback meets a can’t miss developer, expectations are bound to be sky-high. We got to try out the beginning of the Bioware-helmed RPG featuring the once-glorious gaming icon Sonic the Hedgehog, and while it’s not quite a portable Mass Effect, it is an interesting new direction for the stale speedster.

It’s almost immediately noticeable that there’s a capable hand writing Sonic’s latest saga. While the blue bomber’s last few platformers featured forgettable storylines, what little we saw of Sonic Chronicle’s narrative was enjoyable. The opening featured Sonic’s return to his hometown, which was under attack by a mysterious robot race. Just because the team behind Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Mass Effect is working on the title, don’t expect mature themes or lesbian alien sex. Sonic’s story is purely E-rated.

That said, the concerned chatter between Sonic and Tails was more interesting than everything the two have had to say to each other in their 3D adventures. The game even features an interesting comedic element in giving Sonic-stalker Amy a boyfriend which she makes a point to mention to Sonic while the city is under siege. As you’d expect from Bioware, the story allows for branching conversations depending on how nice or naughty you want Sonic to act.

Dialouge is more interesting than other Sonic games and include branching conversations.

As opposed to Bioware’s previous work, which featured battles that blurred the line between RPG and action, Sonic Chronicles takes a more traditional RPG approach to battles. Like Chrono Trigger, the enemies are visible within the environment, and most battles begin only if Sonic touches them, with the exception of a few scripted fights. The battles are standard fare, with Sonic’s speed allowing him to attack more often than most, which was a nice touch.

We also got to attempt a few combined attacks, which allow for some cool-looking combo moves, including one where Amy uses her mallet to knock a speeding Sonic into enemies. Due to the earliness of the demo within the game, we didn’t get to try a wide variety of attacks, nor did we get to encounter some of series’ stalwarts outside of Sonic, Tails, and Amy, but we were told that the cast of characters will be large (including Knuckles and Big the Cat). We can only assume that the later-learned attacks will be amazing-looking. Knowing Bioware, it’s a safe assumption.

Battles play out in standard turn-based formations, but the combo attacks are anything but standard.

Sonic Chronicles looks like it could be Sega’s answer to the Paper Mario series. It still has some kinks to work out, especially in adapting Sonic’s speed to an RPG setting. We had trouble moving him about the environment and avoiding enemies, particularly with the Phantom Hourglass method of “touch where to go” movement. It really didn’t feel fast enough for Sonic, but it wasn’t slow enough for a traditional RPG. We have confidence an able team like Bioware can pull it all together before release. A mascot’s future depends on it.

• Nintendo Wii Ware
• Publisher: Telltale Games
• Release Date: June 2008

Fans of the internet cartoon won’t be disappointed with the inclusion of some of their favorite episodes.

Hands-on:

Those of you who are familiar with the long-time internet series know how ripe it is for a videogame adaptation. From the many gaming references made during episodes, to the inclusion of the Trogdor theme to Guitar Hero II, to the Atari-inspired Videlectrix titles (which are optimized to play in the Wii’s Internet Browser,) Strong Bad already has his boxing glove-covered fingers on the pulse of gaming culture. It’s no surprise, then, that his console debut, Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People (SBCG4AP), comes with high expectations.

Luckily, the game is in the hands of Telltale Games, the team behind the hilarious Sam and Max series. Like Sam and Max, SBCG4AP is an episodic point and click adventure, which is probably the best genre for the masked wrestler to wreak havoc within. Just as his cartoons are rife with Easter Eggs found by random clicking, Strong Bad’s world is meant to be explored and exploited. During our half-hour we played through one of the episodes. We spent a good 25 minutes just walking up to inconsequential objects to hear Strong Bad’s bizarre take on it.

Exploring Strong Bad’s world is rewarding and entertaining.

From using Homestar’s cell phone to prank himself, to checking e-mail, to playing the Videlectrix classic “Snake Boxer 5″, it’s extremely easy to lose yourself in Strong Bad’s virtual world. We only got to explore two environments during our demo–Strong Bad’s home and Bubs’ Concession Stand, but you can rest assured that plenty more locales will be available when episodes start arriving.

The episode we played centered around clearing the name of Homestar Runner, who has been incriminated on grounds of public nudity. While the quest was made easy for demo purposes–Homestar’s criminal records were hidden under a box–we were told that the actual solution would be more complicated. And we’re assuming, hilarious.

It’s about time Homestar went to jail for nudity… put some pants on dude!

While the game isn’t being written by series creators Matt and Mike Chapman, the folks at Telltale seem to have the series’ sense of humor down pat, with the brothers providing script touch-ups as well as their vocal talents to the many inhabitants of Free Country, USA, including Coach Z, The King of Town, and Strong Sad.

While Wii Ware may be late to the original game download party, SBCG4AP encapsulates why it will be worth the wait. It looks to be an original, irreverent gaming experience that wouldn’t be caught dead on other consoles. The console point-and-click adventure is almost back, and we can’t wait for Strong Bad to bring it to us.

via : gamepro.com