shovelware
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Phoenix plans twelve games to avoid this year
digg_url='http://digg.com/nintendo/12_DS_and_Wii_Games_to_Avoid_From_Phoenix'; Generally, when it comes to the DS, we tend to associate the name "Phoenix" with good things. European publisher Phoenix Games, though, is determined to break the mold, tainting the name we've come to know and love on our handhelds. The company is bringing twelve games to the DS this year (with twelve Wii titles to match), none of which sound fun unless you like the sound of Jungle Crew, Love Heart, and Dalmatians 4.Grabbed from the bowels of the "rejected game ideas" pile, these twelve games probably never even had a chance. Of course, if they're developed with care, we'd be able to overlook some bad concept decisions. Seeing how Phoenix is popping them out faster than an over-sexed rabbit, though, we doubt this is the case. Even though these games are budget titles and obviously marketed to kids, we don't think we're being too harsh. Phoenix has a track record for releasing awful titles, and we wouldn't recommend subjecting children to these horrors. For a list of what games to expect from Phoenix, check out the company's website here.[Via GoNintendo]
WRUP: Choose your shovelware edition
Checking this week's releases, the titles on that list have become quite the story. The whole debate over shovelware on the Wii and its possible benefit or harm to the console is one that is likely to not resolve in quite some time. So, we wonder about how we'll game through the time times up until we get No More Heroes and, after, a crack at paradise.How will you get through? Get a new title over the holidays you have yet to finish?
Wii Warm Up: Let's talk shovelware
Shovelware: it's been an issue since the Wii took off. Some people are concerned, some don't care, and some think that any attention on the console is good attention, but today? We're not interested in where you stand on that, or on the origins thereof; we talked about that yesterday, after all. Oh, we care, but we have some other things we want to know today. What we want to know is: how many people do you know who buy things you might consider shovelware, and why? Is it the box that lures them in? The sound of a game? Is it that they don't ever read reviews?
Shovelware: A cause and effect
Wii owners certainly can't complain about the number of third-party games available for the console. As MTV's Stephen Totilo puts it, where there was once a game drought for Nintendo systems (specifically in the N64 and GameCube eras), there's now a flood. What Wii owners can complain about, however, is that a lot of these Wii games are nothing but shovelware. But, how do these games end up on the popular console? And, is it even ultimately a bad thing that they do?
How Destineer dropped 6 Wii games in one week
If you browsed the Wii section of your local video game store this week you may have seen a glut of new racing games, a kid's basketball title and whatever Myth Makers: Orbs of Doom is. The shocker isn't that the Wii got a heap of shovelware, it's that this whole lot was coming from one publisher that you've likely never heard of: Destineer. MTV Multiplayer grilled the company's CEO about how a company goes from Nowheresville to releasing six titles in one week.The answer? Well, basically, the company found them. Boss Paul Rinde told MTV that while in Europe, he ran across group called Data Design Interactive that was looking for an American publisher to work with, and a match in budget heaven was made. So, if you're wondering how many Wii games are waiting in the wings, there's your answer: They are littered across the ground, inviting strolling publishers to pick them at their leisure like ripened blackberries and foist them on to an unsuspecting public.But is that necessarily a bad thing? And if so, who is it bad for? Rinde makes a fairly convincing case that the market isn't at full saturation, but what do you think?
Brothers in Arms gonna rock Wii like it's 2005
Granted, some might say there's a lot of -- oh, what's the polite term being used -- "shovelware" coming to the Wii. Evidenced today by the mega-list released by Nintendo, but there's a game that even got the guys over at Wii Fanboy a little skeeved: Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 was a great game ... in 2005. As Wii Fanboy puts it, other than giving it motion controls, "what other improvements could Ubisoft hope to make to the title to validate it on the Wii?"An extreme possibility is Wi-Fi play, as multiplayer was a component of the original game. Mostly though, Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 gives the haters more ammunition that the Wii is a great repository for old games "now with waggle." Nintendo should definitely attempt to craft good relationships with third-party developers and not continue down this path of "Nintendo is all about first party," but it's hard to see how allowing three year old games to make a second run with added Wiimote support is helping. It's still early enough in the Wii's life for this to be minimal, but third-party ports of old games will hopefully not be on the Wii justification list in 2008.[Via WiiFanboy]
Rumor: Carnival Games
Here's a rumor that's easy to believe: Gamefly has a listing for an upcoming game called Carnival Games from budget publisher Global Star Software (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Scaler). Carnival Games sounds like a collection of uncomplicated midway-style attractions like ring toss and a shooting gallery; in other words, more minigames. It's a pretty safe assumption, we think, that something called Carnival Games won't turn out to be an RPG or a fighting game, right?We don't necessarily blame Global Star for (allegedly) taking the easy way out, because they do budget games, but we feel like we should deliver the following message to publishers: stop making minigames. At least put a year-long moratorium on them. Let's try to diversify the Wii library a little.
