What I've Been Playing...

So I started up a GameFly account back in September. It is essentially Netflix for video games. I've rented Lord of the Rings, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (which I ended up buying), Mass Effect, Call of Duty 4 (great online multiplayer, but gets repetitive over time), and other titles. I have to say Mass Effect was fine, except it takes up too much time to play. Time I need to devote to other titles I already own, such as Super Mario Galaxy (reached star 50 today when I got home, only 70 more to go), Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (I know, I should have finished this one a long time ago but to truly enjoy Zelda you need to set aside a whole weekend to beat it and I haven't been able to do that for a long time), and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (I haven't even taken it out of the box... so sad... but it's time will come). Oddly enough, the game that has been of choice lately has been WiiPlay. I have owned it since it came out, but me and Jim love to play it for hours on end. And that is because of the tanks game. It is so addicting. I managed to get to level 49 the other day, which is 212 tanks destroyed. Jim and I as a team manage to get to level 19. It is much more difficult to advance in multiplayer because if you both die on a stage, game over. You start with 3 lives in single player. I think this just goes to show the genius behind the Nintendo Wii as a whole. How a game that is so basic can far outplay in my mind the biggest budget titles on fancier systems goes to show that it is gameplay that really makes or breaks a game for me. Call of Duty has you reach level 55 online, just to reset your level so it makes it seem like you have more to accomplish, but really you are just climbing the same ranks you did before. And Mass Effect just isn't as good as Knights of the Old Republic I & II, which I really enjoyed. And the thing I love about Super Mario Galaxy is that easy pick up and play gameplay. I had left it in its case for over a month, and the other day I just picked up right where I left off. I can't say the same for games like Halo and Madden, where to become the best you almost have to dedicate all your gameplay time just to that title in order to remain a master at that craft. Don't get me wrong, I'm still pretty darn good at Madden. It was only a year and a half ago that I was ranked 26th in the world :) I guess what this long post all boils down to is that I love my Nintendo Wii. I do have a few gripes, mainly why is Nintendo so stupid when it comes to online gameplay and an add on hard drive. I only say this because I wish I could get more songs for Guitar Hero III, and the eventual purchase of Rock Band for the Wii when it comes out. And I can't wait until Smash Bros comes out! So excited :) I am likely to also purchase Wii Fit and Mario Kart the day they launch. I better start finding those pennies hidden in the couch, I'm gonna need a few of them rather soon... It is a good time to be a Nintendo fan...

Virtual Console

So the Nintendo Wii has another successful holiday season well in hand, with no slowdown in sight. One of the biggest selling points of the Wii has to be the Virtual Console. I have accumulated an interesting series of games:

Donkey Kong Country
The Legend of Zelda
Super Mario Bros 3
Super Mario World
Wave Race 64
Golden Axe
Mario Kart 64
Super Mario 64
Super Metroid
Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting
Wario's Woods
Bomberman
Toe Jam and Earl
Space Harrier II
Star Fox 64
Tecmo Bowl
Punch-Out!

There are numerous games that I want to buy, but I haven't bought yet since I haven't beaten the games I own already. Some of the games I want are F-Zero, Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Mario Bros 2, Sin and Punishment, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Baseball Stars 2.

I have some gripes with the Virtual Console service so far:

(1) Why has Nintendo not released a Hard Drive solution, or allowed third party hard drives to connect to the USB port on the Wii. Additional storage space would allow Nintendo to release games with larger cartridge sizes and demos for upcoming Wii games.

(2) Why so few Super Nintendo games? Isn't it the same system that has a library of 700+ games. There are only 26 SNES games released so far. Where is Chrono Trigger, Super Mario World 2, Super Mario RPG, Super Mario Kart, Pilotwings, Star Fox, and Super Bases Loaded? There are 43 Genesis games in comparison.

(3) Why hasn't Nintendo released some sort of subscription service? This idea would probably tie into the Hard Drive, but why not allow users to pay $25 to download 4-5 games? Or offer to download one game a month for $7/month? I know those ideas suck, but that is why Nintendo has professionals. Can't they come up with something that would entice gamers to download a few more games?

My Big Wish for the future:
** If the Nintendo DS can play Super Mario 64 remakes, isn't it possible then for it to play any game included on the Virtual Console list? So why not make it possible to take the Virtual Console games you purchase and transfer them to the Nintendo DS for portable play? This would be a huge feature that would sell a lot of systems, and a lot more Virtual Console titles.

I think the Virtual Console was a great idea, and it has definitely been one of my favorite parts of the Nintendo Wii. I hope Nintendo continues to develop the idea and make the next year for the Nintendo Wii an even better one than 2007 was.