The Sad State Of Gaming Reviews

I know I have written an article in the past that has to do with how videogame reviews are very sloppily created and how they lack real criticism on a games basic points. People play videogames because they keep them entertained and are fun. Reviews should focus on the entertainment value as well as if they are fun and keep the player excited.

After reading an article about why videogames aren't considered "art", I had the following rant to say:

Videogames aren’t considered Art because we have people who don’t even play videogames fueling controversy about violence and people who review movies saying games aren’t art. How would they know? They’ve never even played a game from this era, let alone a Super Mario Bros. game that came out back in the 1980s.

The people who have never actually played a game such as these movie reviewers, Jack Thompson, and news reporters shouldn’t even be allowed to comment on the situation until they have actually played a game.

The gaming industry also lacks a competent reviewing criteria. The movie industry has a review criteria in place, so why can't games?

It's simple, these so called game reviewers can't seem to agree on a straightforward criteria, as well as with their mentality that a game should be rated based on a review of a game that is similar in experience or a predecessor. They have meaningless scoring systems, and people who don't play games often or are looking to get in on the gaming scene, are going to believe these terrible "reviews" and could possibly miss out on what they may have thought would be a good game.

Honestly, someone or something needs to come up with a game reviewing criteria that the industry can agree on without any kind of corruption taking place, that is simple and easy to understand for everyone from your kid brother to your grandma. Sadly, I don't expect this ever to happen with horrible sites like IGN and GameStop in existence. Hell, I've seen better reviews from everyday people; even I thought one of the reviews I wrote was more in depth than anything written by one of those "big" sites and could really help the game player decide on whether the game is worth their time and will provide enjoyment.

That's just my two cents/rant/article on the object of game reviews. I know I need to start writing them again, but when I look at my reviews now, I see their flaws...they are mostly just unorganized, but I still feel as if I'm missing a key element of reviewing a game. But then again, how could I possibly know what it is that I'm missing, when we don't even have a reliable review criteria available?

Thanks to GoNintendo's news story for inspiration of this article!

Sonic Unleashed Confirmed by Sega - November release

Supposedly someone discovered these images on SEGA FTP. A patent was filed a week or few weeks ago for a game called Sonic Unleashed, and now these screenshots have surfaced. Since the graphics look a bit basic, this may be the new Sonic Wii game SEGA gas been working on. However, we can't really confirm or deny these pictures at the current time so it's all in speculation till it is confirmed they are real. The style of the game really reminds me of Sonic and the Secret Rings so this may in fact be a Wii game if it is real.

If this is real I hope it is a Wii game. The Nintendo audience seems to only be the one who really cares about Sonic. The 360/PS3 game was a terribly designed game and also didn't really sell very well. Sonic and the Secret Rings however has sold over a Million and so has Mario & Sonic at the Olympic games. I think it's fair to say that the Nintendo audience likes Sonic the most. Hope these are real and the game is for the Wii!

UPDATE: There is now a video of the game available on Youtube but I can't guarantee that it won't be taken down. I think this pretty much confirms the game is real, it looks to be sort of a standard looking Sonic game. Hopefully this game is for the Wii though! The game has been confirmed by SEGA for a November release but no platforms have been specified, however since one of the pics seems to be for the Official Nintendo Magazine cover and another is for the Play Magazine cover, the game may be multiplatform.

Wii Update & DS Games I've Been Playing

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!

Today another Wii Update has been released, it is for the WiiWare games that are going to come out in the US on May 12th. The whole world is getting this. There is no word on if the update will block the Wii Freeloader so people with one should be aware that future firmware updates can disable the use of it. The initial "wow" factor has worn off for me on Brawl where I don't feel like I need to play it all the time as if I'm missing out on something. I've unlocked all the characters, stages, have finished Classic mode with all characters, and I'm playing All Star mode now with each character. I haven't had too many WiFi battles, no one ever seems to be on my friends list when I'm on.

In other news, Pokémon Ranger: Batonnage just came out in Japan and ofcourse I've been playing it. I mean it's the same exact style as the previous game, except for a new feature known as Guard, which I assume are upgradeable parts to protect your styler from damage and/or make it stronger or something of the sort. It's a pretty good game, I just wish the English version was out soon so I know what is being said in the game. Sadly, as the current trend goes it seems Pokémon games are coming out 7 months after they are released in Japan, which means another October release is most likely going to happen. However I can always hope the game comes out in the US soon. Also in Japan they are doing a two episode Pokémon Ranger special featuring the Male character from the game and the Riolu event.

I have also tried Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword which basically just throws you into the game after the initial story screens are shown. Ofcourse since the game is Japanese I have no idea what is going on, but I'm sure the English version will be out in a few days so I'll know more then.

Time Hollow that anime style point-and-click Adventure looks interesting and has an awesome Opening sequence. Since it's a game where you need to read what is going on it's pretty impossible to play without any translation guide or knowledge of the Japanese language. The game may possibly come out in the US this year as it appeared on Atari's release list for Australia as early as next month. GameFly recently listed the game as having an August 30 release date in the US, so we'll probably have it eventually.

I got a job!

This time it is confirmed I got a job. I went to a Schlotzsky's Deli sandwich shop with my parents on the way home and they had a Now Hiring sign. So I filled out an application and handed it in. The owner of the restaurant called me this morning to come in for an interview at 1:30. Well I got there and went in, and the "interview" was only 2 minutes. Basically I was already hired, the owner just wanted to see who I was I guess. So I start on Friday and he told me to come in at 11 AM so I'll be there. The pay is $6.50 an hour and could go up to $7.00 within 2 weeks so that's good news for me. I'll be able to buy more games often, as well as a new TV someday lol.

Wii Freeloader Now Available!

Well guys, Datel has finally managed to do it. They have come out with a Wii Freeloader. If you don't know what that is, it is a boot disk that you stick in your Wii first and activate it like normal, then switch the disk out and put in a Wii game from a different region (like Japan or Europe/Australia) and your North American Wii system will be able to play the game despite the region restriction! It will also allow you to play Gamecube games from different regions, although some may not display right due to the signal output of the games being different.

However there is still always the possibility that Nintendo can block the device with a firmware update to the Wii. There are no worries about games that check your system for modchips or anything of the sort as the Wii Freeloader blocks these required "updates" enabling you to stick it to Nintendo for taking too long to release games in your country. You can check out the first review from our Aussie brothers over at Vooks.net here.

Currently the Wii Freeloader is only available from the Codejunkies website, and you'll want to make sure you get the one for your region's Wii, such as an NTSC Wii Freeloader for North America and a PAL Wii Freeloader for Europe/Australia. And you can buy one for the price of $20 in the US or £9.99 in the UK!

North American(NTSC) Wii Freeloader
European/Australian(PAL) Wii Freeloader

Siliconera has tried a Wii Freeloader on their Japanese Wii and it apparently works. One thing they mysteriously found is that when they stuck the US version of Trauma Center: New Blood in the Japanese Wii that the game converted to the Japanese version, meaning both versions are on the same disk. Hmm, I wonder if anyone has bothered just sticking the disk in the Japanese Wii without the Freeloader? You can see more here!

I have also created a Wikipedia page, so feel free to add to it if you know any other information that is importan to add. You can see the page here.

I'm sure this is just great news for all of you Europeans & Australians who are still waiting on Brawl. As for myself, I will probably only buy a Wii Freeloader if some game comes out in Japan that won't come to the US that I want, like certain music games. I imported Ouendan & Ouendan 2 for DS and loved them, so if iNiS puts something on the Wii that isn't coming to the US, I'll be getting myself a freeloader then. Happy importing!

Brawl All The Time

Yeah so it seems I've pretty much been playing Brawl nonstop and neglecting this blog, I'm sorry to you 5 readers out there! However, I'm finally planning to get off my butt and try to write a review for a game, and you already know which one, Brawl of course. This is only because I can think about and remember everything about this game. I still need to figure out how to convert this blog to allow me to do "Read More" posts so the Review doesn't take up the whole front page of the blog. If I could do that I think I would pretty much be all set.

So if any of you know how to use Blogger and can do some coding please contact me, I really want to do something with this blog for once!

One of the things I'm thinking about doing is previews on import games that are coming out also. And if any of yall plan on getting one of those Wii Freeloaders and importing Japanese games, I would love to have you as part of this blog, impressions of import games seem to be a big thing among the Nintendo fans out there!

Mario Kart Wii on April 27th

Well it is now officially confirmed that Mario Kart Wii will be released in the US on April 27th. I expected it to be released in April since Nintendo didn't have anything coming to the Wii in the US for April, and because several retailers were listing April 27th as the release date, so it was only a matter of time.

I know this will tick off Europe & Australia who always get shafted and won't have Brawl for probably several months, but I can't wait for Mario Kart (even though I'm enjoying the hell out of Brawl!)

So now that we have Zelda, Metroid, Fire Emblem, Mario, Smash Bros., and Mario Kart on Wii, what else is up for the Big N? Kirby, Animal Crossing, and Disaster: Day of Crisis appeared on a Japanese release list for 2008, so time will tell! All I know is that I'm really loving Nintendo now, we have so many big hits for games out on Wii compared to the miniscule amount on Gamecube, good job Nintendo!