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The Year Ahead: Wii Games
The Conduit
Sega
High Voltage
US Release: “March”
UK Release: Spring
Preview
You’d have thought that High Voltage’s flaunting of The Conduit’s rather specious graphical triumphs would have elicited a stinging Internet LOL from anyone who’s familiar with, say, Crysis.
The opposite is true; in 2008 the FPS continued to gain popularity for its explicit dedication to an audience that Nintendo had seemingly neglected.
Admired though it is, The Conduit has some way to go in convincing us that there’s strong AI, sound level design and fresh gameplay behind its paraded special effects.
Deadly Creatures
Rainbow Studios
THQ
US Release: Feb 9
UK Release: Feb 13
It’s hard to find anything more daring right now than the concept of an action-adventure centred on two widely unloved species (one of which, lest we forget, is the object of a common phobia). Two months until release and Rainbow Studios still hasn’t bottled its nerve and given Deadly Creatures’ menacing scorpion and brooding tarantula their cartoon eyes, big smiley faces and pun-filled dialogue.
No, instead the team has exhibited the utter audacity of interweaving a narrative around the cold-blooded characters, a story which the team were confident enough with to unashamedly ask Billy Bob Thornton and Dennis Hopper to provide voice acting for.
Deadly Creatures still feels like a joke, but a fantastic, heart-warming joke. It may die at the retailers, but if the first goal of a videogame is to make you want to like it, then Rainbow Studios should stand proud.
House of the Dead: Overkill
Sega
Headstrong Games
US Release: Feb 10
UK Release: Feb 13
Preview
In a fairly observant moment of topical opportunism, Sega has hailed its upcoming Wii-exclusive rail-shooter as “the hardcore you’ve been waiting for”. And just a brief glance at Overkill makes it abundantly clear what style of “hardcore” the game has approached.
This is classic gib-tastic light-hearted mindlessness, fixated on smashed faces, shotgun spasms and blood-stained nurse outfits, all of which is portrayed through the grindhouse look of a scuffed film reel.
For a genre that will never be allowed to take itself seriously (you are collecting bonus weapons by shooting them, remember), Overkill exudes a confident understanding of its own purpose and forte.
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England and Wales company registration number 2008885
Yeah, the term hardcore is pretty vague. I think it just means a game that isn't too simple, its complex with at least a moderate difficulty, somewhat of a learning curve, and a story line at least trying to be more than "The Princess gets kidnapped by Bowser again." RPGs, FPSs, Fighters, 3rd person shooters/action games I think we can all agree are more for the "hardcore" crowd. The mom that bought Wii fit or the kids who only play Nurato wouldn't be able to get through the first 15 minutes of Fallout, but the "hardcore" would pretty much have no problem with most genres if they put effort forth.
I think of hardcore as people who have been gaming for a long time, people who grew up with the Atari, NES, were there for the SNES/Genesis console war, saw 3DO, Jaguar, CD-i come and go, remembered there one friend who had a Neo-Geo at his house and bragged how the games were all 100 bucks, played Bonk on their Turbo Graphics, flipped our when Nintendo refused to allow Mortal Kombat 1 to have any blood or gore, only to get psyched when they did allow it for Mortal Kombat 2, we remember when Nintendo told us to play it loud, or when "SEGA!!!" told us the Genesis had blast processing, or when Star Fox used the Super FX chip, we remember when Square Soft was developing an N64 version of Final Fantasy before they pulled the plug due to too low storage of the N64 discs, we remember when N64 used to be referred to Ultra 64 until a lawsuit made them change it. I could go on and on. We hardcore are out there, and we take pride in gaming (maybe a little too much).
That is pretty much what I consider hardcore as well and that is why I had so much trouble understanding what was meant below. Under this definition, half of these games would qualify as "hardcore"
I must say it looks like this will be an excellent year for the Wii. Madworld looks excellent, very pleasantly surprised that the newest trailer has revealed it will have more than 1 genuninely memorable character.
Deadly Creatures could be interesting. I have to agree that The Conduit's status as a must-buy rides on it having inventive level-design and good A.I., it's one hell of a technical achievement for the Wii but that's not enough to carry it to success. If Overkill keeps it short and sweet then its a likely purchase for me. Oddly enough I could do with a spattering of small bite-size games, its a real shame when games compete for disproportionate amounts of your time...Umbrella Chronicles being a good example (despite being far above average for a light-gun game).
Very interested in Fatal Frame too, not least because of the involvement of one of the most exciting game designers around today.
As a final note, I hope and pray that Sin & Punishment is at least half as inventive and thrilling as the original.
again, quite an exciting year for the Wii really.
Wii Sports was and still is the number one reason to buy a Wii (if you haven't already) and i have little doubt that the sequel will have the same appeal.
Deadly Creatures is very appealing, the Conduit could be good if it can recreate the better moments of Red Steel, which, rubbish sword fighting aside, was actually a lot of fun and far more natural to play with the Wiimote & Nunchuck than the usual twin sticks. Mad World will probably be another No More Heroes, loved by Edge but not by me :D
Monster Hunter especially - Fatal Frame, Madworld... enough titles to keep me interested. Also fun to see how much they can squeeze out of the machine.
I really hope Nintendo has a few tricks up its sleeve. as a 'hardcore' gamer, my Wii hsa been gathering dust since smash brothers came out...
So none of the "hardcore" games on this list appeal to you? What are you looking for then?
Aside from Wii Resort and maybe Punch Out and Deadly Creatures, this list seems to be standard "hardcore" fare.
"Hardcore" isn't what comes to mind to describe these games. "Quirky," maybe. I'll maintain an open mind to the new IPs, which is especially impressive for a 'top ten' list...but it would be nice to have a guaranteed experience here or there. The problem with experimental projects is that they tend to fail.
Also, I'm still angsty about nintendo's casual-only approach of the past year. Granted, that's the cost when they deliver 3 hardcore punches in the span of a single year (Mario, Zelda, Metroid). It was helluva lot of fun at the time, at least!
I guess I don't understand what you mean by "hardcore" games. At least half of thee games come across to me as "hardcore" and they all come across as "quirky" to you. I guess I just don't understand. Sorry.
Hardcore is a silly bloody term. It just means people who are dedicated to games, and hardcore games are just games for that crowd. This can mean anything as games can have so many options in. Some hardcore players want to perfect a game, some want to complete it and collect all the stuff in it, some want to get the fun of the experience. Some people appreciate a sense of identity and style, some appreciate innovation, some want violence and conflict- it goes on and on. So we really can't divide ourselves into groups of n00bs or not. When people complain about lack of hardcore on the Wii though, I think they are just saying lack of big good experiences, or whatever satisfies them.
Here's a blog about all this that's pretty constructive. N'Gai Croal recommended!:
http://insultswordfighting.blogspot.com/2008/01/new-taxonomy-of-gamers-t...
I just want a 360 that has wireless keyboard and mouse, a browser and a Microsoft Word application. I could bond with that shit, and actually buy it. In the mean time it's just PC TF2 for me
Casual generally means 'easy to get into' and 'mainstream.' I would take hardcore to mean the opposite of this. It's the difference beteween Harry Potter and War And Peace; Transformers and 8 1/2, Britney Spears and Chopin. I ain't bashing mainstream experience -- whatever floats your boat -- but some of us just want something deeper.