Writer’s Note: This article originally appear in La Salle Univeristy’s student run newspaper The Collegian.

Also, it is important to note I was assigned to write this article for the Commentary Magazine of The Collegian. I do not in truth believe the Wii is any better a system than the XBox 360 or the Play Station 3. They are all pretty even in my opinion.

Wistful For Wii

By Nick Elmer
Collegian Editor
April 23, 2008

Games should be fun.

“Well, duh” one might say, and to that one I say get out of my article, but looking at the titles which are released during the previous console generation we see a growing trend towards complexity. Using games as a medium for fun is a concept which seems to have been lost to gamers.

Wii embraces this concept. While most titles feel like a second job now, the Wii stands proudly with its library of silly games and its “Come on, just TRY it” attitude. This is most notable in its collection of minigame-based titles. WiiSports and Rayman’s Raving Rabbids have the kind of tactile game play where even the old coot standing in the corner of the room watches and eventually requests “Hey, let me try that.”

Like every system, the titles are the real meat involved. The Wii approaches this meat with a sense of “Quality over Quantity”. So, instead of eating week old dead buffalo meat Wii owners get to chomp down on a squirrel made of cotton candy and children’s laughter.

While the only system that boasts previous generation backwards compatibility for all its models (meaning any Gamecube game can be played on the Wii), the Wii also has a strong line up and broad spectrum of games. Super Mario Galaxy is hailed as the greatest 3D platformer since Mario 64, the benchmark all 3D platformers are held to. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess helped ease players concerns about the motion sensor actions being gimmicky by seamlessly weaving them into its combat controls. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption also proves to Wii owners that a first person shooter can be everything we wanted it to be.

The Wii is also a system which can work with previously difficult genres of games for consoles thanks to its unique controls. Light gun games like Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles and House of the Dead 2 & 3 would have required expensive peripherals to play on other systems but the Wiimote is instantly a pistol when you realize there is a trigger on the back. Furthermore, the Wiimote’s motion sensor features make point and click adventure games (previously exclusive to the PC) like Zak and Wiki possible on your television.

The Wii’s greatest achievement so far is having people over 30 who have never played video games before think aloud “I wish I had a Wii”. By making a cheap, fun, accessible and unintimidating system Nintendo has reinvigorated video games as a whole. Up until this point, most games were created with the idea that its players already had a passing knowledge of previous games’ mechanics. Wii just assumes you want to have fun and maybe look like a goon in front of your friends.

This is why the Wii is the best of the current crop of games. No smack delivered to the other systems, but the Wii has managed the harness what we were always told video games would be when we were young: more interactive. When I was little I sat in front of my Super Nintendo, played Street Fighter II, and imagined a day when I could fire digital hodukens at Blanca. Now I can stand in front of my Wii, play No More Heroes, and wield my Wiimote like a light saber against dozens of enemies. We’re still not there YET but we’re close.

And being close to Blanca throttling is more exciting than complicated games.

Writer’s Note: This article originally appear in La Salle Univeristy’s student run newspaper The Collegian.

If it ain’t broke, don’t Smash Bros. it

By Nick Elmer
Collegian Editor
April 9, 2008

Super Smash Bros. has a big place in my heart as the ideal sleepover party game. Back when I was awkward and pimple-full, my buddies and I would play into the night ’till our brains were fried. Now that I’m pimp-ward and awful, I still enjoy a good round of “Beat the $%@# out of Pikachu” and the Wii’s Super Smash Bros. Brawl is the newest holster of the $%@# beating stick.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl proves to be pretty much what everyone expected: Super Smash Bros. Melee with more characters and maps. Well, that’s not all this iteration of the series has, but it does not keep the game from feeling more like an expansion pack instead of a full-fledged sequel. Virtually no leap is taken from Melee to Brawl, unlike the move from the original Nintendo 64 version to Melee.

The only palatable link is the new singleplayer mode “The Subspace Emissary.” This mode works very much like Melee’s “Adventure” mode in function. Your chosen character goes through various levels filled with enemies and the occasional battle against another character. The kinetics of a fighter still does not work with the mechanics of a platform action game (which is sure to cause moments of red-faced frustration), but with tons of downright awesome CGI movies peppered through 10 hours of gameplay and the ability to unlock every character for the game, at least this “Adventure” does not feel as much like an insult as Melee’s.

Another new feature this time around is the Smash Ball. When this device appears onscreen, all players drop what they are doing and go after it with everything they have. This can cause a fun diversion mid-combat, but the reward is rarely worth the effort. I feel like the average player could always do more damage with a power star or the nightmarish hammer than with a Smash Ball.

The real stars of the show here are the characters. All characters, old and new, have been reworked into a menagerie of perfectly balanced warriors. The good thing about this is that now any player can comfortably try any character and be at least as good as their jerk friend who always picks Kirby. The bad news is that this removes a lot of the characters’ style. Your favorite character from the previous game has been tweaked so that all its advantages have been muffled in the pursuit of even play. It’s the same Nintendo philosophy that gives the last place racer in Mario Kart the best items.

It’s annoying.

As far as the new characters go, I think it’s clear that Meta Knight is the MVP. With his zip-zap speeding sword slashes and wings letting him flap his way back to the platform, he’ll quickly become your girlfriend’s favorite character. Imagine how excitedly she’ll announce what a great player she is as she floats safely back to the platform with 300 percent damage. Imagine her bragging as she dices you up with Meta Knight’s million sword slashes (WARNING: exaggeration) per button push. Imagine how much you’ll pout.

There are more maps in this game than there have been in either previous Smash Bros. title. Also, with the addition of the map builder there is a potentially limitless number of locales for you and your friends to visit in order to knock each other into orbit. Really though, I think most of us will be playing on Hyrule Temple until we’re sick of castle-tornados.

Nobody likes playing on Brinstar, though. The terror of falling into the rising chicken soup is stitched into all of us.

Online play actually exists this time around, but it sticks with Nintendo’s super-protective policy for its children gamers. You aren’t able to play online with anyone you don’t have the “friend code” for. I’m sure this makes parents happy (if they even bother to look this stuff up) but it makes the online gaming stuffy for everyone else.

Really, most Wii owners either already have this game or have decided to get it as soon as the opportunity presents itself. If you’re of the latter, I have a suggestion. Break out your old copy of Super Smash Bros. Melee. Put it in your Wii (Wiis can play those teeny Gamecube disks after all), and play a few rounds. Now see? Isn’t that fun? Are you feeling a bone-marrow-deep ache for a handful of new characters and some maps you probably will play only on the rare occasion? No? Then spend that Wii money on another game (Zak and Wiki, what-what!) Otherwise buy the game, enjoy the cutscenes and get walloped by whoever picked Meta Knight.

Writer’s Note: This article originally appear in La Salle Univeristy’s student run newspaper The Collegian.

TMNT goes down without a fight

By Nick Elmer
Collegian Editor
March 28, 2007

TMNT tries to recapture what made the original films so much fun while at the same time putting a new spin on the characters and world they inhabit. It fails in both attempts.

The movie’s main fault is that it tries to cover too much ground in the small amount of time it is allotted (roughly an hour and a half). The movie is freckled with way too many subplots. Raphael has started fighting crime with an alter ego, Casey Jones is having trouble settling down with April, Leonardo no longer thinks that he can lead the team and Raphael and Leo are bickering again.

The movie had far too many characters as well. Jones and April, although fun to see, were not essential to the plot of the movie and could have been done without entirely. This goes for the Foot Clan as well. The movie just seemed to be trying to win over fans by throwing in characters with nostalgic value.

All this may seem like nitpicking. After all, the movie is aimed at children, and they are certainly not going to get huffy about a movie’s terrible pacing. Then what could a child, a young’un, the future of our world, have to say while watching TMNT?

“Where’s the karate?”

I spent most of my time watching this movie of confusing and forced emotional dialogues between giant ninja turtles wondering why they were not acting like giant ninja turtles. The film had a pathetic offering as far as action goes. There were only two fights worth mentioning, the first one being the showdown between Leonardo and Raphael and the second the film’s final battle. Both fight scenes put together were probably under three minutes.

Then, even when the movie gives us some measly scraps of karate goodness, the action comes out feeling stuffy and strained. The action is fast and hard, but the camera is just too up in the fighters’ business for the viewer to grasp what is going on. Heads are cut off by the top of the screen, the fighters jump in and out of frame too quickly, and the fighting is so brief and cartoonish that no sense of excitement is derived, just a sense of car sickness.

To further one’s sickness, the movie offers a large quantity of terrible one liners. These would not be so bad if they were not so frequently and shamelessly thrown into the audience’s lap instead of some actual progressive dialogue. The writers were clearly trying to emulate the humor of both the cartoons and the original movies, but they overdid it.

One good thing about the movie is the beautiful CGI animation. The turtles look great close up, with detailed skin and character models that do a great job of displaying emotions. The human models, however, are not up to snuff in this aspect and look more like rigid talking toys than flesh and bone characters of a story.

There are many complaints to be had about this film, but one sticks out in my mind the greatest. It is a clear slap to the face of the previous films in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles catalogue. This one problem will surely crush the souls of older fans. That complaint is: Splinter did not make a funny.

And where the heck was Usagi Yojimbo?

Writer’s Note: This article originally appear in La Salle Univeristy’s student run newspaper The Collegian.

Visceral Video Game – Giants: Citizen Kabuto

By Nick Elmer
Collegian Editor
March 21, 2007

Nothing hurts a gamer more than when a great title goes completely unnoticed. There are two known reasons this happened to Giants: Citizen Kabuto when it was released for the PS2 back during the system’s starter years. The first reason is the game is actually a re-mastered version of a PC game, which was riddled with glitches and game play bugs. The second reason: Giants: Citizen Kabuto is a stupid name for a video game.

Yet with the game’s quirky, PG-13 humor and diverging modes, the title manages to fit. Giants: Citizen Kabuto is a game that actually encompasses three separated games with interlocked storylines. To some seasoned gamers this concept sounds like a recipe for a confusing disaster. Yet Giants: Citizen Kabuto manages to hook the player in with its easy enough controls, likable characters and solid plot.

The first third of the game has you playing as a commander of the Meccaryns. The Meccaryns are a group of futuristic British troops who love beer and women and are on their way to the proverbial planet of beer and women. However, they get stuck in the middle of a battle for the Smarties’ freedom from the evil Sea Reapers. This really only means you get told what to do for the mission via hilarious Smartie dialogue, and then you do it. “Do it” usually translates to “destroy everything,” though, so expect lots of shooting. The Meccaryns also have the advantage of numbers as your ranks grow from a lone soldier to a squad of five (yourself and four computer controlled allies). This makes the battles fun and cooperative.

Following the Meccaryns weapon-heavy missions are the missions of Delphi. Delphi is the princess of the Sea Reapers who has decided to rebel against her mother and free the Smarties. She plays differently from the weapon centric combat of the Meccaryns and uses spells to dispatch enemies in her levels instead. Controlling her after all the fun you had flying around with the Meccaryns jetpacks and blasting through objectives feels like a step back at first, but Delphi has a dash control, which adds new dimension to her combat.

Finally, in the last third of the game, you get to do what the title suggests. You control Kabuto, a giant three-story-high monster that hates and eats everything. There is an odd sense of Zen, a feeling that everything in the universe is cyclical as you control Kabuto while he chows down on the Smarties. Yes, the very same Smarties you spent the previous two thirds of the game trying to save. Kabuto controls much like one would expect a giant horned monster to—a lot of punching and belly flops.

Regardless of which character the player is controlling, the landscape takes part in how the game is played. The rocky terrain that dots most of the game leads the player to frequently search for the easiest way to get atop the high ground. The following swoop down upon the enemy targets is very fun indeed, even with the outdated graphics the game sports.

The game play is solid, but the real appeal to this title is the humor. The Smarties’ dialogue is almost always over the top and absurd. An elderly Smartie will demand you assist him because the decrepit state of his genitalia has left him helpless. This then leads to a mission. There are many other oddly funny cut scenes as well. All in all, solid game play, diverse game mechanics and a funny story all make this overlooked PS2 game an oldie but a goody.