Archive for the 'Games' Category

Guess Who’s Got a Wii

Published
by
Chris
on December 19, 2006
in Games
. 1 Comment

Nintendo WiiOkay, so I’ve had one for ten days or so now, having picked one up on launch day, but I don’t think there are that many Nintendo Wiis about yet and so I’m still a little smug about it. It’s brilliant.

That’s pretty much all I wanted to say really - it’s just jolly good fun (even Jess enjoyed Wii Sports). Zelda is typically amazing, and in fact is a large part of why I’ve taken over a week to write what I intended to be a post on launch day itself (which was Friday 8th December).

I will just pop in a quick plug for the Bullring HMV store - they’re always very helpful when I go in there, and they worked around a cock-up clerical error they’d made with my pre-order to give me a Wii on launch day with very little in the way of argument from me for them to do so. Thanks guys - and I do mean it about the staff; for some reason I seem to walk out of that particular store feeling like I’ve had good service more than I do anywhere else.

Oh, and all these stories that have caused Nintendo to offer to replace all the original wrist straps issued with the Wii Remotes at launch are a load of rubbish. Half of them have got to be fakes, and you can take it from me that those which aren’t are accidents caused by people being far too enthusiastic with themselves. I’ve not once had the Wiimote slip from my grasp, but should it do so I have no doubt it will be caught by the strap. That’s what it’s there for, as a safety measure - it’s not designed to be stressed every time the remote is swung, the big idiots.

Nintendo 64

Published
by
Chris
on October 2, 2006
in Games
. 1 Comment

Nintendo 64
I just read an article exploring the successes and pitfalls of the Nintendo 64 a decade on. Turns out I have rather fond memories of said console, and while this is far from a surprise to me (nor to many who know me I suspect) it has brought on a wave of nostalgia, and I can’t help posting a few thoughts on here.

The N64 was the first console that Nick (my brother) and I had. Bought through the local free-ads paper, unboxed and with two controllers, it cost us £40 in (I think) April 1998. It was tremendously exciting, and I’ve been a Nintendo man ever since - they simply make the best games, no question as far as I’m concerned.

The Temple of Time from Ocarina of Time

With games like Super Mario 64, Banjo Kazooie, Donkey Kong 64 and of course the staggering Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time I was occupied for hours. I still play Zelda today and it’s still fabulous, a truly brilliant game despite its age. In fact, let me be clear: the phrase “despite its age” perhaps implies something of a patronising, rose tinted accommodation of a fine game that is still fun to play, but doesn’t quite match up to modern games. This is absolutely not the case. It’s beautiful.

So, the ‘64 had some great one-player games, and was good for multiplayer fun too - my personal favourite party game being Mario Kart 64, with popular opinion understandably going for Goldeneye (though I’ve never really enjoyed shooters myself). It was also a trendsetting machine, introducing true 3D games, analogue control and rumbling control pads, all of which are now standard features in today’s home consoles.

So here’s to the Nintendo 64, which probably didn’t get the recognition it deserved due to its utter defeat by Sony’s PlayStation, but was home to some of the best software ever seen. That last, at least, seems to be recognised by most.

Look on for a few more pictures of my favourite N64 games…
Continue reading ‘Nintendo 64′

Nice Trackmania Movie

Published
by
Chris
on September 3, 2006
in Games
. 3 Comments

I thought this was really cool - supposedly the result of combining 1000 replays in Trackmania Sunrise. If you've not played the game, I wholeheartedly suggest you try out the demo. It's terrific fun and very addictive.

I also found what was perhaps the inspiration for this movie, the 1k Project on YouTube. Check it out if you want more, however it's not as cool and so I didn't embed it here.

Play Tantrix - it’s Great

Published
by
Chris
on August 30, 2006
in Best Things Ever, Games and General
. 2 Comments

Tenerife Sunset

My first post in a while! I’ve been on holiday for the past couple of weeks, going first to Edinburgh, and then to Tenerife. Much fun was had :)

Now I’m busy preparing for a couple of exams I have in two weeks, so it may be a bit quiet here until they’re over - however, in the meantime I’ve found the new Best Thing Ever:

Tantrix Tiles

It’s called Tantrix and it’s a kind of strategy game you can play on your own or against others. There’s a free online version - try it out! You can play against other people or against a robot, but I suggest you find out how to play first. I like it so much that I’ve ordered the proper (non-computer) game and everything.

[EDIT 10th September 2006: I've been meaning to add (but kept forgetting to) that I wanted to thank Kathryn for bringing her Tantrix set to Edinburgh so that we all were able to experience its wonder. Otherwise mine would still be a Tantrix-free existence. So um, thanks :D]

DS Lite Stress Test

Published
by
Chris
on July 21, 2006
in Games
. 2 Comments

Ouch! I’ve seen this a couple of times now, and despite the knowledge that the screen survives the ordeal (seemingly) unharmed, I still cringe. Why would anyone even contemplate treating the lovely DS like that? Unless they had too much money to care.

Still, Nintendo seems to build stuff pretty solidly and I guess this is testimony to that. No I won’t be trying it with mine. Which is black by the way, and prettier that the one in the video ;)

What a Load of Rubbish

Published
by
Chris
on July 10, 2006
in Games and General
. 1 Comment

Well, I wore these to work today. No one even mentioned them.

Disappointed.

In other news, I’m wearing Darth Maul ones tomorrow :D

Update 18th July 2006:
Well I had a least three comments on the old Gameboys at work today, all positive! One chap even went so far as to suggest that I had the “Best Cufflinks Ever”. Which of course I do.

Gameboy Cufflinks

Published
by
Chris
on July 8, 2006
in Games and General
. 6 Comments

Gameboy CufflinksLook what arrived yesterday! And they have little game cartridges for if I get bored at work. Shame they’re a little larger than I thought they might be when I ordered them, but still, I think they’re quite fun.

How cool am I?! If you fancy a pair yourself, OnYourCuff have a bunch more - including Gameboy Pocket, GBA and DS as well as other consoles, Micro Machines and some Star Wars stuff. Possibly a little expensive for what they are, but I wouldn’t have known where to get the Gameboys from to make my own.

Hooray for the Dual Screen!

Published
by
Chris
on July 3, 2006
in Games
. 2 Comments

New Super Mario Brothers I bought the new Mario game for Nintendo DS the other day. It’s brilliant! New Super Mario Brothers is a new (well, duh, it’s in the title) game in the classic Mario 2D side-scroll style. It’s graphically shinier and Mario has a couple of new moves but it retains the left-to-right race to the flag goodness we know and love and it’ll be my most played DS game for a while. In a surprising twist, Bowser kidnaps the princess at the start of the game and it seems to be Mario’s mission to rescue her.

I’m also enjoying Brain Training which I’ve been playing for a couple of weeks now. It’s pretty addictive in a fun-for-a-few-minutes-a-day kinda way, with some interesting and quite tricky puzzles to have a go at. I’m particularly impressed by the speech and handwriting recognition software it uses. Admittedly someone who’s not had much recent contact with these technologies, I was wowed by its ability to regognise any voice without the need to be taught. And reliably! None of the tedious messing about with trying to speak naturally into the microphone in an effort to teach it to understand your commands that you used to have to do (of course, no matter how casual and cool you tried to be when recording your voice, it never came out the same as when you actually wanted the damn thing to do something for you).

Given this drastic improvement, maybe soon someone will make some widely available voice software that will actually be useful…

Update:
Apparently Nintendo have sent George Bush a nice little present for his birthday. Brilliant!