Last week the internet was all abuzz with the news that Factor 5 was once again working with Nintendo after a brief hiatus to work on the PS3 and develop the universally panned Lair. This was great news in general since the Rouge Squadron games were some of the best GameCube games around but it seems to get even better as Kombo.com is reporting that the new game is a brand spanking new Kid Icarus game. That’s right, after twenty years of silence Pitt is climbing back out of another pit and into the Wii and the team bringing him back has proven they know how to work with Nintendo multiple times. This can only lead to good things, especial with Factor 5 designing the game from the ground up for the Wii.
Of course despite Kombo.com’s insistance that the information comes from a reliable source this is only a rumor so don’t get your hopes to high or they’ll be crushed quicker than you can say “Brawl Delay.”
ADVENTURES OF LOLO 2 (NES®, 1 player, Rated E for Everyone, 500 Wii Points): Lolo and Lala are back in this sequel to the popular puzzle game THE ADVENTURES OF LOLO. On their return from the Haunted Castle, the Great Devil kidnaps Lala and challenges Lolo to rescue her again. Now he must take on the challenge of the Great Devil’s Tower and Castle mazes. Fortunately, Lala was able to analyze each of the mazes as she was taken to the tower and left clues in the Jewel Boxes in each room. Each Jewel that Lolo collects contains information that will help him in the next room. In order to succeed, he’ll also have to push tiles, pick up Heart Framers, temporarily turn enemies into Eggs with his Magic Shots and ward off enemy attacks by moving Emerald Framers. With your help, Lolo and Lala will work together to escape the Great Devil’s clutches and defeat him.
SUPER STREET FIGHTERâ„¢ II: THE NEW CHALLENGERS(Super NES®, 1-2 players, Rated T for Teen - Violence, 800 Wii Points): When SUPER STREET FIGHTER II: THE NEW CHALLENGERS debuted, the fighting-game genre was forever changed. Along with a revolutionary combo system, the game introduced a new set of challengers to fight alongside the original Street Fighter II cast. In addition to the classic characters of Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, Guile, Blanka, E. Honda, Zangief, Dhalsim, Balrog, Vega, Sagat and M. Bison, take control of four brand-new characters in exciting head-to-head fighting game play. Choose T. Hawk and his unmatched strength to crush your opponents, use Deejay’s unrivaled kickboxing ability to defeat your opponents, unleash your inner dragon with the furious kung fu of Fei Long and drill your rivals with the deadly beauty of Cammy. Get ready for the Street Fighter tournament and the fight of your life.
How many times have people simply been impressed by a game just for its graphics? Pushing polygons and having pretty lights tend to give a game an advantage. I occasionally hear, “Wii has bad graphics, why would you play that?†Don’t get me wrong, Graphics are an important part of a game, but it doesn’t make the game! These days emphasis on graphics has become tremendous, its people won’t even look twice at a game, if it’s a new IP, if the graphics don’t stick out. 2007 had a great share of games, some look so good you’d think it’s a movie. But what game came out on top this year? Mario Galaxy! It doesn’t run in 1080p, it doesn’t have 7.1 surround sound and it still took the crown. Simply because it was a good game!
We all heard the technical bench mark that games like Call of Duty 4 and Mass Effect have broken, but the yjust improved on what was already there. Mario Galaxy felt like something fresh and innovative at the same time. Don’t get me wrong, I loved COD 4 and Mass Effect, some of the best games out this year. Another example can be the lovely Mortal Kombat series, I literally memorized all the fatalities of that game, and the MK games nowadays just aren’t like that anymore! I could go on and on about games that don’t live up to the hype they used to have. We can’t really blame the developers on this matter, not a lot of people look at games more than once if the graphics don’t shine. For instance, Katamari damacy, game was so innovative, but the game looked like construction paper put together. Yet, it was a simple, new, and an amazing idea and so many people are going to pass it up just for how it looks!
There’s a theory someone once told me, that the gaming system that has the worst graphics, always comes on top. For instance, PS1 out sold the N64, Gameboy out lived GameGear, PS2 told off the Xbox and Gamecube, Wii is currently outselling the other two consoles, and the Nintendo DS is just owning the sales chart, literally! I know it’s a silly the theory, but it has merit. This just goes to say, that Gameplay is the important aspect of a game, it always should be and will be.
We’ve seen the Wii used in gym class, and we’ve seen it countless times in sports, but what if we use the Wii in let’s say… Surgery? Wouldn’t that be fun too?!
Well, surgeons-in-training at Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center thinks so, since a recent study made by Banner’s very own Kanav Kahol and Mark Smith proved that surgeons who warmed up playing Marble Mania on the Wii performed better in simulated surgery than those who don’t. And this improvement quantifies to a 48% leverage in performing an operation on a simulated gallbladder procedure.
The actual report found at The Arizona Republic also states that besides from being faster and more accurate in performing delicate surgery, the Wii-trained surgeons also worked well using both their left and right hands. Now, at first I thought that if I’m put in a situation wherein I’ll have to get an operation, I really won’t even think about getting some ambidextrous surgeon perform some nifty tricks with his scalpel. But I realized later that this quality does come in handy if the other hand of my surgeon is preoccupied with doing other things, like say, grabbing hold of his other surgical tools. Gives you a sense of relief that he performs well with both hands, no?
Maybe a “Surgeon Game” for the Wii may be a nice idea, but I guess in a marketing perspective, it won’t really sell well for the stereotype gamer. Besides, would it excite you if you’ll be dissecting up some skulls inside a game? I know some people who might like that, but I still believe that they constitute just a tiny fraction of the population though.
About Marble Mania
If you don’t know Kororinpa Marble Mania yet, it’s actually just a marble-rolling game wherein you’ll have to tilt your Wii controller to simulate the game’s background to make your marble reach an intended goal. The Marble Mania game involves the use of delicate wrist actions and a good sense of direction as well, making it a good training tool for surgeons. But don’t take my word for it; just watch this trailer video from the Japanese Kororinpa game to see for yourself.
Start out by positioning the controller in your hand like so:
Mirror: Mirror 1
Now I will attempt to explain the intricacies of the technique. Stay with me here.
Mirror: Mirror 1
It is very important not to push down too hard on your wrist… With your other hand you should really be guiding and pushing your “wii-mote-hand.†When doing this technique properly it actually feels easier on your body than actually standing up and bowling. Although this technique might look very funky it actually provides a great way to get a shot that can be duplicated many times. If you are doing it correctly it is VERY CONSISTENT.
You will notice that the WiiMote in your hand will curve majorly to the LEFT at the end of your shot. We will be using this to our advantage. This curvature provides excellent spin/curve for the ball. Before your shot adjust your aim near the right side of the pins. For me I adjust one tap left of the 2nd pin from the right.
The short and quick motion of step 3 allows you to get superior speed on the ball. You will likely notice that the ball is traveling as fast as the game will allow it.
Ideally you want to hold down B until the last possible second before you make your quick motion so that you don’t keep getting fouls on accident.
Mirror: Mirror 1
As you can see, I beat the pants off of someone who was standing up and bowling and trying their hardest. Boy was he pissed off. I wish I would’ve taken a snapshot of his red face.
Bucky | January 21, 2008
Last week the internet was all abuzz with the news that Factor 5 was once again working with Nintendo after a brief hiatus to work on the PS3 and develop the universally panned Lair. This was great news in general since the Rouge Squadron games were some of the best GameCube games around but it seems to get even better as Kombo.com is reporting that the new game is a brand spanking new Kid Icarus game. That’s right, after twenty years of silence Pitt is climbing back out of another pit and into the Wii and the team bringing him back has proven they know how to work with Nintendo multiple times. This can only lead to good things, especial with Factor 5 designing the game from the ground up for the Wii.
We’ve seen the Wii used in 
