61 Frames Per Second : wii ware

The Best News In Sixteen Thousand Years: Cave Story Coming to WiiWare

Nadia Oxford — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 21:06:00 GMT

Well, there were rumours about this possibly happening. I remained cynical and said, "Naaaaah," but I was just putting on my icy bitch act (wait, act?) to keep my heart from being broken. Oh the tears I shed at night in hopes that Pixel's beautiful Cave Story would come legitimately to WiiWare, XBLA, PSN, a Tiger Handheld game, anything that let me get my fix through a different means.

And now, Praise Ballos...

I've ripped through Cave Story forwards, backwards and upside-down; if someone wrote a Cave Story Gama Sutra, I would totally flip through it and nod confidently at, uh, half the positions, I guess. I haven't finished Hell, you see.

I have reason to delay my attempts even further, since there are whispers that the WiiWare edition of Cave Story will have extra features. Fascinating. I wonder what they'll be? Probably Mega Man 9-style achievements that will validate our lives like religion and community service never could.

Perhaps the story will be fleshed out more, though I don't think Cave Story needs that. Its storytelling is beautifully subtle; pretty cute and funny with something thin and dark coiled around it. There aren't many games, movies or novels around that can actually make bloodthirsty rabbits seem daunting without turning it into a Monty Python tribute.

Related Links:

Spelunking Through Cave Story
EPIC Cave Story Medley on Piano
Underpowered Cave Story "Ports"

New Mega Man 9 Trailer: I'm Drowning in My Childhood

Nadia Oxford — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 00:18:00 GMT

Don't throw me a lifejacket, though. I'm quite happy here.

On its way to gearing up for E3, IGN posted a fresh new Mega Man 9 trailer. For starters, the trailer finally confirms that Mega Man 9 is in fact destined for PSN and XBLA as well as WiiWare. Game news outlets and even series creator Keiji Inafune have been back and forth about this. In a recent interview with GamesRadar, Inafune said "We haven’t announced a XBLA or PSN title yet. Do the fans want them?"

I guess he was playing around, that sly dog. I revere him.

The trailer includes a good deal of gameplay footage. Lots of pits, spikes, and those disappearing-reappearing blocks that used to haunt your childhood nightmares. I know a certain robot dog who will be fitted with his jet upgrade as soon as possible.

What's really thrilling to see make a return are the big colourful animal robots that would block your progress in Mega Man 2 and beyond. A circus elephant with a big red ball will be joining the mechanimal stable, which includes notables like Hot Dog from Mega Man 2, those damnable orange cats from Mega Man 3 and of course, Dragon. You know what game Dragon is from, right? He made you crap your Alf underwear when he first appeared. Don't deny it.

Little bits of the opening story are available in the trailer as well. Looks like Mega Man's dealing with a good ol' fashioned robot rebellion with just the slightest twist of intrigue: Dr Light has been framed for the latest party. Otherwise, as far as I can tell, there's no mysterious new heroes, no angst, no batty Biblical references. Good.

Other characters might be playable, though. Did you happen to spot Roll clinging onto the RushJet for dear life? It's funny because housekeeper robots are supposed to stay in the kitchen! Ha ha!

Mega Man 9 Goes Back To Your Roots. Way Back.

Nadia Oxford — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 17:00:00 GMT

If you grew up playing the Nintendo Entertainment System, then you also grew up with a persistent blue scamp named Mega Man. The adventures of the little boy robot and his red dog take us back to long hours spent in chilled suburban basements, stuffing our gobs with pizza while eluding Dr Wily's robots.

The Mega Man series has given birth to no less than six spin-off series over the past twenty years, taking us far away from those days of greasy control pads and cherry Kool-Aid. The last entry in the original series (as in, numerical sequels without any extra letters attatched to "Mega Man") was Mega Man 8, released over a decade ago. It was no surprise when recent whispers about Mega Man 9 were dismissed as rumour.

But lo, the August issue of Nintendo Power talks to series creator Keiji Inafune about the phantom game, which is a phantom no more. The original Mega Man is back. Literally. Mega Man 9 will feature NES-style graphics and will be available for download on Xbox Live, Playstation Network and as a Wii Ware title.

These are not "NES-style graphics" as in neon-shaded highlights slapped over old sprites that throb obsencely to pumping music. Looking at the screenshots in Nintendo Power will hit you so hard with memories of Mega Man 2, your teeth will rattle.

The simplicity is a pretty big jump back from the lush graphics of Mega Man 8. I mean, nostalgia is awesome, but dayumn.

Still, maybe this is what the gaming world needs. A budget-priced download that will doubtlessly provide at least a few hours of uncomplicated hardcore platforming. I know I'm due for my fix.

Oh, and what's a Mega Man title without its harem of Robot Masters? Mega Man 9's stable reportedly includes: Magma Man, Galaxy Man, Jewel Man, Concrete Man, Hornet Man, Plug Man(!!!!), Tornado Man and Splash Woman(???) .

I don't know what to say about Splash Woman. I guess I wanted to see a female robot master when I was eight years old, but I'm kind of over the gender inequality now. It's a good trade-off for blowing up evil robots.

And the less I speculate about Plug Man, the better.

World of Goo: The Art,The Design, The Anticipation!

John Constantine — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 17:00:00 GMT

Written by Derrick Sanskrit

One of the most anticipated games of the summer has nothing to do with espionage, ninjas, plumbers, cars, guns, monsters or anything else from the typical gaming milieu. Its a game about globs of goo and action puzzling. Most impressively, its a game made by two dudes with no studio support. I'm referring, of course, to 2D Boy's World of Goo for the PC, Mac, Linux and Wii.

Within the short period of time since its announcement, World of Goo has become a shining beacon of what can be done by indie game developers. The trailers and critic reactions so far have earned World of Goo a reputation as a charming, original experience, a real labor of love for designer Kyle Gabler and Ron Carmel. As their mission statement says, "(We) make games that everyone can play, with gameplay nobody has seen before."

Just look at the love and care put into this one graphic for the game:

Wowzers! And the gameplay looks even better:

Seeing all of this coming from just two guys and waiting anxiously for the game's release is like watching a rising artist paint a masterpiece and waiting to see it framed in a gallery. The anticipation is high. You know it's fantastic, you just want to be able to show your friends and experience it at your own leisure, taking it all in. 2D Boy, you do your thing. We here at 61FPS hope that all of your love and hard work pay off, and we can't wait to rave about how much fun World of Goo is to play.