I'm going home and controlling some Kylie Minogue! Take that, Oscar winner Raul Julia!

So, I did it. I went and bought a Wii. It looked like I wasn't even going to get one, what with the six I saw at the "Real Canadian Superstore" being sold out by the time I got back. But the clerk there recommended that I go to Mostly Music in scenic Port Coquitlam, BC (known as the town that gets all Predatored and Aliened up in Aliens Versus Predator 2: Bad Lighting). This store claims to have the largest used video game collection in Canada, and, well, I don't quite agree. But they also have Wiis. Expensive Wiis. The reason that they have them in stock is that the purchase price for their Wiis are $319.99, or $299.99 if you purchase 2 games. Given that Wiis retail for $269.99 normally, that's quite the mark-up that they got going on.

But I purchased two games, got the Wii, and figured that if I skip two dinners out this month, it'll all work out. The two games I got are pictured above.

The Wii

Stuff I Like: Connected online very easily, and I didn't have to wade through hours of installing and bullshit like with the PlayStation 3. And I love that virtual console. I love it. Yes, I know you guys like your emulators and all that, but I'd rather be playing my games on a TV, and not, you know, stealing them. Plus they're all coming out in progressive scan, and I don't have the video sync chop that I get playing my SNES on my HDTV (where the screen tears while scrolling sometimes).

My experience so far with actual Wii games has been limited, but I did enjoy my first two hours of No More Heroes, but I'm not entirely won over with the motion controls yet. I have to see more of it in action, and get used to it. I do like the split between the nunchuk and the wiimote, though, as it means I can play games at a more natural position.

I like the Miis, too. I do like all the sharing and stuff you can do with it. The Wii has a very inviting front end interface, especially compared with its competitors. Why each 360 blade other than the marketplace is essentially identical is beyond me. And don't get me started about that damn crossmedia bar in the PS3.

Stuff I Don't Like: Other than the usual friend code stuff, which you all know about and have formed your own opinions on, I have one other major gripe with the Wii. Its composite sound out is overamplified which causes some marginal audio clipping on the Wii menu. In the first second or two of the Wii menu music loop. I can hear faint distortion on the Wii menu, and apparently it's also there in other parts of the Wii menu screens and in Twilight Princess.

Thinking that maybe my television speakers were oversensitive to clipping (I never noticed it on Rooo's TV), I finally got some new speakers for my stereo and routed the audio output from my tv to that. Still some clipping, but not as bad. I could use the NeoGAF solution of a level reducer, but that's one of those overcomplicated solutions to small problems that those guys seem to love. I just find it weird that this problem hasn't been talked about too much. I know that I have to monitor audio outputs as part of my job, but you'd think that it would bug everyone.

Now that I've got my game systems hooked up to a real stereo again, rather than TV speakers, I've been thinking to myself... why didn't I do this years ago? I used to hook up my brother's SNES to a stereo system all the time. Did I forget how great it sounds? The giant leap in sound quality between the two? The incredible immersion? I just listened to Okami's soundtrack for a while, enjoying the real sense of space and separation between the instruments. Awesome.

Okami


Stuff I Like: I've never actually played this before, so it was great to experience it for myself. Honestly I was a little hesitant about purchasing it, just because I don't know if I can devote the time necessary to finish such a long quest. And I am really bad at Zelda games. Like horrifically bad. I played through one and a half dungeons in Ocarina of Time and said "fuck this" after getting hung up on some block pushing puzzle in a tree. Maybe it's because I grew up a Sega kid, but I never got into these games. And I will see how long I can last with Okami, but I think that its music, mood, and style have a definite appeal.

I seem to have problems not just making straight lines (which I understand now is simply because I'm moving the darn controller too slowly!), but also making solid and continuous lines. As I've only put an hour and a bit into the game, it's too early for me to really get a grasp on it, but like the review on this site says, it's worth putting effort in to learn.

Stuff I Don't Like: The funny thing is, I don't notice the graphics as much now as I did when I first saw the game on Rooo's PS2 a couple of years ago. I don't know if I'm just used to it now, or if there's some sort of graphical difference between the two versions, but I'm really not blown away. Yeah, the art style is nice, but... I don't know. The look isn't moving me. I feel terrible saying it, because I certainly respect the design. But now I'm looking at the bare environments, the 2D shrub sprites, and being all snotty about it. Maybe I need an injection of wonder and awe.

Street Fighter The Movie: The Game



Stuff I Like: Alright, I'm going to say something. Something controversial. Something appalling. And I might just save most of this for a more detailed look at the game. But from going back and playing both recently, I am going out on a limb here and am going to put for the record that I think Street Fighter The Movie: The Game for the Sega Saturn is a better game than Mortal Kombat. Yes, it's based on a terrible film. Yep, it's ugly and plays nowhere near as well as its animated brethren. It is but a sickly cousin that should have been drowned at birth. But it still retains the Street Fighter moves, for the most part, which already makes it markedly more entertaining than the irritating controls of the Mortal Kombat series. Plus the all-star cast... and you can beat a digitized Van Damme! That's way better than beating on Midway's secretary dressed up like Olivia Newton John in the Let's Get Physical video.



Stuff I Don't Like: Zangief looks kinda scrawny. And my Saturn's AV out cable is getting flaky, cutting off the sound sometimes. Looks like it's time to find a new one.

I'll spare you my Grand Theft Auto IV thoughts because I don't think that they're any different than the vast majority, although I might knock it down to an 8 out of 10 so far for some narrative shortcomings (Niko getting upset about killing a guy, and then taking a shotgun to drug dealers with no questions asked the next mission) and some awful, awful slowdown I experienced in my very first car chase, on my PS3. Still, great game, but Jeebus if game sites and magazines don't hand out 10s like they are rainbow leis at a pride parade.

So, since then, I downloaded Ninja Gaiden, Contra 3, River City Ransom, Blazing Lasers, and Super Mario Brothers 3 for the Wii, as well as getting Zack and Wiki with a gift certificate I got. I'm saving Zack and Wiki for later, in my pile of shame, because I've just got wayyyyy too many games on the go right now. Also picked up a Classic Controller but haven't had a chance to use it yet.

Damn work and social life!