The game starts out with Mario, Luigi, Peach and the Toads being in Peach’s Castle celebrating her birthday. Suddenly a large cake appears and from it the Koopalings jump out and captures Peach and escapes in a Doomship. Mario, Luigi and two Toads, blue and yellow, give chase which starts the whole adventure. From Peach’s Castle, two red Toads shoot out Peach’s birthday presents that are different power-ups to assist the heroes in the search of Peach.

Three new items are introduced to the game, the Propeller Suit which allows Mario to spin up in the air to gain access to other areas, the Ice Flower, which was seen in Super Mario Galaxy, as the opposite of the Fire Flower, and finally the Penguin Suit which works in the same way as the Ice Flower but allows one to glide on land and got better control in water and on ice.

The Mini Mushroom appears along with the classic Mario items. Yoshi appear as well having a similar role as in Super Mario World with Super Mario World 2 elements, such as being able to flutter in the air for a short distance.

The biggest news with N.S.M.B.W is the multiplayer mode, where one can join forces with a friend at the same time to play cooperative or competitive. Co-Op is not a new thing, but new for a Mario game who until now had been the same until now, with the small exception of Galaxy where another player could assist Mario/Luigi with his/her Wiimote.
What negative sides does New Super Mario Bros Wii have then? Well, there are a few things that make me complain.

The first is the length. The main story is too short for being a Mario game, it took me 2 days to complete it. This is somewhat redeemed when the search for Star Coins and the hunt for the 9:th World starts, but the game should have had at least 12 Worlds with an extra hard world to make it enjoyable.

The second is the soundtrack. The majority of the music is from New Super Mario Bros, remade for the Wii. There are some catchy tunes but sadly it didn’t give the WOW-feeling that Super Mario Galaxy gave me when I heard the soundtrack for the first time.

Thirdly, the lack of online gameplay, compete online with other players from all-around the globe would be awesome or why not cooperate to take down that castle that always bothered you? Online gameplay is something you have to learn Nintendo, but don’t fail like you did with Super Smash Bros Brawl.

Overall, N.S.M.B.W is great and definitely worth to buy, despite the negative factors. With Super Mario Galaxy 2 around the corner along with other games, this is a great game to play while you wait for them!

Back to finding the Star Coins…

©2012 Noob Talk Gaming Community. All Rights Reserved.

Top 5 things troubling Nintendo

• Microsoft and Sony getting their own motion controllers

With 2010 just around the corner, so is the new inventions of competitors Sony and Microsoft. Seeing that motion controlling is Nintendo’s only real “hook” to their console. That and Mario. And when two consoles with real HD graphics comes along and offers the same (basically) ways of controlling the games through people’s motions – why stay with the Wii? Sure, Super Mario Galaxy 2 and the impending Zelda game, none of which are likely to boast any new gameplay features.

• Lack of software – losing hardcore gamers attention
  
  As I was saying – Nintendo haven’t really performed for a long time, have they? I mean what have they released in 2009 that is of any real significance?
  
  MadWorld – Commercial failure
  Punch-Out – Does anybody still remember this game?
  The Conduit – The Killzone 2 of the Wii… without the critical acclaim, sales and amazing graphics.
• Novelty wearing off
  
  Does anybody above the age of 12 still care about the Wii? I mean… really?
• Not enough kids in the world
  
  With the PS3 sales topping the Wii sales worldwide, it is evident that there just aren’t enough kids in the world. Joking aside (not joking, though) the sales of the Wii going down could very well be because some sort of saturation in the market – people are just tired of the Wii. They’ve tried it and it was fun for the while it lasted. How many games of tennis can you actually play before you just don’t want to anymore?
• Poor performances at recent Game expos
  
  Even though you might not have too much to show, you can still make a grand show about it! It’s all about lasers, you see. Lasers and semi naked chicks. Did you see this year’s E3? How about GDC? TGS? Yeah, I thought so – It’s like they’re not even trying.

Top 3 things troubling Sony

• Keeping up with current boost
  
  Sony have had an AMAZING year so far and it’s only going to get better, the only question is – how long can they keep this up? The steady stream of terrific games has truly spoiled us gamers, especially us who have stood by the PS3 since launch. I just hope that Sony keeps this wave going and it looks like they might pull it off, seeing as 2010 is looking VERY promising with titles like Gran Turismo 5, God of War 3, Heavy Rain and FFvXIII on the development line, with even more unannounced!
• Securing exclusives
  
  Grand Theft Auto, Final Fantasy, Devil May Cry and many others are extremely popular franchises that have served Sony very well in the past only to go multiplatform and leave Sony with an, often, inferior version. I understand that securing exclusives is EXPENSIVE and that Sony are very noble to not pay off developers to make games for their system but this is a WAR, gentlemen. Now pony up that cash if you want to emerge as the victor.
• Price? How about old franchises.
  
  Enough about the damn price, already. It’s $299 for a blu-ray player, gaming device, media streamer, barbeque grill (if pics are to be trusted) with lots of HDD space, free online, built-in Wi-Fi and loads of other nifty features. What do I think that Sony really needs to push the PS3?Old franchises. There are about 125 million PS2s sold in the world and they probably love the machine. Why wouldn’t they? It’s reliable, accessible and with a HUGE library of games. Many of these games are franchises that are owned by Sony, some of these that need to be continued and put on the PS3 post haste. Who wouldn’t want to play the next installment of Spyro, Crash Bandicoot, Sly Raccoon, Syphon Filter, etc… on the Playstation 3? I know I that I would.

(I know that Crash and Spyro do not belong to Sony anymore, but they really should buy them back and bring it back to their former glory)

Top 3 things troubling Microsoft

• Sony.
  
  That’s right, Mr. Gates. That limping little runt of a console that seemed doomed from the start just popped some pills and they’re coming for your ass. Better watch out! Sure, you might be a couple of millions of consoles ahead of them but seeing as they are outpacing you for every month that goes, Microsoft better have something big stored for the future. And please, no Halo.
• Natal
  
  This could go both ways, really. Either it could be a huge success and sweep everybody off their feet, bringing tears to eyes of infants and the elderly alike – or it could bomb and cost Microsoft lots of money. Myself, I believe that if they’re supporting it like they are the 360 (software-wise) it could end very poorly. People really need a reason to buy it and a couple of mini-games will not suffice.
• More exclusives
  
  What true console exclusives have been released for the 360 this year?Forza 3
  Halo Wars
  Star Ocean 4 (coming for the PS3, though)

  ‘nuff said, to be honest. Microsoft – you have to show us some more love.

©2012 Noob Talk Gaming Community. All Rights Reserved.

On the last few years, soccer fans have been very disappointed by the PES titles. Starting with the little glitches of the game and ending up with the awful in game menu,  Pro Evolution Soccer lost it’s king of football title, leaving the crown to be taken by the FIFA series developed by EA.  Fortunately for us, Konami decided to listen to what the gaming community has to say, and after gathering a lot of resources from different forums, they finally managed once more to create a master piece.

The first thing that strikes you from the moment you start the game is the user friendly interface (which now is actually friendly). Although the old black and pink color scheme remains,  menus are better organized,  also giving the player more control over the team’s tactics or line up formation.

Once you start the game, if you do not really look for small aspects that really matter you will get the feeling that this is just an ordinary soccer game. But it’s always the details that make the difference. Thanks to the remodeled graphics engine, the players, the pitch and everything else looks more realistic than ever before. Animations are more lifelike, and the players resemblance  is astonishing. Also, some work on the interaction with the ball has been done, adding even more on the scale of realism.  One more noticeable thing is that the in game character do not only look like the football players in real life, but they also have the same attributes like them (shooting,speed etc)

One thing that could have been improved ages ago in PES is the free kick system. Sometimes it feels like you have no control on them what so ever. I don’t say that the targeting  in the old FIFA versions was good (aim a circle and shoot the ball exactly in that direction), but Konami could have come up by now with a brilliant idea on how to improve it, especially that many players have complained about this. Also the penalty shots have been changed a little, it’s just a minor change between the camera angles when the player executes it,the view now  being normal( from above/side ). I don’t really know if this affects the game in any way but as long as it’s something different from the other versions, in a game like this it’s a good thing.  Speaking of penalty shots, I was quite surprised to see that the AI players do miss A LOT.  Let’s face it, it’s not acceptable  to miss like 2-3 penalties in a game,  thing that happens here quite often even when playing against well known team. What’s more, is that the opponent players just rush to you when you have the ball. Well that’s the idea you may say.True, but they rush in high numbers, sometimes 4-5 players grouping near one man,and simply acting like a wall, stopping the opposition. (speaking of men.. I really want to see a PES version with women) .Maybe a little more tweaking on the AI would have helped a little. Some minor adjustments could have been made on the commentators as well. They seem to be argued with one another as they never engage in dialogues, one of them does not even speak so much, making the presentation rather boring sometimes. One thing that was funny to encounter during playing was players simulating faults (did not see it in previous versions).  Of course that the referee does not leave that act unpunished so if the AI players try to get away with it, they will be booked. Looking forward for a version where they will kick you in the chest with the head.

That’s about all that can be said about PES 2010. I only presented the things that are less/more different than the other versions, I am not going to talk about the principles of a football-sim game because everyone has played or seen on TV a football match.

©2012 Noob Talk Gaming Community. All Rights Reserved.

A few years back, Nintendo promised something great – Games with motion control, letting the player BE the game. Letting the player navigate great, epic worlds by merely using their hands and bodies… Wonderful, is it not?

Then reality came crashing down and countless of worthless gimmicky games later, here we are.

The Wii Motion Plus. (Yeah, Mario and Zelda were brilliant. I thought that Metroid Prime 3 was somewhat overhyped but, then again I never was a fan of the series)

What pisses me off about the Wii Motion Plus is that it’s three years fucking LATE. That’s what Nintendo promised in the first case, seamless 1-to-1 controllers with enough precision to make a fruit fly ejaculate.

And now what? Now the Wii Motion Plus has arrived in all of its overpriced glory and for what? Which brings me to the next contestant!

Sony’s Magic Wand… thingy.

Originally, I had nothing but good things to say about this. Even though I haven’t tried it in any way, it’s still a pretty interesting concept, if not a very new one at that.

Basically, it’s a Wii-mote BUT – it’s got teh CELL proces0rz… In all honesty, though, I believe that Sony’s Magic Wand will be big. (teehee!)

Why, you ask?

Well imagine it. We get true 1-to-1 controlling AND amazing graphics to boot. Haven’t you always secretly despised the Wii graphics? Sure, the controllers are great in many cases, but the graphics are out-dated. I’m not a graphics whore by any means, I happen to believe that story-driven gameplay goes before everything, but when you know that you can have something much better, why stay with Nintendo? I just hope that Sony realise the potential of their invention and don’t make the same mistake they did with the deceased EyeToy…

What they need to do? Get third party support! Capcom are already making Resident Evil 5 with the new motion control, getting more support would make many people seriously consider for which platform they decide to purchase a game. Just incorporating small things using the motion controller in a game could be well-worth the purchase. It could be something major like aiming, like RE5 and Dead Space or perhaps building entire games around it? According to sources, there will be an invasion of Wii titles on the PS3 coming along as soon as the Magic Wand ‘drops’ Spring 2010…

Speaking of third party support, I believe that I have forgotten someone…

Project Natal…

Oh dear… Okay, let’s tally up some facts?

I’m not going to go very in-depth into this, but here’s what I know and believe.

1. Microsoft does not have as many first-party developers as Sony.
2. Microsoft has interesting technology, but how much will it cost?
3. Project Natal is basically a glorified version of the EyeToy, in many ways. There’s no real link between the Player and the game.

I’ll explain it abit, I suppose.

Microsoft have shown that their Project Natal uses 3D tracking in order to send information to the 360 where it gets calculated etc… But my question is: How the hell is this going to work in gameplay?

As far as I know, Microsoft have shown only a handful of games for Natal, one of them being some sort of mini-game where you try to ricochet balls through a corridor and make them hit boxes in order to score. Fine, that could be fun when you’re drunk or if you’re eight. The other real GAME that I saw was not actually a full game, a copy of Burnout Paradise that had been altered to work using Natal.*

Which is awesome – sort of.

You see, you sit in your chair and keep your arms out like you’re holding a steering wheel and it looked to be very accurate, which is good! And then they showed how you accelerate – by pushing your foot slightly forward. OK…

My only question would be – Is this how every Natal game is going to work? Are they going to try to make hardcore FPS games with this control scheme? Running forward by pushing your foot forward and holding your arms up at all times, as if you’re holding a gun? Are you supposed to run in place to make Marcus Fenix move his overcompensating arse to that chest-high wall that just magically appeared between him and a slew of aliens? They can’t make us hold the 360 controller while running in place and acting like an idiot, that’s for sure.

I’m not saying that Natal will fail, but I am saying that it will take more than a little bit of thinking in order to get that idea to work properly. I don’t see Modern Warfare 3 being made for Natal, do you?

©2012 Noob Talk Gaming Community. All Rights Reserved.