Softcore

A while back I was talking to a friend and I asked if he had a Wii. His answer was "nah, I'm too hardcore". It was an instant message so it's not considered impolite to slap your own forehead and shake your head in frustration. I took a minute or two before answering.

"So what games are you playing then?" I asked.

In the list was a handful of mandatory first person shooters, a few racing titles and fighters. He didnt cover any sports titles, so there is still hope. He also mentioned he had quit RPGs. (Yes, kids, RPGs are not hardcore anymore.) Then he said "Little Big Planet" is the best game ever.

At this time my forehead was black and blue. But revenge was mine.

"LBP is the most casual game ever!" I said, striking a righteus victory pose "you fail!"

Anecdote over, let me break this up for you kids out there.

The term "Hardcore" is used by the press when referring to a game with a very high production budget. You see, it is intended for the discerning gamer. We're talking state of the art graphics, sound, voice acting, motion sensing, physics... The key demographic is young single males, so the graphics and "genre" will normally be action oriented, but it's not a rule.

The opposite of this would be a game that skims in production because of sheer playability. It is a simple game, but it's lots of fun to play. Or at least they want you to beleive it is.

The term "Casual" is used for games intended for those who don't spend hours in front of a gaming console. Easy to pick up and play and to drop it when playtime is over. Production value is not an issue, a casual game can have a large or minuscule budget, but due to the required simplicity a modest budget will normaly suffice.

The opposite is a game with a steep learning curve, or an online game in which the competition may scare away a player who only plays a couple hours a week.

This is my point: "Hardcore" and "casual" are not opposites! A game can be easy to pick up and play but have a high production value, like your beloved guitar games. A strategy game, or an RPG is usually hardcore! "Handcore" is not a way to measure the testosterone level of a game, and dismissing a game for this makes you stupid.

Damn. She's good.

You wanna know how much ASS my wife kicks at MarioKart Wii? She just DODGED a blue shell.

Yeah, oh and she's on MY team.

Spy Battle 2165

The year: 2165. Overpopulation is crushing the Earth. Rival Factions Spy, Raid, Steal and Fight for Survival! Join this dark world today!

If you've got some free time with a browser in front of you (or a web-enabled phone) I strongly suggest you to try this free web game. It takes place in a dark future in which technology has made man immortal, now that survival is not an issue, man can resort to anything within their reach for power.

How it works is you create a character who regenerates HP, stealth, energy and research points on a timely basis. There are several activities with a range of risk and cost (some require stealth, others energy, some may get you killed). Chose what to do and start amassing resources.

There is PVP plat (player versus player) in this game but that's when the immortality factor comes in. You kill a guy and he loses nothing except the time it takes to heal and any cash in hand (that's what's the bank is for, n00b). You earn some experience and 10% of the cash he was holding. If your attack fails you die and he gets your cash, then you have to wait to heal.

There's a whole lot more stuff. The simple way it's done and how you amass power makes this game extremely addicting. You may find yourself setting timers to come back when you have recharged.

Click http://www.spybattle.net/register.php?referer=13569 and start playing. I do get credit for referring you so HIT THE DAMN LINK!

Code of friendship

OK so I haven't tried out EVERY game in the Wii library or DS library, but all those that I have have this thing that irks the living SNOT out of me. Friend codes. What the hell's up with that? Does Nintendo want you NOT to have friends? Why are they so anal about the way you interact with others?

As far as i've seen you have 2 options. You play with a perfect stranger in a way you can barely interact (so how do you know it's not an AI bot?). Or, you beg an actual acquaintance to BUY the game you play, log in at the same time with you and go through the tedious friend-code swapping process only to play a match that also limits interaction.

This is some heavy BS, I'm telling you. Of all the DS games I had I was never able to hook up with anyone, and after a couple of weeks of begging I got a co-worker to respond to my friend invite last night, maybe later this week we can call each other to carefully arrange a couple of MarioKart races.

I understand Nintendo may be worried about some pedophile asking kids for their addresses between SuperSmashBrosBrawl fights (yeah, that mii with a penis for a face), but isn't that why the Wii has parental controls?

Samba De Amigo

I'm about to make a pretty bold statement: Samba de Amigo > Guitar Hero (notice the bold type).

Now, put down your guitars, heroes, I come in peace. Months ago I had the opportunity to play this Guitar Hero game. I loved playing with the plastic guitar in my best possible bad ass pose and making the whammy bar go wawawawaoo. Good times. I told myself once I had the cash I’d buy a pair of guitars, but who are we kidding? Those suckers are ‘spensive! Might as well buy real guitars (and a band!) And if you’ve read anything on this blog you know poverty is one of my main concerns when choosing games.

So anyhow, through much sacrifice I got my kids a Wii this Christmas, the plan was to convince the rest of the family to get them games and wiimotes. I only got 1 wiimote and 1 game out of the deal but hey, there’s birthdays coming up! Anyhow, we were now in the hunt for cheap games. Enter Samba De Amigo. Just 20 bucks for a SEGA classic. Freekin’ bargain if you ask mii! (err… me).

So I pop that sucker in and was immediately captive of the epic opening theme. Freekin’ EPIC, man. Then I got to playing. It’s just like any other rhythm game, there are your “keys” and thingies slowly move towards them, you need to hit the key when the thingy hits it. In this case the keys are six fuit loops arranged in a circle. Up, down and middle for left and right hand. You hold the maracas (wiimotes) up down or straight forward and shake when the ball hits the uh… fruitloop. So you see at this point the game competes with games like DDR or Guitar Hero. Same game play mechanic. Guitar hero has the whammy bar, SDA has “rolls” where you get to shake it like you just sat on an anthill, meh, I’d say the whammy bar wins. On GH you point your guitar up to strike a pose, in SAD you are shown a picture of a pose and you get to emulate it, Mr. Pose wins, plus there are some dance moves done this way. Then there’s the music. Sweet, sweet music. Every stereotypical “latin song” is there. I make a pause to mention the rampant “latin” stereotypes, but it’s only a bit annoying if you understand (and care about) the culture. The songs will make you tap your feet and shake it just a bit if nobody’s watching, whereas when you play guitar hero you end up all sore from holding the bad-ass pose for too long. Also notice the lack of monkeys in Guitar Hero.

It’s a cheap game, just go get it. It’ll be fun especially if you have friends over.

Tip: If you have 2 wiimotes use them instead of the nunchuck.
Look me up, my friend code is 5069-8936-5083