Last week Nintendo brought 50 tons of sand to New York City’s Times Square to turn the famed Military Island into Wuhu island, the setting for their next big Wii game, “Wii Sports Resort.” While it wasn’t exactly like staying at a tropical resort, they had all their bases covered; steel drums, tropical drinks, a pool (albeit very small), and lots of screens to play the game on. While we were there Sir-G had a chance to speak with the Nintendo Treehouse’s Bill Trinen about what the expect from “Wii Sports Resort,” what game him and the rest of the crew in the Treehouse are playing, and what non-Nintendo game he’s playing. Unfortunately, he remained tight lipped about if he ever managed to avenge his loss to Reggie at E3 in “Wii Sports Resorts”’s the 3-point shootout. The truth will come out someday.

Craig’s List is a bastion of interesting … stuff. While my insomnia was inspiring me to peruse NYC’s video game related job openings I came across this casting call that some old-school Nintendo fans might find particularly interesting. If you ever thought, “Damn, I’d make a good Piston Honda” I may have found just the thing for you.

“EDP Casting is currently looking for Real People to portray characters from the classic video game “PUNCH-OUT!!”

And here’s the particulars of what they are looking for in real life “Punch-Out!” characters:

PISTON HONDA - Asian guy, preferably Japanese, late twenties to mid thirties. In good physical shape. In your submission please list your ethnicity, i.e. Chinese, Korean, etc. and please state if you have any martial arts or kick boxing experience.

KING HIPPO - Heavy set, bald, Polynesian, Samoan, Pacific Islander or Caucasian guy. 30 to mid forties

LITTLE MAC – Caucasian, 18 – 25yrs old NY native. 5″9 and under with dark hair. Real fire in his eye, young boxer type. In good physical shape. Please list in your submission if you have any boxing experience.

GREAT TIGER – Indian, Pakistani, Middle Eastern, late twenties to late thirties, fighter type. In good physical shape.

If you fit any of these descriptions, and live in the NYC area, then the opportunity for your 15 minutes of fame may be knocking at your door.

A few questions remain though … is this contracted by Nintendo for their upcoming “Punch-Out!” release or is it an outside company doing something completely unrelated? Will the new game include full motion video (which would be completely awesome)? What about Bald Bull, Soda Pop Pinski, and Doc? And, of course, what about Iron Mike?

With the endless sea of sequels and generic rehashes the video game industry is saturated with, it’s a nice change of pace to see a small developer, taken under the wing of Sega, to produce a truly unique experience. With its Frank Miller signature look, barrage of pop cultural references, and ridiculous amount of unrealistic violence, this breath of fresh air will infamously be known as “MadWorld.” This short but fun beat ‘em up is developed by Platinum Games (made up of the key members of the team that formerly worked for the creative powerhouse Clover Studios), and, depending on what type of person you are, you might either love it or hate it.

The first thing worth talking about, because it’s the first thing you’ll notice about “MadWorld,” is the graphics. As you can tell by looking at any trailer or screenshot, there is a heavy influence from comic books, with Sin City stylistically leading the pack. Does it work? Yes. The characters and environments are so stylized due to the black and white look that you can easily tell things apart. One aspect that helps makes the graphics work even further is as you progress through a level, you’ll notice that many objects tend to say indefinitely. For example, that guy you slammed into the Rose Bud (spikes on the wall) with a sign through his head? He’s still there. The sight of an empty level transforming into a wallpaper of corpses would bring a smile to those with the right sense of humor. As a nice little bonus, surprisingly, unlike most Wii games, “MadWorld” doesn’t look terrible on a HDTV.

The game doesn’t play like your typical beat ‘em up; instead of going from start to finish, dispatching morons along in the way, most of the levels allow you to explore one big area. As you begin to scout around the level, you’ll learn where the environmental hazards are, such as flaming barrels and firecrackers, while picking up all sorts of goodies such as spiked bats to extra lives. The purpose of most of these levels is to get a certain amount of points to unlock the access to the boss. In order to get the points that you so desperately need, you have to kill people, but you need do it in creative ways in order to get the big numbers.

Let’s just take a look at one scenario. The setting is an area in the subway, and the victims are typical punks. You meet one, punch him a few times to stun him, and a get few extra points. While he is stunned, you grab a nearby tire and slam him with that making him immobile, and scoring a few more points. Taking advantage of his new disability, you grab the nearest caution sign and implant it into his skull, yup, more points. Defying medical science, he is somehow still alive, so you decide to beat the bastard even more until he is finally in his “death state,” where you properly pick him up and begin to spin, heading into your finisher. After building momentum, you toss the poor bitch into an oncoming spike-filled subway. Congratulations, you just scored a huge combo.

If you laughed at the last paragraph, you’re the target audience for this game. If you didn’t, stop reading.

For those of you that are still here, this is the type of insanity you can expect from “MadWorld.” But the theme doesn’t stop with just punks; you’ll get to kill ninjas, robots, aliens, werewolves, and zombies. Each new area offers different environmental hazards, weapons, and enemies to play with. Besides the usual “big area to explore and kill,” some levels follow a more linear and traditional style beat ‘em up layout, with the least impressive type being the motorcycle levels. Fortunately, they don’t overstay their 2-minute welcome.

Each level also has a Blood Bath Challenge, a sort of ultra-violent minigame. The most well-known of these challenges are the heavily covered Man Darts. Fortunately, there are other ones, offering up even more creative ways to kill punks, such as the Death Press (where you throw a poor sap into a certain area only to be crushed by spikes), or the Money Shot (where you stuff poor bastards with carbonated soda so he’ll fly to at a target on a giant woman-shaped cutout). These Blood Baths can end up being a little repetitive sometimes, but they are often no longer than two minutes.

Due to the nature of the beat ‘em up genre, “MadWorld” is a repetitive game. You’ll be following the same motions throughout all the stages, just interacting with different objects along the way; instead of a sign, you use a candlestick, or instead of tire, it’ll be a giant model planet. While it is a repetitive game, it is no more repetitive than other great games like “Double Dragon,” ‘Mega Man,” “Metal Slug,” or “Contra” which are considered classics. The reason “MadWorld” holds up is that these executions and kills are extremely quick, so even though you are constantly throwing guys into spinning blades over and over again, it’s all done in a few seconds. That, and, for some reason, it’s endlessly enjoyable to watch a ninja get tossed into a spike. However, if you the type that expects the game to change dramatically every few minutes, or can’t stand the idea of perfecting the mechanics, it may be best for you to avoid this one.

Since this is on a Wii, the use waggling controls (A.K.A. “innovation”) takes place instead of the ancient art of button mashing. After much playing time, I have only one thing to say: it works. I would even go so far as to compare the controls to “Mario Galaxy.” They’re very simple, and easy to understand. You press buttons to do the basic moves, such as punches, use the chainsaw, and jump. To do your defensive back flip, you just shake the nunchuk. To do the stronger attacks, you have to move the Wii remote. The controls are responsive and don’t give you any hassle, which is a pleasant break from most Wii games. The only time where you need to do specific gestures is during the quicktime events (yes, they’re here), but they only occur when you’re being held, when you are executing someone, or during boss battles. While many gamers moan about QTE, they’re kept quite brief in “MadWorld.”

Speaking of brief, the boss battles in “MadWorld” are ultimately disappointing. The bosses themselves have great presentation, showing off a fun character design, with decent writing behind them, but they don’t last long. They all follow nearly the same type of attack patterns you’d expect from a 16-bit game. These battles tend to be a mix of free form and QTE, with QTE often being a gamble, since, if you screw up, you are going to end up losing a lot of health, instead of the boss.

But the QTE and the boss battles aren’t the only things that are brief; “MadWorld” is very short. The game will take you around 5-6 hours on Normal difficulty, and each stage has a 30 minute time limit. This was a bit disappointing, because they could’ve added a lot more themes to explore and weird enemies to fight had they extended the length of the game.

In its defense though, the storyline is perfect for the genre. The main plot is very similar to Running Man, where the main protagonist, Jack, must survive a deadly game show. At first glance, you’d think “Madworld” barely has a plot but as game progresses, things definitely change a little enough to grab you. It is well paced, there are plenty of plot twists, and the dialog is great. I won’t spoil anything, but let’s just say it is more than what the trailers want you to believe and Jack isn’t just there to become the best.

What would make you go back into the game after beating it? There is a new difficulty setting unlocked called “Hard” and, as a veteran gamer, I can safely say that the word is very accurate. Unlike the Normal setting, you do not have lives to help you continue on with the level (although you can score some while exploring). The enemies are much more aggressive, defend more often, and the damage is much higher than normal. You’ll need to pay attention and understand the game inside and out before jumping in. To further emphasize on the difficulty: The first level’s boss, Little Eddie, killed me in 3 hits. Remember, you only have one life.

What’s even more disappointing than the short length of the game is the miss opportunity of online potential. There are no online leaderboards, there are no online Blood Bath Challenges. In fact, there is nothing online. Even “Ninja Gaiden,” a single player game, had online leaderboards and the sequel offered downloadable replays. This would’ve been the perfect addition to a game like “MadWorld” and considering this is published by arcade expert Sega, it’s a shock that these features were excluded. The only sign of multiplayer is a series of local, split-screen Blood Bath Challenges, which are fun, but not enough in this day and age.

While “MadWorld” could stand to learn a few things from some of the other games on today’s market, those same games could stand to learn a few things from “Madworld.” Well composed music and good voice acting head up that list. Besides the graphics, the gore, the unique take on the genre, the audio in this game is incredible. The music has a hip-hop flair, but it suites the game very well. It matches the tempo and odd nature of the surroundings. The voice acting is also top notch, as each character definitely has their own personality and do not degrade themselves into crappy sound bytes.

The stars of the voice work are the two narrators of “MadWorld.” Voiced by John DiMaggio and Greg Proops, “MadWorld” is the perfect platform to showcase some awesome voice over talent, and prove that that these two guys need to be in more video games. Listening to these two babble about their cheating wives, masturbation, or their messed up childhoods, was wildly entertaining and there is no hint that they were forced to do this; it all comes out naturally because of the great chemistry between the two. Their only flaw was that they don’t have enough lines. Yes, it is repetitive, as the number of lines for a certain event can literally be counted on one hand, so why weren’t they forced to spout off even more crazy shit and pop cultural references?

Since we are on the topic of references, I’m sure that the fans of “God Hand” and Sega are curious to see if “MadWorld” contains any of them. Although I wasn’t actively looking for them, I’ve managed to spot two. For “God Hand,” one of the bosses gets her ass spanked, and for Sega, there is an F-14 Tomcat environmental hazard called the “Afterburner.” Throughout the game, there are more references, such as the Matrix when you pick up a health pill, and they are all delivered very well. You’re not only going to laugh at the violence, but what is happening in the game as well. You’ll even want to watch the ending credits.

After digesting this long review, it’s quite hard to judge “MadWorld.” On the pro side, it is one of the most unique beat ‘em ups with an incredible comic book look which is complimented by great writing. On the con side, there isn’t a whole lot of content outside of the short storyline; this is as bare bones as you can get for an acceptable modern game. The question remains: Is “MadWorld” for you? As I said before, if you enjoy short arcade-style games like “Contra” or “Metal Slug” and didn’t mind paying the full price for a Wii game, then go get it. But if you’re the type that wants a ton of different game modes, options, and online play, this may be more of a rental.

[Rating: 4/5]

I will admit that I am not much of a sports fan, but “Punch-Out!!” was always one of my favorite games. It felt more like a video game were you had to fight end bosses, as opposed to a game emulating a real life sport. After looking at these videos and reading IGN’s hands on article, I am even more excited for this new entry in the long-running franchise. Check out the videos below at what looks to be a return to glory for Little Mac. On another note… I love the animations on the characters when they get hit… especially Glass Joe’s stumbling reaction. LOL!

It has been 844 days since the Wii was released here in the U.S., and since the day it was released, classic titles from my childhood show up every Monday courtesy of the Virtual Console. It’s like a little chocolate chip cookie for me to wake up to first thing in the morning as I begin my trudge through another week. Over the last two plus years the V.C. has had its ups and downs; from great classic titles that never saw Stateside release, to weeks and weeks of virtual drought. However, through the thick and thin, the retro gamer inside me has stuck with it, in hopes that some of my all-time favorites would become available for me to download, and play again, all at the click of a button. However, even after all this time, and all these weeks, there’s still a hearty list of essential Nintendo titles that are still missing – and I’m talking about first party Nintendo published games. I mean, it’s fine with me, just one more missed opportunity for Nintendo to take my money, but the thing is, I’ll gladly pay to play a lot of these games, in most cases for the second or third time. Whether these games will ever make it on the V.C. is unknown to me, but hopefully someday I’ll be able to give Nintendo more of my hard earned money, just to reminisce about being a kid. Below is my list of Nintendo’s Top 10 games that are still missing from the Virtual Console, and it’s restricted only to games that were published by Nintendo at the time of their original release. Who owns them now might be a whole different story.

10. Conker’s Bad Fur Day (N64 – Original Release: 4.4.01)

“Conker’s Bad Fur Day” helped Nintendo and the N64 pop their proverbial cherries, being the first “M” rated title published by the normally squeaky clean company, on a console that wasn’t known for its “adult content.” I fear that the same fart and drinking jokes that made “Conker” so unique back in 2001 may be the same reason that it has yet to make it to Nintendo’s download service … well that and a little dispute The Big N seems to be having with the game’s developers, Rare. Sure, I could go play the Xbox version… but why would I want to when I can play the original?

9. Mario Paint (SNES – Original Release – 5.5.92)

It’s funny, one of the best things that the Wii remote is used for is being a pointer, which, in reality, means it serves pretty much the same purpose as a mouse. When “Mario Paint” was originally released, it was meant to maximize the capabilities of the mouse peripheral that was packed in with it. Am I the only one that sees potential cross-over success here, a revitalization of one of Nintendo’s first non-games? While a direct port is pretty much out of the question, it’s at the top of the list for a slight update, in the same way that “Pokemon Snap” received some Wii Connect 24 sharing. While it could foster the creative growth of young children, and even open up the platform to new users. That stuff’s all well and good, but we all know it’s really all about the fly swatting game and hearing the opening “Ugachuga” theme again.

8. Super Mario All-Stars (SNES – Original Release – 8.1.93)

Nintendo’s taken our money re-releasing every game on this compilation already on the Virtual Console, please just do it again, and give us the updated 16-bit remakes of our classic games that we’ve already bought over, and over again. It worked back in ‘93, who’s to say it won’t work again sixteen years later. I think most gamers would love to see some of their favorites “updated” with better graphics, sound, and a few other little goodies mixed in. Don’t get me wrong I downloaded “The Lost Levels” the day it was released, but I really think I deserve to relive them the way they were originally released in the U.S., in 16 glorious bits.

7. Final Fantasy (NES – Original Release – 7.12.90)

The “Final Fantasy” franchise is most famous for being the game that saved Square, and it did, with a little help from Nintendo, who published the original game in North America (hence the reason it made the list). I still contend that this is easily the best “Final Fantasy” game ever released, but that may be because I’m a bit of an 8-bitophile, and the simple but compelling story mixed with random battles is a weird form of ecstasy for me. The fact is, Square Enix has released this game, or remakes of it, on virtually every other platform known to man, would it be such a sin to re-release it in its original incarnation? The answer is no. I’d love to beat it again … in fact I have, on my GBA, PSP, etc….

6. Kung Fu (NES – Original Release – 10.1.85)

A lot of the early NES games had this inexplicable draw to them that made you want to play them over and over and over, back when starting over again meant going back to the beginning of the first level. “Kung Fu” was one of these games, and it did it remarkably well. After only a few play-throughs you could learn which direction your attackers were trying to hug you from, or where those little green snake things were going pop out. It really was a great little game, even if it did reinforce a few less than pleasant stereotypes. Little known fact – according to Wikipedia, “Kung Fu” apparently stars Jackie Chan; and I think I just figured out why this game hasn’t been ported yet… damn you licensing issues. (Perhaps that now explains the mysterious asterisk on the game’s box… No… Wait… I just checked my copy of the game, and the asterisk was just there to indicate that Irem owns the copyright.)

5. Devil World (NES – Original Release – 10.5.84 – JP)

Shigeru Miyamoto’s only release to never see a U.S. release, and all because of its name. Apparently, back in the 1980’s it wasn’t cool to have the world “Devil” in your title… my how things have changed. While the game’s main character may have made a brief appearance in “Super Smash Bros. Brawl” as an assist trophy, there’s a good chance that not many gamers (not even Nintendo fanboys) know much about the game, or that it even that it exists. Now would be a great time for you, Nintendo, to take this opportunity to educate your U.S. fanbase, and teach them about your long and colorful history, by releasing a game they never got to play. Really, I’m sure gamers would love to see a “new” 8-bit game from the brain that brought us Mario, staring the Devil, and riddled with random Christian references.

4. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island (SNES – Original Release – 10.6.95)

It may be one of the most amazing looking games on the SNES, as well as the sequel to Mario’s best adventure, and that’s why it’s actually remarkable that “Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island” has yet to appear on the V.C. I mean really Nintendo, isn’t it about time that you introduced the younger generation to a game that you released too late in its original console’s lifespan for it to truly be appreciated, or are you looking to make the same mistake again? Perhaps you’re just looking to spare the world from having to hear Baby Mario cry like someone took his favorite toy wrench? Well, if it is, in fact, the second one, I guess a thank you is in order.

3. Super Mario Kart (SNES – Original Release – 9.1.92)

You gave us “Mario Kart 64″ within a couple of months of the Wii’s release, but the game that started the kart-craze has been consistently absent. Sure, it’s not as advanced as the 64 version, and many would argue that it’s just not as fun, but I’m positive there’s a few gamers out there, myself included, that would would really love to take another lap around Koopa Beach, or hit that extra bump after the jump on Mario Circuit 2, or, dare I say, tackle the original Rainbow Road.

2. Earthbound (SNES – Original Release – 6.1.95)

“Earthbound” is yet another one of Nintendo’s classics that only lives on outside of Japan courtesy of “Smash Bros.” The irony of this of course being that the series was actually popularized well after the only version of the game was released in the States. If you put two and two together. that means the only way that someone’s going to be able to investigate the history of Ness is if they still have a working SNES, and are willing to shell out at least $100 on eBay (or use an emulator, but TrueGameHeadz does not condone such activities). I realize that the game appears to be caught up in some weird licensing issues right now, but shouldn’t things like that have been addressed when the game was originally released? Right now, I feel like Nintendo is depriving us of one of the greatest games ever made, and I die a little inside every week when I see that “Earthbound” isn’t being released on the Virtual Console.

1. Super Smash Bros. (N64 – Original Release – 4.26.99)

Seriously, why hasn’t the original version of one of Nintendo’s most successful franchises been released yet? I know, both superior versions are available on the Wii, but c’mon this game needs to be on my Wii right now. Just the thought of going back and being able to pummel Link with Mario blew minds in ‘99, but, ten years later, Nintendo has yet to let gamers in the states relive their past, in its original, 64-bit, blocky form. It’s really a shame that such a truly groundbreaking, classic fighter has yet to be released on the V.C. Japan got it a few weeks ago, but us Americans still have to sit and wait patiently… just like we’ve had to do repeatedly for the last 25 years, in order to play almost any other game worth playing. All I ask is that Nitnendo, please, give us your mascots so we can beat them again and again.

#15 on TGH’z Top Black Video Game Characters list goes to Garcian Smith from Killer 7.

Now I personally know that many of you haven’t even heard of the game Killer 7. This game dropped on the Nintendo GameCube (which nobody copped) and then again on PS2, still failing to sell any copies. But that’s not the point of game making according to studio head Suda51. His games are usually waaaay out there in terms of content and context, but they definitely do think. He’s latest gem, No More Heroes for the Wii keeps the tradition of quirky bad ass fun. But I digress…

Garcian makes this list, because he’s an assassin. What? Yeah he is. A brother as an assassin? Wow. Yeah. But is he really a brother? You see, in the game Killer 7, you play as 7 guys who may or may not be 1 guy. Get it? Nope, that’s because it’s hard talking about this title without giving away the secrets. So I won’t. Let’s just say that this is a good, out of the norm representation of a black character in games and leave it at that.

Check out Killer 7 for the Nintendo GameCube (works in your Wii as well), or Playstation 2 (which if you have a certain PS3 works also)

Sometimes the medium of games spills out unto other things. For instances you have Final Fantasy’s power drink, or a clothing line based around the classic NES. Occasionally they’ll crossover into the sneaker world and 90% of the time those sneakers end up looking ugly as hell. Something no one with good taste would actually wear. Well Nintendo and Nike seem to have finally developed a sneaker that I can actually see people rockin’.

This new grey and red colorway based off the classic Air Max series features a D-pad print wrapped around the front and the word “start” placed near the tongue. In my opinion this sneaker takes the top spot and are ones that I’ll def purchase…if they don’t sell out. These sneakers are available today at select retailers. So all you sneaker heads get on the hunt!…Oh, and you still don’t believe these are the hottest video game sneakers to date? Check out some of these atrocities below.

We have made a great couple for many years now. Over the course of which you have done so many great things for me, but, time has passed, and people change – I have changed. Although I say this with a very heavy heart, I think it is time that we both go our separate ways. I know it sounds cliche, but it’s not you, it’s me. I’m just looking for something different in a retail games store, and I’ve found it, with someone else.

I think we both know that this has been a long time coming. We’ve had a long relationship, but, and I’m sure you’ve noticed, things haven’t been working out too well lately. We’ve had our ups and downs, but, I think the time has come for us to admit to ourselves that it’s over, the magic is gone, and you should move on – I already have, I’ve found someone else.

You may not want all the details, but I’ll feel better about things if you know exactly how this happened. It was last week, as I was walking around the East Village with my girlfriend, and I happened to spot a new video game store, a Play N Trade, from across the street, and I was drawn to it instantly. While this isn’t the first time my eye has wandered, (I once spent a whole afternoon in a Rhino Games, only to realize it was really just an extension of you) I knew this was truly the one for me as soon as I laid my eyes on their used game case – full of Dreamcast, PS1, NES and even Turbo-Grafx 16 games – when was the last time you had a TG16 game in stock to sell me?

Before we finish this for good, I just want to thank you for always being there in my time of need. You always did try your best to provide me with quality gaming products, but, as of late, you’ve been slipping – unless I placed a pre-order well in advance. After being let down so many times I just couldn’t take it any more. Play N Trade is just a better match for me. Remember that one time you just about broke my heart when when it took me almost an hour to trade in 2 games and buy “Beautiful Katamari”? Yeah, that was a night I’ll never forget.

Don’t get me wrong, I’d still like to be friends. It’s hard for me to go almost anywhere and not be reminded of you. No matter what mall I’m in, I’ll always stop by and say hi, even if it’s just to check out your used GBA rack. Also, I’d still love to hear from you, and I’m almost positive you’ll write, now that your newsletters are filling up my inbox atleast twice a week.

In the end I hope you really remember that, it’s not you, it’s me. I just really need someone that will serve me better, is more down to earth, and really knows how to appreciate their roots. Maybe, sometime down the road, we can catch up, and, who knows, things might be different then, but for right now, this is goodbye.

I wish you the best, and hope you’ll someday be able to find someone else that makes you as happy as Play N Trade has made me.

Best,
Jason (a.k.a. 2.0)

We all know the book and now we’ll get to know the videogame! I had a chance to check out Guinness World Records The Videogame at a recent showing in New York. Needless to say, the game is a compilation of mini-games (which the Wii is now famous for), but this time around the games are actually good and fun. Guinness, as one would expect, uses the Wii-mote and nunchuck in a variety of different ways to try and replicate as close as possible some of the actions used to set the world records all of the min-games are based off of.

The presentation of the game shows a lot of polish and one of the huge selling points I think people will dig is the online ranking for all the games. What’s actually pretty cool is the fact that at the end of the year, if you hold the top record in the game, you will be entered in the Guinness Book of Records. That’s a hell of a way to be forever immortalized in print! Check out the video for a look at would could possibly give Carnival Games a run for it’s money as the best selling mini-game collection on Wii.