Ocarina's Time Is This Coming Monday

With all the frenzy about The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time being released in Europe Friday for the Virtual Console it was quickly unveiled that it would be coming stateside as well this Monday. This is an exciting addition as Ocarina of Time is heralded as one of the greatest Zelda games and even one of the greatest games of all time. Now you can own it for just $10 and have it to play anytime you want.

So you would think I would be all over it right? Well your wrong. Even though I still haven't completed the game I will not be purchasing it through the VC. Why? Well aside from the fact I have tons of new games I need to finish I already own it in two other ways and neither of those are on an N64 cartridge!


Yes, I own both the Wind Waker pre-order bonus The Ocarina of Time/Master Quest and The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition. So anytime I want OOT I can just plop one of those bad boys into the Wii and with all this Zelda hype I've been getting very inspired and tempted to try and complete them all. That will be no easy feat as I've only completed The Wind Waker and Minish Cap. It's not something I plan to do anytime soon, but if there for some reason should be a drought in the Wii games and I have a lot of free time it would be a nice little challenge to dig into. I think it would also enlighten me as a Nintendo fan and help me better understand just what Zelda is and how it's progressed throughout the years.

But just because I won't be purchasing it doesn't mean you shouldn't. If you have never played OOT, never completed it, or already owned it for the N64 but haven't played it in awhile you should definitely get it on the Virtual Console. You don't have to beat it to know it's a one of a kind masterpiece that everyone should play at least once and for $10 why not?

Sonic Is Not Dead

With Sonic and The Secret Rings officially released and actually purchasable today I thought I'd make an honorary post to celebrate. Well not celebrate, I just actually thought this would be a good day to make a post about this topic. Sonic and The Secret Rings is the first Sonic title for the Wii unless you're counting the Virtual Console, which there are already several Sonic titles available for it. We'll put it this way it's Sonic's first genuine Wii game. Anyway, now that we have that clarified let's talk a little about it and the history of Sonic.

We all know Sonic was a very fun game back in the age of 2D. That little hedgehog is one quick fella and it was awesome blasting through levels. With each new game it seemed he only got faster. But as we all know, then came the magic of 3D. Mario had a fantastic transition with Super Mario 64, but that wasn't the case with Sega's star. Many 3D Sonic games have come and all have failed to live up to Sonic's former glory. Sonic Team has just had a lot of trouble getting the sense of speed to be the same or to even get the camera to work right. Now at best we can only hope for mediocrity. With each new game we were promised that changes had been made that would make the game a major hit, but we were repeatedly letdown.

However, thanks to the innovative Wii controller Sonic was given another chance. Here was an opportunity to take Sonic back to his roots, but still be in the 3D world. So like many other Sonic fans I was very optimistic. It looked and seemed like it could be a lot of fun. Now we are starting to get reviews in and it looks like it may be yet another disappointment to some people expecting a hit. IGN gave it a 6.9 and Gamespot a 7.6. Alright scores, but nothing spectacular. However, I'm here to tell you that Sonic and the Secret Rings is a step in the right direction and probably the largest one in quite awhile. Sonic Team may have something with the Wii remote that can turn this franchise around. With some minor changes, especially with the camera, a sequel (Which is not out of the realm of possibility.) could turn out to be an amazing game.

Sonic is showing some signs of life with Secret Rings and if I didn't already have 6 Wii games that I still need to complete, I would definitely pick this one up. It's not a bad game at all in my opinion. So any of you Sonic fans or anyone looking for a decent game check it out.

Sonic games are still not where they should be, but with this game they are getting much, much closer.

Need For Speed Carbon

After playing the game all afternoon and having a lot of fun doing so, I felt like I should post a short review of it for all 9 of my Nintendo Chronicles readers, because maybe some of you have thought about purchasing it or were interested in the game. So without further delay here is my brief review of Need For Speed Carbon.

When it comes to street racing EA's got you covered with it's Need For Speed franchise. This is the 16th game in on going series (including handheld games) that dates back all the way to the original NFS game in 1994. There have been a few updates to the game, but at it's heart it's always been arcade-style racing. Though it may sound like I'm a huge Need For Speed buff, Need For Speed Carbon is the first NFS game I've ever owned. Quite frankly it's the only one I can even remember playing and I might not have gotten it had I not received it as a gift, but I'm sure glad that I did.

If you didn't already know the new thing for Carbon is the territory control. You will battle over different parts of the vast Palmont City and have to defend your turf. For a strategy fan like myself this is an awesome part of the game. It's like a unique blend of strategy and racing with a ton of customization thrown in. There are so many different ways that you can change your car it's at first mind boggling. Especially with the autosculpt feature that can change individual parts to your preference. It's a great feature to have and much appreciated. I like the fact that I can add all sorts of different enhancements to my car, even if I normally just stick with upgrading my performance.

Like the multitude of choices for customization there are also several choices for control. However, most of you, like myself, will probably just stick with the standard horizontal "steering wheel" control. You hold the Wii remote on it's side and press 1 and 2 for gas and brake. It takes quite a bit of getting used to, especially if you don't choose a car with good handling, but after a few minutes of practice you get used to the sensitivity and have it under control. I haven't tried the other control schemes, but the standard one is easy and a lot of fun to use.

The graphics look great in the game for the most part. The cars and Palmont City look amazing, however the "hottie" who starts each race isn't so hot. Actually she's pretty darn ugly. You would think they could have spent a little more time with what appears to be the only character model in the game. Everyone else and the cut scenes are done in a sort of pseudo game/real life thing. Where the people are real but everything else isn't. You'll see what I'm talking about in the opening sequence for the game.

All this blends together along with the racing experience itself for a really fun game to play. If you like racing games you'll have a blast in career mode defeating rival crews and taking new territory, as well as running away from the cops and tricking out your vehicle. The multiplayer experience isn't so bad either. I just wish there could have been four player support. If you were on the fence about this game I would suggest you go ahead and get it. You won't be disappointed. If you weren't interested before I'd at least give it a rent, it's worth taking a look at. With all the awesome features in the game and because it's just so fun to play I'd recommend Need For Speed Carbon to just about anybody.

Final Score: 8.8/10

Birthday Bash

If you didn't know, today is my birthday. You may think that you celebrate today with your special someone by giving them flowers or candy to show how much you love one another, but you're wrong. You actually do that to celebrate my birth and use the gifts as a representation of the love you have for me. No joke. Valentine is Spaenguesian for my name. To some of you this may be earth shattering but for me I knew all along and I actually enjoy people doing this on my birthday.

So now that you know what the true meaning of Valentine's Day is let me give you a low down on the awesome presents I received. The biggest gift was a Black DS Lite that we had to hunt all over for. Zero at EB Games, zero at Best Buy, zero at Wal-Mart, 18 at Target. Go figure. So if any of you are looking for a DS Lite go check out your local Target you might be surprised. Other then that awesome beauty, which I've provided photos of below for your viewing pleasure, I was also given several Wii games including Need For Speed Carbon from my girlfriend, Red Steel, and Rapala's Tournament Fishing from my parents. I think that last game was secretly a gift for my Dad cleverly disguised as a birthday present, but it's all good. So it was a pretty awesome birthday. Now I'm getting off here so that I can go play some Wii!

It looks even better in real life. What are you waiting for? GO BUY YOUR OWN!

Video Game Awards

As many of you know there are no "official" awards for video games like there are for music, movies, and television. Even though the video game industry is the third largest entertainment industry and well on it's way to passing music and eventually movies to take the top spot. I put quotations around official because there are many places and sources that claim to be the "official" awards, but they really aren't. No Spike TV, no G4Tech TV, no IGN, no Game Informer, not even AIAS. If I had to pick one as the most "official" it would probably be the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences, but even they have their own problems and limitations that hold them back. Such as the fact that they don't even judge games from companies who don't pay a membership fee and that's why Capcom has never won an award and why Resident Evil 4 got snubbed out of Game of the Year. What's fair about that?

So what happens because of this? Well for starter's there's no true Game of the Year. The title every game would like to have and what game every player should own. Instead there are usually two or three, because unless it is completely unanimous among every single magazine, website, or T.V. show then it's completely up for debate. Now I'm not saying an official awards system would put an end to that, because everyone has their own personal tastes and opinions, but it would help and would give a game credit where it is due.

I also think it really holds the industry back from being seen as a true formal type of entertainment. Video games are seen in the same light as toys and we all know they are far from it. If the industry had a set awards that were formal and on the same caliber as something like the Grammy's or Oscar's it would be taken more seriously.

To make this happen it's going to take the united effort of the entire industry. Ideally there would be a board of the biggest names in the industry that would judge every video game for that year. I'm talking the heads of the major video game companies, the men and women who have been in the industry for years and really know the ins and outs of video games. Not just some random people from a website or who write about video games. Well respected individuals from the industry.

The thing is, all those people are too busy worried about making the next big games then judging and choosing them.

The industry is growing and maturing every year, but a certified official awards program would just make it that much more developed and accepted as one of the most popular worldwide forms of entertainment.

Wii Sports Training

Aggravating, addicting, frustrating, and fun. Those are the words I use to describe Wii Sports Training. Yes, for those of you who are too busy trying to increase your skill level or beating your friends at multiplayer there is in fact a training mode. You can train yourself in different techniques and specializations in three different training sessions for each sport in hopes of getting better. It will also help you out in your fitness age test. But be forewarned, you will get addicted to some of these simple little training "mini-games" and this is where the real Wii remotes start to fly. Not from slipping, but from pure 100% testosterone injected aggravation.

They look simple enough, and they are, but once you get started you won't want to stop. You'll want to get another high score, even after you just beat the last one that you set yourself! The latest training modes I've been getting a workout through are the power and spin throw training in bowling and the target practice in tennis. If you want to get frustrated by your own incompetence then play these modes. After getting to the 16th lane on spin throw training I soon found myself having trouble hitting the first few "easy" lanes. Then I'd start over and over and over until I finally got past the first few without mistakes only to find myself losing in the 15th lane. That's when I declared war. I played for almost an hour just trying to get past the 16th lane and you know what? I couldn't. So I just had to stop and settle with my own inconsistency.

If anything good came out of all this training it better be a higher score in my next bowling game. If not, then the training mode serves no other purpose then to be a frustratingly addictive single player mode.

Wii Graphics Complaints

It's almost a daily thing on any message board nowadays. Someone posts new screenshots from an upcoming Wii game and instantly everyone rails on the graphics and even the game itself! I don't even know why I bother looking at discussion that is taking place about new screenshots, because unless it's from Nintendo, there's going to be a whole lot of complaining.

Back in the day when the PS2 had the worst graphics it was always fun to pick on it and say how crappy they were compared to the GameCube or Xbox, but the sad thing was, it didn't really matter how bad the graphics were because the Playstation 2 destroyed both the GC and Xbox in hardware sales. Now that the tables are turned and the Wii has the worst graphics out of the three all those people who were dogging the other system's graphics are now dogging their own! They'll even go as far as to say the game isn't good, because it doesn't look good! They are acting just like current Sony and Microsoft fanboys who think that the only important thing in a game is the graphics.

Well I'm here to tell you ladies and gentlemen that the most important factor in a game is this and this alone. HOW MUCH FUN IT IS TO PLAY! I don't care what it looks like, if it's fun, then it's a good game.

Some of these people will go as far as to say the developers aren't even trying. Are you serious? Do you seriously think that the developers of a game are purposely trying to make the graphics look bad? Every game developer out there knows that a majority of gamers, though a sad fact, are graphics whores. So of course they want to produce a game with some great eye candy. They want the game to sell well.

So to all you Wii owners out there who are complaining about the graphics of upcoming games take your Wii, sell it, get $350 more dollars and spend that $600 to buy a Playstation 3. They are everywhere, you'll have no problem finding one. Because if you want good graphics and if you want to see the sweat roll down your player's arms, go pay the money for it. I'll be just content having a blast swinging my Wii remote around like a tennis racket with a character that doesn't even have arms.