Smash Bros. Brawl offline?

Is it just me, or does everyone find this a bit strange?

When Nintendo announced Battalion Wars 2 last summer, they confirmed online multiplayer immediately.

When Nintendo announced Mario Kart Wii Wednesday, they confirmed online multiplayer immediately.

Smash Bros. Brawl was announced over a year ago, and even today — approximately 4 months from its release date — and we still get no confirmation of any online multiplayer.

Is anyone else a little unsettled by that? The more I think about it, the more convinced I am that they’re dropping online multiplayer from Brawl. And of all the things that people love to hate on Nintendo for, that’s the worst possible thing they could ever do.

Don’t screw this up, Nintendo.

Thoughts on the new minE3

In a word: disappointing. That pretty accurately sums up how this year’s E3 has played out this week. All of the big three have essentially played it safe this week. Chris Kohler over at Game|Life says it better than anyone else I’ve read so far:

Typically, it’s been the “battle of the press conferences” to see who “wins E3.” This year, everybody surrendered.

True. Nintendo has so much content in development right now, and all we really got were some release dates on games we already knew were hitting before Christmas, and two new game announcements: Mario Kart Wii (which we knew they were going to make, obviously, though they did confirm online multiplayer for the title), and Wii Fit. I’ll admit, Wii Fit looks like an interesting game, and when I explained it to my wife, she was completely sold on the concept without seeing anything. It will do exactly what it is intended to do: help Nintendo expand the gaming audience.

But that’s it. Nintendo has other games coming out this year, but you wouldn’t know it from this E3. They even talked big about how they are supposedly pushing online hard. But then two of the most highly-anticipated online titles: Battalion Wars 2 and Super Smash Bros. Brawl, were noticeably absent this year. Are you absolutely sure you’re planning to support online gaming on the Wii, Nintendo? Because you sure aren’t demonstrating it.

Some announcements from third parties have been welcome, but I was expecting something big from Nintendo. I didn’t get it, and that makes me worried that there IS nothing big coming from Nintendo. Metroid Prime 3 will evidently rock my socks, and that’s good, because I didn’t even bother with Metroid Prime 2 since I was never sold on how the first one controlled.

All in all, E3 has proven to be a severely castrated perversion of its previous glory.

Long live E3; E3 is dead.

The magic! The wonder! It’s E3 week!

Once upon a time, E3 used to be a gamer’s first Christmas of the year. A time when we learned all about the games we would be playing in just a couple short months. Gameplay videos, screenshots, new announcements, surprises — E3 always had it all.

The question is: will this E3 be any different? Short answer: more than likely, it will be very similar. At least to the gamer crowd. Most of the same game news outlets will be attending, so the barrage of info we’re used to keeping up with should remain intact. And even though the expo is no longer packed tightly into one giant exhibition hall, we should still be seeing plenty of the same content we’re used to seeing, if for no other reason than simply because this is the first of the “new” E3’s. The game companies and the media outlets are still learning how they should adapt to the altered landscape. I predict it will remain the same as always this year, and next year, I foresee everyone changing up their gameplans based on the lessons they’ve learned this year.

I’ll be following the action over at the Evil Avatar E3 homepage, so long as the servers hold up. Bapenguin will be liveblogging at each of the conferences using a fancy utility that will update the page automatically, without the need for a refresh. I’ve seen the technology in action, and it’s slick. He’s a PHP master, that one, and I’m looking foward to the constant stream of updates. He will also be checking out booths and attending meetings to get brief glimpses of upcoming titles. He told me that he would try to check out NCSoft’s Aion, though seeing his schedule, I’m not holding out hope that he’ll have the time. But he will be attending each of the big three press conferences, and those will contain a majority of the info I’m looking to get out of this week.

Bap will also be adding “behind the scenes” content to his personal blog, which I’ve been checking out here and there already.

So, it’s E3 week! Gamers’ paradise! I’ll be back later to espouse on the new discoveries uncovered within the next couple of days.

There’s a disconnect here, and it isn’t Nintendo’s fault

I find myself apologizing a lot for the things Nintendo does that the public reacts badly to. But this is just a bunch of pathetic FUD. Yes, that’s right, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption will not have any online multiplayer. And that’s exactly what I wanted to hear.

Others, for some reason, not only want to see multi in a Metroid title, but are actually disappointed it isn’t there. Which is fairly disappointing in and of itself.

Dr.Finger, a mod over at Evil Avatar whom I usually respect, presents this little strawman:

Is this a deal breaker? No, Metroid fans will probably buy the game regardless. But I do think that this represents a disconnect between Nintendo and their non-Japanese fans. Sony and Microsoft go out of their way to make sure that as many games as possible have an online multiplayer component. At best Nintendo does nothing to support online play, at worst they actively discourage it.

“Metroid fans will probably buy the game regardless.” Not quite, Dr.Finger — true Metroid fans will buy the game because it lacks multiplayer. Even N’gai Croal over at Newsweek, an actual game industry journalist that I also have a lot of respect for, seems to think this is bad news:

More problematic, however, was the unwelcome revelation that Metroid Prime 3: Corruption would not feature online play, a staple of first-person shooters on rival machines. While the game’s lack of online multiplayer has an upside–gamers will now be spared the ordeal of entering multiple sixteen-digit Friend Codes in order to do battle with their fellow Metroid Primates–its absence from Nintendo’s flagship FPS necessarily calls into question the company’s commitment to online as anything other than a reverse-ATM, inhaling money from the all too-willing consumers of its for-fee downloadable games.

Ah, so, online multiplayer is “a staple of first-person shooters on rival machines.” Dear lord. That statement is so ignorant, I don’t even know where to begin. Oh, wait — yes I do.

Begin rant. I’m going to lay it all out for everyone, real nice and slow so you can all understand what we’re seeing here.

1. The game is a first-person shooter, so it needs to include multiplayer. This is the first and most flawed argument the detractors are making. Just because a game is in the first-person perspective does NOT automatically mean it needs to include some senseless multiplayer element. This is patterned thinking that comes from years of being inundated with nothing but brainless FPS games that include a senseless multiplayer element. You have to get your head out of the sand and stop thinking this way. Nintendo is trying to break a tired, clichéd mold, and people are trashing them for it.

And in arguing for multiplayer in Metroid, people are forgetting the most obvious element of the game: the fact that it is Metroid.
Metroid games have always historically been about one woman exploring
the vast underbelly of an alien planet. The series has become synonymous with concepts like solitude and isolation. How is a setting like that well suited for
online multiplayer?

2. Nintendo is demonstrating that they don’t support online play. This is just a pathetic argument from people who want to ignore the success of the Nintendo WiFi network that the DS currently uses. The Wii is using the same infrastructure. Nintendo isn’t ignoring online play, they are just taking their time getting the Wii online. It isn’t about not wanting it to happen, it’s about making sure it works first. The DS proves it works, now they are implementing it on the Wii. The system is only seven months old. Give it time.

To summarize in the most basic way possible: I don’t want any multiplayer in Metroid. And many others don’t, either. In Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, the multiplayer was not only rushed and half-assed; it was incongruent with the concept of the franchise. I don’t want something like that implemented again. Online, or otherwise. I want a fantastic single-player experience, because that’s what Metroid is supposed to represent. And I’m hoping come August 27th, that’s what I’m going to get.

End rant.

4th of July: food, family, giant robots programmed for war

The fourth of July was pretty much the same as it always is in our sleepy little town. We headed over to our family “compound” and watched the parade in the morning. We call it the “compound” because my aunt (mother’s sister) moved to town a few years ago into the house right next to my parents. My dad installed a low fence to encompass both properties, with a nice-sized yard between for the grandkids to run around in. Thus, the “compound” was born.

Anyways, the compound was decked out in all the July 4th red, white, and blue trimmings. We all enjoyed the parade, and settled in for the family feast. Dad grilled two massive pork loins, and everyone brought plenty of yellow-hued side dishes. Good times had by all.

After a brief jaunt up to the park to enjoy some of the local festivities, we came back and relaxed while the kids continued to demonstrate the theory of perpetual motion by never stopping.

Meanwhile, my brother, nephew and I went to see Transformers.

I must admit, the raping of my childhood memories aside, Michael Bay did an excellent job with Transformers. It was action-packed, the ideas introduced made sense, everything moved along well, even the humor was well-written. The whole thing felt good, and I enjoyed the entire 2 1/2 hours of it. And I’m really looking forward to Transformers 2.

I’m also suddenly looking forward to “Cloverfield“, or whatever the hell they’re calling that weird J.J. Abrams project. Looks very interesting, that one. The trailer was stunning.

All in all, a really good fourth of July holiday. Made even better by the fact that the painter came back to us with a somewhat unreasonable, yet still acceptable quote for doing the painting on the house. So, yet another item taken care of! Now, we just have to hope he actually shows up.

My long painful weekend

I had Friday off of work and had planned to do some stuff to the house in addition to having some fun, too. Man, I was not prepared for the amount of brutal damage my body would be subject to over a three day period.

Friday: Art Festival. Walking around in sandals for a couple hours. Ugh begins.

Saturday: more Art Festival, this time with the boys. Lots more walking around for several hours, but in more comfortable shoes. Lots of chasing free-range boys. Ugh.

Also, Battle of the Bands 2007 at our church. I was emcee, so lots of running around and yelling at the crowd. Good fun! It also, unfortunately, included staying until midnight to put away large, heavy racks of tables and chairs. Double ugh.

Sunday: a good portion of Sunday was spent working on the house. I mowed the lawn, I cleaned the porch, I cleaned the shed attached to the garage. I also packed a few boxes of books, moved the bookshelf into the office, and hauled about ten boxes of miscellaneous crap to our off-site storage shed. Ugh adequately quadrupled.

All in all, I am feeling like a human bowl of jelly at the moment, and I feel like crying about it here. Just thought you’d like to share in the pain and suffering.