Roderick

Well, there's still a huge amount of stuff that's horrible about Sunshine. Those abstract levels I think I'll be able to digest better now, appreciating their platforming sincerity. But I look forward to once again spending hours trying to reach the top of the huge tree in the Pianta homevillage. That's was fun. Jake: haha, I know exactly what you mean =) Italics aren't trademarked by PA though, and neither can one escape being influenced ever so slightly by people they admire. As soon as copycat alarmbells go off in your head, don't shy away from mentioning it. But should I emphasize the last word in a diatribe in italics, and that word also by chance be one that's more than a few syllables long, don't cringe immediately. It's not such an uncommon thing.

Fair enough. If the initial article had made these things clearer, objections to it would have never been made.

Speaking of Mario; something decidedly odd and wonderful happened. I read the absolutely delightful Time Extend article in the new Edge on Super Mario Sunshine and now desperately want to play it again. When I finished it about three years ago, I was quite frustrated with the more difficult parts and the bugginess of especially the hotel level, and how some of the challenges seemed ill-designed. And over the course of time, I even began to think quite lowly of the game and remembered only the bad parts. Then I read the Edge article, and it suddenly reminded me how many wonderful parts were in it, and how sunny and joyous the atmosphere was. Without merely glossing over the weak points, it rather made a point for both its strenghts and flaws. And in the process, made me want to play it with fervour.

I think Sony are mixing up the strategy or 'disruption' with that of 'kamikaze'.

I think it's very odd Sony is reconfiguring the PS3 so dramatically for the European market. Has that any precedent? One would be easily lead to assume this is sheer nervosity and a sign of Sony's own discontent with the console and how it turned out. But scrapping backwards compatability? What an utterly weird and preposterous thing to do. Pointless.

You are the Über-Nerd. All hail.

It was made after a book? I thought the comic Y: The Last Man would have been the obvious inspirator. Ah well. Due to my expectations of the movie (I was expecting something more apocalyptic and less personal) it wasn't really what I had expected to see. It warrants a second viewing.

That is awesome, Toblix.

Best news I heard all day!

Sounds awesome! I am doubtful Hot Fuzz can surpass Shaun of the Dead though... the trailer was nice enough, but didn't tickle my fancy as much as the romantic comedy with zombies did. But I'll go see it regardless. If it's even a smidgeon as good as its predecessor, it'll rock.

I don't think Hot Fuzz is out yet, and if it would be, it'd be out in England first, before America in any case.

Perma-rid!

That's fucking horrible. "It is not about making money, it is about making a difference." EA might be slightly doing better again, creativity-wise, but such lack of critical analysis in that article, blecch. Propaganda! EA did much to diminish the creativity of a lot of studios in the 90s up until now, and their endless, yearly rereleasing of franchises is the very testament of their policy of squeezing dull-witted consumers dry. You may be eligible for absolution, EA, but don't deny the fucked up things you did in the past.

The indie episode of Consolevania raved about a game called 'Naked War', which was playable by e-mail apparently. If I'm not mistaken. And it's supposedly quite good.

In the games industry, apples can sometimes become oranges, or whatever that correlates to in the fruit business. Genres and games aren't static things. Who said the 'real' games need to be exactly the same as on other consoles? To my knowledge, Vimes started this discussion by asking about a specific type of games; namely epic singleplayer games. Twilight Princess proved that this type can fit the Wii very well. What you're pondering about is whether regular games with the same controls should be 'ported'. But epic singleplayer games on the Wii will make use of the unique controls anyway. I think it's pretty stupid to argue about which types and genres are or aren't "valid" on a console, especially if it isn't even for technical reasons, but rather for some perception of what that console 'stands for'.

Acch, bashing EA lost its luster anyway, now that Sony took its place. And Def Jam seems cool too. So yeah, I'm with you. If you're reading this, EA: yeah. We're that fickle.

OHH, SNAP!!

To me, Zelda was actually the proof that 'real' games did work terrifically on the Wii and that the controls added a layer of depth to them that made them shine. I for one, bought the Wii just as much for that as for the party games, which I historically play only on parties with friends. And since I don't have a lot of parties in a given year...

I think the former. Of course the Wii needs 'real' games to diversify their audience and maximize their use. The Wii being a social machine doesn't mean that it should work itself exclusively into that niche to the detriment of a huge market segment. Also, the 'real' games can benefit greatly from the control scheme of the Wii as well. Why not explore those possibilities? They'll be set apart from the rest regardless, just because of their controls alone. So, the Wii 'neads' real games. Ball-kneads!

That's how us Dutchies felt ten years ago when such masterpieces as A2 Racer and Amsterdoom were topping the charts.

Haha, McPedro in the Arc of Noah with a potted plant =D

I still see the double pack in shops. If you have to choose on the DS, get Dawn of Sorrow. It is easily the superior Castlevania in terms of epicness, story and gameplay. That's not to say Portrait of Ruin is even remotely bad, of course. There's just no going around the twin Sorrows.

That's actually an amazing deal and well worth considering. If you own 10 moderately expendable games, that is.

The controls in Excite Truck are pretty solid. I haven't played the Ubisoft racers but apparently they suck bigtime. Their monster truck game looks extremely bland, with boring tracks. Excite Truck is a whole lot of fun to play, if you can look past the pretty skinny package with piss-poor multiplayer options.

I've been trying out Rayman DS (the Rayman 2 conversion) and I don't like it. The control scheme just doesn't work all that well. Pity. Raving Rabbids DS seems to be a lot more fun; nice and 2D.