So, Wii Fot Plus is better than I thought it would be. Of the top of my head I can think of about five times that the game has already blown my mind-

1) Using a Mii of my real life cat to attack a giant robotic mole

2) Getting crushed by a giant log while on a obstacle course located many miles above the earth

3) Entering a Wind Waker-esque cave while in-cased in a bubble, then being lit on fire

4) Having the balance board recognize how hard I was "flapping my wings" in the chicken-suit flight game, despite the fact that I didn't wasn't holding a controller in either hand

5) Being attacked by a Mii of Kevin Bacon dressed in snowman armor

Wii Fit Plus does a lot to embarrass other developers and their half ass attempts at balance board development. Really, a lot of these games are fantastic, as good if not better than those found in Wii Sports Resort. The biking in particular is notably better, as the same activity was actually in Resort. It's much more fun in Wii Fit Plus.

Will Wii Fit Plus change the minds of people who have already decided that they hate the game and everything it stands for? Well, if they are excited at all for Natal, then yeah, it just might. I really hope that 360 developers play Wii Fit Plus, particularly the obstacle course, bicycle, segway, skateboard, snowball fight, and chicken suit games. A lot of the other games are fun too, but those five feel particularly innovative. They take full-body motion controlled gaming into all three dimensions, something I'm not sure I've experienced since Prop-Cycle. This isn't just leaning left and right to bounce a soccer ball off your head, this is exploring a 3D space without using a controller at all.

Seriously, the chicken flight game is totally insane. I still can't believe it works.

That said, if the game were even ten dollars more, I'm not sure if I'd recommend it. For the most part, this is just Wii Fit again, except with 15 new games, 6 new exercises, a calorie counter, some custom options for personalized work outs, and the ability to make Miis of your pets.

I'm not going to lie though, making a Mii of your pet then sicking it on giant bastard moles is pretty satisfying.



I've been having a lot of awesome videogame dreams lately. The first I plan to try and recap is a reoccurring Resident Evil 6 dream.

The game takes place in a future where zombie outbreaks are semi-noraml, though they aren't OK. They're a global threat and everyone is terrified. Suicide "zom-bombers" are showing up in crowded places, on the private jets of public officials, etc, and biting down on G virus tooth caps, becoming zombies, and scaring the fuck out of the planet.

There are drugs to treat the virus now, but they are in high demand, and no one knows how well they will work, of if the batch they got was real or bogus. This makes every situation the player is in a potential death trap; death from zombie, or death from fear-driven, homicidal humans.

The protagonist of the game is a US Agent that's been promised retirement in a zombie-free underground camp if he takes out a terrorist cell in the Middle East. The game starts with him having a crowd of angry, terrified people bust into his apartment, searching for G virus repressing drugs. You can try to kill them, but if you do, they'll likely over take you, take your gun, and kill you.

Instead, you have to try and squeeze by them, get to the Embassy and regroup. In my dream there were like, 50-100 people all crowded together in the halls, yelling, crying, screaming, some trying to stick together, some completely "every man for himself".

As you're squeezing through them, you hear screaming. People start to try and push past you more aggressively, trampling those in around you, knocking you around in a what is effectively a giant human blob.In the chaos, you notice someone right next to you is grabbing onto another person in the crowd, and blood cascading into the air from their embrace.

No camera move is made to draw attention to this, no musical cue suddenly hits to signify it's importance. It's just a zombie eating a guy, right next to you, and you're stuck there. You can try to push through the crowd, but for all you know, some of them are zombies too, and or have just been bitten and soon will be zombies. You can draw your gun, but that will draw attention to you, and the crowd may try to steal it, kill you, etc.

In my dream, I quietly killed it with the knife by grabbing it from behind and severing the head from the body. Then I had to decide if I should kill the newly infected guy that the zombie had just been chewing on, help him, or just try to get the hell out of there.

Then I woke up.

I don't know if the game sounds as fun as it was in my dream, but trust me, the way I dreamt it, it was a lot of fun. I hope that with RE6, Capcom tries something totally crazy like this. To bring back zombies, and put them in the general public instead of in a sealed off mansion or a police station, could be an incredible time; something that could only be done with the 360/PS3.



I've been thinking about 2010 a lot lately. I'm really excited for a lot of the games still to come this year, but overall, 2010 is where my heart is.

Sin and Punishment 2, Dead Rising 2, Sakura Wars Wii, Super Street Fighter IV, No More Heroes 2, Tatsunoko Vs Capcom:UAS, Metroid: Other M, Super Mario Galaxy 2, and Super Meat Boy all have me totally jazzed.

Is it just me, or does it seem like 2010 is a totally different looking year than 2009? So much super! It's shocking to see the pre-fix come back with such a vengeance.

Actually I feel like there a lot of other games coming out in 2010 that I care about, but I'm suddenly blanking on them. Maybe they are the same games you're excited about.

What game of 2010 do you give a crap about?

*For the first time ever, I really got to thinking about Natal (I know, welcome to last June, right?). I mean, I've given the new controller some thought before, but just today I really imagined actually owning the thing. I officially don't get it.

No buttons? At all? How the hell is that going to work?

Now, I'm not the biggest fan motion controls in general; most of my favorite Wii games involve only occasional motion controls, or no motion controls. Having a big button to press under your thumb is just such an instant, thought free control method. I can't imagine in ever being replaced by a completely motion-controlled system.

For games like that soccer goalie demo thing and a Katamari game, I could see the Natal working great, and maybe they'll make some sort of one-or-two button controller to go with it for more traditional games. That's something I could get behind. In the meantime I just don't see how Natal is going to work with the games I play.

I know this sort of Natal-confusion is old news, but I just wanted to throw it out there to see if any of you smart people can make me feel better about "The future of gaming".



* Are you excited for this week's soon-to-be-posted "games of the week" weekly post? I sure am.

Here's a sneak preview- I mention how I'm pretty confused by Sony's "modern day" first party line up. Why did Sony abandon all of it's PS1 era IPs? Hasn't Sont seen how successful Nintendo has been with reviving their classic franchises? Don't they see that guys like me who grew up on Jumping Flash, Parappa the Rapper, and Ape Escape are now grown up, brimming with nostalgia-lust and excess cash?

The fact that my favorite part of MGS 4 is that dream sequence, and that I spent more time with Jumping Flash 2 and UmJammer Lammy last week than I ever wanted to with InFamous and Uncharted 2, should tell Sony something. A lot of long time gamers like myself in the 28-35 age bracket may be more interested in the way they used to make games that the Hollywood style stuff they're putting out these days.

Start by making a Smash Bros' style crossover featuring Somy IP from the past ten years. That will sell millions, and re-introduce people to all the old Sony IP people have forgotten about. Then branch off from there with new Parrapa, Ape Escape,Jumping Flash, and Gitaroo Man games, and watch the PS3 reach a whole new demographic.

Not gonna happen, right? Ah well, at least I have the Last Guardian to look forward to.



* So, Snake and Sonic made a guest appearances in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. To return to favor (maybe) Sega has made quite a few exclusive Sonic games for the Wii and DS, including that crappy Mario and Sonic Olympics crossover series.

As for Konami... they got nothing. I know that Sony is funding the forever-in-limbo Metal Gear Solid movie, but does Kojima have blow off the Wii entirely? Why not port Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker to the Wii? As much as I enjoyed the PSP demo of that game, I'd probably enjoy it a lot more on my TV with a Shattered Memories-style graphics bump and pointer controlled aiming.

Or how about a remake of the first Metal Gear for the Wii? Even if it just got the ReBirth treatment on WiiWare, that would be better than nothing. A full retail release utilizing the Metal Gear Solid 3 engine would be better, but beggars can't be choosers.

If Resident Evil games sell on the Wii, and if Konami is willing to remake Silent Hill on the Wii, is it so crazy to think that the little white shat box could get some sort of Metal Gear game as well?

Am I the only one who'd like to hear Hayter voice Snake's in his original adventure?

God damn it, I've got a splitting headache and I really want my sheets, but I aint going to bed until I tell you about these two games.



* Arkanoid Plus if s WiiWare game that costs 600 Wii points. It is consists of the exact same levels of the original Arcade Arkanoid, plus it has a time trial mode, 2-player, and a couple of other extras.

- It also has new music, which sounds shitty and bad. To be more specific, it sounds like stereotypical, soulless, idea-less techno music. I'd turn it off.

- The game doesn't use any motion controls, which is sort of dumb. They worked so well in Bit.Trip Beat that you'd just assume they'd be implemented here. That said, the d-pad controls work fine. You can even adjust the speed of that little Tylenol thing (Vaos? Valos? I can't remember...). It's nothing spectacular, but nothing to complain about either.

- For 200 Wii points more, you can download 61 new levels, which contain a whole new boss. I haven't beaten them all yet, but so far they are way more interesting than the arcade-based levels. The graphics are also a little prettier.

-In summation, it's nice to have arcade Arkanoid in my life, even nices to get the 61 new levels. I'm glad I bought it. I think it may be worse than the XBLA version though, so if you have that, don't get this.



* Dead Space Extraction came out today, and in someways it's pretty surprising, in others it's exactly what you'd expect.

- I was surprised by how closely the game comes to looking like the original Dead Space, and even Bioshock at times. Very moody set design here. The first few seconds of gameplay really caught me off guard. I thought I was playing the 360 Dead Space. The graphics do slip in and out of PS2-looking territory no and again. Overall though, the game is fun to look at.

- There is a lot more psychological terror than I figured. There aren't any "real" monsters (necromorphs if you're nasty) for the first half hour or so, but still plenty of death and trouble. There is a scene a little past the middle of the second chapter that really took me aback. It's sort of like crazy-scope of Eternal Darkness, except turned up a notch, and with a crowd. There are also quite a few Bioshock moments with lumpy people going crazy. Everyone's going crazy in this game. Anyone could be the next killer. Again, pretty fun stuff.

- There is tons of story so far, way more dialog than there are enemies. People are talking to each other all the time, then suddenlt trying to kill each other. For the most part, the acting is quite good, and there is already one character that I really hope survives for a while.

- They probably wont survive, because so far, no one is safe. Anybody could die at anytime.

- I'm much more frustrated with the game being on-rails than I thought I would. I like on-rails games just fine, but I really want to get out an explore this world. I really hope they make another story-based, co-op Dead Space like this that's a FPS or 3PD sequel to this game, even if they just end up using a lot of the same graphics. It would still be worth it.

- The music is well written, but sometimes poorly placed. It will be filled with adrenaline-inducing gusto when nothing really scary if happening. That's the exception though, not the rule, but still, those exceptions really stand out sometimes.

- The cross-hairs are a little too big. They'll sometimes obscure an enemy that's really far away.

-This game takes itself extremely seriously.

- Challenge mode is a lot of fun so far, very arcade-y.

- The game includes at least 6 "digital comics" from the Dead Space IDW run, drawn by Ben Templesmith. Those six comics together would have cost at least $15, so that's a deal right there.

* Ok, that's it, I gots to get some sleep!

Good night, y'all.

* So, I just got an email from someone who who will remain nameless about those Art Attack Friday featuring art by Edmund McMillen that I've been working on. Said person thought these posts were "weird, tasteless and pseudo-tabloid" in nature. I'm pretty sure this is because in the first post anyway, I made a point to say that I liked Edmund McMillen's art better than David Hellman's, which set up you readers to believe that there is some sort of competition between the two artists.

Now in case I wasn't clear in the post, a lot of Edmund's art did make it's way into Braid, just in an altered form. I never meant to say that Edmund got fired and replaced with David or whatever. That said, clearly Jonathan Blow saw Edmund's art and thought "Yeah, this isn't quite going to do it", which had hum hire David to paint over Edmund's stuff.

Doesn't that imply that Jonathan Blow preferred David Hellman's finished work to Edmund's finished work? Doesn't that decision beg the questions "Did Mr Blow make the right move? Who's stuff looks better, David's or Edmund's".

If I'm wrong, does the fact that I even thought that piss you off?

Am I a weird, tasteles pseudo-tabloid journalist for what I've done?



* Bravo to Jim for his Defense force post on Bias, but I have to admit that seeing it on the front page made me a little sad. For the past three days I'd been planning a post called "You're doing it wrong: Bias, Fanboys and Hardcore gamers" that was going to have at least 1/3 of its content be about the very subject that Jim so eloquently touched upon in his piece.

My plan was to talk about these three terms and how I think they are being misused. There are a lot of times when I seem someone being called "biased" when really all they have is a preference. There are a lot of times I see someone being called a Fanboy when they are just a passionate fan. Worst of all, there are a lot of times when I see someone call themselves a hardcore gamer when they actually don't like videogames that much. Sure, they may like a select few videogames, and they may play these games a lot, but many self proclaimed hardcore gamers actually spend more time bashing games than playing them.

I think that this all stems from the fact that people still get mocked for playing videogames. It's still a social taboo. This causes gamers to become self loathing. That's why we attack each other for being "Fanboys". as if being a fan of videogames is a bad thing. That's why we need to differentiate ourselves as "hardcore" gamers, as if that puts us above other types gamer, like "casual" and "retro" gamers (many of which have shunned us for our interest in videogames for most of our lives).

In order for videogames to be taken seriously, we, the videogame fans, need to be taken seriously. As long as we spend most of our discussion time squabbling amongst ourselves, putting down games and the people who play them, and generally acting like angry children, the longer videogames will be considered to be stuff suitable only to angry children.

Then again, we wouldn't have Fanboy Fridays anymore if that happened, which would be a bummer.



* I bought You, Me, and the Cubes the other day with the intention of reviewing it, but now I'm not sure that's ever going to happen. This game is freaking hard! The last levels (or, at least, the last of the initially unlocked levels) are nigh impossible.

If I ever beat it, I will review it. Until then, here's a quick rundown of the game's highlights.

* The game is all about balancing people called "Falos" on a series giant, floating cubes.

* You actually create the Falos by shaking your Wii Remote. You place them on the cubes by first point where you want them to go, then throwing them. This is all done to help break the fourth wall, which is a big element of the game. Like so many of the more interesting Wii exclusives, You, Me, and the Cubes is all about you playing as yourself and interacting with the game world from your couch. It does a good job of making you feel a direct connection between your world and the game's world.

* There are three ways to get screwed up. First, you can just totally throw your Falos in stupid places, which will lead to the cube getting off balance. Second, you can have one of the games two types of enemies (Shade Falos in co-op games, Pale Falos in one player games) screw things up for you. These enemies can be killed, but it's not always easy to get them. Third, the cubes can take on different properties, some of which can murder you. Freeze cubes lock the playing field in place when hit by a Falos, which can either help of hurt you given the situation. Help cubes are always helpful, but hard to activate. Cap cubes can only hold so many Falos per side, extra Falos will be bumped off, and so one.

* The game's art design is a mixed bag. For the most part, it's really nice, a mixture of cold creepiness with occasional blasts of warmth. Things get a bit ugly when you look at the game's Lemmings, er, I mean, Falos. They look ugly, at least to me. When they die, I'm sometimes pleased, because I hate looking at them.

* Co-op mode is totally awesome, but really hard and really different from single player. Like any romantic relationship, You, Me and the Cubes two player is all about two people learning to think as one unit. It's pretty interesting stuff. The game also rates you on how compatible you are with the person you're playing with.

When I played by myself, I got 1 9/10 rating. When I played with my S/O, we got 10/10. So I guess there is something to be said for doing it with somebody else.

* Overall, the game could best be described as a "progressive puzzle" game. If I didn't know better, I'd be sure that it was an Art Style game. Fans of puzzle games or progressive games in general should buy it, others should not.

Ok, that's it for now. I hope you're all having a super Saturday!

* Doesn't this guy look like Yoj1mbo? As an old Usagi Yojimbo fan, I've always sort of thought so, but seeing this statue really brought the likeness to the forefront of my mind.



* So, I'm wondering who's buying the PS3 Slim? The answer to that question actually means a lot to me.

I admit, I was initially quite pleased that the PS3 "flopped". More than any in any previous console war, the current competition between the Wii, the 360 and the PS3 is a battle of differing philosophies. The way I see it, Wii is runs on the philosophy accessibility and inclusion, the 360 on online interactivity, and the PS3 on hardware superiority. That's why I hoped that that the $600 PS3, with its almost exclusively "gritty and serious" launch library and focus on Blu Ray wouldn't become the market leader. That's not the direction that I wanted gaming to go in.

Now that Sony seems to have learned it's lesson, I'm happy to the that the PS3 is doing better. Still, I question who is really buying the PS3, and if the PS3 Slim is selling for what I deem the "right" reasons. Are PS3 Slim fans buyers people who have wanted a PS3 for a long time but were just waiting for the price to come down, are they people that just want a cheap(er) Blu Ray player that can also play some good games, or are they just PS3 Phat owners who just want the sleekest, prettiest piece of trophy hardware that money can buy?

Obviously the answer is "a mix of all three" but I hope that last group isn't the dominant force. I'm sure Sony feels the same way, as selling the PS3 Slim to people that already own a PS3 does nothing to expand the console's install base.

My motives are different. The main thing that still bugs me about the PS3 in particular, and videogame culture in general, is this idea of a console as a status symbol. Part of what I love about gaming is that it's not tied to expensive shoes and designer clothes like sports and music are. It pains me to think of people buying a PS3 Slim for the same reasons they may buy a $300 pair of sneakers, or gold rims for their hubcaps .

So, is the P3S still the poster child for gaming consoles as the "sexy, status symbol center piece", or does the launch of the PS3 Slim actually show that Sony has come down to Earth a bit? Why did you buy (or not buy) a PS3 Slim?



* Speaking of videogame philosophies, I recently tortured a disinterested woman by driving home with her from upstate New York and ranting about the Dreamcast and how it represented my favorite philosophy towards game development. I tend to laud Nintendo (of Japan) as being the most diverse and geniune major game developer out today, but they don't have anything on classic Sega. I can't think of any other company that has put out games with that kind of range. From family fare like the Sonic series, to arcade darlings House of the Dead and Virtual Fighter, to weird-ass, cel shaded experiments like Jet Grind Radio, to traditional fantasy games like Panzer Dragoon, to accessible motion controlled games like Samba de Amigo, to real life-inspired dramas like Shenmue, Dreamcast-era Sega really did it all.

It still pains me to think that a company with that level of dedication to risk taking and progressive game development was pushed out of the console market. Here's hoping they make some sort of triumphant return to console development in the future. The gaming world would be a better place with Sega calling more of the shots.

OK, I'm in the middle of a hot date, so I really have to make this quick. Yeah, that's right, I care more about telling you guys about Contra ReBirth than I do about getting some action. That's how much I love you!

* The graphics are early SNES quality throughout. Sometimes they are a little better than Super Contra, sometimes a little worse.

* There is a lot more humor this time around. There were three or four moments when I actually lol'ed. The comedy is done with a totally straight face, which makes it all the better

* The game only have five levels. They range from Super Contra size to about half that. By far the game's weakest trait is that it's too short.

* Unlimited continues are nice. The game is still tough on Hard and the unlockable "Nightmare" difficulty setting, but it's much less frustrating that Contra 4 even at it's worst, because you never have to play the whole game over again. Well, I guess you would if lose all your lives on the first level on the first level, or if you have to turn off your game for a hot date or something.

* There are mid-level checkpoints now, even if you continue.

* The first boss is awesome, the second boss is funny, the third is pretty crazy with some quick deaths, the fourth is bizarre, the fifth is traditional, and the sixth is completely original and amazing. I love the sixth boss of Contra Rebirth very, very much.

* I recognized the first, second, and last stage music from prior Contra games. Like with Gradius ReBirth, the whole soundtrack may consist of remixes. I'm not sure.

* The storyline is awesome. It finally explains what a "Contra" is.

* There are two secret characters. They both rule. One of them yells "Let's attack aggressively" when you select them. Very awesome.

* There is Japanese guy now. He's awesome too.

* This game is AWESOME.

* The harder the difficulty you beat it on, the more of the ending you see.

Overall, this is the Contra game I see myself picking up and playing just for fun over the next few years. Technically, it's not as good as Contra 4, but I think ReBirth is more my speed. It's just easier to get co-op going on the Wii, and the difficulty of ReBirth isn't quite as ridiculous as Contra 4. Super Contra is great too, but I've played that game so many times by now that I pretty much have it memorized. I've beaten Contra Rebirth twice so far (once on Easy and once on Normal) and I'm still excited to play it again.

If you ever thought to yourself "I wish that Konami would put out five levels of DLC for Super Contra for $2 a piece..." then today is your lucky day. That's exactly what Contra ReBirth is; more Super Contra, with a little more comedy and craziness thrown in.

Ok, back to my date!