Once a year we sit around the campfire and share tales of adventure and woe. At the same time we eat pizza. We call this the pizzacast. You can get your episode now on iTunes (search for Nintendorks Radio in the iTunes store) or right here.
Pizzacast 2010
Our official E3 festivities for 2010. A retelling forged with one microphone. We discuss 3DS, Kinect, Move, Zelda: Skyward Sword, Kirby: Epic Yarn, Metroid: Other M, NAMBOJAM, and more!
Nambo Jam is so good, you guys.
We hope you enjoyed the E3 coverage. It's been more work than you think! Write us at radio@nintendorks.com.
"Kirby: Epic Yarn" is the wonderful surprise of the show, even beating out the joy spread by "Donkey Kong Country Returns." This is not to say that Kirby is a better game, because even based on the demos it's clear that it's not. However, the Donkey Kong/Retro relationship had previously been rumored. It was on everyone's minds. Kirby came out of nowhere. AND HE'S SO DIFFERENT!
This Kirby is made out of a couple strings of yarn. He doesn't inhale enemies, he turns into a car and parachute on a whim, he moves through a world of cloth and zippers! This game is so weird and delightfully cute. And it's two players! The game isn't super hard based on the demo, and I have a feeling it won't ever be anything ridiculously challenging, but it's such a peaceful and relaxing little 2D platformer with some creative ideas.
This year's E3 has been an interesting experience to be sure. We saw the unveiling of an amazing and innovative new product, the Nintendo 3DS, and the more widely playable demos of two peripherals pretending to be just as innovative; Microsoft's Kinect and Sony's Move. What this means is that while there was plenty of new technology to try, there wasn't a lot of games! There was a heck of a lot of tech demos, though, but who cares about those?
So for day three of E3 I didn't play much that hasn't already been covered. I took a look at Zelda (because I wanted/needed the Zelda t-shirt they were giving out). Kevin has already covered this, but I'd like to add that it's really fun and BEAUTIFUL. I had zero trouble controlling it.
I played some sort of mysterious Socom 4 but heeeey this is a Nintendo site. If you're interested in my thoughts then ask Garret/Garman because he's played other Socom games and can give you a better idea of what to expect.
I also played some Kirby: Epic Yarn, but more on that later!
Today was the day of E3 that I sat around a lot and felt old. Oh man, I am so old, you guys. I don't want to stand in lines and watch these people talk about the game before they play it like they know everything about it. I don't want to see a loyal army of ladies trying to lure journalists to play games they wouldn't. You guys, I don't want to fight for food in the media lounge. We're supposed to at least be pretending to be professionals.
I'm not entirely sure what I'm intending to say here. This started off as a means to write quick impressions about a few things and now I'm complaining about the kids on my lawn. So I will simply close with a most accurate statement regarding E3. When it starts you are filled with wonder and when it ends you are so sick of it you can't even take a minute to say goodbye. We left a bit early today and I couldn't have been happier to leave.
"But music games are dead! What else can they do? All they need is new songs. What a cash grab!"
Not so, dear reader. Firstly, "Rock Band 3" works with all your old music and gear, and includes a variety of interface and structure changes to smooth out the flow of things. Secondly, there's a keyboard controller. Thirdly, you can use it, a fancy new guitar, and the drums you already own to learn to actually play real instruments.
Three humorous things happened to me today, concerning a few games you may, or may not be interested in. One of them you will probably never have a chance to play, but oh well, that's life sometimes.
I'm not going to say much about this. Partially because I wrote a lot about it last year, but also because I'm as tired as a sleepy guy.
The game is a lot more refined after a year. There are cutscenes now! The levels look less barren! The Gandalf co-op mechanics seem drastically improved in that player two can move around freely as opposed to the previous iteration which involved a Super Mario Galaxy style co-op mechanism! It's Tolkien stuff!
Combat doesn't feel any different, which is no biggie even if it could stand to be improved, but the real crime is the lack of camera controls. It's really easy to get spun around by your fighting and not be able to see what's happening behind you.
It's a fun little game that's perfect for a divorced father to play with his estranged son on the weekends. I do like that the game goes all the way through The Lord of the Rings trilogy. You'll see everything from The Shire to Minas Tirith. The scope of the game and theme are really great. It's just a shame that the actual mechanics leave much to be desired.
Garret: I didn't hate it, but it could stand to be more fun.
Garret: Alright, jerks, I've played this 3DS business and it's both amazing and then also confusingly odd(?). I don't know what the best word would be.
Amazing: The screen. When you hit the "sweet spot" (more on that in a second), it's sooo great. I played a demo of Pilotwings Resort and it was fantastic. The top screen is so crisp and the graphics are easily superior to PSP (but Wii/360/etc? mmmm no. Not with these games at this moment). There was flying-through-rings plane demo and a jetpack demo. They were both really great. The interesting thing about Pilotwings is that I ended up forgetting to focus on the 3D and just played the demo, and I like that. The effect is definitely there, but it's not so glaring that it's omnipresent above all else. With that said, though, when you turn the slider to "off," you literally think "what the fuck is this shit?" It definitely adds enough to make you miss it, even if you don't pay attention to it the entire time.
There's a new NBA Jam, you guys! It's not made by Midway or Acclaim. It's made by Electronic Arts and it's totally awesome. If I wanted to complain I could say things like "other than improved graphics and updated rosters this doesn't really feel diferent from old Jams," but you know what? That's a good thing. Sonic Team could learn a lot from these guys. Make a new Sonic game that's like the old ones, you guys! Seriously.
Right, so NAMBO JAM is going to have extra modes other than exhibition games. I don't know what they are (reporting! yeah!) and I have no idea if this game is online, but man. Four player NBA Jam on a game console where such a thing is convenient. You couldn't do that on your Genesis or SNES. And don't get me started on the ill fated NBA Jam '99 which was so bad that it single handedly put Acclaim out of business.
Here, watch this video. It'll put things so much more succinctly than I can. It made me so happy. Not the video, the game. Though the video is pretty fun too. One of my favorite things is Garret and I being filled with glee and Kevin and Cory's, by comparison, stone cold faces.
