Nintendo Stealth Conference: Let's Hit It.

• Many of the games shown in this video are shown too briefly to make any kind of substantive observations. Let's see how it goes.
  

2008

• DSi: Slimmer, SD card slow, internal flash memory, bigger screens, internet browser, DS online store, and 2 cameras. Over the past few years, I've faced several road blocks when designing software fore the DS because it lacked many of these key features. Once again, Nintendo supplies the hardware/features that I need to design my innovative games freely.
  
• The fashion game: Looks to have very high production values considering the detailed customization and the 3D graphics.
  
• Nintendo Pedometer & Wii Fit for my pocket? Sign me up. I loved my Pokemon Pikachu with its built in pedometer when I was in middle school, and I look forward to this next step. Nintendo had to find a way to put Mii's on the DS. They're the best tool Nintendo has to make games personal and accessible to the broadest audience.
  
• The Kirby game looks just as colorful as other games in the same series.
  
• The Valkyrie Profile, Chrono Trigger, and the Shiren The Wanderer look very traditional in their core RPG design. Let's hope at least 2 of these 3 have some tricks up their sleeve.
  
• The Soccer game looks slick. It appears that many developers have figured out how to make nice looking 3D DS games. The implementation of the Mii's fits, and the game appears to support a range of detailed stats.
  
• Sooo many RPGs. I guess they come with the territory.
  
• Professor Layton looks as dashing as ever. In other words, it looks like more of the same.
  

2009

• The Iwata, Reggie, and Miyamoto Mii's are charming. I'm not sure what kind of game/software they're in.
  
• Mario & Luigi look like they're control with the touch screen for battles. Interesting change.
• Wario Paint/Ware: Looks like Mario Paint. Plays like Wario Ware. Perhaps everyone makes micro games and shares them for content that's always unique. Either way, this game has piqued my interests.
  
• 3D picross. I liked 2D picross. Hopefully they'll find an intuitive way to manipulate the camera. The rubik cube DS game's camera controls are pretty complicated and finicky.
  
• More RPGs. Such is Japan.
  

• Much of the Wii game footage is too short to deduce anything. There's a lot to look forward to this fall and next year from the Wii. The games shown in the video run the full gamut of "casual" to "hardcore" games and from familiar to new IPs. There'es something for everyone.

Until we get more information...

Samba De Amigo Critical Hit

• Good core music-rhythm design: SHAKE, RAPID SHAKES, POSE, DANCE. Between these mechanics, the various rhythm patterns, and the 6 shaking zones Samba De Amigo can create more significant variation than most music-rhythm games.
  
• For single notes, the player can perform a "trick shot" by shaking the two "maracas" in the same position at the same time. This option gives players a way to increase the difficulty of relatively simple sections while scoring more points in the process.
  
• The core design is very similar to the Elite Beat Agents/the Ouendan series for the Nintendo DS. Shakes = TAPS. POSE = DRAG. DANCE = SPIN (where players can put more energy in to this mechanic to earn more points). Furthermore, the game is designed around creating an interactive sound scape of percussion as opposed to an interactive music track like in Guitar Hero. In Samba De Amigo, players aren't making music. Rather, players shake and dance to the beat.
  
• Not enough negative feedback. When a player shakes at the right time but accidentally slips into the wrong position it feels like the game simply didn't receive the SHAKE input when in fact it did. The game only Boo's when your rank drops a letter grade. Otherwise, it's very hard to tell whether the game really missed the input, you didn't SHAKE in the correct zone, or if you just didn't time it right.
  
• There's no penalty for shaking in the times/spaces between notes. Because playing Samba De Amigo involves a lot of movement, it would be frustrating if the game penalized players for every SHAKE that wasn't timed to a note. Often times, I found myself shaking both hands to keep the beat even though only one was necessary. This design decision is key to keeping the game focused considering the nature of the game and the controller input in addition to allowing the player to "free style" developing their own subdivisions as they sync with the rhythm of a song.
  
• The rating system is very old school Japanese with a few convoluted quirks. Unlike Guitar Hero (a Western music-rhythm game) where players receive full credit for a note as long as they hit it within the timing window, in Samba De Amigo playing exactly on the beat is privileged. Landing close to the beat will award the player with points, but only by landing perfectly on beat will the player receive full points while increasing the multiplier. In traditional Japanese music-rhythm games, the developers just don't want you to play, they want you to play perfectly.
  
• On top of the percentage grade based on correct notes played, in Samba De Amigo, Ouendan, and DDR, a letter grade is given as well. On top of this, the letter grade in Samba De Amigo doesn't directly correspond to the percentage of the correct notes played. I once got a score of 96% and ended up with a C rating. While playing players not only build up their multiplier and score, but a meter that determines their letter grade as well. With a few mistakes, the later grade drops. With much correct playing, the letter grade slowly climbs. Though this system is unnecessarily complicated everyone knows how to improve their score in a music-rhythm game. Play all perfect notes without missing one. Do that, and understanding the scoring system won't matter.
  
• The mini games aren't worth the time or the money Gearbox spent making them. They reminded me of some of Boom Blox's worst mini games... distractions from the core design of the game that should be avoided.
  
• The option to play with Wiimote + Nunchuck or double Wiimotes is much appreciated. The calibration options seem to help as well.

• The tri-colored zone display isn't intuitive for those of us who have gotten used to reading music on a linear "tape reel" type system. Sheet Music, Guitar Hero, Donkey Konga, and even Ouendan have a very linear structure to their notation. In Samba De Amigo, the notes spawn and branch out from the center of the display. While this design may be counter intuitive in one regard, it's great for indicating the spatial relationship the notes have to where the player must SHAKE. I found that when I lost track of all the moving dots, I could still hit all of the notes fairly easily by maintaining a soft focus on the colorful display. The effectiveness of this design is also evident when the POSE/DANCE sections come up. Without thinking, I was able to successfully mirror the position indicated on the screen.
  
• Being forced to play through the Normal and then Hard campaign to unlock the Super Hard mode was slightly irritating. I didn't realize how much I've gotten used to the Western design for music-rhythm games thanks to Guitar Hero. I expected that all the difficulty modes would be unlocked. Over all, unlocking songs and modes in Samba De Amigo isn't a big deal.

• There are many nuances and techniques to playing Samba De Amigo that differ with each song just like there is in any quality music-rhythm game. If you don't spend the time to learn it, you shouldn't fault the game. Many claim that the controls simply aren't accurate enough. In my experience, the Nunchuck works best on the normal difficulty. Clearly, playing with two Wiimotes is ideal. They're more accurate. They have a longer grip. And there isn't a cord hanging between them, which frees the arms for pulling off a double "around the world" dance maneuver. I've score 90+% sight reading Hard mode and about 85+% sight reading Super Hard. If I spend the time to work on a few techniques I'm sure I can ace any of the songs.

• Samba De Amigo is a game that I feel would have benefited the most from implementing Wii Motion Plus technology. The current way the game figures out what positions the Wiimotes are in (high, mid, low) is jittery and finicky. If a sequel comes out with Motion Plus controls and maybe even some Balance Board support, I'll be the first in line.
  

"It's Time We Have The Talk" ~Jonathan Blow

These are sad times for the video game industry (at least for some developers). These are sad times because someone like Jonathan Blow felt compelled to present a talk attempting to explain/teach developers that they should look carefully at their games as they build them and push themselves to be more creative. While listening to this talk I couldn't help but think nearly everything that Blow said was common sense and/or instinctual for the good developers. But because there are so many bad games made by bad, supposedly clueless developers Blow had to adress these issues. It's times like this that make me feel like the video games industry is still in a period of nonage, and insightful individuals like Blow have to father us by telling us to brush our teeth and to use soap. The gaming industry has sprung up all of a sudden it seems. We're all relatively new to the medium that we're defining as we go along, and it doesn't help that we anre't well supported by academia.

The way I currently see things, if a developer of a bad game didn't know to monitor the level of "conveyance" between the game and the player throughout development and he/she didn't bother to "push" their ideas past their initial conception, then such a developer needs to go back to game design school (if there is a school that teaches such important skills). Making good games is no harder than making interesting movies or writing captivating books. Each medium has their limitations and their core method of effective communication/conveyance. Understanding these things, for most people, requires study and discipline. And beyond understanding the intricacies of a medium, being creative and expressive are two skills that are difficult to teach.

Video games are inherently complicated. Rules, mechanics, and half-real game worlds are some of the newest and most dynamic qualities in any artform. What's interesting about understanding game design is that it's nearly identical to the design found in everything that already exits. Paintings. Music. Architecture. Scholastic systems. Movies. Literature. Actions. Toothbrushes. Anything. Drawing inspiration from life for the development of a video game requires a certain understanding of how the world "works" or how it functions. And it is to this end that I plan on redesigning the critical-casts.

Previously, the critical-casts served as a supplementary production that was centered around responding to popular industry podcasts, in house indie development, and setting up design challenges. While all of this content had a purpose, it took too much time to organize and plan. Though I still want to cover these topics when they come up, I'd rather focus on discussing the design of things that aren't video games. If the Critical-Gaming blog covers video games in detail articles, then Critical-Casts should cover my critique and commentary on the rest of life so that a bridge can be established between the two.

Another problem with the old critical-casts formatt, is that I was restricted to recording on my desktop PC. This was a problem because all of the natural, free flowing conversations I have with the B.E.S team happen everywhere but near my PC. So I'm looking into getting one of these. Hopefully, this will allow me the freedom to capture the content straight out of the spontineatiy of life.

Don't expect the new cast too soon. I'm still bogged down in articles I need to write. But keep the channels and your mind open.

Glad to have had this talk, son.

A Jonathan Low Blow

Recently on the 1up FM podcast in the 9/1/08 episode, guest Jonathan Blow, co-creator of Braid, had this to say about Wii Sports/Nintendo. (skip to approx. 1hour 20min)

"Nintendo proved it if the Sims didn't. Right? They certainly didn't work very hard on their games. And yet they've got the biggest audience as everybody. I'm going to get assassinated for saying that, but it's true. From a craftsman's standpoint Wii Sports is very poorly created. Everything about is like lackluster and clumsy and weird. But it's good enough for the people who wanted to play that kind of game and nobody else was making that kind of game for them. You know and so it sold tons and tons and tons of copies. "

Though I'm currently working on my Braid review as well as responses to several emails, I'll say this...

Dear Mr. Blow,

You're claims about Wii Sports are completely false. I'm not sure what comprises the craftsman's point of view, but I do understand Wii Sports from a game design point of view. If you think the mechanics in Wii Sports are sub par, let me assure you they're of the highest rank. The graphical style and presentation are straight forward and accessible. Surely clicking on an icon in a menu isn't clumsy or weird. If you think the different sports are shallow, then you should know that the core design of each game is very next-gen especially Sports Boxing. The people who want to play "that kind of game" are made up in part of gamers who are tired of the RPG grind, static space, clumsy controls, clutter games, and the pathetic story telling that have saturated the market. Wii Sports is focused, clean, assessible, and next-gen which is more than the vast majority of games can claim. If you wish to debate Wii Sports or Braid feel free to contact me via email.

Good day,

Richard Terrell (KirbyKid)

The Force Unleased Demo Impressions

As expected, The Force Unleashed demo underwhelmed, fortunately, with great timing for the topics recently discussed on this blog: the flow of combat.

Here's a list in somewhat chronological order of my thoughts from my short time with the demo.

• Whoa! What's with the character movement speed? Touch the left stick and the character jets around the screen at speeds too fast for the...
• Geeze! The camera can't even keep me on the screen. Why is it pointed at the ground if my enemies are right in front of my character. I'm getting shot from somewhere off screen. Not cool. At least I have a...
• Umm. Why isn't the lock on holding the camera in place. I'm holding the button and I'm still having a hard time keeping things focused on the screen. Zelda OOT could do it, what's the deal Force Unleashed? Perhaps part of the problem stems from...
• Yeah. You can lock on to objects and enemies which turns the whole battle arena into a hot bed of lockable things. Now when you want to focus on one thing, the lock on may get confused and lock onto another. Well, at least I have a light saber that I can swing around...
• and miss apparently. Maybe it's an issue with the bad 3D created from the wild camera, or maybe it's because of the poor hit boxes that don't line up with the animations. Either way, for a warrior armed with a light saber, it's unusually difficult to land a hit. With just a few taps of the attack button and...
• Yup. A flurry of crazy attacks leap out of my character. Instead of doing the attacks/combos myself, the character sees fit to just wail around in a fashion very similar to heavenly sword. But if this game is like heavily sword then that can only mean...
• As I expected. Quick time events. Poorly implemented, God of War like quick time events. There goes the gameplay for beating that boss.
  
• Also, the 3D controls for the force grip powers are more complicated than they need to be. This mechanic could have used a real 3D controller so that manipulating an object in 3D space would be easier and more intuitive.
  

Congratulations Force Unleashed. You made just about every wrong design decision to squash the flow of combat and make another senseless, button masher like action game. Good thing you spent all that time on the graphics, which, for the record, underwhelmed almost as much as the gameplay.

And now for the pun that comes free with every Force Unleased write up....

Nah, I won't unleash that bomb. My criticism should suffice.

Pikmin3D

Back when the Wiimote was first announced many came to the conclusion that the Wiimote would be perfect for a game like Pikmin. I find this comment a little strange. Sure, the Wiimote's pointer technology would make aiming quicker and more intuitive, but aiming was never a large issue in Pikmin. Generally, the player has plenty of Pikmin to throw at large targets. And after the Pikmin are thrown, they kick into auto pilot and take action to the nearest object. Furthermore, aiming and moving Olimar were two mechanics that were merged together. Like in Neo*RPG, the player aims and moves with the same pointing device which adds a bit of tension when moving away from danger and then turning around for an attack. For these reasons, I never felt the Wiimote could improve upon the design established in Pikmin 1 and 2 on the GameCube.

In order for the pointer capabilities of the Wiimote to significantly change how Pikmin is played, there must be more substantial targets to point at. This simply can't happen as long as Pikmin remains a 2D game. I know that Pikmin 1 and 2 are technically 3D games, but the top down perspective and flat level design makes the gameplay functionally 2D.

B.E.S is taking Pikmin in radical new direction. The 3rd dimension. Introducing...

• Traverse through both natural and domestic environments, and understand how the two interconnect to create a burgeoning ecosystem.
• Fully 3D level design. Slide under the floor boards. Climb up trees or drainage pipes. Sneak around canned food in the pantry. Drop down into shelves. The world is as much up as it is every other direction.
• Features a slightly pulled back 3rd person camera for moving around, and an over the shoulder view for giving orders.

If this is Pikmin 1...

This is Pikmin3D.

Once again, Pikmin1...

Pikmin3D

• Learn and use specific and intuitive Pikmin Sign Language by using the Wiimote and Nunchuck to give orders to your Pikmin.
  
• Employs a wide range of dynamic orders including: Go. Stop. Throw. Hold. Grab. Pull. Lift. Fight. Dig. Build. Destroy.
  
• Collect objects to help Olimar and the Pikmin master their environment. For example, a piece of string can be used as a bridge or a rope latter.
• Pikmin now have the ability to climb/walk along vertical surfaces like ants. Olimar does not have this ability.
  
• Completely organic level design. The world will no longer be a place that is so obviously constructed for Olimar and his Pikmin to romp through. The distribution and arrangement of objects/enemies will be as natural as possible.
  
• Features an ecosystem of interplay. Mess with one species, and you may slowly realize the damaging results to the balance of nature over the course of Pikmin days.

These are just a few of the features of Pikmin3D. I'd like to take this opportunity to explain why Pikmin 3D is truly a 3D game both in the core design and the controls.

Pikmin3D is set in a game world that is split between the outside nature areas and the indoor domestic areas. Because these areas are designed with more realistic/natural geometry, the world will feature a lot of verticality. Unlike in Pikmin1 and 2 where the game world is mostly flat, Pikmin3D is designed to fully realize the power of volume.

With the Pikmin's new ability to climb up surfaces, large 3D obstructions can be interacted with in new ways. Though Olimar is limited to more traditional movement, for Pikmin walls become floors. This transformation of walls and space is analogous to how Super Mario Galaxy redefined 3D space by letting the player platforming around on what use to be untraversable areas.

Like in any real-time strategy game, positioning and moving through the environment is key. Because Pikmin can move in 3D due to the ant walk ability, Pikmin can be just about anywhere. For these reasons Pikmin3D is designed with full 3D definition.

By pulling in the camera close to Olimar, and even closer (over the shoulder) while giving orders, the perspective of Pikmin3D dramatically shifts to a smaller Pikmin-sized scale. This perspective gives Pikmin3D a level of scope that wasn't possible before. When the camera pulls over Olimar's shoulder, the player and Olimar's view points align. Because the newly designed 3D space also increases the draw distance of the game, the player is able to see much more of the environment at any given time. Due to the increased visability, Olimar is limited to only being able to control Pikmin that are in his direct line of sight. This means a low hanging leaf might obscure the Olimar's view and therefore his/her control over the Pikmin.

Remember how I described Mario Galaxy's acute definition of 3D space as being the culmination of 3 game elements (3rd person Mario, planetoids/objects/gravity, and the player's first-person starbit shooting) ? To achieve the upper levels of 3D space definition, the gameplay needs to revolve around the triangulation of 3 or more targets/perspectives. The more dynamic and various the triangulations, the deeper and better defined the 3D space.

The spatial triangle of Pikmin3D is composed of the Pikmin/targets, Olimar's perspective, and the pulled back 3rd person camera's perspective.

Bringing the scope of the game down to Olimar's level allows for the controls to be more precise and feature a greater range of effects. The Pikmin Sign Language is designed to utilize the true 3D controller that is the Wiimote and Nunchuck. Because well design motion controls are more dynamic and intuitive than traditional controls, Pikmin3D's Sign Language can effectively replace and expand the functions that were previously issued contextually.

The C-stick in the previous Pikmin games harbored quite a number of functions. By pushing it in any direction, Pikmin could be rallied to do battle, destroy objects, carry objects, build things, dig, or move into formation. As you can imagine, with all of these various functions on a single input the core design of the C-stick is cluttered with a significant amount of automation and contextual actions. When using the C-stick, you may often find that your Pikmin start doing one thing when you wanted them to do another.

By giving each command its own specific motion, the awkward overlapping of intent and automation is cleared from the core design. Using the pointer and the Pikmin Sign Language, orders are issued without confusion. Because each command/order is individualized, the controls can be tailored to match each action. For example, if you want a specific Pikmin to move forward just a little, just point at the specific Pikmin then motion forward in 3D space. Using the 3D Wiimote controller, moving the Pikmin forward feels like pushing it along in real life because of how the game space parallels actual space .

In the end, moving Pikmin into 3D not only gives the game a fresh new look, but it gives the core design a lot of breathing room. I intend on creating images to better illustrate Pikmin3D's new features. Until then, take a look around and try to imagine the world from the perspective of a Pikmin.

The WiiR Cam Trio

Pokemon O-SNAP. Beyond Good & Evil Wii. Metal Gear Solid Stories. When I said that each of these games are worth picking up the WiiR Cam for, I was completely serious. But don't just take my word for here. Naturally, you might want some details before being completely convinced. I completely understand. So here are a few details about the games.

Pokemon O-SNAP

click image to enlarge

• Use the WiiR Cam technology to take pictures in a fully 3D virtual environment in front of your TV set. Get closer to get a closer shot. Lean to the side to change the angle. Kneel down to put yourself at eye level with a Pikachu.

click image to enlarge

• Use the focus ring and other professional techniques to enhance the quality of your photos.
  
• Work for different companies that need pictures taken for their articles and news stories.
  
• Explore the vast Hoen region on foot by walking with a Wiimote in your pocket similar to the jogging game in Wii Fit.
  
• Use the Wiimote and other Nintendo peripherals like the Wii Balance Board, to enhance the experience. Climb a cliff face or a tree using the Wiimote. Stake out for a group of Mankey to swing by by balancing on a tree branch or in the player's case, the Wii Balance Board.
  
• The player only has Pokemon food and the cutting edge Pokedex camera hybrid at their disposal. Anything else that might be used to interact with the Pokemon or the environment must be procured on sight. Perhaps you can poke a sleeping Snorlax with a stick if you can find one lying around. You can even pick up a rock and throw them.
  
• Unlike the previous Pokemon Snap, in this game the Pokemon won't be lining themselves up to have their picture taken as if they were part of some amusement part ride. The Pokemon will be organically distributed just as they would be if they existed in real life.
  
• Each Pokemon is like a puzzle. To get the best shots, players will have to understand each Pokemon's nature, which includes their diet, nesting habits, habitat regions/locations, proclivities, and how they'll react to different stimuli.
  
• To catch a group of Pikachu, you might want to venture out during a thunder storm. To snag a Grimer, visit the sewers of a city with rising plumbing/industrial waste issues. To track down a migrating Diglet pod, look into recent seismic activity.
  
• The better you understand the Pokemon, the better you can find them and take pictures of them in their natural state.

These are just a few of the features that we at B.E.S have designed for the next gen Pokemon experience.

Beyond Good & Evil Wii

• A retelling and reimagining of the adventures of Jade featuring an innovative and revolutionary method of storytelling centered around the most unique aspect of BG&E: photojournalism.
  
• We're removing the heavy focus on combat. Though Jade won't be completely defenseless, there are far more interesting ways for her to battle than with a magical stick.
  
• Telling stories through cut scenes is a crutch. The way we see it here at B.E.S the story and the gameplay should be one.
  
• Jade and the player have to piece together their own understanding of the complex world and their role in it through their own journalistic investigations. In a world where people and their actions aren't ever completely good or entirely evil, the player must construct their own reasons to fight that exists somewhere beyond the two.
  
• Are we allies just out of convenience, or what may be worse... ignorance? Are my enemies fighting for the same things I'm fighting for? These are questions that the player must ask. And they reference problems that can be investigated and sorted out all through the lense of their camera .
  
• Use the WiiR Cam to take pictures like never before.
  
• Gather images of people and create a database of evidence.
• Communicate with the other characters in the game through the pictures you've taken. Present images of the characters doing the wrong things at the wrong times to persuade others to help your cause.
  
• Explore. Make allies and enemies. Sneak around. Find the truth.
• Will you end up fighting for what's right? Or is that whole question something that lies far beyond the realm of Good and Evil?

Metal Gear Solid Stories

• Play as Snake and relive some of his most incredible moments.
  
• Every action and interaction has be completely rethought, retooled, and reincorporated into the core gameplay experience.
  
• Experience the visceral and tactile CQC fight system that takes full advance of the new technology brought to us by Wii Motion Plus.
  
• Hold, reload, and aim Snake's guns like never before. Pay attention to the minute details of every gun like only a connoisseur of guns can.
  
• Tend to wounds in real time using specific and contextual motion controls.
  
• Listen to codex calls through the Wiimote or the DS in real time.
  
• Take pictures using the new WiiR Cam in full 3D.
  

We hope that you'll pick up a WiiR Cam and all these great titles in Spring of 2009. But don't get too exicted just yet. It's time for some major IPs to show us why the Wii is the most next generation gaming system in terms of gameplay, freedom, and design.

WiiR Cam

I'm excited and proud to announce a new addition to the Wii family. Actually, it's more like a new addition to the Wii and DS family. Introducing the WiiR Cam.



I know what you're thinking. "I already own Wiimotes, Nunchucks, the Wii Balance Board, the Wii Wheel, and even a Wii Zapper. Do I really need the WiiR Cam?"

I know. I hear what you're saying. But the WiiR Cam is different from all of those other controllers for a few key reasons.

• The WiiR Cam gives players control of a fully 3D camera controller that allows the Wii to determine how close the camera is to an virtual object and at what angle the players is aiming the camera. Remember Johnny Lee's Wiimote head tracking experiments? This is the first product that was created from his inspirational research.

• The WiiR Cam reverses the Wiimote and Sensor bar technology which essentially puts a dynamic censor bar in your hands. Because the WiiR Cam is simply a few IR LED lights and an electric current (provided by the Nintendo DS), we can package it with specific software for no additional charge in addition to selling it as a stand along product for 5$.

Notice how the WiiR Cam is pointed at the bottom left portion of the screen. By syncing with the Wii, the DS can display what the camera is seeing just like an actual digital camera. Shutter sounds even come out of the DS speakers!

The most exciting part of the WiiR Cam is the AAA software that is being designed specifically for it. Talented companies such as Ubisoft and Konami have joined us in designed software for the WiiR that is truly like nothing you've ever played before. Each title alone is worth picking up a WiiR Cam for.

The three titles are...

• Pokemon O-SNAP (Nintendo)
  
• Beyond Good & Evil Wii (Ubisoft)
  
• Metal Gear Solid Stories (Konami)
  

I'll have more details about these exciting new games soon.

ElectrOcean

The first game I'd like to unofficially announce comes from a unique entry from the DS library. Electroplankton is a one of a kind piece of electronic art from the colorful mind of Toshio Iwai. A small team of developers brought the sonorous, melodic, and sometimes cacophonous aquatic animals to life on the DS, and now I'm please to announce that we're taking Iwai's vision and inspiration into open waters. An ocean of water to be exact.







In ElectrOcean, players will be free to interact with a variety of musical "plankton" simultaneously unlike what could be done on the Nintendo DS. This time, players will be submerged into a 3D sound environment thanks to the implementation of our new "Dyanmic-Interactive-3D" sound design (Drebin #11). Instead of listening to paltry DS speakers, personal headphones, or even a home surround sound system, the sounds in ElectrOcean can be projected from a combination of such outlets simultaneously.

A 3D "Ocean" of sound

Gather as many controllers as you want and sync them up to the Wii. Once synced, each controller becomes an individual "plankton" or musical, interactive system. In ElectrOcean, a single Wiimote can become an Electroplankton that changes the music/tones it produces depending on which side of the Wiimote is pointing up. Waving the Wiimote around through the air then would create a variety of sounds and effects that not only make up the interactive system of that particular plankton, but can also interact with any other plankton systems that are set up. Anything that hooks up to the Wii can turn into a unique interactive plankton based on the controllers unique features.

• Wiimote (speaker/buttons/accelerometers/IR light sensor)
  
  


• Wiimote + Nunchuck (speaker/buttons, 2x accelerometers/ light sensor)
  
  


• Nintendo DS (2x speakers/ buttons/ touch screen/microphone)
  
  


• Wii Balance Board (4 weight sensors)
  
  


• Wii Speak (microphone)


• GCN Bongos (microphone/buttons)
  
  


• GBA (speaker/buttons)

With the self contained systems (DS,GBA) ElectrOcean can potentially spawn an infinite number of plankton because the handhelds don't have to maintain a wireless connection with the Wii. The more plankton you spawn, the more players can join in the fun.



ElectrOcean is a simple idea coupled with a simple presentation that has impactful results that reach well beyond the interests of gamers alone. It's so easy to pick up and play, gamers and non-gamers of all types can get in on the experience with ease. ElectrOcean is everything Wii Music is trying to be. Except, without being tied down to simulating real world instruments and sounds, in ElectrOcean players are free to explore the 3D interactive world of sound via the Electroplankton.





Everyone should experience being submerged in sound. This is why ElectrOcean will launch today on WiiWare for 100 points. This is part of a new business model we're pushing where players are free to enjoy their Wii and the kinds of experiences that only the Wii can bring without fear. At just 100 points, I don't think anyone will ask for a demo.

Let's Do It All Over Again

Many gamers are hurting from the relatively disappointing E3 show across the board. Games were shown, but very little impressed or gave me hope of our gaming futures. Perhaps Nintendo had the most disappointing conference out of the big 3. Seeing Miyamoto's face not smiling was just about as much as I could take. So, I've spent the meantime coming up with this plan that just might rekindle our hope in Nintendo's future.

We're doing it all over again. It's time for...


That's right. Forget that Animal Crossing looks and plays like an N64 game. Forget that Wii Music made Miyamoto frown in front of millions. Forget that the new Call of Duty game looks like it's stuck in the past, and I don't mean its setting. Forget that we don't even know what the new GTA DS looks like (I realize this one may be the hardest to do). And Forget that Nintendo is releasing yet another Pokemon game that we don't care about.

This time, I taking over Reggie's job and presenting the games that should have been there the first time. And because the B.E.S. team has designed each of these games by hand, each example will be of the quality that can easily withstand the scrutiny of....well, me (or any gamer with the critical-eye).

Not only can I promise that these games/game ideas are of quality, but I will explain the design behind each as well as present diagrams and renders of what the game would look like. That's certainly more than an image of Mario and Zelda with the promise that the respective teams are hard at work. Keep in mind, I don't doubt that there are many hard working Nintendo developers cracking away at future games that didn't make it into the show. But there's a time for making games and a time for showing games.

It's just unfortunate that we have to travel back in time to fix things. Here we go!

Nintendoooooo!

Shawn White Snowboarding

• What's with the weird tweening animations when the characters land from jumps. Looks like last gen or even last-last gen.
  
• Hopefully the controls will be as good as Wii Fit snowboarding. My greatest fear is that the controls will be digital instead of analog when using the Wii Balance Board. If that happens, this game will have nothing.

Animal Crossing: City Folk

• Extremly dissapointed.
• Lazy Graphics.
• Lazy gameplay.
  
• Lazy Ideas.
• This is why new people need to take over Nintendo's IPs.
• I completely called the community mike though. But I figured Nintendo could use the DS mice as a community mic.
  

Call of Duty

• The co-op mode is like Jet Force Gemini's co-op play.
  
• Graphics look pretty good actually.
  
• But the gameplay looks pretty old school/unappealing.
  

Guitar Hero DS: Decades

• Song sharing is genius. What a great solution to fit the unique hardware situation.
  

Wii Sports Resort

• The WiimotionPlus is looking good with the Frisbee game.
  
• The jet ski game better have wave race like water wave physics.
  
• From the way the hit stun looked, the sword game looks like it could be the next Wii Sports Boxing, which means it could feature far better and far more next-gen gameplay than most next gen games on any platform.
  

Wii Music

• Using the Wii Balance Board for the Drum kick pedals was expected.
  
• The accuracy of the musical playing is a little loose for my tastes. After all, I did create the GuitaRPG engine. Still, I'm not sure if it's good enough even for "casual" players.
  
• The hand bell choir is an idea I came up with a few months ago. It even has a Drebin number: Drebin #4. I came up with the idea because I figured they would add it to Wii Music. We'll see if Nintendo design is better than my own.
  

GTA DS

• Who knows what this game is about......
• In true Rockstar fashion, we don't even get a screen shot of the game.
  

The New Pokemon Ranger

• I don't care about this game.

I'm a little disappointed with Nintendo's conference this year. Maybe more will be shown/revealed later like they did with the Super Smash Brothers Brawl trailer last year.

At least I still have a few blockbuster announcements to make on Nintendo's unofficial behalf.

Stay tuned. And stay afloat.

Wrapping up the Xbox

Halo Wars

• video1
• Many are hoping for Halo Wars to prove that a console controller can work for an RTS game.
  
• The main issue I have with Halo Wars is tied to the source that created such hopeful people in the first place. Halo Wars, though designed for the 360 from the ground up, still looks like a PC RTS. The reason why so many other developers have struggled to adapt the PC controls to a console controller is because they're still trying to play a PC game on a console.
  
• If Halo Wars is really designed for the Xbox360, then the developers would have created their own unique brand of RTS gameplay that would only make perfect sense using a console controller. I can't tell whether they did or not at this point.
  
• Pikmin did it. Pikmin 2 did it again. Both of the excellent games feature the best console RTS controls around. Is it a surprise that the gameplay in Pikmin1&2 is some of the most unique gameplay in grand scheme of RTSs?
  
• I will be watching Halo Wars in the future for its overall gameplay style and its controller scheme.
  

Fable 2

• video1
• The graphics are nice, but the combat looks really weird.
• In the heat of battle the graphical clutter increases and the frame rate drops.
  
• From what I know about the approach that's being taken with Fable 2's combat, it seems like the idea of simple (one button)/fun combat was taken too far. From what I can gather, it looks like after the combat was simplified, the developers sped up the combat while reducing the dynamic interactions between the elements in order to keep things "fun." This is very dangerous because it's far to easy to sacrifice weight, timing, commitment, and dynamics in the process.
  
• The result is a game that is designed to feature cool combat on the base level instead of creating situations for the cool combat to emerge.
  

Too Human

• video1
  
• Looking better animation wise.
• I don't have a 360, otherwise, I'd simply play the demo instead of watching videos.
  

Fallout3

• video1
  
• Looks a lot likeBioShock... especially with the menus.
• The turn based combat looks a little too much like an RPG, which means it's bad.
  
• Lock picking reminds me of BioShock's hacking.
• The gameplay looks silly. Even the simple interactions within the action combat seem very unpolished and even laughable. On some levels, it seems like Fallout3 isn't taking itself seriously.
  
• An open world means nothing if there's no "game" to experience it with.
  

Mirror's Edge

• video 1
• walkthrough video
• I'm afraid that Mirror's Edge will be like Price of Persia: The Sands of Time's platforming mixed with Assassin's Creed's free running. In other words, I'm afraid that Mirror's Edge will be all looks and no play.
  
• POP's platforming is so strict, linear, and unforgiving that the game heavily used the rewind time power to cover up the substantial trial and error platforming. I've heard from 1up Yours that Mirror's Edge is very similar and that you'll be falling to your death a lot. When this happens the game resets you to the point before you died. Sound familiar?
• Assassin's Creed's free running looks amazing. Unfortunately, Altier practically does all the work for the player. Such a high level of automation takes away a lot of the play from the player and the game.
• How deep can Mirror's Edges puzzles be when the Runner's Eye turns important areas red?
• How tight can the platforming be in first person? Hopefully we won't have to relive Turok on the N64 again.
• So far the game is in first-person, features bullet time, and has the "yellow brick road" that paints the way to success. This game is going to have a tough time overcoming these design hurdles. Nonetheless, I'm rooting for this one.
  

Geometry Wars 2

• Information
  
• video 1
  
• I own Geometry Wars: Galaxies for the Wii. After writing my article on clutter, I've been slowly realizing how limited the design of Geometry Wars is. Even in the Wii version's 40+ levels and with the addition of personality bots, , there is very little variation to the gameplay.
  
• So now we come to Geometry Wars 2 for the Xbox360. And it's 4 players.
• It was hard enough to see through the clutter of firework like special effects with just one person playing. Good luck with this game. Strictly from a design perspective, this game will probably be a mess.
  
• Also, there's no word of online play. Because of the nature of Geometry Wars, there is a 90% chance that there will not be any co-op online play unless they want to slow the game way down.
  

It's been a busy day, and it's only going to get busier tomorrow. See you then.

Out of the XBox

Resident Evil 5

• video1
• video2
  
• I'm not at all impressed with RE5 so far.
• Looks like RE4 with a different main character.
• The destructible environments look like graphical embellishments.
  
• The co-op play looks stiff and forced.
  

Face Breaker

• 360/PS3 version
  
• Wii version
  
• Oh really? What makes old school gaming so great if you don't mind me asking? Because form the looks of things, Face Breaker (Wii) looks pretty shallow.
• Designing a game where players will get hit no matter how skilled one is or how inexperienced their opponent is, is a big mistake. From the looks of things, Face Breaker isn't a good game. I don't know why a developer would spend so much time trying offset the advantage a pro has over a new comer. Sakurai made this mistake and now all the Brawl players are suffering. Developing games is hard enough without fighting battles you should be involved in.
  
• The 360/PS3 version looks much better than the Wii version gameplay wise. Two different teams are working on these games, and the Wii teams looks like they're far behind the 360/PS3 team.
  

Far Cry 2

• video1
  
• Flushing enemies out from places, and shooting them while they're going through any type of non aggressive animation has been done many times before. It's not deception as much as simply shooting enemies when they come into range. It's nothing special.
• No matter how you mask exploding barrels, they're still exploding barrels. In this case the ammo pick ups and the propane tank are two new examples of things we've already seen many times before.
  
• Putting bombs on things and detonating isn't as satisfying when the game practically tells you to do it. Perfect Dark, a first-person shooter on the N64, feature dynamic objectives and remote mine explosion opportunities. Far Cry 2 isn't as even as good as Perfect Dark. Nothing new here.
• The enemy animation looks very questionable. With the upgrade to more realistic graphics, the enemies look like they're still a few gens behind.
  

Gears of War 2

• video1
• This game looks very impressive. Sequels are always at risk of being too similar to their predecessors, or adding things that diminish the game. RE5 is suffering from both of these pit falls. Fortunately, Gears looks like it's doing things right.
  
• According to Cliff Bleszinski, the multiplayer options and balance have gone under considerable tweaking based on how the meta game of Gears of War's multiplayer developed. Paying attention to the community is always a good thing. But making the best design decisions is always best.
  
• Aside from the new party based matchmaking options and adjusting the net-code to reduce the extreme host advantage when playing online, the cover system is being refined even further than the original gears.
  
• The graphics and sound will all be there I assume. But the thing that has me most excited for this game is the interplay that's being added. Remember Gears of War's interplay?
  
• Now players can pick up downed opponents and use them as shields. Downed players can also mash the A button to crawl away to a safer/hidden area hopefully unnoticed. Hopefully there are ways for you to break out of an enemy's grasp when they're using you as a shield. Once again, RE5 showed some of these same scenarios. In RE5 case, the animation and gameplay looks a lot less polished.
  
• In addition to the interplay with downed players, bullets now have stopping power meaning, you can slow down your opponent by shooting them. Depending on how this mechanic is incorporated, the gunplay in Gears can be expanded. If leg shots are the inverse of head shots (trading off damage vs. stopping power), when coupled with the new cover system, a rich new level of play may be opened.
  
• Gears of War already featured the familiar guns and then some. But the new weapons in Gears2 seem to be designed to work well with the new options that I've just described. One gun, as Cliffy B. described, is great when fired while holding an enemy as a shield and makes a great addition to game because of the unique space it fills within the range of the game's gun variation. With a game like Gears, with new abilities and properties should come new weapons that accentuate them.
  

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe

• video1
• I wanted to just say "yuck" and be done with this game, but that wouldn't be very "critical" of me. Ignoring the premise/conceit of the game, I'll say this...
• The animations look stiff.
  
• Why is Superman bleeding when he gets hit?
• I thought the DC characters couldn't be subjected to fatalities because of some kind of agreement with DC. I wonder what happened to that.
  
• It's not very nice to say that a certain game series is dead. Still, from the looks of things, this game doesn't help Mortal Combat.

Tom Clancy's EndWar

• video1
  
• This video was simply confusing.
  
• RTS is a genre that has become quite complex and at times unnecessarily so. And this video proves that point.
• I can't understand the mechanics of this game, so all I can say is there is a lot of attention put into little details in the graphics.
  

Fracture

• video1
  
• The graphics and the style are definitely cluttered. Between all the dark tones and shadows, I can hardly see what's going on in the video. Throw on top of that the explosion effects and the physics based sharpnel and the focus of the game becomes highly unstable.
  
• Manipulating the terrain creates some interesting potential for interplay. ie.using hills to create walls/cover on the fly can be countered by using borrowing missiles. In this case, the interplay is gunplay because the terrain changing ammo is shot out of the player's gun.
• According to the developers, Fracture sounds like it's designed with simple/open rules that allow for unique emergent strategies.
  
• From how the terrain changing mechanic looks, the game seems to be moving a bit to fast almost as if it's trying to mimic the gameplay of another shooter while adding terrain effects on top as a bonus. Hopeful these developers can focus on what's most unique about their game and let everything else (controls to game speed to graphics) support the core.
  

More Critical-Hits to come.

G4's Massive E308 Coverage Announced

As the title indicates, this is your guide to keeping afloat for the next week. Every entry in bold (beside the dates) are the events that I'm looking forward to most.

Read the line up. Study it. And buckle up.

Monday July 14th
1PM ET – Half-hour pre-show followed by the entire Microsoft Press Conference – live and commercial free on-air and online.
6PM ET – EA Press Conference - Live streaming coverage on G4tv.com
7PM ET – Two-hour E3 Preview Show featuring the following DEMOS:

• Fallout 3
• Fable 2
• Halo Wars
• Ghostbusters : The Videogame
• Silent Hill: Homecoming
  

Tuesday July 15th
12PM ET – Live on-air and online streaming, commercial free coverage of the Nintendo Press conference
2:30PM ET - Live on-air and online streaming, commercial free coverage of the Sony Press conference
5:30PM ET – Ubisoft Press Conference - Live streaming coverage on G4tv.com
6:00PM ET– Live three hour E308 Special featuring the following DEMOS:

• Gears of War 2
• Resistance 2
• Killzone 2
• Rock Band 2
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
• Prince of Persia
• Street Fighter IV
• Lord of the Rings: Conquest
• Dark Void

7:30PM ET – CAPCOM Press Conference - Live streaming coverage on G4tv.com
11:30PM ET – ACTIVISION Press Conference - Streaming coverage on G4tv.com

Wednesday July 16th
5:30PM ET - KONAMI Press Conference - Live streaming coverage on G4tv.com
6PM ET – Live three hour E308 Special featuring the following DEMOS:

• Resident Evil 5
• FarCry 2
• LittleBigPlanet
• Dead Space
• Spore
• InFamous
• Mercenaries 2: World in Flames
• Left 4 Dead
• Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe
• Crysis: Warhead
• Shaun White Snowboarding
• Deadly Creatures

Thursday, July 17th
6PM ET – Live three hour E308 Special featuring the following DEMOS:

• Mirror's Edge
• Madden NFL '09
• Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X.
• Tom Clancy's EndWar
• Project Origin
• Banjo Kazooie
• Face Breaker

Friday, July 18th
7PM ET – Attack of the Show E3 Wrap-up Special
8PM ET – X-Play “Best of E3” Special

Introducing Critical-Hit

If you aren't aware (for some strange reason) E3 is nearly upon us. To join in the festivities Critical-Gaming is going all out with a new series called "Critical-Hit." These hard hitting segments will feature updates that are completely free form. Video, podcast, essay, link lists, and bullet points are all game. It's all about absorbing the content, running it under the critical-eye, and packaging it all into a quick "critical" update or hit.

Nintendo might show their creative hand at E3 this year to show the world that they're still on top of things. Regardless, I've been preparing a few unofficial reveals myself on behalf of Nintendo. No matter how creative Nintendo gets this time around, the ideas and products that I'll reveal this week on the blog are guaranteed to match or exceed Nintendo legendary handiwork. That's right! They caught me by surprise last year with the Wii Balance Board and Wii Fit. Though I didn't see Wii Fit coming at all, I was on the cusp of coming up with the Balance Board controller. Take your bets now.

For this week, aside from the cutting edge game ideas produced in house here at Critical-Gaming and the hard hitting updates, I might even get around to recording a few podcasts. Nothing too fancy. Each will be a sort of impromptu cast. If I don't get around to the casts just assume that I'm drowning in the sea of information. However, there's something else I wanted to try. Last year, after watching E3 live on G4TV, I hosted a discussion on Skype where anyone was free to tune in and talk about what E3 had to offer. I definitely want to leave the evening of Friday July 18th open in case anyone wants to throw their 2 cents in to the whirlpool.

The deluge of content is about to hit us. Soon there will be more to post and talk about than I can keep up with. Just ride the wave to the shore and enjoy the ride.