Xbox Live and the Nintendo Wii

Whenever Xbox Live is brought up, fanboys from all three consoles leap to the fray and spout their opinion.

"Xbox Live owns! Sony online sucks!"

"Sony online owns! Wii's online (or lack of it) sucks!"

"All online sucks! PCs own!"

"etc. etc. etc."


But, opinions aside, let's talk about something that pretty much everyone can agree is important: cost.

How much does your console cost you when it comes to being online?

Well, I've done some digging and some research, and I want to point out some strengths of the Wii's online system that might not be readily apparent:

- No cost. It's free. Whether this is good or bad remains to be seen, but not having to pay an annual fee means 1 extra game that year. For the tight-of-budget, that means MP3, Galaxy, AND Smash Bros Brawl, instead of having to choose two out of those three.

- Game-led, not Nintendo-led. What does this mean? It means that the scope of each game's online experience seems to be up to the game devs, not necessarily Nintendo. We've seen a prototype verion of this in Elebits, where - despite the fact that there was no "online" yet on the Wii - players could swap maps using just Friend Codes. As we've seen on Strikers Charged, the game has its own, self-contained online matching system.

So, it is wholly possible that as 3rd parties bring their own games into Nintendo's online arena, they will bring their own ideas and concepts with them. It won't be restricted to a centralized online matching system, but instead it will allow devs to experiment in their own ways. Is this good or bad? Well, take a look at the PC, where a similar situation resides. On the PC, it is game devs, not Microsoft or Apple, that decide how their game will operate on the internet.

This also extends into the arena of user-made content. As we've seen with Elebits, it is entirely possible for Wii users to swap content over the internet. How far will this go? Who knows? One hurdle that Nintendo must overcome is the lack of storage space. SD cards only hold so much. However, an external harddrive, though clunky, would easily solve the storage problem.

Why does this affect cost? It makes it cheaper for both the consumer and the developer when they produce their own online system. It costs money for Live games to cash in on Microsoft's online system.


Now, I want to point out some shortfalls that I see in Xbox Live. Flame all you want, but these are cold, hard facts.

- Cost. Xbox Live costs you money. Now, Live players will argue that the cost ensures a quality experience, but is that true? Let's take another jump over to the PC world. Look at games like StarCraft, Counter Strike, Unreal Tournament, Diablo I and II, and Guild Wars, some of the biggest online games of their time. How much did they cost to play these quality games online? Nothing.

Cost is a big issue.

What about freebies? We've gotten Everyone Votes and the Internet Browser for free, and though these titles aren't exactly stellar system-sellers, they are still free. What about Live? Well, nothing is all that free.

Want new Gears of War maps(which were originally going to be free until MS forced Epic to charge for them)? You'll have to pay.

What about free games? Did you know that the popular Live Arcade game, Geometry Wars, was intended to be released for free by the game devs, but Microsoft stepped in and demanded a bare minimum of a 400-point price on it?

Want new Guitar Hero songs? Well, it comes at a price, too. Roughly $2.00 per song, twice the price of an iTunes download. And not only that, but the songs don't come alone. They come in three-packs, so if you want a new song, you might have to overpay $4.00 for two songs that you didn't want in the first place just to get that ONE song you wanted.

And what about user-made content? Even FarCry had a built-in map maker, but how far is Microsoft allowing user-made content to go on the 360? That remains to be seen.


What does the future hold for Wii, PS3, and 360 owners? Well, we'll just have to wait and see with our fists wrapped tightly around our wallets.

Top 5 Wii channels

Which channel do you use most often? Which keeps you interested? And most of all which channel deserves that number one spot?

5. Photo Channel
A very amusing channel that lets you view photographs and listen to mp3's saved to your SD card. It also lets you draw on, mess around with, and make puzzles out of them. It's perfect for showing off pictures to friends and family and even lets you listen to mp3's while watching a slideshow. And best of all it's pre-installed into your Wii so those with out a wireless Internet connection can still enjoy it!

4. Internet channel
The recently released and free until June final version of the Internet chanel made great improvements over the Trial version. Although not perfect for reading text, this channel is great for showing Youtube videos or similar content to your friends. It's also handy if you just need to check your e-mail or something but don't want to start your computer.

3. Mii Channel
Mii's are cartoon charicatures of whatever you want. When you first bought you Wii one of the first things you probably did was make a Mii of yourself. I know I did. Some people will complain that there is not enough custimization but hopefully Nintendo will address that by releasing some kind of update. And with the upcoming Mii Popularity channel, the Mii Channel will see increased use.

2. Wii Shop Channel
Without the Wii Shop channel, we wouldn't be able to download our favourite classics from the past. Wii Points would be useless and the Wii would lose one of it's best selling points: the Virtual Console. Also, according to Nintendo, original games are going to be released on this channel.

1. Disc channel
How expected. Of course this was going to take first spot. And the Wii knows this too by making you unable to move it from it's first channel space. Remeber the first time the two discs disappeared to be replaced by the Wii Sports logo. And this channel will undoubtedly play host to many classics to come.

Feel free to post a comment on what you feel should and should not be on the list.

Retailers expected the Wii to fail?

It seems like that to me anyway. In fact, when I walk into most shops, the first thing that hits me is a huge PS2/PS3/PSP row of shelves. Followed by a smaller Xbox/360 shelf and lastly, in the dusty old corner where nobody looks is the Wii/DS stuff. The GBA and Gamecube are long gone and never really had a presence.

Let's take a look at the DS vs. PSP situation. I'll admit that at the start it did look that the PSP was going to beat the DS. So I can understand why in the beginning they focused more on the PSP. But now that it is brutally obvious that the DS is going to be triumphant, why do they continue to cram the DS stuff in a corner, while the PSP is up in the front, glorified, with all the staff trying to stop people buying DS games.

Onto the Wii vs. PS3 vs. Xbox360. This really frustrates me because when the 360 was released the gave it decent shelf space. Not too much, but it wasn't crammed away like the DS stuff. Then came the Wii, which was fully prebooked, with more people waiting on hand. And guess how much shelf space they gave it? Three measly rows on a tiny shelf. It has now expanded to 5 shelves because a people are starting to take notice of it.
Now when the PS3 was released, though only 2 people prebooked it, it was given TWO whole columns. Thats 16 shelves.

I just hope this store, and I'm sure other stores realize that the Wii is a smash hit and change their tune before it's too late.

My Legend of Zelda game collection

I only really became a fan of the Zelda series a few years ago but I've got an OK collection by now:

My collection :D

So, I'll go through all the games and what I think of them starting with

The Legend of Zelda ( NES )
This is the game that started them all. But I didn't particularly enjoy this game but I guess I can attribute that to the fact that I started with a more complex and visually pleasing Zelda game. But in it's time I'm sure it was a revolutionary game in its time.

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
This is the Zelda game that I enjoyed the least due to the before mentioned points and the fact that when you fight someone it goes to a side scrolling mode. This is apparently the Dark Horse of the Zelda series. And though a lot of people dislike it, many like it too.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Definitely my favorite 2d Zelda game and my 2nd favorite Zelda game of all time. It is so well designed, the graphics are beautiful, the music is enchanting, the weapons are varied, the controls are PERFECT and its also quite a lengthy adventure. Overall a masterfully crafted game and one of the best 2d games I have ever played.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
The first 3d Zelda game that is often hailed as the best game ever made. I would have to disagree. Although I really enjoyed this game I would certainly not say it's the best game ever made, not the best Zelda for me either. Nonetheless an amazing game.

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
I enjoyed this game nearly as much as Ocarina of Time but the 3 day limit kind of annoyed me.
Graphically similar to Ocarina of Time this is also a noteworthy addition the the Zelda series.

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
With it's bold new cell-shaded graphics, many people who were hoping for a realistic Zelda game were disappointed . However I loved this game from start to finish except for thet Trifiorce piece quest.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
The most recently released Zelda game and in my opinion, the best. From it's graphics to it's music to it's brilliant game design this was a joy to play from beginning to end. And it took me about 55 hours to finish which means it's by no means a short game.

Well, there ya go. Tell me about your favorite Zelda games!

Multi-player on Wii

So, as it happens, I have only one Wii Remote. The other day I had three friends over and we were bored so I suggested some multi-player fun on the Wii. I have only two multi-player games which are:
So, we began with a game of Golf, but we were all doing so badly that we quit halfway through. Onto Bowling, which started out as a friendly, turned into a heated battle for first place, with me coming in second, behind by about thirteen points. Note that there were no smashed T.V screens or Wii remote through window incidents even though we weren’t wearing the wrist strap.

After a brief break for some food and drink, we moved onto WarioWare. After many intense Pass the Bomb games, we tried to beat each other’s scores in the Kel-o-meter mode. My friend set quite a high score, and I, in my competitive fashion, took over control of the Wii Remote and spent at least 30 minutes replaying it over and over. By the time I beat his score, I was dripping with sweat and panting as if I had just ran a marathon.

So although the Wii isn’t all that special in the multi-player compartment at the moment, you can still have a great time, even if with just one controller. And with game like Super Smash Bros. : Brawl and Mario Party 8 coming out, it can only improve.

Wii: The most violent console?

When most people think of Nintendo, they automatically think “kiddy”. People who only owned a Gamecube missed out on a lot of the more violent games such as the GTA series, Manhunt and The Godfather. With the Wii, that’s all about to change. The Godfather is already on it, and games such as Scarface and Manhunt 2 are set for realease sometime in the near future.

Now why, seeing as these games are readily available for other consoles, would the Wii versions be more violent?

Well, I’ll use The Godfather: Blackhand edition as an example. On the other consoles, to swing a punch, you simply press a button, whereas an the Wii you actually swing a punch. Which feels more realistic? Obviously the latter. When I was playing the game, I actually felt a tinge of guilt when I “convinced” the shopkeeper to pay up. In a different situation, I strangled a man to death by actually making a strangling motion with my hands. Imagine a game where you have a chainsaw. Imagine cutting someone’s head off while hearing the sound of ripping flesh next to your ear through the controllers speaker. The possibilities are endless.

So perhaps, with the arrival of the Wii, we are witnessing the departure of the kiddy stigma that has been attached to the Nintendo brand for years.

A Blast from the Past- Last gen controller comparison

So, now that we’re into that all the next gen consoles have been released, their controllers couldn’t be more different from each other. You have the Wii Remote which went in bold new directions relying on motion control. Then you have the Xbox 360 controller, which played it safe and stuck with the traditional design. And lastly the PS3 controller which mixes both ideas together. But in this post we’re going to take a look at which controller provided the best experience last-gen experience.

We’ll start with the PS2 controller
The controller fits well with your hands, with your thumbs over the D-pad and the four face buttons. Beneath the D-pad and face buttons are two analog sticks ( which are clickable) and above them four shoulder buttons. Now, the D-pad isn’t that great, but it is certainly better quality than the Gamecube’s one. The face buttons have a nice feel and are easily accessable. The shoulder buttons are easy to reach but they click immediately. Lastly, the analog sticks are of good quality, but I have an issue with their placement. Having to stretch your thumbs out makes it a little harder to play FPS game with this controller.

The Gameube controller is perhaps the most bizarre of the three with differently shaped face buttons and analog sticks. The controller fits PERFECTLY into your hands, and I personaly think it’s the most comfortable to hold. However, it has a horrible D-pad and the analog sticks aren’t that great either. The shoulder buttons, which you have to push for a while before they click are great and the Z button is well placed. Plus the fact that there is the Wavebird available makes this a very good controller however it isn’t very good for FPS’s either.

Finally the Xbox controller. I’m aware that there was the original Xbox controller but for this I’ll be using the controller S. Probably the best overall controller, but not my personal favourite. It’s analog sticks and shoulder buttons make it perfect for FPS games. It’s face buttons feel good and are easy use. It’s analog sticks are probably the best out of the three and it’s D-pad is too. The shoulder buttons are pressure sensitive and great for driving games.

So which was the best last gen? You decide

Irish game prices are a rip-off!

So, I went into game today, to buy a Classic controller and a Wii Points card. Now by rights, this should have cost me 40 euro. It ended up that the Classic controller cost me 28 euro and the Wii points card cost me 25 euro. Thats 53 euro overall! Or in dollars it's $72. In America overall that would have cost $40. Or in euro that' 29. I should have saved 24 euro!

Tricked my local game store

Remember that Metroid Prime: Hunters demo that came with the first shipment of DS'?
Well, I was a bit low on cash and I wanted to buy a new Wii game (Prince of Persia:Rival Swords) so I decided to trade in some old DS games. They were:
Tony Hawks: American Sk8land
Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt
Super Mario 64 DS

So the cashier accepted the two real DS games, but when she came to the demo she called over the manager to ask if it was acceptable. He said " Mertoid Prime ( yup he said Mertoid)? Check it on the computer" She typed in Metroid and up came the real game! She accepted it and gave me 20 euro!