WiiWare Starts 03-25-2008 In Japan

The service will launch with Dr. Mario, Pokemon Ranch Channel, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Little King, Star Soldier R and some random Japanese craziness that I will detail below.

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WiiWare Trailers Dr. Mario, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, Pokemon Ranch Channel, Star Soldier R

Pokemon Ranch Channel

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Ryu Ga Gotoku Kenzan Has Turtle Raising

The turtle raising in this game is good. It’s like a full pet simulator game but with cute turtles.

NeoGAF

Ryu Ga Kotoku Kenzan Impressions, 30 Hour Game With 10% Completion

Anyway here are my stats:
Rank: Chuu-kyuu
Completion Rate: 10.7%
Time: 28:30

…
Still don’t really like the combat in the game, and it really got to me in the later fights but I didn’t have any real problems against anyone save for one boss near the end. The story is one of the best I’ve played (even though I have to admit I didn’t 100% understand all of it… I got maybe 95% of the main story) and the ending is just ridiculously awesome.

…

For me, the game is a solid 90% or 95%. FYI I think the first RGG was probably an 85% game, so I think this one is a bit better for a lot of small reasons (better loading, more enjoyable mini-games, story is more epic and grand, etc.) I think if the combat was smoothed out a bit more it would be good. I’d like it if certain strings were cancelable or if you could have a make a combo feature or something like that.

Via NeoGAF

Mana Khemia - First Impressions

Developed by Gust and published in the US by NIS America, Mana Khemia is a nice diversion. If you like the Atelier Iris series and Ar Tornelico, you’ll like Mana Khemia. Call me boring or a pathetic fan girl, but I think this is a good thing. There are times when I’m looking for something comfortable and familiar. Playing a game like that is like snuggling under the covers on a chilly Sunday morning and just being lazy. So if you’re looking for something different, amazing, and revolutionary, this isn’t the right choice. But if you’re into snuggling with hot chocolate, I definitely recommend checking it out.

You begin the game as Vayne, a young man with a cat companion named Sulpher. A teacher from the alchemy school invites him to be a student and so he begins his studies. On his first day of school, he befriends a super-cute, pink-haired girl, a spunky cat-girl, and a brash loser of an upperclassman. Each chapter is broken down into events and classes. In order to progress the story, you have to pass your alchemy classes. These classes might teach you combat, alchemy, or judging whether or not to run from battle. I am in the second chapter and so far, there are hints that there is something special about Vayne, but nothing concrete. There also isn’t some great evil threatening the world yet, either.

The battles are turn based, although when you get to take your turn next is determined by your actions. There is attack, defend, run away, item, and skill/magic. Instead of experience points leading to increasing levels, your points can be allocated to an alchemy grid, similar to the sphere grid in Final Fantasy X. The primary difference, however, is that in order to allocate your points, you must synthesize items, armor, or weapons using alchemy and have them either in your inventory or equipped. If you haven’t synthesized them yourself, you can’t learn the skills associated with them. As such, leveling up your character is directly determined by how far you’ve progressed in the story and what items you’ve picked up along the way. In addition to that, as you progress through a dungeon, time passes. When it becomes night time, the enemies get a LOT more difficult. Unless you’ve got a lot of skills on the grid unlocked, the night enemies are too challenging, so you have to leave, come back, and start the dungeon over. So forget grinding. It doesn’t get you anywhere. Enemies are visible on screen as you traverse the dungeon, so you can avoid them, if you’re careful. This definitely helps with the time passing issue.

The alchemy system is the basis of the game since you have to synthesize items in order to “level” your characters. Experimentation is easy and you can receive support from other characters in your party. I haven’t messed around with it that much yet, so I’m not entirely sure how the different characters can affect your outcomes. The synthesized items have qualities like “muddy” or “powdery.” I haven’t figured out how they affect the game yet, though. I haven’t found my Heal Jars to work differently based on whether they’re muddy or powdery.

The graphics are what we’ve come to expect from Gust. The enemies are the same, as are the mana. I love Punis. And the pretty boys. There is a Japanese voice option, thank God. The English makes me cringe. (I’m one of those Japanese voice acting purists, though…) The story so far is fluffy, but I’m guessing that it will get interesting later. I’m definitely enjoying this game, but it’s not breaking down any barriers. It’s more of what I like about Gust’s games and that’s good enough for me.

Target: Terror Takes The Wii Back To 1995

Ok I know the whole Nintendo Seal of Quality thing is bullshit but come on. I wouldn’t waste my time with this if it was a free flash game.

What’s even more ridiculous is that this is actually a port of an arcade game released in 2004. Arcade Link

Konami Hype/Shame Page

“Originally an arcade game created by legendary designer Eugene Jarvis (Defender, Robotron: 2084, and Cruis’n series), Target: Terror puts you in the place of an elite anti-terrorist agent who is charged with protecting the U.S. from all terrorist activities.”

Who else thinks Eugene is in his 80’s and hitting the bottle a little too hard these days?

More Screens

DO NOT BUY PSP Composite Cables

Or import S-Video cables for that matter. THEY DO NOT OUTPUT GAMEPLAY TO YOUR TV OR VIDEO CAPTURE DEVICE. ARGGH!

Oh I guess I should have looked this up on the internet before I bought the cables or maybe I should read the tiny bolded line on the back of the box that says they’re ONLY for videos and pictures. WHAT IN THE FLYING @!%!?!

Component are the only cables that output gameplay to your TV apparently and it sounds like they don’t even do it that well.

DEAR SONY I WANT TO SHOOT YOU IN THE FACE.

So if you want the right cables click here.

Team Fortress 2 + Predator Parody

If you play Team Fortress 2, you know the style of humor involved. I cut together this movie using pieces of Predator and sound effects from the game. Enjoy.

NES Powerpad Fitness Game Eerily Resurrected On Wii

On May 29th you can take a step back in time nearly 20 years and pay full price for it at the same time.

“Back in the summer of 1986, Bandai released a fitness game titled Family Trainer: Athletic World on the 8-bit Famicom which shipped with a flimsy mat controller. The idea was to get kids off the couch and in motion with simple mini-games that were played by stepping on the circular cues located on top of the mat. Sales were mediocre and Bandai eventually abandoned hopes of starting a video game fitness craze.”

Then:

Now:

The more things change, the more things stay the same?

Via NCSX

Blood & Guts! Requiem: Bloodymare - First Impressions

The closed beta for Requiem: Bloodymare started on 2/29. Being the MMO whore that I am, I snapped up a beta key and started playing. Horror games are not my usual cup of tea, but something about blood, gore, and mmo-style play thrills me. For example, there’s something totally awesome about killing those named mobs in Diablo 2 that explode into bits and pieces all over the place when they die.

There’s no NDA on this beta, so I thought I’d share my thoughts.

The premise is that there’s some kind of magical energy wreaking havoc on this world, so my avatar has undergone some kind of cybernetic enhancement to become a Temperion. I have to go on quests for the company that made me and help people out with problems. That, in itself, feels a bit odd to me, simply because when I created my character, I didn’t really feel like I was creating a hero. It felt more like I was creating a mercenary, at best. The NPC’s I help seem to view me more as a hero, though.

Regardless of what race you choose, the first 10 levels of every character is exactly the same. At level 10, you get to decide what your job will be. Each race can choose between 2 jobs, so there’s not a whole lot of choice. There’s a DNA system that enhances your character, along with skills that you can learn each level. I haven’t experimented much with DNA yet, though, as I only just reached level 10. Leveling is slightly slow when compared to World of Warcraft (and I’m only comparing the two because EVERYONE compares EVERYTHING to WoW these days), but I don’t feel that it’s THAT bad.

There’s a tutorial of sorts when you begin, but it’s not that great. It teaches you how to move, attack, use items, etc. But nothing ever pops up on the screen to say, “press M for the map.” I got all the way to level 10 before I stumbled on M by accident…lol. Not that I really minded. I’m used to EQ back when there WAS no map. And Plane of Knowledge? Hah! I walked everywhere or paid someone for a port.

The battle system is standard fare. Auto-attack, spells, skills, cooldowns, etc. You can enhance your gear with items and deconstruct old gear into items.

Graphics are very nice. I turned everything up, of course. And the blood and guts? AWESOME. Twitching, bloody corpses lie on the ground after you deliver the killing blow and usually a body part or two goes flying. I’m loving it.

The background music is meh. I turned it off after a day, although I kept the regular sound effects on. Every game day (which seems to be about 2 hours or so), there’s a period of time called Nightmare Time or something. It lasts for about 15 real minutes. During this time, nightmare creatures (like Elites) come out, which require groups to kill. I haven’t killed one or seen one yet, so I’m not sure what the benefits are if you kill them. I love when Nightmare time starts, though. The whole screen goes black for a second or two and there’s an ominous sound.

Probably my biggest complaint about the game isn’t really about the game itself, but the people who are playing it. I realize that this is an M Rated game. I expect profanity and stuff. Hell, I have a pretty foul mouth myself, sometimes. But just because you can swear, does not make it okay to treat people to verbal abuse or racist comments. I get the distinct impression that many people playing this think, “Oh, it’s M rated, so I can say whatever I want.” An M Rating shouldn’t give people the license to hurt others, you know? Thankfully, there is an excellent “Block” option and, believe it or not, I’ve only added one person to that list so far. (I have very high tolerance for stupidity, although I LOVE to complain about it.)

I created two characters: a shaman and a soul hunter. I’m looking forward to actually playing them now that I have their level 10 jobs. As to whether I will actually play this game when it goes live, I’m not sure yet. I don’t know anything at all about grouping or group dynamics. 1-10 is totally soloable. I have quests now that require me to group, so I’ll learn soon. It’s my understanding that the game will be free-to-play with pay-for-premium.

I can’t remember what server I chose, but if anyone else is playing, I’d love to have someone else to play with.