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• 10 Years Ago This Week: Super Smash Bros

  A vital addition to the Nintendo 64 catalog, Super Smash Bros (released April 27, 1999) was a phenomenal critical and commercial success. It helped cement the console’s legacy of innovative four-player game design, while at the same time creating a new flagship franchise for Nintendo and starting the game’s creators, Masahiro Sakurai and particularly Satoru Iwata, on a trajectory that would eventually see them leading the industry. As such, it’s one of 1999’s most historically important titles. Read More... Posted Apr 21 2009, 09:00 AM by Joe Keiser with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: super smash bros, super smash bros brawl, satoru iwata, nintendo 64, joe keiser, 10 years ago, super smash bros melee, masahiro sakurai

• Handjobs for Homebrew: Brawl Stage Studio

  If you're like me, you probably subscribed to Masahiro Sakurai's Smash Bros Dojo blog hyping the release of Super Smash Bros Brawl over a year ago. On a daily basis, Sakurai and company revealed fun new features of the game, some of which were standard and blasé and some of which were mind-blowingly awesome. The two most amazing, without a doubt, were the inclusion of fan favorite Sonic the Hedgehog as a playable character and, of course, the level editor. Including a level editor in Super Smash Bros Brawl meant nearly infinite replay value, even moreso than the game's prior iterations which have long since owned the attention of gamers for years. The only problem was that controlling the level editor was finicky and many gamers, including myself, would often press the wrong button and delete all their hard work. Designing stages in the living room on the Wii was stressful. If it wasn't great, then you were deemed a failure by your roommates and loved ones. What started as a wonderful idea to extend the user interaction in a fan-favorite franchise had become a Hooksexup-wracking and oft-ignored add-on. Well no longer is this quite so harrowing an affair as programmer Xane has released the beta of his Brawl Stage Studio application, a homebrew program that allows you to build your Smash Bros stages from the comfort of your PC, save them to an SD card, and play them in Brawl. Fantastic! All the features are there, from conveyor belts and statues to the stage soundtrack, and even a few new features like setting the player spawn points and including your own custom thumbnail images. Plus, typing with a keyboard is much easier than using the virtual keypad on the Wii. Read More... Posted Apr 15 2009, 10:00 AM by Derrick Sanskrit with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: derrick sanskrit, wii, super smash bros brawl, homebrew

• Gaming for Two: Super Smash Bros Melee

  Earlier today, I went out for dinner with the husband. While waiting for my steak sandwich (it was good), I started humming the theme for the Grand Palace from Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. I didn't do it for any particular reason, but my husband said it made him feel very special to have a gamer wife. We started talking about how most couples have a “song,” and we don't. I listen to music all the time, but my husband is more or less useless with the stuff. If it's not on a wrestling or video game soundtrack, he probably doesn't care. So we thought of a substitute with which to re-affirm our togetherness: an “us” game, rather than a mushy song. Logically, we'd pick the first game we purchased together as a married couple. Unfortunately, that game was Mega Man X6. That's what we call a classic bad decision by two newlyweds. People would have had more sympathy for us if we'd built our first home on a swamp. Over an Indian burial ground. So we quickly shifted to our next purchase together: The GameCube, along with Super Smash Bros Melee. That, we remember a bit more fondly. Read More... Posted Mar 24 2009, 12:12 AM by Nadia Oxford with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: wii, gamecube, super smash bros brawl, nadia oxford, couples gaming, super smash bros melee

• Was This What Factor 5 Had In Mind For Kid Icarus?

  When a game studio shuts down or scales back operations, rumours spring up around it like grave flowers. We'll never know precisely what Factor 5 was working on during its better days, but there was strong speculation in the gaming community on the side of a Kid Icarus title. And recently, the gaming community has been circulating something interesting indeed: a supposed character model Factor 5 had assembled for the angel boy. If this is truly the work of a proposed Kid Icarus title though, Factor 5 seemingly had a vision for Pit that made him more of an angel man below the belt. Cough. Personally, I was quite fond of Pit's character model in Super Smash Bros Brawl. I'm all for stylistic upgrades to retro characters who are re-entering the modern gaming world, but Brawl's Pit struck a welcome balance between the helpless waif who climbed slowly from the depths of Hades (emphasis on “helpless;” two hits and the little dude was “Finished!”) and something significantly more badass. Read More... Posted Feb 02 2009, 12:24 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with no comments Filed under: factor 5, super smash bros brawl, nadia oxford, kid icarus, cancelled games, pit

• What's In My MP3 Player: Earthbound "Snowbound" OC Remix

  “Snowman,” the tune that has carried the Mother/Earthbound games through its wintry spots since the first title on the Famicom, is one of my favourite pieces of game music. I actually heard the song in Super Smash Bros Brawl some months before I played Earthbound and had a name for the it. It's a peaceful bit of music, if not a little melancholy—again, my first encounter with Snowman was the background music of the Abandoned Zoo level in the Subspace Emissary, and it wasn't a cheerful visit (If someone were to make a list of the least joyous places on Earth, I imagine an “Abandoned Zoo” would be close up there with a broken-down Disneyland inhabited only by snaggle-toothed hobos and sick dogs). I rough out five months of the year in a harsh, dead climate, so the sleepy warmth of the Winters boarding school in Earthbound, accompanied by a soft version of “Snowman,” produced an atmosphere I appreciated. My brother believes winter exists to make snowboarders happy, my dad believes winter exists to swear at, but I believe winter exists to wind us down, bring us closer to our friends and family in warm, happy gatherings. Until the cabin fever sets in and we kill each other. Read More... Posted Jan 23 2009, 10:55 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: super smash bros brawl, earthbound, game music, nadia oxford, mother, what's in my mp3 player

• Playing Dress Up with Avatar Costumes

  I finally got around to playing Super Smash Bros. Brawl this weekend and I got to thinking about how much time developers must spend designing alternate costumes for game characters. Brawl isn't so bad, condidering that most of the costume changes amount to a swapped pallete. But there are a lot of games out there that feature dozens of costumes for each character. In some cases it seems to serve a practical function. For instance, it's less complicated to stage a Scorpion vs Scorpion fight when one's a darker shade of yellow. But it's often just superfluous. Developers must spend hundreds of man-hours designing different outfits for game characters. Why? Do gamers have a pathological need to play dress up? Read More... Posted Jan 12 2009, 04:00 PM by Cole Stryker with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: cole stryker, super smash bros brawl, costumes

• The Band Joins the Plumber: Nintendo’s Strategy Finally Bears Its Sweetest Fruit

  It’s pretty amazing how effective Satoru Iwata’s business plan for Nintendo has been since he took over as company president earlier this decade. I’m not even talking about the company’s focus on videogames for broader, specifically family, audiences. No, it’s how Nintendo has, under Iwata’s direction, created a line of games that don’t need annual sequels or iterations to be successful. Just one, quality, iconic game, that continues to sell to alongside your hardware. There won’t be another Wii Smash Bros. because Brawl is never going to stop selling and chances are there won’t be a New Super Mario Bros. 2, because the first one continues to do gangbusters at retail. It may not always make me the happiest person in the world — like everyone else who plays way too many games, I’m always hungry for the next new thing and, yes, the next sequel — but I have to admire it, and celebrate its positive effect on the business of videogames broadly. I see Nintendo’s influence in Alex Rigupulos’s comments at this year’s CES conference. The Harmonix CEO let slip that there wouldn’t be yet another iteration of Rock Band in 2009. This is great news, for Rock Band fans and videogames broadly. Read More... Posted Jan 09 2009, 06:30 PM by John Constantine with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: nintendo, ea, wii, super smash bros brawl, harmonix, satoru iwata, smash bros, rock band 2, new super mario bros 2, rock band 3, alex rigupulos

• Building A Better(?) Controller

  If there's any one manufacturer I've come to trust with my Wii accessories, it's Nyko. They seem to be tackling each and every problem I've had with the Wii's unique and ubiquitous controller in order of frustration level to (so far) fantastic results. After the frantic Wii launch, gamers worldwide complained about having to change the remote's AA batteries several times while playing Zelda, so Nyko released their Charge Station and I haven't needed AA batteries since. Gamers began choking themselves on the cord between the remote and nunchuck, so Nyko released their Kama wireless nunchuck. Everybody pretty much hated Nintendo's official Wii Zapper plastic shell, so Nyko released the much more sturdy and comfortable Perfect Shot pistol shell. (They've also released a wireless sensor bar, wireless classic controller, rechargable battery pack for the balance board, and other add-ons) For their next trick, Nyko decided to redesign the Wii remote itself. Is it more aesthetically pleasing? Lord, no. Is it better? Maybe... it does offer some really sweet new functionality. Introducing the Wand: Read More... Posted Jan 09 2009, 02:00 PM by Derrick Sanskrit with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: derrick sanskrit, wii, super smash bros brawl, punch out, wii sports, wiimote, nyko, wand

• Derrick's Top 13 Games of 2008 - Part 3

  Catching up? Read part 1 and part 2. 5 - The World Ends With You (DS): The insanely ambitious action-JRPG probably makes the most use of all the DS hardware has to offer of all DS software with the possible exception of The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, and even then The World Ends With You does it with so much more style and flair that the comparison seems woefully unfair. It's clear that Square Enix's Kingdom Hearts team put years of thought and research into what the DS could and could not do and the result is a game that breaks all expectations like so many angsty teenage hearts. It takes a truly great game to affect me outside of my gaming time, and much like Wii Fit got me thinking about jogging to the train every morning, The World Ends With You got me wearing pins on my bag for the first time since college, picking out just the right ones that may, someday, save my life in heated battle. Oh lord, did I love that dual-screened battle system... Read More... Posted Dec 11 2008, 02:30 PM by Derrick Sanskrit with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: the world ends with you, little big planet, playstation 3, nintendo ds, derrick sanskrit, wii, top ten, super smash bros, world of goo, super smash bros brawl, de blob, eden, pixeljunk, echochrome, pixeljunk eden, braid, cubello, top 10 of 2008, cicus atari

• 10 Games Nadia Played In 2008 Instead Of Working: Super Smash Bros Brawl

  My games writing career saw a healthy boost in 2008. Ironic counter to my success: a subsequent decline in personal opportunities to sit back and play games for my own enjoyment. This is not a phenomenon exclusive to me. I often get hissing telephone calls in the dead of night from writers and editors at 1UP.com, IGN, Gamespot, etc: "One of ussss, one of ussss. Hey, have you played Fallout 3 yet? Didn't think sssssso." My obligatory "Best Of" list is a little malnourished as a result. I had a lot of review titles shoved down my throat and now my liver is a quivering, delicious mass. I mean, nothing was wrong with Ninja Reflex DS, but--yeah, I'll stop here (it did get me through a long wait at the passport office). Still, it's not like my favourite hobby has transformed entirely into stylus-poking drudgery. I still had some good times. There is a story behind my acquisition of Super Smash Bros Brawl. It involves the worst winter I've ever experienced and the worst snowstorm that capped that worst winter. I smashed, so to speak, through some belly-high drifts just to attend the game's damnable midnight launch. I'm too old and crotchety for midnight launches in the best weather; rest assured it was all my husband's idea. Read More... Posted Dec 10 2008, 09:56 AM by Nadia Oxford with | with 9 comment(s) Filed under: nintendo ds, wii, super smash bros brawl, nadia oxford, 2008, top 10

• The 61FPS Review: LittleBigPlanet - Part 2

  My, what a difference a month makes.This time last month I was just about ready to proclaim LittleBigPlanet the late great hope for 21st century video games. Upon completing the on-disc single-player game, there was nothing left to do but explore the multi-player and user-generated options. This is where the game was truly supposed to shine, the "fun" that the advertising keeps referring to. The good news is that local multi-player is pretty great. Most of the pre-made stages include optional challenges that require teamwork and cooperation and being able to turn to your friend and discuss strategies and enact them instantly is smooth and delightful. Playing online, however, is a tremendous crap shoot. There's no way to really communicate, so play goes from cooperative to competitive instantaneously, which becomes a problem when players share respawn points. If two players attempt to cross a bridge and both fail, they return to the continue gate with two "lives" lost and the game ends twice as quickly. Four players and you've got a recipe for instantaneous game over. Read More... Posted Dec 03 2008, 02:00 PM by Derrick Sanskrit with | with 5 comment(s) Filed under: little big planet, playstation 3, derrick sanskrit, 61fps review, rock band, super smash bros brawl

• Two Years In: The Wii's Feats of Strength and Its Disappointments

  The Wii is two years old this November. It seems like only yesterday a good friend kindly paid for my husband and I to accompany him to New York City and attend the launch. It wasn't all about shivering in a stationary line outside Nintendo World, however. I did have my picture taken with a giant Yugi Moto (see bio picture). To celebrate the Wii's terrible twos, game designer Brice Morrison has penned two articles. There's Two Years In: The Wii's Successes and the more frowny-faced Two Years In: How the Wii Has Failed. I'm going to argue against the Wii's "failures" because it's more fun to do that instead of agreeing with its successes. I recognise that the Wii has a lot of failings and untapped potential. Morrison is right when he says that the dreams we had of "virtual" gaming when the Wii's remote was first unveiled are still not realised (wait, I thought we were all yelling about motion controls being a stupid idea--I was personally very drunk that day so I thought my first glimpse of the Wii remote was just a pink elephant experience). I had a great time with the Wii remote in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, but third parties have merely been farting around with waggle control. DragonQuest Swords had the potential to be good instead of, uh, you know, shitty. Read More... Posted Oct 28 2008, 05:42 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: nintendo, wii, super mario 64, super smash bros brawl, wii sports, nadia oxford, dragonquest swords, nintendo 64, legend of zelda twilight princess

• Soul Calibur IV: An Exercise in Brand Dilution

  Dear Namco, and developers of fighting games et al, After viewing the recently leaked cover for Soul Calibur IV, I feel it's time we had a little talk. This "everything but the kitchen sink" approach is why I haven't been really, truly interested in a conventional fighter in over a decade. There are more egregious offenders (Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 boasted 42 playable characters), but really, Darth and Yoda? Read More... Posted Jun 11 2008, 12:00 PM by Cole Stryker with | with 6 comment(s) Filed under: fighters, street fighter ii, soul calibur iv, super smash bros brawl