GoldenEye Gets Shaken, Stirred on the Wii

There’s a lot of exciting news coming out of the Electronic Entertainment Expo this year, and perhaps one of the most talked-about announcements—shockingly—came from the Nintendo camp. After years of speculation and rumors, we finally learned that Nintendo will be releasing an updated version of landmark console first-person shooter GoldenEye 007 for the Wii, which is slated for release this holiday season. GoldenEye with motion controls? Sounds promising.

There are plenty of reasons why this GoldenEye remake is a big deal. As avid Nintendo 64 aficionados are already aware, the 1997 title based on the 1995 James Bond film of the same name was one of the first games based on a movie that actually honored the source material. Moreover, GoldenEye was one of the first shooters developed specifically for a console audience, revolutionizing local multiplayer gaming in the process. Sure, the single-player campaign was solid in its own right—following the plot of the movie while providing a variety of mission objectives depending on the difficulty level—but its rich, balanced multiplayer modes kept gamers coming back for years. Hell, I’m sure there are some gaming circles that still fire up GoldenEye for marathon sessions 13 years later, even though the graphics and controls haven’t exactly aged well compared to contemporary shooters like Modern Warfare 2.

Some gamers might have been content with a simple graphical upgrade of the Nintendo 64 classic, but developers are evidently rebuilding GoldenEye from the ground up. Kotaku reports that although the original title was developed by Rare—the development house behind such phenomenal titles as Donkey Kong Country and Perfect Dark—the remake is being handled by Eurocom and Activision, who are crafting a game inspired by the original without recreating it completely. In addition, even though Pierce Brosnan played Bond in the GoldenEye film, present-day 007 Daniel Craig is slipping into the character’s trademark tuxedo this time around. Weird.

The game will support four-player split-screen multiplayer in addition to eight-player online modes. I’m not quite sure GoldenEye will have the same charm if you can’t talk trash to the guy on the couch next to you after sending him flying with a proximity mine, but since online play is so popular these days, it’s a key addition.

As excited as I am about a GoldenEye remake, I urge my fellow fanboys to remain cautious. This isn’t really the GoldenEye we know, and this could just be yet another attempt to cash in on the name. As fans can surely recall, a title called GoldenEye: Rogue Agent was released by Electronic Arts in 2004, and it was pretty awful. I would almost rather have seen Activision develop an all-new Bond title that builds on what worked in GoldenEye as opposed to remaking it. After all, I thought Activision and Treyarch’s Quantum of Solace—which used the Call of Duty engine—was pretty damn good, all things considered. If GoldenEye isn’t going to be a faithful remake of the original with revamped graphics and control, why bother calling it GoldenEye save for the obvious monetary reasons? Or did I already answer my own question?

Nevertheless, the Wii GoldenEye is a first-day purchase for me and I can’t wait to dive into its multiplayer modes. But I will say this: If you play as Oddjob, we are no longer friends.

Watch the trailer below (via G4).

3D or Don’t?

Nintendo recently announced that a 3D version of the DS, predictably called the Nintendo 3DS, will hit shelves sometime in the next year. And while some gamers are no doubt rejoicing that they will be able to enjoy 3D graphics on the go—and without 3D glasses, no less—the news got me thinking about this whole 3D trend. We’ve already got 3D televisions. Just about every blockbuster movie going into production is getting the 3D treatment, while others released over the next few months—Clash of the Titans, for example—are getting a post-production 3D makeover. Even the iced coffee I’m sipping as I type this is in 3D! When will the madness end?

Look, I’m no Luddite. Clearly. I thought the 3D in Avatar was masterfully done, and I’m always supportive of new ways to play, watch and immerse ourselves in the things we love. But with studios, developers and consumer electronics manufacturers cramming this new technology down our throats following Avatar’s commercial success, I wonder whether this hurried, across-the-board 3D media upgrade will do more harm than good.

Since audiences have proven that they’re willing to pay more for content if it’s in 3D (3D Avatar tickets were about $5 more than standard ones), an increasing number of consumer electronics manufacturers, studios—and now game designers—are exploring the exploitative potential of 3D everything, which is very likely a move in the wrong direction for the entertainment industry as a whole. That extra dimension is expensive, but it won’t always be worth it.

I’ve yet to see Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, the first big post-Avatar 3D release (like Titans, the 3D was added in post), but most of my friends that have said the film itself wasn’t great but the 3D was “pretty cool,” almost apologetically. Interestingly enough, I remember the same reactions to the mind-numbing Transformers Revenge of the Fallen when it hit theaters; just replace “3D” with “CGI.” CGI (computer-generated imagery) is used masterfully by some (like Pixar), while an unfortunate majority use it as pretty packaging for a mediocre product. Can anyone argue that 3D will be any different?

Humorously enough, Avatar director James Cameron—lauded as the progenitor of this 3D revolution—is among its harshest critics.

“After Toy Story, there were 10 really bad CG movies because everybody thought the success of that film was CG and not great characters that were beautifully designed and heartwarming,” Cameron told Deadline Hollywood’s Mike Fleming. “Now, you’ve got people quickly converting movies from 2D to 3D, which is not what we did. They’re expecting the same result, when in fact they will probably work against the adoption of 3D because they’ll be putting out an inferior product.”

Cameron added that, as was the case with Avatar, the decision to release a film in 3D should be a creative one made by the director and not a cash grab by the studio.

“This is another example of Hollywood getting it wrong,” Cameron said. “Sony says, ‘We’re doing Spider-Man in 3D.’ The director doesn’t say, ‘Hey, I want to make the movie in 3D.’ The studio says, ‘You want to direct this movie? You’re doing it in 3D, motherfucker!’ That’s not how it should be.”

Nope, it’s not; not in film, not in television and, no, not even in video games. Although, I have to say, this 3D coffee is delicious.

Nintendo Announces Wii Price Cut

Mazel tov! Sorry, I saw “Wii” and “cut” and assumed I was writing about a bris. Anyway, Wired reports that on September 27, Nintendo will officially lower the price of the Wii from $250 to $200 in the United States. The company made the announcement on September 23 in anticipation of the Tokyo Game Show, which kicked off the following day.

Nintendo also revealed a November 15 release date for New Super Mario Bros. Wii. For me, news of an actual top-shelf title from Nintendo is far more exciting than the price drop, since most people who wanted a Wii not only own one already, but have likely become fascinated by how much dust they collect when not in use.

Dreaming of a Wii Christmas?

For the third holiday season since the release of the Wii, Nintendo expects that supply of the popular system may not reach its continuously strong demand, the Los Angeles Times reports.

"We're flowing products into stores on a very regular basis,” said Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime. “Once you see it on the shelf, you ought to buy it. While we're bringing 50% higher level of supply into the market this holiday, we don't know if the demand will be even higher than that.”

In the same interview, Fils-Aime told the Times that the worldwide and domestic economic crisis has done little to affect strong sales of the system.

"We have not seen any negative impact. The sales data show both the Wii and the DS up in September over a year ago,” he said. “The Wii continues to be largely sold out at retail. We know consumers see our form of entertainment as a strong value because the entire family can play and because each game has more than 50 hours of play time.”

That’s all well and good, but I advise gamers to have a look at the Wii’s release slate for the upcoming holiday season. There’s Wii Music—which is being savaged by the gaming press—and, well, little else. Now look at the lineup for Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. Fable II, Left 4 Dead, Resistance 2, LittleBigPlanet, Fallout 3, Gears of War 2…need I go on? I, for one, wish that the folks at Nintendo would worry more about developing quality games and less about manufacturing false demand.

Did I say false demand? Yep. Don’t believe this hardware shortage hype for a moment. Nintendo absolutely has the production capabilities to get enough Wiis onto shelves so that anyone that wants one can buy one. After all, they’ve been in the hardware business longer than either of their current-gen competitors. Perhaps creating an artificial product shortage disguises the fact that the system hasn't had more than a handful of noteworthy games since its 2006 release.

Nintendo may have the “casual” market locked up with their gimmicky “wiggle the controller” titles, but I know that the system has more to offer than just that. I love the fact that the Wii has done wonders in getting new people into the hobby, but Nintendo has made little effort to sustain that audience. Once the initial “wave your arms like an idiot” euphoria wears off, most Wii owners will find themselves browsing Nintendo’s back catalog with the Virtual Console to get a taste of what the company was like when it cared more about “game design” than appealing to “non-gamer” consumers. When a video game company tosses aside the people who actually care about the medium in favor of those who don’t, Mario weeps. Luigi, however, remains indifferent. He's a jerk.

Fools and Their Money

In another ridiculous "Nintendo Wii is good for you" story, a Manhattan gym is charging customers $110 an hour to "work out" with the console, which retails for approximately $250. Nope, I'm not making this up.

The gym in question is Gravity Fitness at Le Parker Meridien hotel, and its executive director told the New York Post that he thinks of the Wii as "just another tool at the gym." Well, there's certainly at least one tool at the gym.

There are plenty of things to blow your money on these days, but in today's flagging economy, why must we flaunt such financial stupidity? For less than the cost of three one-hour sessions, anyone can buy a Wii of their own, which comes packaged with Wii Sports and is easier to find now than ever before. There is absolutely no reason for anyone to fork over $110 bucks to pretend to play tennis for an hour.

And while I love the Wii and all that it has done to bring video games into the mainstream, could we please stop heralding it as a substitute for good old-fashioned exercise week after week in the media? Sure, it's better than sitting on your ass, but if you're serious about getting in shape, ditch the controller and go for a jog.

Burning Rubber with Mario Kart Wii

It’s recently come to my attention that I never formally reviewed Mario Kart Wii despite owning it for several weeks now. I guess that between playing it ad-nauseum, spending far too many hours tooling around Liberty City in Grand Theft Auto IV and working like a madman on freelance projects I just haven’t had the chance to write about it. Well, here’s my informal take.


If you aren’t familiar with Mario Kart, you’re a loser and your friends have been keeping a secret from you all these years. I kid, of course. But anyone that’s lived in a college dorm or befriended a gamer in the past decade or so has been exposed to this madcap racing series in some way, shape or form. It’s Nintendo characters, it’s kart racing and it’s one of the most fun/frustrating games you’ll ever experience. I’ll elaborate.

You see, Mario Kart Wii—like its predecessors—is horribly, horribly even. Why is this a bad thing? Try going from 1st to 12th place at the finish line after three consecutive turtle shells get rammed up your tailpipe. Yep. It happens. While it makes for a frustrating single-player experience, the balanced, anything-can-happen gameplay makes Mario Kart Wii ideal for casual or non-gamers. They’re pretty much on the same playing field as the vets.

What makes this game even more noob-friendly is the introduction of the Wii Wheel, a controller attachments that enables you to steer your kart as you would a car. It’s a fun innovation, but try to avoid the Wii Wheel in single-player modes. Once you get up to the 150cc Grand Prix races, you’ll be cursing all to yourself…which is a totally new level of sadness for someone clutching a tiny plastic steering wheel in their sweaty hands.

I can safely say that online play in Mario Kart Wii is a tremendous step up from the wonky Wi-Fi play in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Here, it’s relatively easy to play with your friends and total strangers from all over the world. That said, I still hate the Friend Code system, and I hope Nintendo either does away with it completely or streamlines the process.

Does Mario Kart Wii reinvent the wheel (ha)? Not necessarily. The game makes some fairly intuitive use of the Wii Remote’s motion sensing capabilities, but it’s not all that different from previous entries in the series.

Kick the tires, check the oil, grab the banana peels and go for a joy ride.

Gear Up for Mario Kart Wii

While every self-respecting Wii owner is no doubt knee-deep in Super Smash Bros. Brawl these days, it’s important to remember that another tent-pole Nintendo franchise, Mario Kart, will be making its way to the console later this month on April 27.

Mario Kart Wii promises to continue the fast-paced, balanced gameplay of previous entries in the series, this time introducing motorcycles into the fray. Like Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Nintendo will allow players to use one of four controller options, including the Gamecube Controller for those not yet comfortable with using the Wii Remote with or without a nunchuk attachment. While I understand that Nintendo is trying not to alienate gamers who have yet to embrace the Wii’s motion controls, this option is somewhat ludicrous given that the Wii’s controller innovation is what attracted most people to the console in the first place.

Speaking of innovation, each copy of Mario Kart Wii comes packaged with the Wii Wheel attachment to allow for more realistic driving controls. Pop your Wii Remote into the center of the peripheral and you’ve got yourself a steering wheel. I doubt the Wii Wheel allows for the precision controls of other configurations—which is probably why Nintendo is allowing competitive players to stick with the tried-and-true Gamecube Controller—however, it could be a whole lot of fun and a great way to get non-gamers into the swing of things provided you have some extra Wii Wheels ($14.99 on Amazon) for four-player driving action. There's also online play via Nintendo Wi-Fi, but as we've already seen with Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the service is fairly hit-or-miss at the moment. Regardless, local, in-person play is still where its at.

I'll be seeing you at the races when Mario Kart Wii hits shelves later this month.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl: A Wort Report Review

Ahh Super Smash Bros. Brawl. This crown jewel of Nintendo’s library is now in our sweaty grasps after months and months of delays and promises. The hip thing to do would be to bash this third installment in the series, claiming it doesn’t live up to the ridiculous amount of hype leading up to its March 9 release date. But I can’t. What I can do is follow up this delayed release with a delayed review. So here I am, nearly two weeks later. How do you like them apples, Nintendo?

In all seriousness—and one struggles with seriousness when writing about a game that pits a yellow electric rat against an anthropomorphic fox in a flight suit—this is an incredible game, and is easily the best Wii release thus far. If you haven’t bought a Wii yet…dude, what are you waiting for?

For the uninitiated and therefore more attractive and popular, Super Smash Bros. Brawl allows just about every Nintendo mascot to beat the polygons out of one another in a fight to the finish. Knock your opponent off the platform and you win. Wash, rinse, repeat and never sleep.

If you’re the type of Smash Bros. fanatic that I am, you may have waited outside your local GameStop the night of March 8 to be among the first to crack the game’s case and start brawling when the game went on sale at midnight. For myself and my good friend and fellow brawler Andrew Metzger, actually purchasing the game turned out to be more of a hassle than the game’s Subspace Emissary adventure mode (I’ll get to that later). Braving intense cold and fanboys in disturbing homemade costumes, we finally walked away with our copies nearly two hours later. No one slept until well after dawn. Yep. Smash ‘Til Dawn. Nothing better on a Saturday night than a good ol’ S.T.D. Ah. Now I see the problem with that acronym.

I suspect many gamers fueled by sugary energy drinks spent quite a few bleary-eyed hours brawling that night, both in-person and online thanks to the newly implemented Nintendo Wi-Fi multiplayer. That is, if they can get it to work. Yes, those hoping for an online experience that in any way duplicates the simplified matchmaking of Xbox Live will be sorely disappointed. It seems that Nintendo just didn’t anticipate the tremendous amount of online traffic that this game is currently generating. With Mario Kart coming out in mere weeks, I hope they get it together soon.

While online play can be spotty—particularly when playing with total strangers—the in-person multiplayer value in Brawl is phenomenal. There are plenty of options that you can play around with, in addition to multiple game types, usable items, stages and control types. You can play with the standalone Wii Remote, Wii Remote with nunchuk attachment, the Classic Controller or even your old Gamecube Controllers will do just fine. The standalone remote configuration is a little weak due to the lack of a separate jump button, but all of them seem to work pretty well. Try each one at least once to see which is the best for you.

Speaking of choice, let’s talk characters. All of your favorites return—including Mario, Link, Donkey Kong, Kirby, Pikachu, Samus, Captain Falcon, Fox McCloud and many others—and fans will also be pleased to learn that there are several new combatants to master, including Meta Knight, King Dedede (both from the Kirby series), a Pokémon trainer (from Pokémon), Wario (from the Wario Ware games), Olimar (from the Pikmin series) and Pit (from Kid Icarus). Two of the most surprising additions are Sonic the Hedgehog and Solid Snake (from Metal Gear Solid), both from non-Nintendo franchises. You’ll have to work to get them though, which may mean mixing it up a tad in Subspace Emissary.

And that brings me to my one and only legitimate gripe about this game. I understand that when creating a benchmark game such as this, most developers feel obligated to include a single-player story mode, tying everything together. Subspace Emissary attempts to do just that, although the entire thing just feels so unnecessary. Sure, it’s fun to see Pikachu and Samus Aran interact, but playing a cumbersome, lengthy side-scrolling beat-em-up just feels so hollow. It can be rewarding at times, but the same can be said of vacuuming. And both activities are major chores. You’ll play through this mode to earn trophies and additional characters, but you’ll never touch it again once you finish it.

Despite this singular gripe—which is pretty inconsequential in the grand scheme of things—any self-respecting gamer will be playing this game for years to come. It’s fun, it’s easy to pick up, and it continues a ten-year legacy of gaming goodness. Solid gameplay, loveable characters and simple-yet-satisfying controls make Super Smash Bros. Brawl the game to beat this spring.

Super Mario Galaxy: A Wort Report Review

It’s hardly surprising that the best Mario title in a decade is also the best platformer in years. Super Mario Galaxy delivers on all levels, with its intuitive control scheme, innovative level design and player accessibility. Whether you grew up with Nintendo’s mustachioed plumber or are visiting this series for the first time, you’re going to have fun with Super Mario Galaxy.

The story’s pretty much what you’re used to. Bowser has once again kidnapped Princess Peach, only this time, Mario must go on an interstellar voyage to rescue her. Of course, he’s going to have to collect a fair amount of stars—familiar to anyone who has played the last two installments of the series—in order to power the spaceship that will lead him to Bowser.

Controls are fairly basic, and make use of both the Wii remote and the nunchuk attachment. Spin attacks are performed with a flick of the wrist, and the jumping mechanics are similar to previous 3D Mario outings. With many levels requiring Mario to travel from planetoid to planetoid, you’ll make use of Sling Stars and Launch Stars to progress, accessed through shaking the remote or using it as a pointer. Certain levels also require other unique uses of the remote, such as a surfing stage where Mario must mount a manta ray.

I know I’m not alone on this, but I thought that 2002’s Super Mario Sunshine was a massive disappointment. Billed as a follow-up to 1996’s groundbreaking Super Mario 64, Sunshine was a repetitive, gimmicky letdown that hardly felt like a proper Mario title. Thankfully, Galaxy looks, feels and plays like a true sequel to Super Mario 64 and may be one of the best games in the series. The platforming is challenging without being frustrating, and the level variety ensures that you’re never stuck in the same environment for too long.

While graphically the Wii doesn’t stand up to the visuals of the Xbox 360 or the Playstation 3, Super Mario Galaxy is a sight to behold. It’s colorful without being nauseatingly saccharine, and stands apart in the series while at the same time paying visual tribute to earlier entries in the series. Each level is swarming with Mario-esque bad guys, including goombas and koopa troopas, and you'll see plenty of familiar green pipes, mushrooms and gold coins mixed in with some new surprises.

Setbacks are minor. Some of the suits, such as Mario’s new bee outfit, don’t work as well as you’d like them to, and some of the environmental mechanics can be a tad frustrating, but chances are you won’t find yourself throwing the controller in disgust. You may throw it, however, because you forgot to tighten your wrist strap, but that’s your problem. Not Mario’s.

Remember what it felt like to fire up Super Mario Bros. 3 for the first time? Or the way it felt to see the Mushroom Kingdom in three dimensions for the first time with Super Mario 64? That’s exactly what it feels like once you land Mario on his planetoid in Galaxy. Galaxy is the evolution of gaming’s most prolific series, and is everything you want in a next-gen Mario title.

While it’s always risky saying that one game is worth buying a system for, the latest Mario adventure really is one of those games. For anyone that has been dissatisfied with game variety on the Wii, Super Mario Galaxy is a breath of fresh air. Although, of course, there is no air in space.