Grazza

I'm saying the Wii is a console optimised for the motion control games like Wii Sports. Without that, what do you have left? Slightly more processing power than the GameCube, a DVD drive and not enough buttons. I'm not saying good games can't be made, it's just that I don't think there should be another console based around motion control. It's nothing to do with news. I gave Wii Sports Resort a go the other day, trying to like it. Every single event. Now, whilst it's impressive when you first try it, there's no way I want to play a full Zelda game with those controls. That early idea of "normal" games controlled with the analogue stick in your left hand and motion control in your right (like Metroid Prime 3) has been and gone. There has still never been a good game like that! Developers have (quite rightly) gone back to just using the Wii remote for pointing, or just using the remote on its side. In short, a Wii HD/Wii 2 like Michael Pachter is thinking of is a bad idea.

Well, I'm glad they haven't made a Wii HD or Wii 2. The Wii was a great toy (not meant in a demeaning way) to play Wii Sports with, but did this function lend itself to other games? If you look at 2010, Mario Galaxy 2 only used tilting and pointing, Donkey Kong Country Returns utilised a shake or two (as far as I'm aware) and Metroid: Other M didn't use motion control at all, only pointing (and was all the better for it). With this is mind, can it really be said that players or developers think it benefits the types of games they like? If Skyward Sword sticks to using MotionPlus, it'll stick out like a sore thumb (and, I think, be the worst Zelda ever). When you get people looking forward to Kirby more, something's wrong. The Wii's real legacy has been "living room games" (as aped by Kinect). These may be fun in certain contexts, but I don't want to play them in the bedroom, and I don't want to play my favourite series like that. I'm not lazy. I do plenty of exercise, but when I'm playing games I don't want to move my arm from the elbow, I don't want to have to swing hard or throw hard, I don't want to bang my elbow or get my sleeve caught on the bedpost. It's just not fun. So, in short, I'm hoping Nintendo back off from motion control. Wii 2? No thanks!

And it'll be better without motion control, I'm sure.

I thought this was interesting. Japanese scientists claim they'll be able to recreate a woolly mammoth in 5-6 years. Would you like to see this? Do you think it'll happen? Whilst I'm not sure it's ethical, there's no doubt in my mind I'd love to see such an impressive beast. http://bigthink.com/ideas/26567

When people used to talk about bringing Kid Icarus back, I expected it to be like Metroid (not Metroid Prime, but the general Metroid gameplay). This looks less appealing, but still promising. I'm not worried about using L to fire, as Star Fox Command had a similar control scheme and I loved that.

Same here, I think they're a lot better. I never liked having to control Mario and Luigi at the same time with different buttons, and they're generally more low-key than Paper Mario. It's an interesting question, though, which ones should be on consoles and which ones should be on handhelds. Thousand Year Door was one of the system sellers for the GameCube because of its amazing origami bosses. That took a certain amount of graphical clout. However, consoles aren't always better or more enjoyable to play on. Does anyone really want a "proper" Paper Mario game on Wii? It wouldn't look any better than Super Paper Mario, nor would it have the 3D effect. I think, ideally, there should be both a console and handheld series of Paper Mario, like there is with Zelda.

Does anyone remember the episode of TFI Friday where Chris Evans got his mum in to cook chip butties? They looked lovely! He got John Cusack to try a bit, but he didn't seem overly excited.

Exactly. I wouldn't put crisps or fries in bread, but actual chip sandwiches are great. Can you get fish & chips in America? I'd be surprised if they didn't do them in the New England coastal towns.

Completed it 100% (15 hours). It was enormous fun finding all the items (the maps became much more complex) and the post-game boss was the perfect balance of challenge and excitement. Nice reference too to my favourite Metroid, Zero Mission. It was also poignant. I think the whole voice cast acted it very well. I can understand people thinking 3D games should have analogue controls - that's my expectation too - but there comes a point in this game where you're running down corridors at blistering speeds and it's just fitting to keep it to the distinct inputs characteristic of a d-pad. Remember, the Metroid Prime series did not feature the Speed Boost, Shine Spark or the long corridors of the 2D games. Other M, on the other hand, includes everything associated with Metroid, and I would say the controls for the Shine Spark are actually the best yet out of all the Metroids. Frankly, the Prime series takes as much inspiration from the FPS genre as it does Metroid. The last 4 or 5 hours really brought me back on side, and I would say this is easily the most accurate attempt at putting Metroid in 3D yet.

The best option... Pure 2D Metroid. 2D gameplay, 2D sprites like Zero Mission, but much improved. The 2nd-best option... 2.5D Metroid. 2D gameplay, but polygon models like New Super Mario Bros. It'll probably be Metroid II.

There's one thing I don't understand about fibre optic: Can you have multiple "points" installed around the house (like you would with satellite TV)? If not, and you had to use Wi-Fi to get it around the house, would the speed be limited as much as "normal" broadband through Wi-Fi? I'm just thinking about Cloud computing. I assume that'll need fibre optic quality, so I wonder if I'll be able to get my own "point".

I agree, very "space opera". Despite what I've said, I really did enjoy this game quite a lot. One thing I forgot to mention was how much easier the bomb jump is in this than the Prime games. I have to conclude that Team Ninja have more mastery of controls than Retro Studios.

From what people were saying, I thought it was going to be awful, but then I looked at the photo and thought it was fine. I didn't even notice the hole until it was pointed out. I'm not defending the barbers at all, I've had bad experiences with those "blokey" barbers too, but don't let it ruin your night. Be confident. That'll do you more favours than the best haircut in the world. Chin up.

I'd like to play it too, but I have a deep suspicion that it would be too long and less well-balanced than the original. Maybe something for the next handheld? I doubt the 3DS could handle it (it needs two analogue sticks, for a start).

Metroid: Other M - Doing the (very good) post-game at the moment. Super Mario Galaxy 2 - I just need Star 242. Not sure if it'll take me 5 hours, 15 hours, or whether I'm even capable of getting it, that's the trouble.

Right, but to us, he's no more intimidating than other bosses. Perhaps this is the key. We control videogame characters, so it's jarring when they behave massively differently to how we feel at the time. Isn't it up to us whether we're scared of him or not? If I was truly there, I'd be terrified of all of them! Similarly, isn't the Metroid Prime series set before Other M? By that token, she's defeated a version of Ridley at least four times. If we can understand that this is sci-fi and all the monsters are always going to be revived, why can't Samus? Nah, I don't play that stuff. I'm honestly basing my views on the Metroid series alone. I don't agree that Samus has ever been particularly cold-blooded, for instance - I identify with her more because she's caring - but we've seen her deal with bosses so many times. Courage is not the absence of fear, but overcoming your fear (or something like that). I can understand that Samus is intimidated, but so much so that she can't fight? Again, this really comes back to whether games are something we control, or watch... There's nothing else Ripley can do at that moment, though. Samus is fully capable of fighting back.

Quite. None of the best Zelda games have ever been ready at the launch of a console because, by their nature, they build on what any given machine is known to be capable of. At their best, they are the quintessential "2nd generation" game. A remake is ideal for the early days of the 3DS.

I remember buying an N64, playing Mario 64 and then selling it (see, "I'm selling my Wii" is not new!) Then, in 1998 when a few new games came out for it, I went to Lakeside and bought a 2nd one with Banjo Kazooie. That Christmas Ocarina of Time was released and it totally redefined my idea of how immersive a game could be. I'll never forget playing it, accompanied by special bars of Cadbury's chocolate that were available at the time. The next stand-out moment was Majora's Mask. I was at a point where I was getting bored with games, but MM recreated all the Ocarina magic. A strange memory I have of this is using a particular online FAQ to solve a puzzle in the Fire Temple. Many years later, when I got it on the GameCube, I looked up the same FAQ (unintentionally) and was surprised that my first playthrough of Majora's Mask was as "recent" as that, if that makes sense? In all honesty I then had a few years in the wilderness, uninterested in games and not following the progress of the GameCube. One day, though, I was walking through GAME and saw the most amazing demo running on a screen - Zelda: the Wind Waker. They were the best graphics I'd ever seen, like a cartoon, and I knew I had to have that game and machine. I'd seen a few screenshots in magazines, and knew that I'd play it one day, but this rolling demo sealed the deal. Getting the GameCube was fantastic. As well as Wind Waker (which I still don't think has been surpassed), Mario Sunshine impressed me in a similar way. That is to say, the extra processing power of the machine was well-used, with extra draw-distances. The controller, needless to say, was a dream to use, with analogue L+R triggers and all decent games using the C-stick for full camera control. To me, the GameCube is the pinnacle of gaming, and I hope I enjoy another console as much one day.

My attitude to the Ridley scene is that I expected Samus to be more stoic than that. She'd fought him in Metroid and Super Metroid (and Metroid II?) and didn't seem to be particularly scared. I realise she might be more scared of him than other monsters, but she let it literally freeze her with fear, when she hadn't in previous games.

Totally agree. Sunshine is my favourite 3D Mario. What I loved about it was that it felt like a concept. So what if it didn't have all the usual areas of the Mushroom Kingdom? Miyamoto wanted to give us a tropical holiday vibe, and he succeeded. I loved the Caribbean and Hawaiian areas especially. One of the most important things to me about playing a new entry in a long series is that it's clearly better in terms of technology, graphics and controls. In Sunshine, the draw-distance was clearly leaps and bounds ahead of the N64, allowing you to see distant coins. Galaxy was no slouch in this area either, but didn't feel like a leap to me. Sunshine also benefitted from the brilliant GameCube pad, adding analogue L+R triggers and a fully controllable camera via the C-stick. Galaxy had good controls, but not better. Super Mario Sunshine, we salute you.

Completed it last night. On the negative side, I found the "Dragon's Lair", "over-the-shoulder" and "Where's Wally?" moments very clumsy. The first time the latter happened, I honestly thought my game had gone wrong, and looked on the internet to see if it was a bug. There were also fights where you were forced into a certain perspective (eg. after the final boss) and had to do exactly the right thing, which seemed baffling and obscure to me. I also somewhat agree with the critics of the story, but I don't want to put the boot in about that. When it comes to cutscenes, my theory is "less is more", although I did find the "thumbs down" thing quite cute. Onto the positives, of which there are a lot: The 3rd-person perspective and the general speed of Samus took the series back to how it's meant to be. I also liked the hand-to-hand combat. Team Ninja made the Wall Jump and Space Jump much more intuitive to control than the Prime games (sometimes I wonder if Retro Studios just wanted to frustrate us). Also, despite a few baffling moments, none of the bosses feel like hitting a brick wall (as long as you know what to do). Nothing in this game frustrated me like the Metroid Prime or Spider Guardian - it's not that sort of difficulty - which I think is a good thing. Other M doesn't feel as big or important as the Prime series, but it's sort of more fun. I didn't mind the linearity, and showing which rooms still have upgrades gets a big thumbs up from me. Furthermore, the post-game is brilliant, as you gather all the remaining items and find many more paths, making the maps much bigger and more complicated. Sheer Metroid bliss. Whilst I don't think Other M should exactly be the "template" for a future Metroid game, Nintendo should not ignore all the ways it has put the series back on track. Verdict: fun, but obscure. Well worth playing if you're fond of the series.

I'm grumpy again now because there's no save point after the "final" boss. There's a lengthy cutscene afterwards, followed by a section much more difficult than the boss. I've had to turn it off, wasting an hour or so.

Whoah, that sounds useful. I've still not seen a Co-op de Grace, but I'll try to activate this one. Thankfully, I do have 2 or 3 Critical Fans (plus the relevant medal, of course). I certainly think I'm going to want 4 Brain Drainers, if nothing else.

I remember even back in the SNES and Megadrive days some of my friends turned off the sound and listened to "proper" music instead. It's not for me, but each to his own. Games like Metroid and Zelda are full of such good music, I want to hear it. The exception (as others have said) is handhelds. I'll play the main story with the sound up, but if it's something that I'm going to play over and over again, like Dragon Quest IX (a big offender, it seems!), I will turn the sound completely off. It's one of life's great pleasures to lay in bed playing on the DS whilst listening to BBC News 24.