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Shipping this week: pass that puck edition
While the PC crowd is all about Spore this week, the Xbox 360 is all about hockey. We have not one but two different hockey games up for grabs. What's that? A sports league that isn't exclusive to a single publisher? It's bizarre, we know. So bizarre, in fact, that we almost forgot there are two other games on the list. So, which is it gonna be, hockey, robot animals, or spandex? NHL 2K9 TNA Impact! NHL 2009 Zoids Assault [Via Joystiq]
Top 5: Activities that Need Waggle
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/nintendo/Top_5_Activities_that_Need_Waggle'; Hardcore gamers sure do hate tacked-on waggle. Indeed, no one likes to flail their arms around like they're trying to signal aircraft when a simple button press will do. And the guys on the other sides seem to be under the impression that the Wii is nothing but a PS2 that replaces thumb pressing with wrist flicking. So when a new title or an iteration of an existing franchise gets announced for the Wii, the non-believers tend to thumb their snooty noses and prattle amongst themselves with ingenious statements like "Dead Rising on the Wii? More like Waggle Rising. YEAH! HIGH FIVE, BRAH!" All right, maybe they're not quite as neanderthalic, but the sentiment remains: the use of waggle is often met with skepticism from the core. To ignore the importance of waggle would be to forget what makes the Wii so awesome. Sure, some games have no real need for motion-based controls, but let us not forget the joy and immersion experienced by the non-gamer who first picked up a Wiimote and found themselves instantly engaged in a lively tennis match. To downplay motion controls would be to forget what made the Wii so successful in the first place. Without it, the Wii would be just a beefed-up GameCube. (THERE, I said it!) Just for a moment, let us forget about why Super Mario RPG has yet to be released on the North American Virtual Console and go back to the flood of imagination we felt when the Wiimote was first unveiled. Here are the activities we wish were made into games on the Wii. NEXT >> #ninbutton { border-style: solid; border-color: #000; border-width: 2px; background-color: #BBB; color: #000; text-decoration: none; width: 100px; text-align: center; padding: 2px 2px 2px 2px; margin: 2px 2px 2px 2px; } .buttontext { color: #000; text-decoration: none; font: bold 14pt Helvetica; } #ninbutton:hover { text-decoration: none; color: #BBB; background-color: #000; } The Top 5 is a weekly feature that provides us with a forum to share our opinions on various aspects of the video game culture, and provides you with a forum to tell us how wrong we are. To further voice your opinions, submit a vote in the Wii Fanboy Poll, and take part in the daily discussions of Wii Warm Up.
E308: NHL 2K9 demo gets us pumped for hockey
We haven't highlighted many sports games at E3 (unless you count Wii Sports Resort), but NHL: 2K9 is different, as it's the first legitimate hockey game to hit Nintendo's console. We are some very hockey-starved individuals, so we're keeping a cautious eye on this one. You can see a little bit of the game for yourselves in the demo above, and maybe we're just easy to please, but we like what we've seen so far.Ignoring the fact that the 2K rep is blatantly (and unconvincingly) reading a script, we appreciate some of the features he highlighted. Getting into fights sounds like fun (and makes us wistful for the days of Mutant League Hockey), as well as the simple but clever Zamboni driving. Seriously, who's never wanted to drive a Zamboni? At least we'll sort of get the chance now, even if it has to be through virtual means.The rep also takes special care to mention the Wii game and its controls, which he says are simple but work well (as you hold the Wiimote like a hockey stick). Sounds good to us.
NHL Hockey finally comes to the Wii
NHL for the Wii? All we can say is, it's about damn time.Sure we've had football, baseball, soccer, and even tennis grace our precious white consoles, but hockey has been sorely missing from the group -- unless you count Ice Hockey and Kidz Sports Ice Hockey, which we don't. Finally, 2K Sports has stepped up and is bringing NHL 2K9 to the Wii. We don't know much about the game, except that it's coming, which is enough for us at the moment. Oh, and it will utilize the Wii's motion controls, in case you had any doubts.[Via press release]
Rick Nash covering NHL 2K9
Two key announcements have been made for fans of 2K Sports' NHL franchise. First, and more importantly of course, Rick Nash has been tapped as the cover athlete of NHL 2K9. This coming from a memorable season for the Columbus Blue Jackets where they, you know didn't make the playoffs. But that's besides the point!The second, and way less important, is developer Visual Concepts is "taking over" the development reigns of the game instead of working with Kush Games and promises to rebuild the game from the ground up. Surprising changes would be made due to the fact that 2K8 was one of the second best hockey game available according to Metacritic.Some things you may want to consider about this post. One, Rick Nash? Really? Two, building the title from the ground up? Thank goodness. Three, there were only two hockey games last year.Oh, sorry to any Nash or Blue Jackets fans. I'm a Leafs fan, so what do I know?
Blue Jackets' Nash to front NHL 2K9
Sure he and his team may have missed the playoffs yet again and are likely fantasizing about what might have been while swinging at balls from the back nine, but that hasn't stopped Columbus Blue Jackets' young-yet-impressive captain Rick Nash from scoring cover duty on Take Two's fall release of NHL 2K9. Also worthy of note from 2K is that developer Visual Concepts has "taken over" development duties for this latest game in the franchise -- as opposed we assume to working in tandem with fellow studio Kush Games -- and that the devs are rebuilding the title "from the ground up."Not to take anything away from three-time All Star Nash, but it's still an odd choice, at least by team standings, given the Blue Jackets' once again abysmal campaign during the 2007-08 regular season that saw the fledgling team rank near the bottom of both the Western Conference and overall league in points. However, perhaps those who make these kinds of decisions are hoping this is the sort of voodoo that will turn Ohio's NHL franchise around -- sort of like a reverse Madden curse.
