Madness? THIS IS MARCH!

March Madness is that time of year where a lot of people take a four day weekend. Over a two day period, you're treated to 32 College Basketball games from Noon until past Midnight. While my favorite day of the year is Week 1 of the NFL Season, I must admit that I love the opening round of March Madness for some unexplained reason. I suppose it's because of the fascination of multiple things happening at once in the sports world and the desire to not miss anything important or shocking. However, it doesn't mean it's a good thing for many people.

Productivity over the next two days is usually down a lot in North America, due to the amount of games. There's also a large gambling scene around March Madness with people filling out brackets, hoping to one day have that perfect bracket, which is usually unobtainable. This causes a lot of obsession over games that people ultimately have no control over, but that really isn't the bad part. The bad part is that people go to work, and instead of doing their work watch the games instead. I know I'll be called a hypocrite, and that's fine, because I know I don't watch basketball during work. If you're going to work, work. In our economic times you probably need the money for important things than College Basketball. If you miss something important, you'll see the game winning shot or celebration on the highlights that night when you can watch the games in the comfort of your own home. At that point, you've earned it.

Wii U - An IP Breakdown of Nintendo Franchises

There is a lot of speculation about what may or may not come out for Wii U when it comes out later this year. While a fall '12 release is almost assured, fans are still curious what Santa Iwata will put on top of their Wii U's this holiday. Well, based on my research and analysis, hopefully, I can point you a better idea of what may come out this holiday just based on their established franchises (3 games or more).

REMEMBER, this is only for Wii U releases, not DS or 3DS releases
Also, I will not be covering Smash Bros.; it's going to be a while before it comes out

Mario

Super Mario: 2012 - 3DS fall (known, but unannounced)

Mario Party: 2012 - Wii Spring (9th entry)

Mario Sports: 2012 - Power Tennis 3DS (May)

Paper Mario: TBA - 3DS (announced, date unknown)

Mario Kart: 2011 - 3DS (7th entry)

Analyzing the last releases for every possibly spin-off for a series is important. Going by this information, we can see that the Mario has a pretty full schedule for the rest of the year. Also keep in mind that Nintendo withheld Super Mario Galaxy 2 from fall 2009's release schedule because of New Super Mario Bros. Wii. While it's conceivable that a Mario game will be announced for Wii U at E3 2012, don't expect to hit this year.

Pokemon

RPG: 2012 - DS (Black & White 2, coming by fall worldwide)

Park: 2012 - Wii Spring (2nd entry)

Mystery Dungeon: 2009 - DS (3rd entry)

Storage: 2009 - Wii (My Pokemon Ranch)

Stadium: 2006 - Wii (Battle Revolution; 2007 in NA/EU)

While Pokemon may not have as many spin-offs as Mario, they seem to stay close to the main formula as possible. If there's any hope for a Pokemon game on Wii U's launch day, it lies in the Stadium department as it's been 5-6 years (depending on where you live) since its' last release. Getting 660+ Pokemon in HD might prove tough though, but keep in mind that's about 110 per year if they were efficient. I wouldn't count on it, though, as the last one was woefully unpopular sales wise.

The Legend of Zelda

Main Series: 2011 - Wii (Skyward Sword)

Remake: 2011 - 3DS (Ocarina of Time)

Spin-Off: 2008 - Wii (Link's Crossbow Training)

There really isn't much milk to run dry from with the Zelda series, with only 1 spin-off to its' credit, the Zelda series is basically a series of games that are run on the same premise. Although there were only 2 retail releases for the series last year, there were a total of 6 releases if you include the downloadable remake of Four Swords Anniversary as well as the 3 Ambassador Zelda games. So one could say it was a long year for Zelda that most probably exhausted themselves of by the end. With that in mind, the only way there would be a Zelda game this year is if Retro was making one, but I find those odds to be less than 0% given Aunoma's stranglehold over the series.

Kirby

2011 - Wii (Return to Dreamland)

Kirby's had a lot of releases recently, 3 in the last 2 years in fact. There's a known eShop game that we've seen nothing of as well. Having a Kirby release at launch would make Iwata smile, but I doubt Kirby's up for the task given his slew of quick releases, especially since Kirby games tend to be announced and then don't come out for at least a few years, as has been the average trend.

Donkey Kong

2010 - Wii (Donkey Kong Country Returns)

Donkey Kong is a weird one, for sure. After a lot of off-shoots with controls including Barrels, he got a racing game and finally a great platformer by a development house known for reviving franchises. However, it sounds like that development house has moved onto something else, whatever it is, we don't know. It might not be true though, as it could just be Nintendo's way to trick us into thinking it's not coming. It's been a couple of years, and a Donkey Kong game could help push sales for Wii U early on as it's a proven franchise worldwide, as well as having the pedigree of Retro Studios behind it. We expect Retro's next game to be announced at E3 this year, whether or not its' Donkey Kong remains to be seen.

Metroid

2010 - Wii (Other M)

There's a lot to say here, isn't there? Other M isn't liked for about any reason you can think of. It's been a very quiet couple of years from Nintendo about this franchise, giving the fans the impression they've seemingly dismissed it as a franchise. If a Metroid game is coming to Wii U, we don't know who'll make it or when it'll come out. Taking the "creator" off might be a good thing. Then again, it'd leave a lot of doubt of where the series could continue without an ending to the last story it gave, which is something fans want, at least they did for a while at least. A surprise Metroid game at launch might be a good move. It'd show Nintendo backing the franchise in a time of uncertainty while trying to regain its' audience's trust, just like its' trying to do with Wii U and the hardcore gamer. Metroid does sell worldwide, although Japan is seemingly not interested in quality gaming. However, given the last game's quality, with a possible changing of the guard, it's probably going to be a while before we see Metroid again.

Pikmin

2004 - GameCube (2nd entry)

We know a Pikmin game was in development for Wii, but got moved to Wii U. When is it coming? We don't know. Miyamoto said within the system's first 6 months, but he said the same thing about Super Mario Galaxy, which came out a year after Wii's launch instead. I'm not saying the same will happen here, but I don't think Pikmin is a system seller, especially not at a $300+ price point. The hardcore gamer would really demand something else as well, like a hardcore racing game or a platformer, the number of which Nintendo has is mind-boggling. So, while Pikmin has a good shot to be at Wii U's launch, it doesn't have a great shot at being able to carry the torch.

F-Zero

2004 - Game Boy Advance (GP Legends)

F-Zero had a rough patch at the end of its' last run. GX was great, but was also extremely difficult, even for masochists. While there is a definite demand for an F-Zero game out there right now, it's all up to who is making it, and not a matter of when. Why not when? Because Nintendo has a history of releasing racing games at their console launches. Wave Race 64, Wave Race Bl Storm and Excite Truck were the last 3 racing games Nintendo released on launch day for their consoles. To say a racing game will be at Wii U's launch is sort of a safe assumption. It just depends if it'll be Wave Race or F-Zero, but I think Nintendo will listen to the fans on this one and go with F-Zero.

Star Fox

2011 - 3DS (Star Fox 64)

Star Fox doesn't make a whole lot of sense right now. A $40 remake sold without much fanfare, especially when you can get it for $30 cheaper on your Wii not including system costs. Star Fox, at least the on-rails shooter portion of it, needs to get longer levels ala early Sonic 3D games or go the downloadable route to maintain relevance. The games that people want out of Star Fox just aren't worth full retail price anymore. 90 minutes of gameplay for $60 is highway robbery and people won't stand for it, even if there's multiple routes.

Animal Crossing

2012 - 3DS (TBD, known) We know it's in development for 3DS at the moment, but a Wii U outing isn't looking so good at the moment given how City Folk fared in 2008. While a great series, it feels at home on handhelds unless its' console counterpart can diversify itself enough for a change. But don't expect this to happen this year.

Wii U _____

2011 - Wii (Wii Play Motion) This will obviously be an extension of the Wii _____ franchise. Last year at E3, there were tech demos like Battle Mii and Chase Mii as well as a few others to entice people. I suspect a pack-in will come with the system, and that'll be that. So this is probably the only sure-fire guarantee we have at the moment for Wii U's launch.

Wario

Land: 2009 - Wii (Wario Land Shake It!)

Ware: 2010 - DS (Wario Ware D.I.Y.)

Wario isn't that popular of a series. It's an off-shoot of Mario with a crude sense of humor. It's been 3 years since the last one and while it's a candidate for a Wii U launch game, it doesn't have the muscle to pull in system-selling numbers, at least by itself. If they were working on one but decided to port it over from Wii, it'd be easy if it was the same hand-drawn art style Shake It had. I give Wario a slim chance of making it for launch, but there's hope at least.

Kid Icarus

Main Game: 2012 - 3DS (Uprising)

While Uprising was an outstanding title, don't expect to see Pit at Wii U's launch, especially with Sakurai working on 2 versions of Super Smash Bros.


So those are where Nintendo's big franchises stand right now. Based on time alone, I'd say the top candidates for a release in the system's launch window (3 months from release) are Donkey Kong, Wii U _____, Wario, F-Zero and Metroid. Keep in mind that this is only about established franchises and not potential new IP's or franchises with less than 2 entries in them. As of writing this, it includes Kid Icarus, but I think we all know there won't be another Kid Icarus game released this year. I'll try and add more to this list since Nintendo has a lot of franchises as well as keep you updated on it. Once E3 happens in June, we'll see if I'm good with my numbers or not.

Ideas

I think I get a good idea every now and then. I also think I get a bad one every now and again, but we all do. These ones I think are good however, are ones I try to expand upon, flesh out and ultimately form into a somewhat cohesive stew in mind. These are always within arms' reach too, since they're easy to callback to, and can get some additional work to make them even better. For me, most of these ideas are in the form of video games, my hobby of choice. I play quite a few video games, although I have significantly cut back over the last year or so. To me, game design is somewhat I have no expertise in, although I know what would be a fun idea from either a story or visual perspective. For example, having a bright and colorful atmosphere is something even the most hardest of hardcore gamer can enjoy because it is an alternative to their gaming routine. In addition, a mature person can enjoy something childishly bright because they understand what is trying to be done. From a story standpoint, if you have one, it's ultimately just as important as the gameplay nowadays. If something makes the player turn off a game, it can be due to a lack of effort or sloppiness in the dialog or voice acting department, or moments that are of questionable morals, particularly in a large audience. The people behind the game have ultimately failed in creating an enjoyable experience, something entertainment, particularly games are supposed to be about, if this happens. To me, this is something largely overlooked by a large portion of developers, and while they try to work in a story to games, they seem to often forget that there is a clear distinction between right and wrong that almost everyone shares. So yes, I have some ideas about video game stories, and I know how to convey them. It's just a matter of whether or not I can share these ideas with the world, because I would sure like to.

Humbling the Audience

When it comes to stories in video games, there's usually only two things that can happen: One, the audience loves your story and everything about is defended until the end of time or two, the audience hates your story because they believe it is not quality, poor, amateurish, and more often than not considered lazy. But I just have to ask if there's a way to prove the audience wrong? Is it possible to show them that what they though was considered poor to actually be well constructed? And even if you could, would they believe you in your attempt to prove that you were right all along? That's the question I've asked myself a lot recently when it comes to writing and storytelling. Is there a way to show your audience that you always cared about your product, despite what they think? When gamers think quality, they see high scores on Metacritic, beautiful graphics, and above all a lot of marketing to show support of a product. This always changes between games though, despite what they see and hear. If a game gets high scores, and they play it but hate it, they will obviously be cautious about the next product in that series, despite the claims of its' omnipotence. However, there really hasn't been a game or series to rewrite the book on itself for previous entries, and by that I mean stories that change the perception of previous entries. Most games today push the envelope for the cheap thrill, living game to game on their successes. They don't tend to go back and say 'Yes, X was important because of Y, and now that you know, this circumstance is infinitely better.' I don't know if it's because developers and writers want to because of the perception of a lack of quality, but the effort really hasn't been made in this area, and until it's explored, we will never know if history can be re-written for the better. For such a situation to take place however, you would need to write a story in a series with the plan that it'd be written as an arc and not as an individual tale. Given the industry's reliance on playing it safe due to the amount of money games take to make, it's understandable if something like this doesn't pop up right away. However, it would take someone of truly excellent craft to do such a thing, and and one who is even better at crafting an experience to make the audience believe it was the intention from the beginning.

The Great American Fire Race

The 2012 NASCAR season is finally underway, and to say it's off to a blazing start would be an understatement, literally. While the race was delayed from Sunday afternoon to Monday night due to rain, the biggest news coming out of the Great American Race was Juan Pablo Montoya, who, under caution, lost control of his vehicle and slammed into the back of one of two jet dryers that NASCAR uses to help repair and dry tracks. Afterwards, massive amounts of jet fuel spilled out of the back of it, catching ablaze. After a few minutes, they were able to put out the fire, scrape the truck from the truck, which had melted into the track, and they were able to get back under way after a two-hour delay.

I can only assume that someone in Las Vegas bet on this exact scenario to happen because they bet on everything in Vegas. If they didn't, you can rest assured it's going to be on the books for the next race. It was surreal to see it happen live, and while it wasn't my most memorable NASCAR experience (that would be going across the bridge that collapsed at Lowe's Motor Speedway about a half hour before it collapsed back in 2000), this one is certainly up there. This race seemed snake-bitten, but at the end of the day, it was completed in full, because NASCAR likes to finish things to show that they persevere. I just hope they don't make a habit of this.

New Pokemon Games that may actually be New!

Earlier today on some Japanese Pokemon Show for children, it was announced that two new Pokemon games would be coming out in June 2012, that's this year. The names of these games are... Pokemon Black Version 2 Pokemon White Version 2 That's right, Nintendo pulled a Square Enix with their JRPG franchise. As a fan of Pokemon, although I'm nowhere near a fan now as I was say a decade ago, I'm pretty interested to see how they change up the formula this time around. While many were expecting a third revision of Black and White in the form of Gray to be announced, and for the 3DS, all I can say is good for Nintendo for at least keeping it interesting. Black and White weren't the best Pokemon games, but they definitely felt like a good ending point for any Pokemon fan. After finishing Black, I felt like my journey with Pokemon was complete. It just felt like the end, having played every Pokemon game since the beginning, the formula of facing 8 Gym Leaders, beating Team ____ and winning the title of 'Best Pokemon Trainer Ever' had reached its' natural conclusion. However, announcing a sequel to that type of formula, where the structure may be entirely different entices me just a bit more than ever before. We'll see though, as I definitely want something new out of this Pokemon game.

Linsanity is Linsane

Back when Tebowmania was running wild, I decided it would be nice to sit back and enjoy the ride until it all inevitably imploded in his face one cold evening in Foxboro, MA. However, the rise of a new sports phenomenon wasn't far behind surprisingly enough as New York managed to steal the spotlight of the sports world once again with one Jeremy Lin, a former Harvard graduate who played with the Golden State Warriors for a season and almost with the Rockets until David Stern turned down the Chris Paul deal before the season started. Lin found a home in New York, and due to his recent success New York opened their 5 burrows warmly due to the air of excitement he's brought the Knicks over the past few weeks, winning 8 of their last 10 games. Does this mean that Lin is a legit player? He's played on the biggest stage in the world, and come up big in tight situations. He, like Tebow, has seemingly excelled when the game is on the line and when his team needs him the most. However, while not as bad as Tim Tebow, Lin just doesn't really inspire all that much confidence in me to continue watching. He may true talent to be a star in the league for years to come, however, unlike the NFL where late heroics aren't exactly the norm, in the NBA, it's really all that matters. For me, if I watch a basketball, it comes down to me watching it late, and while I may be into the final 2 minutes of the game, it's hard for me to judge whether or not he's the sole purpose of the game being as close or exciting as it is. With an NFL game, you can tell relatively early on if the game is going to be good, great or mediocre. In an NBA game, there's the stereotypical argument that they don't really start playing until the final 2 minutes of a half. For me, that's true. It's crunch time. In the NFL, in at least a good game, the game will have some back and forth the entire way through. In the NBA, that usually doesn't happen except for a handful of games every season. With Lin coming on so strong due to the Knicks lack of depth, and maybe a bit of other teams not taking him seriously, he's risen to stardom. Good for him though, however I'm just not buying into it. Right now it's about to enter the final phase of the season, and I just don't think Lin is good enough to hang in there until the end. This season's different, and when teams are finally able to stretch their legs and turn on their juice, I have a hard time believing Lin will keep up, despite his lack of play in a tightened schedule.

Rhythm Heaven Fever Review

It'd be wrong of me to say that Rhythm Heaven Fever wasn't my first time playing the series. It'd also be wrong of me to say I wasn't tempted to pick it up due to various videos online, as well as the budget price tag. However, it's not wrong of me to say that Rhythm Heaven Fever is one of the most enjoyable games to come out on Wii, despite having a few glaring flaws. When you start up the game you'll notice two distinctive features; first, it's entirely hand-drawn, animations included with separate ones for successes and failures in each game. While it may not be high definition, it looks extremely crisp and beautiful on your TV. Secondly, is that the game starts you with a rhythm test to gauge how close you are to the beat. There's no success or failure here, but mainly to test how good your musical prowess is. For me, I was hovering around the middle, being even split between hitting early and hitting late. What this does is give you a grasp of how hard it will be for you to get into the game early on. Some people will hit the ground running, while others will immediately break both legs. For me, I struggled to get past the first game on the first go, but had immediate success with more to follow because I learned the rules of the game. There are some games that I do still struggle with, while some praise their ingenuity. There are also games that are simple not executed properly. In both of these situations, they'll leave the player frustrated and scratching their head at what exactly the problem is. Fortunately enough, after 3 failures, you can visit the Cafe to say you want to skip over to the next game. You can always go back to another game anytime you want as well in order to Medal or even Perfect it. The only problem with Perfecting games is that there are small windows in which you can earn Perfects, and once those windows appear, you only have 3 attempts or you'll have to play a few more games for another one to randomly appear on ones you've already gotten a Medal in. I found this to be a bit frustrating at times since the game wouldn't let me progress at my own pace. I've heard that this happens in other versions of the series, but I'd still levy the same complaint there as well. However, the moments that make Rhythm Heaven Fever shine are the games that seem to truly embrace the concept and execute properly on them. Fortunately the majority of the games are this way, like Ring Side, Flock Step and Samurai Slice. They overwhelm the player visually but in reality the simplistic nature of the game allows complete control of the situation. The way you gain mastery of the game by keeping the beat so you no longer have to rely on visual cues is excellent, and it keeps me playing the game even though I'm long finished. Score: 8 out of 10 + An excellent style that conquers raw graphical power + Good music - Some games are frustrating

Upcoming Blog Posts

First and foremost, apologies for the lack of blog updates recently. I got sick at the beginning of the month and I'm starting to just turnaround now. So I thought I'd go ahead and list what I'll be writing for the next week since I actually planned it out: Monday - Rhythm Heaven Fever Review (3pm-5pm EST) Tuesday - My Extremely Late Super Bowl XLVI Thoughts & Analysis Wednesday - "Linsanity" or the Lack Thereof Thursday - Presidential Policies that Should be Important for the 2012 Election Friday - Nintendo 3DS Circle Pad Pro Review So there you go, a wide variety of topics that will be discussed next week. For now though, I'm finishing up my review for Monday. It's coming along nicely, so I hope you'll enjoy it. My Super Bowl thoughts were done long ago, but I haven't had the time to formally convey them yet. As for everything else, I'd like to leave you all in suspense about how I'm going to tackle them.

Romney Rises, Will Fall

Mitt Romney won the Republican Presidential Primary in Florida last night by a significant margin. Today, he's one step closer to the nomination and an inevitable face-off with President Barack Obama in November. While the election season has been a long, filled with more debates than should ever be necessary, it seems the predictable candidate, Romney, will climb to the top of the totem pole for a party that has been criticized long and hard over the past 12 years. The question is whether or not Romney can break that mold and show what the Republican party truly is or not. I think the answer, strictly, is no. I don't believe he is the candidate for the Republican Party, but he's the best one running this time around. Similar situations have happened before, but this one seems almost like a joke to most people. When looking for a Republican candidate, one would want the passion of a New Gingrich, but without the walk-in closet full of skeletons. While I believe Romney is a good speaker, he is someone who strikes me as ill-passionate for what he believes in, a person who will take any position to get what he wants, and will keep trying until things go his way. Romney is a politician's politician, through and though. He looks like someone you'd buy a used car from, a fraud only looking for a cheap buck. He's really the only candidate the Republicans have right now though because some either don't want it, like New Jersey Governor Christie, or those who have poor name association, like Jeb Bush, who would be the best candidate if it weren't for his last name and relationship to the last two Bush Presidents. Is Mitt Romney the Republican candidate that can do the job this fall? No, because he's not really a Republican. But he's the one that will be on the ballot this November, and Republicans will vote for him no matter what.