Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Retro Studios Interview



4 Color Rebellion posted a link to an awesome interview with Retro Studios President and CEO Michael Kelbaugh, as well as game director Mark Pacini, by Gamasutra. Those of you who know me are aware of my love of all things Metroid, and thus this interview is a MUST READ in my opinion.

A couple of interesting facts from the interview:

1. Now Nintendo President Satoru Iwata joined Shigeru Miyamoto on a visit to Retro back before the Gamecube was launched, as a translator for Mr. Miyamoto.

2. The morph ball was almost eliminated from Metroid Prime entirely, until Miyamoto told Retro that if they didn't get the transition from first-person view to third-person morph ball right, the game was off.

3. Apparently Retro mandates company-wide naps after completion of a project.

Head on over to Gamasutra for the full interview.

Monday, November 26, 2007

A Loaded Season

I thought it would be worthwhile to start things off with my picks for the holiday season! As some of you probably already know, I am primarily a Nintendo fan, although I have been known to dabble in Playstation and Xbox titles as well, so that will be reflected here...

Below I am listing five games that I think you should seriously consider picking up this Holiday season.


1. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) If you don't already own a Wii, GET ONE! There are more reasons now than ever to own Nintendo's crazy little white box, and at the top of the list is this newest outing by the iconic plumber himself, Mario.

2. Guitar Hero 3 (All platforms) Few games have the universal appeal that the Guitar Hero series does, and this latest edition comes to platforms from all three major manufacturers for the first time, including Nintendo! You don't need any knowledge of the guitar to enjoy this game, (although the higher difficulty levels can get intense) just a love of ROCK!

3. Zack & Wiki (Wii) Though I cannot give you a first-hand recommendation of this game (yet), it has been hailed far and wide as one of the finest efforts on the Wii. You control the protagonist, Zack (a wannabe pirate) indirectly by point-and-click, and solve all kinds of puzzles to quest after treasure. The videos that I have watched make this game look like a MUST HAVE!

4. Link's Crossbow Training (including Wii Zapper) (Wii, duh) I picked this up two weeks ago and it has been a blast! Set in the Legend of Zelda universe, the $20 shooting gallery game is tons of fun and a great casual pick-up-and-play game. Fire it up at Christmas, and I guarantee your family and friends will join in!

5. Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 (Wii) Again, I just got this baby and boy, does it deliver! A great single-player campaign mode, Wii-Zapper enabled Arcade mode (kinda like playing Area 51 or Time Crisis in the arcade) and 32-player online multiplayer all come together to make one awesome package. Add on the best FPS controls I've ever used (including Halo...) and you've got a winning combination.

HONORABLE MENTION: I should note a few other titles that are vying for everyone's attention here. Halo 3 (XBOX 360)is excellent, especially the multiplayer, and Call of Duty 4 (XBOX 360, PS3) has garnered too many good reviews to ignore. I also read great things about Bioshock (XBOX 360, PC), Assasin's Creed (XBOX 360, PS3), Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (PS3) and Mass Effect (XBOX 360). I could probably spend hours listing other Wii titles that I recommend, but I'm trying to keep it current, here people!

Get out there and buy something great, or ask for it for Christmas!

And So It Begins...


Welcome to cascoretopia! What the heck does that mean, you ask? Well, in recent months a category of gamer that has been around for a long time has moved more into the spotlight as the industry has gone through changes. With a heavier focus on 'casual' gamers, and some unfounded panic about the abandonment of 'hardcore' gamers, some in the industry have begun using a term for a third group; 'cascore'(pronounced caz-core)

Cascore gamers are the middle ground between the casual and hardcore groups, where marathon overnight Halo sessions don't happen (anymore, anyhow) but interest is stronger than merely an occasional bout of Wii Sports. We are very into gaming, but not 'I drank the PS3 koolaid', 'I camped all night for Mass Effect' or 'I'm considering moving next door to the Nintendo World Store' into it.

I myself definitely qualify as a 'cascore' gamer, although once upon a time I was a bonafide member of the hardcore community (often the case for us), and I couldn't help but notice a lack of internet coverage geared toward our demographic. Perhaps it could be argued that 'cascore' gamers don't frequent websites or blogs about gaming (I do), but I felt this would be a worthy experiment nonetheless.

So, here it is! Cascoretopia! If you are a cascore gamer, welcome home...