Friday, May 4th, 2007

haven't been in a huge hurry to get updates done. I never really am, despite all my news updates saying, "Oh crap, I haven't updated in forever and I plan to stick to a tighter update schedule."

Will I ever get an update schedule that I'll stick to? I'd like to. It would be fun to not constantly alienate all my readers. God knows I've worked my ass off in an effort to get as many as I have right now.

What's been going on lately? Well, for one thing, the Wii's Virtual Console has made it incredibly easy to slack on making updates. So, write Nintendo and call them bastards for giving me -- a born procrastinator -- something with which to push everything else off.

However, I would be remiss if I did not give the self-serving list of fun things I've picked up here and there concerning the Wii (that, and someone on the forums asked me to do a little review of a specific game -- see if you can guess which!):

Tiger Woods PGA Tour '07:

Pro #1: There's an insane number of ways to customize your character. My girlfriend says I look nothing like mine. That's okay, she looks nothing like hers! I have a pretty sweet set of khakis and a nice red hoodie, though, thanks to my sponsorship by Oakley!

Pro #2: It's easy to aim shots and pick clubs according to your specific shot need. Most of the time, the game does a nice job of picking the appropriate club for you.

Pro #3: Overall, fun to play. It's got a number of different customizable features -- such as music during the game, skill levels, and a number of different ways to play. Very thorough.

Con #1: Where's the crowd in the Wii version? I can hear them cheering my sexy shooting ability, but I can't see them. Sorta takes away from the "playing in a tournament" feel.

Con #2: It's still the Wii, which means the controller has a tendency to screw you in the middle of a swing. I lost a couple  challenges because the remote decided it wanted to launch the ball at 50% before I even had a backswing established. Happens rarely, but when it does, you'll be thankful the wrist restraint discourages throwing the remote into a wall.

Con #3: The putting system is really -- strange. Once you land on the putting green, a weird grid system pops up. Small lights lining the system run slow for little inclines, fast for larger inclines. Truthfully, the Wii Sports putting system is much better.

Con #4: They could've found a better way to do the informative graphics that pop right in the middle of the screen when it's your turn. Not only are they in the middle of the screen, but they have a rather annoying "visual echo," for lack of a better explanation. Throw that crap on the side or bottom of the screen!

Overall, it's a great game. There's much more variation than Wii Sports Golf, though we find ourselves popping in WS Golf instead of Tiger Woods when we want to keep it simple. Nine holes is unfortunately quite short, but it's still fun.

Among the nostalgic tidbits I picked up for the Virtual Console:

Dungeon Explorer (TurboGrafx16): nostalgic goodness. A friend and I used to live across the street from one another. We played DE pretty often around the age of 12 or 13. We were your typical gamer geeks. Still supports five players.

I headed over to a friend's apartment with the Wii. Four of us played, though they didn't really understand that walking into fire-spewing statues was a bad idea. More than one player can get confusing, but the hilarity never ends.

Dragon's Curse (TurboGrafx16): surprisingly pain-in-the-ass, even fifteen or so years later. I caught myself bitching at the TV a few times and thought, "Wow. Just like old times." It's only one player, but it'll keep you busy. Excruciatingly cheesy nowadays unless you're playing it for nostalgic value.

Elevator Action (NES): Yeah, this was a bad decision. Not even nostalgia can save it. It's first on the list of things I'll delete if I run out of room.

Castlevania (NES): Hot damn, this game was bastardly when I was a kid. I've only beaten it once. Fortunately, I remember most all the tricks in the game. Incredibly catchy tunes for its time. I remember playing this a lot during the holidays.

Dracula remains the single most evil bastard end-game boss. I cruised through most of the game only to hit a great big blood-sucking fatty roadblock when I finally got to him.

Super Ghouls & Ghosts (SNES): Visually, well done. Musically, somewhat of a letdown. I remember the Genesis version being a bit better. It still remains insanely challenging, though. I almost had to walk away after spending an hour trying to pass the first level.

An update on sushi restaurants for those of you in Chicago or the Chicagoland area: we've recently changed our sushi restaurant preference from Oysy to Ra. Their wings kick ass.

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