Nintendo Voice Chat podcast summary

IGN changes

– Matt leaving the Nintendo team, will be editor at large
– Craig will be the executive editor of the Nintendo-side
– Bozon says the life of a gaming journalist is horrible – work late hours, deal with shovelware
– Matt wanted to do something that he could put more time into
– He’ll still be the Nintendo specialist, he’ll be there when it makes sense (ex: For a Metroid game)
– Matt will also be around for the Nintendo Voice Chat podcast
– Team structures IGN visitors have observed will see changes
– More people will be doing Wii stuff
– Will be able to be more specific in the future

Scribblenauts

– Craig has the review ready
– Matt played it for 8 hours of the way to Germany
– When he played it at E3 he thought it would be the game of the year, etc.
– Since then he thinks it’s a good, nearly great game
– Some control issues that are unavoidable
– Puzzle-based game, write words to solve puzzles
– 10s of 1000s of items
– A lot of fun finding new ways to solve puzzles
– Control issue: He’d try to touch an object, touch the wrong one, then it’d get stuck behind him, etc.
– Other than that he had a good time with the game, but Matt wishes they ironed the control issues out
– Can be frustrating when controlling Maxwell – Might want him to move a step but instead he’ll go a few feet
– Bozon’s take is that the wonder you initially see is insane, then when you get into some of the other puzzles, people will run into issues
– A lot of kids will just assume that it’s awesome
– Craig isn’t giving it a 10
– Matt, Craig would still recommend it highly to anyone
– But can’t turn a blind eye to the controls
– Tremendous first step if you look at Scribblenauts as a big series
– Comes out this week

Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story

– Craig gave the game a 9.5
– He thinks it’s the best in the series
– Similar to the first 2 games
– He loved the GBA title
– Craig isn’t a huge RPG fan
– Battles are user-controlled (need to watch the game, hit buttons at the right time)
– Always action going on
– Can play as Bowser
– Was disappointed with the second game because it pretty much took everything from the first game and spread it over 4 characters – This one is different
– Highly recommended
– Nintendo packaged the game with simple boxart

Wii price drop

– Leaked Toys R Us ad shows the Wii may get a price drop
– Matt thinks it’s inevitable, especially when you look at the NPD data
– Wii doing well but it’s not doing 600-700K
– Seems like the right time
– $50 drop will jazz up the market again
– It does look like it’s going to happen, looks legit
– Nintendo keeps saying they’re not going to do it
– We know TGS is on the horizon, have heard a few things that Nintendo is planning to make some announcements

Dead Space Extraction

– Matt and Bozon are at the same level
– Matt believes it’s really atmospheric, well presented, visually stunning, runs well, controls tight, loves zero-g
– Sound cuts out when you hear heart beat
– More story than in the original
– Matt likes the focus on the story
– Start you off as characters who are going to die
– At any moment you’ll play as a new character
– Matt’s favorite part is dual hack and defend mode
– Can turn shaky cam all the way up or off
– No online connectivity
– Matt and Bozon both like the game

MySims Agents

– Probably going to be the most polished of the MySims games
– Part investigator/MySim
– Start off as small time detective, first big case to discover what happens to a girl’s dog
– 2 people will say it’s their dog, need to look around for clues to find out whose dog it is
– More interesting to Matt than the other MySims games
– More of a platformer
– Fixed camera, Matt likes it
– It’s been okay, he’ll wait and see how it plays in the end
– He hasn’t played the DS version

Wii/DSi shop updates

– Nintendo was late with issuing the Nintendo Download today, Craig wonders why
– Craig saw the DSiWare stuff, Art Academy seems cool – Cool way of teaching you ways of how to draw again – 800 points
– Oscar in Toyland screams European platformer – Hopes to have the review done by next week
– 2/3 games that came out on WiiWare are online compatible
– Flipnote Studio one of the reasons why you should buy a DSi

NHL 2K10

– Surprisingly good
– Bozon hasn’t had a chance to play online yet
– The game comes out tomorrow
– MotionPlus support
– WiiSpeak online
– Won’t review it until he plays it online

TMNT: Arcade Attack

– Controls like a 2D brawler but it’s in 3D
– Still pretty fun but it’s not absolutely fantastic

TMNT: Smash Up

– Matt or Craig will probably review it

– Craig is going to see You, Me & The Cubes tomorrow

Reader questions

– Zelda trailer rumor is guessing news at this point
– Technically possible for patches but Nintendo doesn’t like people doing it (ex: Wii Sports Resort)
– Scribblenauts has 2 save files
– When Retro Studios said that “you” will be excited for Retro’s next game, he was referring to gamers in general, not Matt specifically – Matt got the impression that whatever they’re working on is going to be more focused on multiplayer (don’t read into it too much)
– DS isn’t true multi touch – Can touch in 2 diff. locations but it won’t know exactly where that second touch is
– Tony Hawk Ride doesn’t use Balance Board because couldn’t get as much accuracy according to Activision
– Guitar Hero 5 Wii version is getting Bozon’s nomination for best music game of the year unless something blows it away – Matt says the tech is good
– Upconverting probably not a good idea on Wii