A History of Video Game Consoles, pt 2 of 2

a momentary break from actual gaming by Renzie Baluyut

Hey everyone. Welcome to my two-part special on the History of Gaming Consoles on my personal gaming blog: Get Your Game On | Renzie on Gaming.

I thought I'd do a public service discussing the history of video game consoles since me and a few friends were reminiscing about the good ol' days when we played our first ever video games- the Atari 2600, the Nintendo Family Computer, the Sega Saturn, and finally the first time the Sony Playstation blew our minds.

We're now moving on to the second part of our special on the History of Gaming Consoles. If you missed the first part, you may read it here. We covered the first four generations of gaming systems in our previous post on the subject, so we continue where we left off:

Fifth Generation (1993-2002)

Video games look so much better now as we enter the 32-bit era, and we see a new surge in not just consoles, but also handhelds and video games in general. The consoles that dominated this time period: the SEGA Saturn, the Sony Playstation, and the Nintendo 64. We all know how that turned out, right?

Many gaming systems have started shifting towards using CD-ROMs instead of game cartridges. Initially the loading times were slow, but as optical drives improved, this issue was addressed. Games in CD format were also cheaper to produce, and the lower costs were passed on to the consumers. Then again, it was also easy to pirate.

Of course, there were other fifth-gen consoles that weren't as commercially successful: The 3DO Interactive Multiplayer, the Amiga CD32 and the Atari Jaguar.

The Sony Playstation was comparatively cheaper than the other consoles at the time, and benefited from an effective marketing campaign: positioning itself as a lifestyle accessory for males in the late teens to late 20's age bracket. Plus, games were easy to program for the Playstation, which made for a lot of games- far more than its closest competitor, the Sega Saturn.

Nintendo was the first to go 64-bit, and did rather well with Super Mario 64. It also came out with updated versions of the Game Boy: the Game Boy Color, Game Boy Light, and the Game Boy Pocket.

Nintendo did well, but not well enough to pass the Playstation in unit sales. It did have a strong hold on its market, appealing strongly to children and families.

Successful game titles at this time: Gran Turismo, Final Fantasy VII, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil and Silent Hill, Super Mario 64, Panzer Dragoon Saga and GoldenEye 007.

Sixth Generation (1998-2006)

Enter the sixth generation of video game consoles. The sixth-gen era is also referred to as the 128-bit era, and therefore saw the rise of some awesome gaming hardware: Sega's Dreamcast, Sony's Playstation 2, the Nintendo GameCube, and Microsoft's XBox.

The clear winner in this generation was Sony's PlayStation 2- having sold over 140 million units as of mid-July 2008. Those figures also make the PS2 the best-selling console in history.

Microsoft's XBox comes in second with over 24 million units sold, Nintendo's GameCube in third with over 21 million units sold. Sega's Dreamcast came in fourth with just under 11 million units sold, and was discontinued prematurely in 2001, just before the XBox and the GameCube were released later that year.

Handhelds had also become more sophisticated. Nintendo saw continued success with its various new GameBoys, and then you had Nokia coming out with a gaming handheld/mobile phone hybrid in 2003- the Nokia N-Gage, and then the N-Gage QD a year later.

By this era, many game publishers started developing a cross-platform strategy, releasing versions of their games over multiple systems- PC, major consoles, and sometimes, even handhelds.

We also saw the rise of online gaming. While the Dreamcast was the first to incorporate a modem and browsing software into its system, it was the XBox that enabled players to play with other gamers online with XBox Live.

Notable gaming titles in this era: Grand Theft Auto III, GTA: Vice City, and finally GTA: San Andreas, Resident Evil 4, Shenmue and Soul Calibur for the Dreamcast, Halo and Halo 2 for the XBox, Metroid Prime for the GameCube, and the Disney/Square-Enix collaboration, Kingdom Hearts.

Seventh Generation (2004- today)

The Seventh Generation of gaming consoles is pretty much what we have right now-- the Nintendo Wii, Microsoft's XBox 360, and the Sony PlayStation 3.

The XBox 360 came out in November 2005, almost a full year ahead of the other two, and continued to enjoy strong sales in North America and Europe. Its advantage over its competitors has been the quantity and quality of titles, with even more titles coming out by the end of the year.

Sony's Playstation 3 hit the shelves on 11 November 2006, and had come equipped with Blu-ray capabilities, a feature critical to the success of the Blu-ray format, according to Sony Pictures Home Entertainment execs.

The Nintendo Wii dropped in stores on 19 November 2006, and had turned out to be the biggest selling gaming system of all three seventh-gen consoles. The Wii positioned itself to capture not just hard-core gamers, but also casual gamers, non-gamers and lapsed gamers.

In addition to its popular franchises, and in line to make the console more appealing to casual gamers, the Nintendo Wii came out with the Wii Series of games- which simulated real-world activities, or played around with sports, music, or doing exercises- all making use of its new gaming controllers equipped with motion-sensors.

The Wii and certain (earlier) models of the PS3 are fully backwards compatible with titles from their earlier counterparts.

As for handheld systems, we have the Nintendo DS (and later, the DS Lite) and Sony's PlayStation Portable (or PSP, and the succeeding PSP Slim and PSP Lite). The DS proved to be more popular with both core gamers and new consumers, while the PSP was mainly marketed towards a 25+ year-old (core gamer) market.

Notable titles for the Seventh Generation: Halo 3, Gears of War, Mass Effect and BioShock for the XBox 360, God of War, Gran Turismo, Metal Gear Solid 4 and Final Fantasy Versus XIII for the PS3 and Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Wii Sports for the Wii.

There you have it, ladies and gentlemen. A crash course on the History of Gaming Consoles. Hope you learned something new today.

Cheers, everyone!

StarCraft II: It's a Trilogy!

news from the wonderful world of gaming by Renzie Baluyut.

It's official, ladies and gentlemen: Blizzard's StarCraft II is now a trilogy.

You heard it right: three separate standalone single-player campaigns have been laid out for the sequel to Blizzard's best-selling real-time strategy title.

At BlizzCon '08 in Anaheim, Blizzard's Rob Pardo admitted that StarCraft II was already shaping up to be an undertaking far larger than the previous game. Wings of Liberty- the first game in the Starcraft II series- will focus on the Terrans. We just might actually get to see some closure for Jim Raynor and Kerrigan, two of our main characters from the original StarCraft game.

The second and third installments are Heart of the Swarm, which deals with the Zerg, and Legacy of the Void, which is dedicated this time to the Protoss.

According to Pardo, every one is going to be a full standalone campaign (as opposed to two expansions to one standalone StarCraft game) with 26 to 30 missions apiece. Each of the three will still have multiplayer components, and while a game might have its own set ending, but Pardo was quick to assure attendees that the middle part of the game have been designed to accomodate player choices.

No word, however, on when the first game in the StarCraft II trilogy will be out in stores.

So get ready to fork over some more cash to Blizzard just to get your StarCraft fix, ladies and gentlemen.

Cheers, everyone!

Warhammer Online: 750,000 Strong and Growing

a quick gaming update from Renzie Baluyut.

No doubt about it: the whole gaming community's tuned in to the latest on what Blizzard has to offer on BlizzCon this weekend. But Mythic reveals the latest figures on its own MMORPG title- Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning- which hit shelves just last September 18.

At the 2008 Tokyo Game Show, Turbine CEO James Crowley delivered a keynote address, and announced that EA Mythic now pegs the registered player total for the fantasy MMO title at 750,000. That's a full quarter-million up from when Warhammer Online came out just less than a month ago.

Already, Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning may be "the fastest-selling new MMO of all-time," as EA Mythic claims. But can it sustain its subscribers after a couple of months?

Funcom's Age of Conan- another MMORPG- racked up a fairly impressive 400,000 subscribers in its first week upon dropping in stores. Three months after launching however, while Funcom may have sold some 800,000 copies of the game, only 415,000 subscribers stuck around.

Both Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning and Age of Conan will be up against some pretty stiff competition in a few weeks. World of Warcraft's latest expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, comes out on November 13. WoW already has at least 11 million subscribers to its name- and those numbers are expected to shoot up once WotLK hits shelves next month.

Cheers, everyone!

Unveiled: Diablo III's Wizard Class

a quick time-out from gaming with Renzie Baluyut.

BlizzCon '08 is well under way at the Anaheim Convention Center, and Blizzard fills us in on the third of five classes you can play with its highly-anticipated hack-and-slash RPG: Diablo III.

You've probably already seen the demo gameplay for the first two classes: the Barbarian and the Witch Doctor. As if paying homage to the old pen-and-paper role-playing games, Blizzard has decided to throw in our magic-wielding Wizard Class.

Unlike the Witch Doctor who supposedly draws his abilities from the spiritual realm, the Wizard taps into the raw power of the universe and channels it to do her bidding.

The good guys of Blizzard gave eager BlizzCon attendees a sneak peak of the workings of the new Wizard- essentially what sets her apart from the other classes- and had gone further to explain Diablo III's new skill system and skill tree, a new rune system, and new improved special effects based on your character's special abilities.

So what can the Diablo III Wizard class do?

- Early on, she is able to throw Magic Missiles- something Dungeons & Dragons players should be familiar with. It's really more like the old Firebolt of Diablo II- a very basic arcane ranged attack which presumably becomes more powerful as your character invests more skills into it.

- After gaining a few more levels, she can now unlock Electrocute- a quick zap of raw electrical energy that pretty much looks like a form of a lightning bolt, then maybe progressing to something like chain lightning at higher levels.

- Higher up the skill tree is Slow Time, which was implemented as a bubble effect that radiates outward from the Wizard.

- Lastly, the devastating Disintegrate was introduced. Described as "a real face-melter", this spell makes use of a charge mechanic which allows the player to hold down a button and sweep their mouse across a swath of opponents, dealing more damage to enemies unfortunate enough to be targeted longer by the Wizard.

While a lot of the gameplay aspects were already demonstrated at BlizzCon, the current version is by no means final, as some game mechanics are still being either worked in, fine-tuned or chucked out completely by Blizzard game designers.

No word yet on when Diablo III will be released. In the meantime, get blown away by this vid posted on Blizzard's YouTube channel. Enjoy!

Pictures from Gamespot. Check out more pics and screenshots on Gamespot's section on Diablo III.

Cheers, everyone!

Great Moments in Gaming: The Onyxia Wipe Video

a quick break from actual gaming by Renzie Baluyut

I don't know if you've already seen this video, but I just did a few months back.

Backgrounder: if you've been playing World of Warcraft, then you know that the later storyline brings in Onyxia, this big-ass black dragon boss, who has decided to take the southern part of Dustwallow Marsh as her lair.

It takes a massive effort to bring Onyxia down, with guilds organizing large raiding parties still getting wiped. Onyxia on her own is tough enough, but adventurers also have to deal with all kinds of Black Dragonspawn- among them, Black Dragon Whelps. Many, many whelps.

Now here's a disturbingly hilarious video of one such guild who had come knocking on Onyxia's lair. And promptly got wiped. Thanks to Alachas1985 for capturing this moment in viral video form- truly one of the greatest moments of gaming. Ever. Take a look.

Here's a transcription of what went down. Mind you, if you it's filled with expletives- so a word to the sensitive ones. Just had to stay faithful to the original material, is all. With that out of the way...

Odd groups go to the left, even groups go to the right. That means 1, 3, 5, 7 - left, 2, 4, 6, 8 - right. Seven and Eight are Whelp Groups.

Okay, now listen the fuck up: you're going to DPS very very slowly. Now... and by slowly, I mean fucking slow.

If you get aggro, it means you're going to lose 50 DKP 'coz you didn't know what the fuck to do!

And watch the fucking tail!

If you get kicked into the whelps, you lose 50 DKP again- for not being where the fuck you were supposed to be.

There is no aggro reset. The only... there's some shit about an aggro reset when some people don't know how to manage their aggro.

After 2 Sunders, you can basically start doing damage to it. Assuming you know how Aggro works, you son't over-Aggro.

OK, nuke it, DOT it, help the whelp groups...

When it's in phase 2, nuke it as hard as possible. You want to get it down as fast as possible. Have DOTs up on- on every time. 2 rows: Shadow Word: Pain, Warlock Curses, Rend, everything.

I don't see enough DOTs, more DOTs now! Come on, more DPS! Hit it like ya mean it! You'll get time to rest in Phase 3 while (down) getting Aggro.

Remember, save your Aggro-reducing abilities for when it lands. That means Feign Death, Vanish, -erm- fucking Fade, anything that you can use to reset Aggro.

At 40%, you will stop DOTs. Until then, you will throw more DOTs. Throw more DOTs, more DOTs, more DOTs. Come on, more DOTs! 'K, stop DOTs.

Now hit it very hard. And very fast!

Lee, run to the center! Mogrus, run to the center! Foresight, run to the center! Sarp, run to the center! Isis, run to the center! Whatever the fuck you do, don't stand next to other people!

Mogrus, center! Just heal me.

Lee, do NOT..! Go away from the head, Lee! Go away!
'K, DPS! Slowly! Come here, you fucking cunt! Watch the tail!

(Someone else) Whelps. (Somebody else) Crushim was Feared into...

WHO THE FUCK WAS THAT? Crushim, what the FUCK? Whelps- left side! Even side, many whelps! NOW, HANDLE it!

FUCK!

That's a FUCKING 50 DKP minus! What the FUCK was that SHIT?

If you stand in the right fucking place, there is NO WAY you are going to FUCKING get into the GODDAMNED whelps, whatever fucking FEAR, Tailswipe- whatever the FUCK! Okay?! It's like one in a fucking million!

From the- fucking north corner, to the middle, into the fucking Whelp cave, it's not even FUCKING remotely imaginable!

(end)

From Alachas1985's YouTube entry: The audio was created by "Dives" from Wipe Club, I had nothing to do with its creation, I only made the animation. Cheers to the guys from "Wipe Club" (http://www.wipeclub.eu) for making the sound clip!

Cheers indeed!

The 10 Highest Rated Nintendo Wii Games of All Time, pt 2 of 2.

yet another break from actual gaming by Renzie Baluyut

Welcome to Part 2 of my special report on the Top 10 Highest Rated Games for the Nintendo Wii of all time, according to Gamespot.com.

After checking out the Nintendo Wii in action at a recent bloggers' party, I thought I might just get one for myself. After all, the Wii is great family fun.

In Part 1 of our special report, we've already mentioned five games: No More Heroes, Super Mario Bros. 3, Paper Mario, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Super Paper Mario.

So let's get on with our report and take on the five highest-rated Nintendo games of all time, according to Gamespot.com. Here we go:

5. Okami (released 15 Apr 2008)

This nature adventure game sees players assuming the role of a sun god who's attempting to restore life to a world devoid of color.

Ōkami is an action-adventure video game that was initially released for the Sony PlayStation 2. The port for Nintendo's Wii console was released in North America on April 15, 2008,

Set in an unspecified period of classical Japanese history, Ōkami combines several Japanese myths, legends and folklore to tell the story of how the land was saved from darkness by the Shinto sun goddess, named Amaterasu, who has taken the form of a white wolf. It features a distinct sumi-e-inspired cel-shaded visual style and the Celestial Brush, a gesture-system to perform miracles.

Ōkami was one of the last few PlayStation 2 games selected for release prior to the release of the PlayStation 3. Although it suffered from poor sales, Ōkami earned high acclaim from reviewers and earned, among other awards, the title of IGN's 2006 Game of the Year. The Wii version has earned similar praise though the motion control scheme has received mixed reviews from both critics and gamers.

4. WarioWare: Smooth Moves (released 15 Jan 2007)

The first next-gen installment in Nintendo's series includes over 200 minigames that use the Wii's motion-sensing controller.

WarioWare: Smooth Moves is the fifth game of the WarioWare series of games.

Like its predecessors, WarioWare: Smooth Moves is a collection of microgames based on simple actions which usually last fewer than five seconds each.

The microgames are played in rapid succession, presenting the player with the gameplay screen and a short instruction hinting at the action that must be accomplished. Once the microgame is complete, the next one begins. If a player makes four mistakes over the course of one set of microgames, they usually must start over from the beginning of the set.

WarioWare: Smooth Moves has received favorable reviews from the gaming community, receiving a score of 83 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on the average scores of 58 press reviews. GameSpot rated the game 9.1 out of 10, their highest rating for a party game, and stated that "it's a terrific use of the Wii's unique control features, it looks amazing...".

3. Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition (released 19 Jun 2007)

Resident Evil 4 heads to the Wii, incorporating the control functionality of the Wii Remote and the additional content included in the Playstation 2 version.

Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition, originally came out for the GameCube and then the PS2 later on, but was also released for the Wii on May 31, 2007 in Japan. While it features new controls involving the Wii Remote and Nunchuk extension, the game comes with the ability to use a Classic Controller instead.

The Wii Remote is able to aim and shoot anywhere on the screen with a reticle that replaces the laser sight found in the other versions. It can also be flicked in order to use the knife to instantly target an enemy.

The Wii Edition also includes the extra content from the PlayStation 2 and PC versions, and a trailer for Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles.

Resident Evil 4 has won numerous Game of the Year awards.

2. Super Mario Galaxy (released 12 Nov 2007)

Super Mario Galaxy finds Mario taking his adventures to new heights as he soars through space from planet to planet in search of stars.

Super Mario Galaxy is a 3D platform game developed and published by Nintendo for Wii. It is the third 3D platformer in the Mario series after Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine.

The game follows Mario on his quest through space to save Princess Peach from his arch-nemesis Bowser. Levels take the form of galaxies filled with a variety of minor planets and worlds while gameplay is updated with a variety of gravity effects and new power-ups.

The game is one of the most critically acclaimed titles of all time,and has won numerous "Game of the Year" awards. By March 31, 2008, it had sold 6.10 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling standalone Wii game and the third best-selling game published by Nintendo for the Wii behind Wii Sports and Wii Play, respectively.

1. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (released 09 Mar 9, 2008)

Duke it out with your favorite Nintendo characters in Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii!

Super Smash Bros. Brawl, or just simply SSBB, is the third installment in the Nintendo series of crossover fighting games.

Following its predecessors, Brawl uses a battle system unlike that of typical fighting games. Players can choose from a large selection of characters, each attempting to knock their opponents off the screen as they fight on various stages.

Instead of using traditional health bars that start at 100% and lose value, Brawl characters start the game with 0% and the value rises as they take damage. As a character's percentage increases, the character flies farther back when hit.

When a character is knocked beyond a stage's boundary and disappears from the screen, the character loses either a life or a point depending on the mode of play.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl had received an aggregate review score of 94% on Metacritic, and 93.3% on Game Rankings. As of March 31, 2008, it has sold a total of 4.85 million units worldwide.

So there you have it ladies and gentlemen, Part 2 of the Top 10 Highest Rated Games for the Nintendo Wii of all time, according to our dear friends from Gamespot. You can check out Part 1 of my special report here.

Here are five runner-ups that didn't quite make it to Gamespot's list of the ten highest-rated Wii games of all time. They're all good games, nevertheless, and probably worth your while checking out: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Mega Man 9, Mario Kart Wii, Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.

If you still want to know how your other favorite Nintendo Wii games fared against all the others, you can then check out the rest of Gamespot's top games for the Nintendo Wii here. Always a great reference if you're in the market for some really great games for the Wii, whether you're completing your collection, or just starting from scratch.

Game blurbs taken from Gamespot. Pictures and information courtesy of Wikipedia. Follow the links to read more about our featured 10 Highest Rated Nintendo Wii Games of All Time.

Cheers, everyone!

A History of Video Game Consoles, pt 1 of 2

a momentary break from actual gaming by Renzie Baluyut

Hey everyone. Just thought I'd do a public service discussing the History of Video Game Consoles. Some friends and I were talking about the days when we played our first ever video games- it was the Atari 2600 for me, and back then, if you had one at home, you were the coolest kid on the block.

Welcome to my two-part special on my personal gaming blog: Get Your Game On | Renzie on Gaming. Enjoy!

How It All Began

As early as 1951, a dude named Ralph Baer came up with the idea of interactive television, supposedly as he was building TVs from scratch back in New Youk. Baer was actually a television engineer, and so in 1966, created the first ever video game: two dots chasing each other around onscreen.

Sanders Associates, the company he was working for, gave Baer the go-ahead to go further, and threw some funding his way. Two other dudes were signed up: Bill Harrison, who came up with the idea of a light gun, aimed to hit a target moved by another player, and Bill Rusch who came up with the concept of the video ping-pong game.

The result was the protoype known as the "Brown Box" in 1968. It had 2 controllers, a light gun, and switches to determine which game you wanted to play.

The company Magnavox came on board in 1969 and used plug-in circuits to change the games instead of switches- giving birth to the first ever commercially released video game console in May 1972: The Magnavox Odyssey.

First Generation (1972-1977)

Aside from the Magnavox Odyssey, you also had the Pong game from Atari/Sears, which came out in the Christmas of 1975. You also had the Coleco Telstar, which also had its own line of games.

The first-gen consoles were not very successful commercially, however, owing to little support from their parent companies, and therefore not having a decent marketing push.

Second Gen (1976-1984)

Things started picking up though by 1977, when Atari came out with the Atari 2600, then later with the 5200.

You also had the Fairchild Channel F, the Magnavox Odyssey, Mattel's Intellivision, Milton Bradley's Vectrex, the Emerson Arcadia 2001, Colecovision, and the SEGA SG-100.

Though everyone enjoyed fairly brisk sales in the early 8-bit era, the most popular choice was still the Atari 2600, having a good selection of games that were also popular in the arcade.

We also saw the early handheld game consoles. Milton Bradly's Microvision was the first to come out in 1979, but didn't do so well commercially. You know what did though? Nintendo's Game and Watches, which came out in 1980.

The more popular games at the time? Pac-Man, Asteroids, Defender, Donkey Kong, Frogger, Space Invaders, Pitfall, Q*bert, Mario Brothers and Spy Hunter.

The video game crash happened in 1983, mainly because the market was oversaturated with all kinds of consoles, and mostly crappy games, as many companies only wish to just cash in on the video games craze of the early 80's, without really delivering much in the way of a great gaming experience.

For a time there, the future of gaming looked rather bleak- many companies have gone bankrupt and folded. Entire inventories had gone unsold, and were even used as landfill, the stories say.

Third Gen (1983-1992)

Nintendo's Family Computer (as it was known here in the Philippines), or Famicom (as it was known in Japan), or the Nintendo Entertainment System pretty much singlehandedly saved the video game industry, at least as far as consoles were concerned.

Its most popular titles? Super Mario Bros., the first Final Fantasy games, The Legend of Zelda, Dragon Quest, Contra, Metroid, Mega Man, Castlevania and Bomberman.

Nintendo also introduced the Gameboy, which started to dominate the handheld market in the late 80's.

Despite Nintendo's success in North America and most of Asia, Sega's Master System was more popular in Brazil, Australia and New Zealand.

Fourth Gen (1987-1996)

By this time, we saw the dominance of two new consoles: the Nintendo's SuperNES, and the SEGA Genesis.

We now saw 16-bit games, which looked so much better than their earlier counterparts. In fact, many of the popular titles from the third gen got themselves updated to 16-bit versions, but we also saw some newcomers- Sonic the Hedgehog, Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter were all popular fourth gen games.

Part 2 of my 2-part coverage of The History of Gaming Consoles comes up in a bit. We'll cover the rest of the gaming consoles all the way to the seventh gen, which would the consoles we have with us today.

Cheers, everyone!

The 10 Highest Rated Nintendo Wii Games of All Time, pt 1 of 2.

yet another break from actual gaming by Renzie Baluyut

If you're a dude like me who's just out to get a Nintendo Wii, you'd definitely want to fork over some extra cash in building up a decent enough games library. I'm really a PC games guy by default, but after checking out the Wii in action at a party I've been to recently, I just might reconsider getting one for myself.

Should be great when my cousins come dropping by the next time.

In any case, one of the best sites to do games research for me, has always been Gamespot. In their very own section for the Wii we can check out the highest-rated games that ever came out for Nintendo's seventh-gen console.

So ladies and gentlemen, here we have the first half of my 2-part special report on the Top 10 Highest Rated Games for the Nintendo Wii of all time, according to our dear friends from Gamespot. Starting off at number ten...

10. Super Paper Mario (released 09 Apr 2007)

Get ready for the next installment in Nintendo's Paper Mario RPG series, entitled Super Paper Mario.

Super Paper Mario is another role-playing game in Nintendo's Mario universe- the third in the Paper Mario series, in fact- but the style of gameplay is a combination of the previous Paper Mario titles AND Super Mario Bros. titles.

Unlike the RPG-style gameplay of previous Paper Mario games, the game combines platforming gameplay, RPG, and puzzle elements.

9. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (released 26 Feb 2007)

The N64 version of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time makes an appearance on the Wii Virtual Console.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is an action-adventure video game, originally developed for the Nintendo N64. Ocarina of Time is the fifth game in the Legend of Zelda series, but is actually a prequel to the other four that came before it.

The game received wide critical acclaim and commercial success. Despite a November 1998 release, it was the best-selling game of that year, and has sold over 7.6 million copies.

8. Paper Mario (released for the Wii on 16 Jul 2007)

Mario's paper-thin debut comes to the Virtual Console.

Paper Mario, known in Japan as Mario Story is a role-playing video game developed originally for the Nintendo 64. Paper Mario was re-released for Nintendo's Virtual Console in 2007.

Paper Mario is set in the Mushroom Kingdom as the protagonist Mario tries to rescue Princess Peach from Bowser. To do so, he must locate seven "Star Spirits" to negate the effects of the captured Star Rod, which grants invincibility to Bowser.

The game received a positive reaction from the media, attaining an aggregate score of 88% from Game Rankings and 93% from Metacritic.

7. Super Mario Bros. 3 (released for the Wii on 05 Nov 2007)

Mario ventures beyond the Mushroom Kingdom to battle Koopas across seven neighboring worlds using new power-ups like the Tanooki Suit.

Super Mario Bros. 3 is often considered one of the best Super Mario games.

It is the fifth release in the Super Mario video game series, which was first released for the Famicom in Japan and later on the NES in North America and PAL regions.

It is often regarded as one of the Nintendo Entertainment System's greatest games, and is the second best selling game for the NES, after Super Mario Bros.

The NES version was later re-released for the Wii's Virtual Console.

6. No More Heroes (released 22 Jan 2008)

From SUDA-51, creator of the surreal shooter Killer7, No More Heroes chronicles Travis Touchdown's rise to the top of the assassin's league.

No More Heroes is an action video game directed by Goichi Suda- or more known in Japan by the nickname Suda51.

Throughout the game, the player controls the character Travis Touchdown. The game has a free roaming world, allowing Travis to move around on foot or on his motorcycle, the "Schpeltiger". Gameplay is open-ended, with the concession that the player must kill the top ten assassins in order to make the storyline progress. There are numerous part time job side quests to earn money which can be spent on weapons, training sessions, clothes and video tapes.

So there you have it ladies and gentlemen, Part 1 of the Top 10 Highest Rated Games for the Nintendo Wii of all time, according to our dear friends from Gamespot. You can check out Part 2 of my special report here.

Here are five runner-ups that didn't quite make it to Gamespot's list of the ten highest-rated Wii games of all time. They're all good games, nevertheless, and probably worth your while checking out: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Mega Man 9, Mario Kart Wii, Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.

If you still want to know how your other favorite Nintendo Wii games fared against all the others, you can then check out the rest of Gamespot's top games for the Nintendo Wii here. Always a great reference if you're in the market for some really great games for the Wii, whether you're completing your collection, or just starting from scratch.

Game blurbs taken from Gamespot. Pictures and information courtesy of Wikipedia. Follow the links to read more about our featured 10 Highest Rated Nintendo Wii Games of All Time.

Cheers, everyone!

Waiting For Fallout 3

Just a little over a month more before Bethesda Software's take on the venerated role-playing classic hits stores. I gotta admit- I can't wait to get my grubby little fingers on my very own copy of Fallout 3.

For those unfamiliar with the title, the Fallout series of role-playing games was set in a post-apocalyptic, alternate reality. Remember the Cold War in the 50's? What if we actually went straight to World War 3 from there? In the Fallout universe, the survivors have been living in underground Vaults for several years, only to come out and find a desolate, wasteland of a world. And that pretty much sets the stage for Fallout.

Usually, you start out as a Vault-dweller, or as a descendant of vault-dwellers, and as you do some exploring and go about your business, you'd probably discover a greater evil on the rise, and you, as the reluctant hero, end up being mankind's last hope.

I'll probably go into the details of the first few games (Fallout, Fallout 2, Fallout Tactics, and the XBox's Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel) in my future posts. For now, it's enough to know that Bethesda Software- the dudes from the hugely successful Elder Scroll series of role-playing games, have so far done a great job in bringing back Fallout from the dead.

Here's the latest Fallout 3 video trailer from GameSpot. Enjoy.

Here's the very first trailer that came out earlier this year, if you missed it:

Fallout 3 comes out on October 28. Not just for the PC, but for the XBox 360 and the Playstation 3 as well. Can't wait!

Cheers, everyone!

Dead Space Out This Month

If you're a fan of sci-fi horror games like last year's BioShock, the X-box's Fatal Frame 2, the under-appreciated Clive Barker's Undying and the more classic System Shock 2 , then Dead Space is probably a game you should look out for.

A hands-on preview by Ricardo Torres is out on Gamespot. It's borderline spoiler-free, and gives you a good idea of what you'll be up to when you leap into the game.

You may have already figured it out: something goes terribly awry in some huge space vessel. A dear lady-friend is on board, so you're here to rescue her, and here you are trying to make heads-and-tails of the dismembered corpses you see all over. Yes, you also get to upgrade your gear- weapons, armor, and even special abilities- anything you can do to help you get to the bottom of this mess.

Ah, you can expect a lot of nasty beasties as well. And you know they get progressively more ornery as you make your way through the game. Monster bosses that await you at the end of each level? Likely so. But before we all get ahead of ourselves, why not go ahead and read the rest of the preview on Gamespot here.

Dead Space by Electronic Arts hits the shelves on October 20.

Cheers, everyone!

5 Ways of Dealing with Repetitive Strain Injury

Here's a post that I first published on another blog of mine, The Life and Times of The Renzie Man. A little bit of advice for all you fellow gamers out there, especially those who have yet to experience the pain and discomfort of Repetitive Strain Injury. Read on!

I’ve had the misfortune of not being able to type for more than a couple of weeks. The doctors said it’s RSI, or Repetitive Strain Injury. Or Cumulative Trauma Disorder (CTD). Or Work related Upper Limb Disorder (WRULD). Whatever it is, the joint area that connects my right pointy finger with the rest of the hand got all swollen up, and for a time, unbelievably painful, particularly with the smallest bit of movement.

Which meant that I was pretty much getting by with just the left hand for two weeks. So it’s been ice packs and hot packs for me, and a lot of pain killers.

On the plus side, I’m just a little more proficient with navigating with a mouse using my left hand.

It’s actually pretty serious, particularly for people who spend a big chunk of their waking hours in front of a computer. Surfing isn’t much of a problem. It’s really those who type a lot, or play games a lot, or in my case, both. Repetitive Strain Injuries can keep you from performing your job well, or if you’re a gamer, it can keep you away from that MMORPG you’ve been obsessively immersed in for days.

I do a lot of writing for clients (e.g. continually churning out articles and blurbs on a keyboard), on top of maintaining a number of blogs. After three to four hours of non-stop keyboard-work, what do you suppose I do to take a break? Play computer games! Oh the tendons on my hand are just happy to do more button-mashing and mouse-clicking!

You take your hand’s well-being for granted until the pain slowly creeps in. At first, it just feels a little tired. So you go on with your work-play routine anyway. Then you feel the joint stiffness. Swelling starts building up. After a day, the pain sets in- so bad that at this point, you can’t even move your mouse anymore, or type with both hands. The swelling spreads to the surrounding areas. It dies down after a while, but it still takes at least two weeks for you to get yourself back to two-hands-typing form.

Dealing With Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI)

1. Prevention is key. Don’t wait for RSI to happen to you. Or in my case, don’t let it happen again. Take a few minutes break after an hour of keyboard-mashing. Fifteen minutes every hour or hour-and-a-half should be alright. And use those fifteen minutes to do something else- not by checking Facebook, or Plurk. Really take time to walk away from the keyboard and recreate some other way. Make a sandwich, read a book or plant an herb garden or something.

2. Your state of well-being counts. Which means proper nutrition and lots of exercise. Strengthen those arm muscles to improve circulation and endurance. Drink lots of water. Eat the right kind of food.

3. Invest in more ergonomic keyboards, mice and other interfaces. There are lots of nice keyboards out there designed to keep the wrists in a more functional position while typing, as well as all kinds of gaming interfaces for those who play all day. Adaptive technology enables the consumer to have access to a wide selection of special keyboards, mouse replacements and even pen tablet interfaces and speech recognition software. Might be wise to consider these. Heck, I know I would.

4. Observe a good sitting work posture. Being conscious of your posture at work also plays a role in preventing Repetitive Strain Injury, or RSI (and a lot of other body pains for that matter).

5. When things start to go downhill, consult a licensed medical professional. The tendency of some people is to self-medicate. Unless you’re a medical professional yourself, you shouldn’t go ahead and pop some pills for the pain. Besides, there are a lot of available pain management protocols available for different kinds of Repetitive Strain Injuries, for different kinds of lifestyles. Help your doctor figure out the best one for you.

So there you have it. Hopefully it doesn’t happen to you- coz it’s really such a bitch to have, what with all the pain and discomfort.

Cheers, everyone!

Are You Ready For C&C: Red Alert 3?

If you're a fan of the Command & Conquer franchise, then you'll be pleased- even excited- to know that a third game in the Red Alert series is pretty much on its way.

For those of you who aren't quite familiar with the franchise, Red Alert is a real-time strategy game set in an alternate future, where the Allies, the Soviets, and now a third faction- the Empire of the Rising Sun- all go head-to-head in a World War III-scenario using Sonic Tanks, Tesla Coils and Intelligent Dolphins.

Check out this trailer I saw earlier on Gamespot:

Here are a couple other video trailers, just to keep you drooling in the meantime :D

Looks promising. Definitely will be keeping my eyes open for this one. Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 drops in stores on October 28 this year.

Cheers, everyone!

So You Wanna Get A Wii...

a quick break from actual gaming by Renzie Baluyut

I wouldn't blame you- the Nintendo Wii is a fine piece of gaming equipment. It should be great to have if you have the time to play it, and even more so if you're looking at getting the entire family involved.

Personally, I'm a PC gamer- have been one for as long as I can remember. Thanks to more free time these days, and spending more time with family, I'm seriously considering getting me a Wii.

Let's check out the Wii, shall we?

A Quick Look at the Nintendo Wii

As a seventh-generation console, the Nintendo Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3.

The Wii has consistently outsold both since its release. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3.

A distinguishing feature of the console is its wireless controller, the Wii Remote, which can be used as a handheld pointing device and detect movement in three dimensions. Another distinctive feature of the console is WiiConnect24, which enables it to receive messages and updates over the Internet while in standby mode.

The Wii is Nintendo's smallest home console to date; it measures 44 mm (1.73 in) wide, 157 mm (6.18 in) tall and 215.4 mm (8.48 in) deep in its vertical orientation, the near-equivalent of three DVD cases stacked together. The included stand measures 55.4 mm (2.18 in) wide, 44 mm (1.73 in) tall and 225.6 mm (8.88 in) deep. The system weighs 1.2 kg (2.7 lb),[65] which makes it the lightest of the three major seventh generation consoles. The console can be placed either horizontally or vertically.

Wii's Virtual Console

The Wii comes with the Virtual Console, a specialized section of the Wii Shop Channel, which is really an online service that allows players to purchase and download games and other software for Nintendo's Wii gaming console.

The Virtual Console lineup consists of titles originally released on now defunct past consoles. These titles are run in their original forms through software emulation, and can be purchased for between 500 and 1200 Wii Points depending on system and rarity and/or demand.

The library of past games currently consists of titles originating from the Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and Nintendo 64, as well as Sega's Master System and Mega Drive/Genesis, NEC's TurboGrafx-16 and TurboGrafx-CD, SNK's Neo Geo AES, Commodore 64 (Europe only) and MSX (Japan only).

Over ten million Virtual Console titles have been downloaded as of December 2007.

Using Your Wii

Using the Wii is often seen as being more physically demanding than other game consoles. Some Wii players have occasionally experienced a form of tennis elbow referred to as "Wiiitis".

A study published in the British Medical Journal states that Wii players use more energy than playing sedentary computer games. It is however indicated that while this energy increase may be beneficial to weight management, it is not an adequate replacement for regular exercise.

A case study published in the American Physical Therapy Association’s journal Physical Therapy focused on use of the Wii for rehabilitation of a teen with cerebral palsy. It is believed to be the first published research showing the physical therapy benefits resulting from use of the gaming system. Researchers say the gaming system complements traditional techniques.

Information and pictures courtesy of Wikipedia.

Check out this blog's special on the Ten Top-rated Wii Games of All Time, as ranked by Gamespot.

Cheers, everyone!

Top 10 Strategy Games for a Lower-End PC

Not too long ago, I had this officemate who has not upgraded his PC to current-day standards. It doesn't even run on a Core Duo, neither does it have a top-of-the-line graphics card, nor does it have broadband access to the internet- a real basic workstation.

Now that I think about it, most homes with personal computers probably have the barest of the bare; after all, the typical consumer probably uses the PC for basic word processing, surfing, searching and email, and basic media playback. Out of those, I would estimate 25% would be using their PCs for more advanced functions (photo/video/audio editing, 24/7 downloading, etc.), and probably only half of that percentage would have top-of-the-line gaming gear.

Nevertheless, there are a lot of great classic games out there- games that are so well-made and well-designed, which can, even to this day, provide hours and hours of entertainment. Much more so if you play them over and over again.

Anyway, said officemate asked me to hook him up with a few good classic strategy games, so I rummaged through my old collection and came up with this list of recommended titles:

• Starcraft (1998).
• Jagged Alliance 2 (1999).
• Hostile Waters: Anteus Rising (2001).
• Tropico (2001).
• Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (1999).
• MechCommander (1998).
• Emperor: Battle for Dune (2001).
• Age of Mythology (2002).
  
• Freedom Force (2002).
• Master of Orion (1997).

Starcraft (1998).

To this day, Starcraft remains one of the best-selling titles for the PC of all time. And with good reason: when Blizzard came out with Starcraft, it raised the bar not just for real-time strategy (RTS) games, but for all games in general.

The game revolves around three species: the Terrans, the Zerg and the Protoss, and their ongoing conflict for dominance over the known universe. Each faction has its own pros and cons; in fact, the game has been praised for coming up with three totally different but balanced factions available for play.

Starcraft is top-notch in terms of production: it has a compelling storyline, user-friendly interface, memorable characters, and one of the most-well designed games you will ever lay your hands on.

Jagged Alliance 2 (1999).

This game remains as one of my personal favorites of all time. Who else ever thought of coming up with a good squad-based strategy game, where you can hire (and fire) mercenaries, buy weapons and have a great time wresting control of an island nation from the hands of a despotic dictator?

You lead your team of mercenaries and take over the country one city at a time- in the process, raising citizen militia of your own, and gaining more support (as well as funding) so that you can get better weapons, equipment, and even hire better mercenaries to aid your cause.

I have it installed on my PC to this day. At least until Jagged Alliance 3 comes out this year.

Hostile Waters: Antaeus Rising (2001).

In the distant future, man has built the perfect utopian society. War was a thing of the past, at least until a cabal of old-school dictators decided to change the status quo.

Enter Antaeus- one of the last Carriers ever used in war. Equipped with powerful nano-robot creation engines, your job as commander is to take the Antaeus and bring the fight to the enemy- in a chain of island-fortresses where they are amassing their weapons of war.

As commander, you use the supercarrier Anteaus to build your own war machines: make choppers, hovercrafts and other vehicles, and plug in your pilots- stored personalities on special "soulcatcher" chips- and take on the enemy one island at a time. You can pilot these vehicles all on your own, or leave the driving (and the fighting) to one of your pilots- it's all up to you.

Tropico (2001).

Speaking of islands and dictators, how would you like to be a dictator of a third-world island nation?

Poptop Software came up with Tropico- the Carribean Island-building classic in 2001, where you get to play "El Presidente" and rule your island-country as you see fit: determine what kind of industries you want, provide housing for the people (or not, it's up to you!), sign laws and policies, control the media, curry favor with the church (or the communists- whoever you want!), even skim a few million to put away into your -ahem- retirement fund.

Whether you choose to bleed your country dry, or lead your island nation to a prosperous future is totally up to you.

Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (1999).

Picking up from where Civilization II left off, Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri allows you to play as one of seven fictitious Earth leaders out to colonize a brand new planet.

Firaxis came out with the game in 1999, and I have to say: for a game that came out almost 10 years ago, I have yet to see a 4X game (a strategy game where you explore your world, expand your territory, exploit resources and exterminate your enemy) that has just the right amount of depth and options for customization.

Also an added treat for me: the cutscenes that play whenever you complete a Secret Project. Great voice-acting, and tremendous replay value.

MechCommander (1998)

You want intense mech-on-mech action? MechCommander is the first ever MechWarrior game of tactical command. Set in the BattleTech Universe, it's one of the first games that lets you concentrate on a fixed number of units at the start of a mission, and you gain more Resource Points (RPs) as you accomplish specific mission objectives.

It's really more of a squad-based strategy game than a traditional 4X RTS. You decide which mechwarriors to take with you to a mission, which mechs they get to take with them, and even what kind of weaponry you want on your mechs: Long-range missiles? Particle projectile cannons? Heavy lasers? It's your unit- just bring em all back in one piece!

Emperor: Battle for Dune (2001).

From the same guys that gave you Command & Conquer- here's an RTS game set in the Dune Universe.

Play as one of the three great houses: Atreides, Ordos or Harkonnen. Watch out for those massive sandworms that can eat entire armies whole, run over infantry with your harvesters, and choose your allies among the other unaligned factions- The House of Ix, The Imperial Sardaukar, The Tleilaxu, The Spacing Guild and The Fremen.

Great RTS gaming whether you're a Dune fan or not- this game will at least get you interested in Frank Herbert's literary masterpiece. The Spice must flow!

Age of Mythology (2002).

Here's another bestseller from Ensemble Studios: Age of Mythology- a great RTS game which brings into play elements of Greek, Egyptian and Norse Mythology.

You play the role of Arkantos, an Atlantean admiral, on the trail of an evil cyclops named Gargarensis who managed to turn Poseidon against Atlantis. Your hunt for the villain eventually takes you through Greek, Egyptian and Norse lands, as you enlist the aid of powerful units- centaurian archers, huge axe-wielding minotaurs, mighty sphinxes, lumbering mummies, noble valkyries and packs of Fenris wolves to defeat your opponent.

Gain favor with the powers-that-be, and call upon the powers of the gods to bolster your army or smite your enemy- but remember, your opponent can pray to his gods to work against you as well!

Freedom Force (2002).

Wanna play superhero for a change? Freedom Force by Irrational Games provides a welcome change of atmosphere as far as strategy games go.

Lead a team of Silver Age-inspired superheroes fight criminal elements as well as super-powered villains in Patriot City. Build them up and unlock new powers, or you can even make your own superhero. Pokes fun at the campy superhero shows and comics from the 60's and 70's, but has some really intense and immersive gameplay elements.

The game has been so popular that complete DC and Marvel mods (in addition to regular fan-made mods) are available for downloading online.

Freedom Force is real fun to play- at least when DC and Marvel come up with their respective MMORPG's in the near future.

Master of Orion II: Battle at Antares (1996).

Why rule the world when you can rule the universe instead? Master of Orion II allows you to play an alien civilization (or human, or you can go ahead and make your own) and pit yourself against other alien civilizations to rule the known universe.

Colonize planets as you explore the galaxy, build up your colonies, research new technologies, and design your own battlecruisers and pit your fleet against the enemy's. Or you can go all diplomatic and pursue trade and research treaties. Eventually, the Antarans come raiding, picking out colonies at random, at least until you take the fight to them.

You think your new Death Star can handle those Antarans? Let's test the new Stellar Converter on that hapless planet over there...

What other classic strategy games can you recommend for a low-tech gaming rig?

Cheers everyone!