Tebow Tumbling Down the Mountain

It's official, almost. Peyton Manning will become the new starting Quarterback for the Denver Broncos, pending contract negotiations. The news surrounding this signing seems almost timid. Despite rumors surrounding the Dolphins, Titans, Texans and 49ers, the team everyone thought Manning would sign with a week and a half ago, the Broncos and Elway have landed their man.

The Broncos have had many Quarterbacks since Elway retired. They had Jake Plummer, who retired after being traded to Tampa Bay after drafting Jay Cutler. Cutler was traded to Chicago for Kyle Orton after having a falling out with their former head coach, Josh McDaniels decided to draft Tim Tebow in the Draft. Kyle Orton was the starter until midway through this past season when Tebow took over and took the team to the AFC Divisional Playoffs. While Tebow took the team far, Elway was never completely behind Tebow, despite his success. This prompted the move to go after Manning in free agency.

Now that they have their man, what becomes of Tim Tebow? We know he will be traded once Manning signs, but to where exactly? We know his trade value will be extremely high due to his success last season. Most people believe that the Miami Dolphins and Jacksonville Jaguars will be early suitors of young Tebow. Perhaps the Chiefs will court him as well, prompting Kyle Orton to be the victim of Tebow's success twice in the span of a year. Tebow, despite his success hasn't been much of a passer, something needed to excel at the QB position in the NFL. While Tebow might be a great leader, without a great arm, he's not right for the job. While Elway might be an overly harsh critic, he wants to win now, and Tebow can't do that right now. But for now, an old pro is taking his job, and Tebow will be tumbling down the mountain to somewhere else.

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.