A journey through marriage, publishing, motorracing and gaming… The adventures of Lofty and Stumpy
Posted on February 26, 2010 by jonners99No Comments
A couple of weeks ago I announced the games that I am looking forward to over the next six months, well Nintendo being the cheeky people they are have announced that a game I thought was coming out near Christmas 2010 is actually coming out this May and so makes this list…
Super Mario Galaxy 2 – Wii – 28th May 2010 (wouldn’t be released on a Sunday like in US so picked the next Friday)
Posted on January 26, 2010 by jonners99No Comments
This is a list of the games that have already been announced that I am excited about in the next five months. The fact is that it appears that most of the good games coming out this year are coming in this period due to the Modern Warfare 2 effect experienced at the end of last year.
In relative chronological order then:
Mass Effect 2 – Xbox 360 – 29th January 2010
Filed Under: Daily Diary, Gaming, Musings, Wii, Xbox
Posted on December 31, 2009 by jonners991 Comment
This has been a decade when gaming technology has come on leaps and bounds. While the 1990’s were the decade of the third dimension the 2000’s have been about innovative control and high definition. That being said, a lot of the best games I have played came out towards the beginning of the decade. This list is largely comprising the games into which I have sunk and will continue to sink a large amount of my time due to their excellence in either single or multiplayer.
Posted on June 5, 2009 by jonners992 Comments
The first Boom Blox was a hit taking the simple idea of knocking blocks over with balls and making that concept even more fun. You wonder how much Steven Spielberg contributed to the idea beyond the basic idea but that man is a genius. A year has passed since that game was released and EA have released a sequel again with the great Spielberg stamping his name on it.
Posted on May 23, 2009 by jonners99No Comments
I am not a fan of horror. Usually the plots are too daft to justify the scares from people running past a window or being hacked up in very bloody ways and therefore I stay well clear. This logic applies to both films and games. I also tend to stay away from light gun games because you don’t get very much control and often the controls (especially on wii) don’t tend to feel that good.
Posted on December 1, 2008 by jonners99No Comments
It was with some apprehension that I go hold of De Blob. This game is third party in every way and by and large that style of game does not succeed on Wii at all. Happily De Blob exceeded any possible expectations I had about it. The evil Inkt corporation has drained the colour out of the colourful world of Chroma City. You play as Blob who is… a blob of paint. Genius. You are tasked with restoring colour to Chroma City to rescue its inhabitants. This involves bouncing around hitting the buildings while destroing the Inkt army.
The game itself plays well with the control stick being used to move the character around and a quick flick of the wrist making blob jump. It has its moments of pure frustration however, as when multiple enemies attack at once it often will not register all the wrist waggle causing blob just to land near his enemies and be contaminated. This is frustrating when you have done nothing to cause your own demise. If the developer had just moved jump onto a button instead of a motion the game would improve a lot. Other than this the game controls well and it is easy to make the camera point to where you want it to.
The game world is gorgeous in de blob, certainly it looks a bit funky when you have things painted in different colours but this is possibly the best game I have ever played for artistic style. The city is amazing and truly helps the game in every way with no faults whatsoever. Sound design is coupled to this as well with the music depending on what colour blob is and also on the musical style selected at the start of the level.
The game revolves around high scores once the game is completed you are encouraged to go back through and aim for bigger scores in each area. Points are gained from buildings painted and challenges completed. Challenges are set for you by other members of the resistance and include races, battles, converting landmarks and painting things in a theme. It is easy enough to complete a level with a bronze rating as you do not even necesarily have to take on the INKT fortress at the end of each level to complete it but that would mean missing out on some of the best parts of the game.
There are many colours you can make blob that all come from the primary colours (blue, red and yellow) with these you can make him orange, green, purple and brown some challenges require you to be a certain colour to complete them but there is always plenty of paint dotted around the levels for you to use.
The game will take about 10 hours to complete the first time around but there is definitely replay value to be found here. There is also a multiplayer mode which feels a little tacked on. It could be broader and have more modes but it is a fun game to play if you are having friends over.
In conclusion then, De Blob is definitely one of the top third party efforts on the wii console. It brings a very unique and brilliant artistic style and some very fitting music. The game falls down slightly on the control front thanks to an underactive bit of jump waggle that should have just seen the function placed on a button. This is a minor gripe, however, in a game that I generally loved. The lack of depth in the multiplayer is not a big problem either as lets be honest you wouldn’t buy it for the multiplayer but for an amazing experience with a perfect and unique artistic style
Posted on September 16, 2008 by jonners99No Comments
Now I like racing games. Especially those that strive to be as realistic as possible. Sure I have the time for something like Mario Kart which offers arcade racing fun and true this is really the only way when it comes to online or offline multiplayer. True simulation is hard to managed though, the pinnacle for years has been the Gran Turismo series on the playstation platforms. They feature tight controls and outstanding graphics that push the system. Nintendo have never really had a true simulation game to push the system though. Burnout 2 was the best but that didn’t have realistic tracks.
Posted on September 12, 2008 by jonners99No Comments
My first article on this section of my website was about Boom Blox and I finally got a copy of it a month ago. The fact that my wife and I have both completed the main modes of the game should not be taken as a down point as this game truly is brilliant.
Posted on September 10, 2008 by jonners99No Comments
Now many people will know I am a fan of the NFL. This is admittedly quite rare in the UK but I have my father to blame for it. I also have my father to blame for my enjoyment of the Madden series of games. I believe it was 1998 when he bought his first one and had me play against him and we had to swap teams at half time as I kept being about 50pts down at that point. Eventually I got better at it and now we are probably about even in terms of ability when we both know the controls. In winter 2006 EA released Madden 07 for the wii and I snapped it up. The controls were innovative using the wiimote to throw the ball and it all felt very fresh. My only real problem with the game was that the kicking system was broken. Want to take a field goal or a punt in that game? It ain’t gonna happen.
Posted on July 8, 2008 by jonners99No Comments
Mario Kart is one of those big Nintendo franchises that comes around once on a system and so for that reason I desperately wanted the Wii game to be good. Hopes were high thanks to a very strong DS game which is still one of my favourite games on the handheld. Now I am what is known as a simulation racing game nut. Heck I am a moderator on a Formula One game forum. I have always appreciated arcade racers though and Mario Kart on the N64 is one of my favourites. This new version is not like that though. It basically takes everything that makes Mario Kart and dulls it down. The racing is still as frantic as ever but it is also more frustrating than ever. This is down to the over abundance of weaponry on display that can see someone going from first to last in the blink of an eye. I am used to racing games where the best player wins not one where the worst player comes first and the best comes mid pack after being shelled on the last corner.
