Musicast 11: Mushroom Men The Spore Wars

So I'm not cool enough to have played this game when it came out. I do plan to change that in the future because after hearing the music and talking about the story I'm very interested. Even the concept art is really good!

Thanks to our friend Eric for the request. Enjoy.

Game Developed by: Red Fly Studio
Published by: Gamecock Media
Music by: Les Claypool (of Primus fame)


Please let us know what you think of this not so new series and don't forget to send us in your requests of game soundtracks for us to feature. We hope you enjoy this weeks Musicast.

You can also subscribe to the podcast via iTunes

Super Meat Boy ground up and cancelled on Wiiware.

The Wii is also a meat grinder!

On December 23rd we got some sad news about Super Meat Boy for Wiiware. Team Meat announced via Twitter that "there will not be a Wiiware version of SMB. we are looking in to retail Wii, bit its also looking grim. still looking though."

It may have been sad news for everyone to hear right before the Holidays and for all the Wii owners that were looking forward to the game releasing on their little white console. It's been a know fact that Team Meat was working on attempting to squeeze the game down to the ridiculously small 40MB size limit that Nintendo imposes on all Wiiware games. But in the end it was decided that too much was going to be sacrificed from the game and instead of releasing a gimped version, they have opted to not release it at all on Wiiware.

There is a small chance that the game may make a retail release on Wii, but according to Team Meats statements from Twitter it's not looking so great either.

Would you have liked to see a Wiiware version of the SMB regardless if the game was not a complete version?

Do you think Nintendo's 40MB size limit on Wiiware is hurting the service?

Donkey Kong Country Returns impressions

The developer Retro studios has once again cradled one of Nintendo's biggest franchises in its bosom and raised a fantastic game. The last year has been a banner year for platformers on the Wii and the 2D platformer genre in general. Games like New Super Mario Bros, Super Meat Boy and Donkey Kong help prove that its still one the best game designs around and with the right team, can compete with anything 3D games have to offer. I wanted to give you guys a quick roundup of my thoughts so far about the game and what you can expect if this game is on your radar.

It's just a 2D platformer why should you care?
Retro Studios seems to be Nintendo's ace in the hole and boy they don't disappoint. Granted this game doesn't have the same 3D rendered graphics like the originals, but it does have beautifully animated colorful characters and environments. Donkey Kong Country Returns level design is fantastic and offers tons of secrets to find, challenging platforming, and creative uses of the levels environments to effect gameplay. Each level in the game seems to be always asking you to do something a little different and each level feels fresh. Your also going to be in for a challenge; in the first world alone I died at least 10 times and didn't even come close to finding all the KONG letters and puzzle pieces in each level. Oh yeah, did I mention that each level also has a time attack mode as well? In case you looking for more of a challenge. The game can be difficult at times, but the game does offer you lots of ways to make it easier on yourself by adding checkpoints and banana coins. With the banana coins you go to old Kranky Kongs shack and purchase extra balloons, a puzzle revealing parrot, and invincibility juice. Much like Mario Bros 3, you access them on the main map and use them before you enter levels.

Goldeneye multiplayer action with CoffeewithGames.com

I recently picked up Goldeneye for Wii and have been having a pretty good time with it. Our friend Coffee has enticed me to play some online matches with him and has provided some footage of the multiplayer mayhem so you can get an idea of what its like to play the game online.



Now as you can see from the footage that this Goldeneye plays much differently from what you may remember from your prepubescent years and that's just one of many of the changes you will see in the new version of Goldeneye. It plays very much like a modern console shooter and has taken cues from some of the best FPS out there. So all of you looking for a direct port of the N64 version may be sad pandas, but rest assured this version of the game is a good one and worth your time if your a starving FPS Wii owner. Just don't expect it to be exactly how you remembered it and enjoy it.

If you want to take me on and play some online matches post your Goldeneye friend code. Yes friends codes! I hate you Nintendo.

Here is mine - 5087 9517 7822

For England!

Nintendo sure knows how to throw a party

Screen savers and pins? I feel so special.

If your a member of the Nintendo Club like myself (yes I have no shame), you most likely have noticed that there a few new goodies that you can purchase with your coins on the club website. You have the option to either purchase a Mario Screen saver and a series of commemorative pins to celebrate 25 years of saving the princess, eating mysterious mushrooms, and squeezing your big head down tubes. Since I'm a club member I'm surely going to spend some coins on one of these choice trinkets and wear it with pride as I spend my evening drinking Tall Boys at my local watering hole. But like any video game consumer, I'm never satisfied.

True it's great to get these little exclusive gems for being part of the Club Nintendo, but I still feel a little shafted. We get measly pins and screensavers while Japan and Europe are getting an actual Wii game titled Super Mario Collection (Simular idea as Super Mario Allstars for SNES) to celebrate the occasion. Granted this is a full retail release and will cost you more than these sweater vest accessories, but I would just appreciate the option. Maybe Nintendo will read this post and fix this issue right away. I doubt it.

Would you pick up a copy of Super Mario Collection if it was released in the US?

Are you a member of Club Nintendo?

Metroid Other M has 2 hours worth of cutscenes. Hooray?

I'm alone... so... alone. OMG shut up!

From the very first trailer shown of Metroid Other M. It was obvious that Nintendo was once again trying something new with the series by including team Ninja into the mix. When Retro Studios turned the Metroid series into an FPS with the Prime series, many fans died of a brain aneurysm. But overall I think most people enjoyed the series new direction.

So here we are again at a crossroad with a new take on the series about to be released. News has slowly trickled about the game, but this bit of info caused my video game nerd type of spidey sense to get all tingly and sense danger coming.

Metroid Other M is going to feature a whole lot of back story about our heroin Samus Aran. So much in fact that the creators added a "Theater Mode" so you can watch all 2 hours of the story like a movie. This is explained in the quote below from Famitsu.

"The storytelling aspect of Other M continues to play a major role even after you beat the game, the way [Nintendo designer Yoshio] Sakamoto puts it. "There's a 'theater mode' that lets you view all of the cutscenes linked together seamlessly as a single movie," he explained. "We placed just as much weight on enjoying the story as we did on the action aspects of this game, but it's hard to fully communicate a storyline in a video game with just one playthrough. At the same time, though, it's asking a lot of players to beat the game twice to get it all, so that's where the idea for that mode came from. It lets you make a lot of discoveries, things you missed or dialogue that makes more sense in retrospect. I hope it helps people understand the story better."

So some of you may be asking yourselves. Why Butcher? Why would this incredible news be getting your spidey sense all in a bunch? I have one thing to say. Metal Gear Solid 4. If you've played MGS4 then you know of the ridiculously long cut scenes and story in the game. I felt like you were spending almost the same amount of time watching cut scenes as playing the game. Now, did any of you really know what in the hell was going on in that game? Be honest.

For me this could go either way in terms of really great, to totally horrible. I honestly don't recall Team Ninja being masters of storytelling. If the production values are bad and your forced to watch it, I'm going to have bad flashbacks from MGS4. I'm not saying it's going to be horrible, but it does have me a little concerned with Team Ninja at the helm. Let's just keep our fingers crossed that we'll see Samus in a bikini on a beach somewhere, holding a volley ball.

Would you sit down and watch all of the cut scenes in Metroid Other M's theater mode?

It's official. Monster Hunter Tri will dominate your Wii game-play time.

Did you know that the Wii keeps track of your game-play time and you can access that data through the Nintendo Channel?

As you can see from the image to the right, this is my game-play data from the top five games I've spent the most time with on the Wii. Now if you are a keen observer you will see that Monster Hunter Tri has easily made it way to the top spot in a very short amount of time since it's release on April 20th, 2010.

It's just amazing to me to see how many hours I've totaled since then. All of the others games in the top five seen here, has taken me more than a years worth of play time to get these numbers and they still can't come close to matching MH Tri.

I'm going to keep checking my hours routinely to see how high it goes. At this point I see no end is sight for me and I can see for anyone who gets into this game, the replay value is just through the roof. Just a warning to you all who may wander into Monster Hunter Tri's clutches. It may take over your gaming life.

How many hours worth of Monster Hunter do you have racked up so far?

Where does Monster Hunter Tri stand in your game-play data?

Sin & Punishment: Star Successor

Sin and Punishment: Star Successor
Platform: Wii
Developer: Treasure
Publisher: Nintendo

I’ve had my eye on Sin and Punishment: Star Successor ever since I downloaded the N64 import of Sin and Punishment for the Wii Virtual Console. Like most of us outside Japan, this was our first taste of the S&P arcade shooter goodness that Treasure can dish out. I spent my days dreaming of how the Wiiremote IR pointer could really bring this game into its own. Gladly, I am here to report that I was right.

No More Heroes 2: Kitty Taibo

Platform: Wii

Developer: Grasshopper Manufacture

Director: Suda 51 

Publisher: Ubisoft

Everyone's favorite Otaku Travis Touchdown is back for another gory round of killing his way back to the top of the assassin ranks to number one. This time he's doing it out of revenge for the murder of best friend Bishop (who ran the local video game rental store) by the current number one assassin and to stop this crazy tournament once and for all. The story doesn't go into detail about what's happened to Travis, but three years has passed since the last No More Heroes and Travis has gotten weary of Sylvia (she runs the tournament) and the assassin organization. The story is still going to be a confusing fluff fest, but Suda 51 always manages to make it entertaining. No More Heroes is about blood, kicking ass, and playing exercise mini games with your pet cat Jeane. So cute! Yeah, you heard me right.

You haz too many cheezeburgers.

Review — The Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces

Platform: Wii
Developer: Project Aces

Publisher: XSeed

Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces for the Wii is an Aerial Combat Game developed by the Ace Combat series team Project Aces. These guys have been rockin' the genre and have done it the best on consoles for a long time now. Good thing for the Wii since it has an incredibly small list of flight games in it's library. If your in the market for this type of game then your not going find a better one in price or content than this. The game is only $29.99, so get off your ass and go buy it! Don't let the price fool you into thinking this is a bad game by any means. It's more than worth the price. For those of you that have stayed here to find out more. Let me fill you in some more at what your going to get for your money.

Holy crap a new Blaster Master Game.

Hey it's me again, your resident Nintendo dork here to let you guys know that from out of nowhere Sunsoft has released a new Blaster Master game titled "Blaster Master: Overdrive" for WiiWare (the peasants rejoice). It's not a remake, but a whole new game based on one of my favorite and insanely difficult childhood NES games. Nintendo just recently released the original Blaster Master on the Virtual Console back in December and there seems to be a trend recently where once a classic game gets released on VC then something totally new ends up appearing down the line. Pilotwings for the SNES was just released on the Virtual Console as well; could a new Pilotwings be far away?
0_o *head explodes.

I've posted a video and a link to the official announcement about the new release by Sunsoft. It almost seems like they didn't even know it was coming out, since they announced this last Friday and it's here now ready to download. It's $10 for admission for this wonderful surprise. Happy Gaming.
www.sunsoftgames.com

Intial Thoughts: Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom Ulitmate All-Stars

Den and I just picked up copies of Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom for Wii and spent an evening drinking booze and beating the crap out of each other with rainbow Yoyo's, giant robots and Hadoukens. So far playing this sparkling gem from Japan has been a pretty good time. Originally it wasn't thought that the game with it's cast of characters weren't going make it over to our neck of the woods, but here it is in all its over the top glory. Thank you Capcom.

Half of the games set of characters are from the famed Japanese Animation Company Tatsunoko who created many Anime series starting back way back before many of use were born. So more likely than not your not going to recognize many of them. The other half of course reign from Capcom's library of characters beyond just the Street Fighter realm. All in all its quite the mix of characters and for me it's been refreshing to play a fighting game with characters I know nothing about. It makes the battles much more interesting when your playing with new characters and seeing something unexpected.

The basic of the games combat consist of 3 buttons for Strong, Medium, and Light attacks. Its makes the game a little easier to get right into the thick of it and do some amazing attacks. You might be fooled into thinking the game is a button masher but as I was playing the game I began to notice that the game has some hidden depth to it. Expert players are going to have a field day mastering all the different characters in the game.

Den and I spent most of our time doing some online battling and it worked without a hitch. I noticed no lag in our friend matches. I also tried out some ranked online battles and so far I only had one battle with a little lag in the beginning of the match then it was fine after that.

So far Tasunoko Vs. Capcom has been a pretty entertaining ride. If your interested in seeing a unique fighter, then we think its well worth your time.

New Super Mario Bros. Woo Hooo!

To keep with the Multiplayer theme of the New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Den and I have decided to both post our thoughts on Nintendo's newest Mario game. We spent an entire weekend playing the game non-stop and it was most excellent. We get into more detail in our podcast so check it out here at Who Burned My Toast Episode 5.

Den - It was fun. K thnx.

The Butcher - I stole Den's power ups and he cried. If you want have fun being a ass to your friends, play this game. Good times.

Dead Space Extraction: Dismemberment = Good Times

Dead Space Extraction for the Wii is actually a good game, honest. It's unfortunate that many people may have written this game off because of it being an on-rails shooter and not a third person shooter like it's older brother Dead Space. I've tried out other on-rail shooter such as Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles (not fun), House of the Dead Overkill (fun) on Wii and I can safely say that Extraction (awesome) is the best on-rails shooter I've played in a long long time. When you play the game you get the feeling that EA and Visceral games did not rush this game out the door like a lot of other Wii games. Visceral Games took an old genre and expanded upon it in a good way in Extraction. Here's why.

Story and Presentation: Extraction tells the story of the events that lead up to the first Dead Space. The basic outline here is that humans in the future are mining planets with giant spaceships for resources. Before that can happen they establish large colonies on these planets to prep them for mining years in advance. On this particular planet the colony finds an artifact that is called "The Marker". No one knows the Markers origin but one similar Marker had been found hundreds of years earlier on Earth and a religion called "Unitology" was formed around worshiping these artifacts. The colony on this mining planet is ordered by the Unitologist to remove the marker and get it ready for a epic spaceship ride back to Earth. The game begins with you as one of engineers who is front and center when The Marker is being extracted right out of the ground. When the engineers try moving it something goes wrong and people start turning into psychopathic  murdering monsters that are called "Necromorphs". From this point on your along for the ride.