Rumor Control - IGN's Nintendo Voice Chat

[Zechs Merquise]

They seem underwhelmed by RE:UC and BWii two of my most hotly anticipated games, I really hoped both would score 8.0 or above. I tend to trust IGN more than other review sites, very rarely do I feel they substantially miss the mark.

[darkjak]

Hmmm...

It's been quite a while since EA actually made a "best" in something. Actually, last time must have been like in 1998, when they released my fave racer for years to come, NFS: High stakes:

 

[Hellfire]

They seem underwhelmed by RE:UC and BWii two of my most hotly anticipated games, I really hoped both would score 8.0 or above. I tend to trust IGN more than other review sites, very rarely do I feel they substantially miss the mark.

 

Trust? IGN?

Does not compute.

[Helmsly]

http://uk.wii.ign.com/articles/832/832465p1.html

 

 

New Wii-k in review is now up (Matt, Bozon and Jessica this time)

 

I'm listening to it at the moment, so far the the first 20 minutes has been all about Mario Galaxy

[Hero-of-Time]

Im on listening to it now. I will type the stuff as it happens as no one has posted it yet. No doubt a better version will be posted later but here is the jist of it

 

SLIGHT MARIO SPOILERS AHEAD, nothing major but I thought I would give you a heads up.

 

 

-Mario Galaxy music is amazing.

 

-Matt not rushing through Mario he is taking his time and will give the review when its ready.

 

-For the most part Mario Galaxy is easy, well they argue over it Matt says it isnt other say it is.

 

-The lives that you collect arent saved so when you continue your game you start from 5 but they says its not an issue as the extra lives are everywhere.

 

-Easy to heal Mario

 

-The whole office gathering around watching Galaxy.

 

-Everytime you get a new Star it feels like a new level in itself where as Mario 64 you had certain Stars in the same level.

 

-It has a very 2D feel to it even though its in 3D

 

-GOTY talk, Matt defends that the GOTY should be based on pure fun rather where as the Jessica says Mass Effect should get it. Matt says Mass Effect can get boring due to the amount of text and many people will end up getting bored ( I did with KOTOR ) and Mario is more accessible. Both games cant really compared, both different types of games.

 

-Controls in Mario Galaxy are great, Wiimote used very well and not just tacked on. You do a spin attack to do Fire Power, feels great.

 

-40 mins into the game they say that Galaxy is a 10 game, but later they have some tiny issues with certain things so the score will drop. They say its probaly the best Mario game.

 

-They mock people who say the audio has no voice acting but again they say that the music is amazing.

 

-Variety in the game is huge, they are half way through and havent found anything getting stale. The big worlds are great but they love the smaller planets as the physics are amazing.

 

-Mario does ice skating.

 

-1st part fades out with a remix of the original Mario Bros music....FANTASTIC!!!!

 

-They discuss Manhunt, 2 say its good and wish it wasnt censored. You cant really see your kill sequences.

 

-Fire Emblem review got 8.0 but they say its a solid game but it is pretty much a Cube game.

 

-Smackdown got 7.5, people complained about the score. Its very arcadey and feels great, the Wiimote replaces the anlogue stick moves from the other consoles. The Wii version is cut down, no schedule in the game, you end up fighting at same venue all the time.

 

-Fifa got 7.0, said it was a good first step.

 

-Battalion Wars 2 got 8.0 hasnt progressed much. Wiimote kind of develops the game but you can see the developers have run out of buttons.

 

-Guitar Hero 3 got 8.6 and lost .2 points compared to other console versions due to lack of downloadable content and lack of chat feature when playing online.

 

- Resident Evil 4 topping 1 million. Capcom prove to other compaines wrong who say casual games only sell well on the Wii and hardcore games dont. Proves that people do what these types of games and not just minigame collections.

 

-Touch on how old people are playing Wii Sports they say Nintendo should come out with a Driving School game to help senior citizens to drive

 

-They discuss the price of Wii games and how they dont match up. Carnival Games and R Evil are the same price and the likes of Fire Emblem are $50 even though its essentially a Cube game.

 

-Medal of Honor is discussed they love the controls and they are best on the Wii and any console, blows Halo out of the water! They say it may get passed by due to it being a war time game. Other developers should just copy the game as it works so well.

 

-Dragon Quest Swords, Jessica wasnt happy with it and didnt like the controls. Apparently she sucked at it anyway You use the d-pad to walk and they admit it is pretty much an update of a plug-in play game. You cast spells here and there and its a very simple game yet boring to play. You dont have much control of the game.

 

-Question time. Why are Gamespot and 1up biased against Nintendo? They say 1up is all over the place but Gamespot is pretty solid. They dont think they are biased just have different opinions.

 

-3rd party N64 VC games are discussed. They say it would come next year. Pokemon Snap needs to come asap on the VC ( I AGREE! ).

 

- Someone asks why Zelda didnt do Ocrestrated music where as Mario did. They couldnt really answer it say it may be due to budget.

 

-They have to give their top 3 games for the holiday season Mario Galaxy Mass Effect, Call of Duty 4. If it was Wii games it would be Mario Galaxy, Trauma Centre and Medal of Honor. Say Trauma Centre 2 player co-op is awesome.

 

-Umbrella Chronicles is discussed very briefly, they say its just like House of Dead. Good thing IMO.

 

- Soul Calibur Legends. They say its bad and they are very disappointed, runs at 60fps but its very basic.

 

-Annoyances is games. Escort missions annoy them all, and Paper Mario and Zack and Wiki that dont let people skip stuff and then constantly talk you through the game. They say that more gamers should have a pick up and play feature and you should be able to skip stuff if you have heard it already.

 

-Galaxy gets compared to waffles. You dont know why waffles have all of those little squares in them but what you do know is that you love them.

 

-No Resident Evil buzz after UC, they say they would love a R Evil 2 remake ( would LOOOOOOOVE it if that happened )

 

-Fatal Frame discussed, say its a spinoff and will not be FF4. Fear it may be a port of the 1st games.

 

All done

[Daft]

-No Resident Evil buzz after UC, they say they would love a R Evil 2 remake ( would LOOOOOOOVE it if that happened )

 

RE2 remake....Please god!!!! I would definitely consider killing for this game!

[jammy2211]

I swear Fatal Frame 4 was confirmed for the Wii. Maybe it's been misinterpreted or something, going to need to see what happens there though.

[triforcemario]

 

 

- Someone asks why Zelda didnt do Ocrestrated music where as Mario did. They couldnt really answer it say it may be due to budget.

 

It's actually due to the fact that it was originally a GC game, and they wouldn't have been able to fit orchestral music onto a GC DVD.

[Hellfire]

I swear Fatal Frame 4 was confirmed for the Wii. Maybe it's been misinterpreted or something, going to need to see what happens there though.

 

It was. I remember posting it on the main site.

[Owen]

I've never played a fatal frame game before, so i'll probably give it swirl when it comes out on Wii.

[pedrocasilva]

I swear Fatal Frame 4 was confirmed for the Wii. Maybe it's been misinterpreted or something, going to need to see what happens there though.

hmmm, looking back it was kinda implied, not said, the title of the news was:

 

Tecmo Planning Next Fatal Frame for Wii

 

In a sense... "Next" could be anything. I wouldn't mind enhanced ports though; but I'd rather have something that uses the hardware.

[Phube]

I wish I could moan about games being £25 quid too!!!

[Maverick]

RE2 remake....Please god!!!! I would definitely consider killing for this game!

 

Aint That Some Fucked Up Shit?

 

Would be cool and almost feels possible.

[Iun]

Y'know, I've never played Resident Evil 2, so a remake would be rather good.

[Maverick]

Y'know, I've never played Resident Evil 2, so a remake would be rather good.

 

It is by far (in my personal opinion) the best storywise i imagine you have played RE 4 which has the best gameplay and worst story.

 

If this game was ever made they would have to up the zombie count otherwise the game would be way too easy ... not that i would mind haha

[...]

Can someone explain to me the "sue joke" right at the end? What did Matt say that was so bad...?

[James McGeachie]

It's actually due to the fact that it was originally a GC game, and they wouldn't have been able to fit orchestral music onto a GC DVD.

 

Sort of bull really. It's possible they'd have been really stretching the limits of a disc with a lot of compression or would've had to do 2 discs but the fact is that wasn't the main factor in it at all, Nintendo just don't feel the need to splash out on things like orchestrated soundtracks usually. If you read the interview with the Galaxy sound team on one of the "Ask Iwata" Wii updates they even bring up how they were hesitant to do it because of the budget.

 

I think the main reason Galaxy has one is because they really wanted to make sure this game was the best it could possibly be in all areas... as you know it wouldn't surprise me if it's the utmost peak of Mario games. After all, there are no settings that are "bigger" and more "epic" than space.

[Iun]

I'd really like to give the older Resident Evil games a good going-over, but the antiquated control system puts me off a little. I managed to get through Remake and halfway through 0 before I just couldn't take it any more. I thought 0 was the better game, actually. Certainly more interesting and there was a lot more investment in the characters. So I'm really looking forward to Umbrella Chronicles as it seems to have some darned fine story sections.

 

Should I go to a tech plaza here and splash out on all the Gamecube Resident Evil's and get a Classic Controller so I can get the full experience?

[James McGeachie]

Dunno why you'd want a classic controller for them and not just use a Gamecube one, hell I don't think the classic controller even works with Cube games does it? Or maybe I'm wrong, never tried.

 

Anyway if you think 0 was a better game than Remake, which is perhaps the finest of the traditional RE's by modern standard, only edging out RE2 because the latter is far more dated, I'm not sure how much playing the others would appeal to you as they follow a very similar formula to RE1 except that 2 and 3 have ps1 level of visuals. Code Veronica is Dreamcast and might interest you slightly more actually as it's the only one with 3d environments, though still has the old gameplay style but actually has some shifting camera angles.

 

All isn't lost for there maybe being a Remake of 2 at one point on Wii though, the fact they've deliberately left out Leon and Claire in Umbrella Chronicles almost suggests they're keeping the re-visioning of that story for a remake, all dependant on whether UC sells enough to prove the Wii has a good number of hardcore RE fans on board.

[Cookyman]

Better late than never IGN's latest wii-k in review is now up!: peace:

[Hero-of-Time]

Better late than never IGN's latest wii-k in review is now up!: peace:

 

Thanks for the heads up, will probably listen to it when I get in from work this afternoon.

[tapedeck]

Rough breakdown:

 

 

You can tell they have a lot on their plate at the moment. They don't really go into much depth this week about "big" games. There are some enthusiastic moments about wiiware and they dismiss check mii out as being a 15min diversion.

Other than that they justify mario galaxy's score and say it would have been a ten if not for its lack of difficulty.

 

Medal of honour two is mentioned and again they say if it wasn't for the controls it would be just another call of duty 3. They then praise the wii mote use in fps games. (Again).

Matt says RRR2 is apparently more of the same yet hasn't played multiplayer so cannot really rate the game yet.

 

They then talk about drab titles such as Hooked (fishing) /disney princess.

They then note that Hooked has wifi yet Mario and Sonic doesn't...good point perhaps.

 

Wiiware is discussed in great detail (65/35 ratio of income for devs...35% goes to Nintendo - Which they were shocked about).

They then mention that titles which are cheaper/smaller go up first on the servers yet devs can only submit one game per month.

 

The price can be whatever the developer chooses. They say that "cup and ball" could be on there for one buck. or we could see N64 like adventures. And although nintendo won't let ppl make games for NES VC, Wiiware doesn't stop ppl from making 8bit type software.

 

They end with questions from readers. A good point is raised about wii's 1st year (one of my threads here:p ) and they reckon it's had one of the best 1st years of any console and if the 2nd year is like the 1st it should cement wii as brilliant.

 

Bozon states that "exclusively" the DS version of Mario and Sonic at the olympics got 2.7 higher than the wii version due to wifi alone.

[Zechs Merquise]

They then talk about drab titles such as Hooked (fishing) /disney princess. They then note that Hooked has wifi yet Mario and Sonic doesn't...good point perhaps.

 

Mario and Sonic was crying out for online... a real shame.

[pedrocasilva]

This wii-k's:

 

Victorious Boxers Revolution

- Gave the game 4.5 - was actually going to be lower, but decided against it because of the ability to use a classic controller.

- Much worse than Wii Sports boxing, which wasn't all that great to start off with.

- Poor motion recognition.

- Camera issues, super buggy - "total pain in the ass."

 

Smartypants

- Gave the game 7.0

- $49 which should be $29 at most - the content in the game is far too slim for the price they charge for it.

- It's a fun game - "really good party game that anyone can play." Good trivia game.

 

Avatar

- Gave the game 6.2

- Only decent - very straightforward game.

- Matt's a fan of the animated series but disappointed with the games.

 

Ben 10

- Gave the game 6.8

- Actually pretty cool, but doesn't extend from the PS2 version.

- Very basic presentation but fun combat and good animations.

- Not for the hardcore - very straightforward, but if you're a fan you should consider picking it up.

 

Namco Museum Remix

- Gave the game 5.0

- Worthy of being a WiiWare game - definitely not a full game.

- Boasts 14 games - 5 of which was remixed games, some of which are no good.

- The only good two are Galaga and Pac'n'Roll. Rally X is ok. The rest are either not much fun or are just too obscure.

 

Rayman Raving Rabbids 2

- Gave the game 6.3, a whole two points below the original.

- The novelty is pretty worn off - it's just more mini-game. Doesn't feel quite as fresh.

- Feels more shoddy all around - definitely feels rush.

- Matt doesn't like how they force you to use Rayman. Even worse is that his voice effects are the same as the Rabbids.

- 90% of the minigames are throw-aways that barely use the controller - most uses of the controller just compose of shaking it.

- FPS sections - it looks better, but it's negatively affected gameplay-wise because the camera is slow moving and stops a lot. It feels slower and less interactive and exciting than the FPS sections in the original.

 

Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles

- Gave the game 7.9

- A good, fun experience with a ton of flaws.

- The hit detection is pretty terrible - you can shoot them in the head for 5 times in a row and it still doesn't kill them.

- It's a cool idea, really immersive, is deep with upgradable stuff, nice and interactive, has a good story, solid controls, great boss fights and has branching paths

- However, the core game isn't as good as other on-rails shooters.

 

Tomb Raider Anniversary

- Gave the game

- Port of the PS2 version - looks and plays like it.

- Added Wii functionary - controls her flashlight but still doesn't feel 100%, also controls an on-screen reticule as well as all-new interactive elements.

- Biggest problems with the game - doesn't look very good - looks just the PS2 version; only runs at 30fps, which in unacceptable since the much better looking Super Mario Galaxy runs flawlessly at 60fps; contains the drawbacks (eg:clunky camera) of the PS2 version.

- In addition, Tomb Raider has been outperformed by Prince of Persia and it just doesn't feel as good as controlling Prince or Assassin's Creed.

 

Guitar Hero 3 in mono

- Apparently it's all in mono - the guys at IGN never noticed, despite playing all the other versions of the game.

- It's possible that it only plays in mono if you're using Dolby Pro Logic 2 system with the game.

- Shouldn't be too much of a problem - it's not very noticeable. The game sounds fine for those at IGN.

 

NPD numbers

- Wii and DS back on top - recovered after the very small hit last month from Halo 3.

- Xbox 360 pulling pretty good numbers despite coming 3rd.

- PSP is getting some good games and the sales are starting to show.

- PS2 still pulling in great numbers - should continue to be around for a while.

- PS3 doing pretty poorly - more than tripled by 360, even more by Wii. Bozon thinks the system's sales will ramp up as more quality games keep coming to the system - no need to panic just yet.

- Guitar Hero 3 Wii selling nearly 300k on Wii, despite lack of downloadable content, shows that 3rd party games can sell well on Wii as long as they are good quality and appeal to the right demographic.

- Zack and Wiki sadly sucked it up in sales.

- Matt thinks Umbrella Chronicles will do pretty well.

 

Link's Crossbow Training

- Just got it in, so you will see some pics and movies for the game.

- Don't play it with the Zapper. Both really don't like the peripheral - feels cheap and doesn't function very well.

- It's pretty fun - for 20 bucks, this is a very good deal. It's short but very fun and also features multiplayer.

 

Nitrobike

- Good fun - pretty much bikes in ExciteTruck. Good sense of speed, great blur effects. Also has online which should be cool.

- From Left Field, although a lot of the original team has left.

- Matt thinks it has an uphill battle - we haven't seen a lot of great stuff from Ubisoft lately, though they do promise to have amazing Wii games in 2008.

 

House of the Dead for Wii

- First screens came out today.

- They knew about this, but heard it was a completely original game for Wii. Indeed, there was also apparently another SEGA shooter game in development for Wii (have a guess), but the don't know if that one is still happening, but given Ghost Squad is doing ok, they might consider it.

- Both games are great. Matt and Mark are hopeful they the games aren't downgraded. Don't expect a whole lot of differences - it's really only a compilation.

- Hoping the game will be appropriately priced.

 

Geometry Wars Galaxies

- Takes Retro Evolved's formula and just goes crazy with it.

- Some really tough and exciting missions.

- Likes it better with the classic controller - when things got serious, the wii controls hampered Bozon's ability rather than help it.

- Also has WiiConnect24 ranking systems, co-op mode, and connectivity with the DS.

- Also a pretty good looking game.

- Shouldn't be $40, but still worth it since it makes the Xbox Live game feel like a demo. Very fleshed out.

 

Trauma Centre: New Blood

- Gave it 8.5

- A sequal done exactly as you want a sequal done.

- Co-op, online ranking system, 480p and widescreen.

- Wished it would have online co-op.

- Really hard but very fun. The difficulty is good though - it's a terrific challenge and very addictive.

- On the Holiday Buyer's Guide - definitely recommend buying it.

 

Reader questions notes

- Bozon isn't a big fan of Harvey Birdman. Matt thinks it's much too simple, but absolutely hilarious writing. Feels a bit like a flash game - use the wiimote occasionally to look at a static envionment, you unlock evidence to present to people and that's how you progress through the game. The main appeal is in the humour. Be apprehensive if you don't watch the show.

 

- They can't think of an other notable point-and-click games in development for Wii.

 

- If Capcom do a sequal to Zack and Wiki, they should let retailers know about the game's excellent reviews. It's a formula that works very well with Wii.

 

- Both hope that more future Wii games have difficulty settings - this would be especially beneficial for games like Zelda.

 

- Matt can't stand Ninja Gaiden. Bozon thinks Metal Gear is overrated.

 

- Both still can't believe the DS has voicechat yet for some reason Wii doesn't. Matt thinks they'll have it eventually, maybe when Smash Bros. Brawl comes out.

 

- "Dark game" - Matt is reluctant to talk about it because of message board reactions. Last he heard, the game was going along well and the hit a new milestone. The game still doesn't have a publisher, because they think it looks really cool but doubt it'll sell well due to the demographic of the Wii. Matt refuses to agree with this mentality, especially after looking at the sales of Resident Evil 4. Publishers don't acknowledge these sales - they think it doesn't matter because it's Resident Evil and therefore automatically sells well.

 

- They are seeing more interesting things. They have to be vague, but they saw some engine things on Wii. They saw some really nice effects on Wii - lots of bump-mapping, basic normal mapping, cool light effects. These effects are a huge powersuck, but if the engine can be optimised than it's promising stuff.

 

- Smash Bros. continues to become more and more packed with features, with the newest addition of Spectator Mode. Matt is constantly blown away.

 

- Matt thinks Galaxy, Umbrella Chronicles and MOH Heroes 2 will all sell well (and in that order respectively). Capcom America said that Umbrella Chronicles is selling well, with positive reviews helping sales. Galaxy should be huge in America, despite lukewarm sales in Japan.

 

- Developers, like gamers, are wowed by next-gen technology. They want to constantly move forward with visuals. However, atittudes are changing towards Wii from developers - more and more exciting ideas are being developed. However, developers putting their A teams on Wii games will be in the minority. Expect most big teams to still go to 360/PS3, unless Wii 3rd party software start selling through the roof.

 

- Matt still hates Mario Kart: Double Dash.

 

- The calibration method in Ghost Squad works ok, but it's definitely not impeccable. It's a nice extra but not sometimes that redefines on-rails shooters on Wii. Ghost Squad also features girls making out with pandas.

 

- They don't think a Donkey Konga game would work well on Wii. In fact, they think it would be pretty damn horrible, if Bongo Blast is any indication.

 

- Medal of Honor Heroes 2 features great online mutiplayer which justifies purchasing the game. It is slightly downgraded visually, and it's not COD4 online, but it's well-organised, fast and good fun.

 

- Mario Galaxy may be more linear than normal 3D Marios, but in essence this brings it back to the original linearity of the series and a key reason why it is so good.

 

- Red Steel 2 - should be announced, and we should hear more about it, early next year.

 

- Both are hoping Timesplitters makes its way onto Wii.

 

- They do know of a first-person shooter-esque game on Wii, though it controls more like a 3rd person game, which they think is quite cool.

 

- Bozon thinks a Megaman game with free run and IR aiming would be really cool.

 

- Bozon's biggest surprise is how well Wii is selling. Matt's is the sheer volume of Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Both are disappointed by the way in which Battalion Wars 2 just flopped.

 

- Don't think Mario Kart Wii will feature LAN play - they think it will be all online.

 

- Matt thinks No More Heroes will have a cool story, be really atmospheric and be fun to play, but will be clunky to control. Think it might be a case of style overcoming substance.

 

- Both are feeling a bit sceptical on NiGHTS. They think the flying, which is the essence of the game, looks really mechanical, and are therefore worried that the rest of the game will be similarly underwhelming. Bozon doesn't feel like a big step is being taken - other games are doing similar things better. However, they do like the musical score, as well as how there are a lot of features, such as the weather system.

 

- They don't know of any original Donkey Kong game being made for Wii.

 

- Matt expects Monolith to be making an RPG on Wii after they have completed Disaster: Day of Crisis. (well, duh)

 

- Think Umbrella Chronicles sold pretty well in its first day (70k). Matt thinks the game should ultimately rack up a few hundred thousand in Japan alone.

 

- Expect Rock Band to come to Wii next year.

 

- Both are hopeful Wii will start to get more quality games to Wii. Though sceptical, what Ubisoft recently said is promising - developers and publishers need to realise that bad games won't sell well on Wii.

 

- Soul Calibur Legends review coming soon - it's very basic. Doesn't have the charm of the fighters. It's not boring, and it does run very fast, but it's underwhelming.

 

- Matt thinks GOTY will come down to Bioshock, Mass Effect and Super Mario Galaxy. Galaxy is a game that is so good that the flaws don't really come out. With Mass Effect, it's so epic and presented so well that the flaws can be forgiven. Bozon would be surprised if Galaxy wins, despite being the more entertaining game. Matt thinks Galaxy will probably get GOTY at nearly every place except for IGN.

[Hellfire]

Don't really get what they mean by NiGHTS being mechanic, but like I said, the hype is sooo huge, everyone will be disapointed by the game.

Also, God damnit, why doesn't anyone make a good avatar game?