WiiHD is a huge fan of online gaming, but not just any online gaming. Core gaming in genres like racing, fighting, and shooters. So now we want to do our part to help the core Clan community on Wii make themselves known and increase their membership. We will begin listing notable clans that actively engage in clan wars in games like Medal of Honor: Heroes 2. We will however keep the gates, so not just any clan listing will be accepted. A clan needs to demonstrate viability to be listed
WiiHD is now unveiling a gallery of user created videos from Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 (MoHH2), currently the best FPS on Wii, and the only one with online multiplayer. We'll be doing this for a number of similar games as they come out. If you want your video included, just hit the link above and use the submission form.
WiiHD is your one-stop shop for hardcore gaming on the Wii.
Hardcore gamers frequently belittle the Wii for its low-power CPU, small storage space and gimicky casual games. Nintendo didn't keep their promise to focus on both hardcore AND casual games, but they did design a control system that is truly next-gen. Rumors of similar controls for PS3 and the 360 tell that tale. Sure, you can accurately control a 3D game with dual analog. You can also communicate in binary, but why would you want to? The Wii Remote rivals the PC keyboard and mouse as a control mechanism for 3D worlds, and it leaves dual-analog as a relic of the past. It can change the way games are played. Hardcore gaming isn't just about distracting ADD patients with shiny gfx, it's about delivering a whole new way of playing.
The Wii's FPS controls have finally been perfected with the release of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. In November of 2007, Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 brought the first taste of online FPS to the system, and the most customizable controls we've seen so far. Nintendo's focus may be elsewhere, but if you buy, the games will come. The most exciting game on the menu now is The Conduit, a new original IP from High Voltage that promises the whole package for the first time. The Wii has overtaken the xbox 360's 1 year lead and has the largest install base of any console. Talk of most of them being casual gamers is a misnomer—the new casual gamers mostly live in the same household as a hardcore gamers. If developers will finally stop phoning in Wii development and give us complete games, they'll see incredible returns.
This site will follow, document, review, compare and contrast the Wii's hardcore games with your help. There's good news on the horizon. Be a part of it at WiiHD. And leave your casual games at the door.
by David Marseilles
on 09 Oct 2008 17:59 Tags: action mh3 rpg screens video wii
Just the other day, WiiHD was opining for Capcom to give us all high-quality access to that TGS Trailer Nintendo showed off and someone from the audience had lifted. Well, Capcom listened. In addition to that trailer being a lot more pleasant, they released on-floor gameplay footage, and a bag of new screenshots.
The trailer is gorgeous, and if you don't want Monster Hunter 3 after watching it, even a little bit, WiiHD recommends Vitameatavegamin to help cure whatever ails you.
Also, WiiHD has been tweaking our gallery system over the past few weeks, as you may or may not have noticed. Today, we've upped the resolution of the full-size images quite a bit, and we hope that makes for a more pleasant viewing. If you don't see a difference, clearing your browser's cache might help.
Dead Rising: Chop Till you Drop is shaping up to be one of the best ports Wii has ever received. A genius title, Zombies, the RE4 over-the-shoulder style gameplay, a sandbox world with a sweet theme, and excellent attention to detail. Capcom's upcoming Wii lineup is really looking sweet (see also: Monster Hunter Tri and Spyborgs).
Today, Capcom dumped a bunch of new screens, and some TGS footage on us, including a trailer and some on-floor gameplay footage. What we don't see is them achieving their previously stated goal of putting 100 zombies on screen at once, but it's still looking like a great game.
In the original 360 game, some of the complaints were that mission times had cramped the sandbox play style, and Capcom payed attention, and loosened things up to really give you the kind of freedom that a sandbox was designed to provide.
Here's the litmus test WiiHD has laid down for Wii ports. If the publisher is pushing their PS360 assets on anyone with a pulse, but you can't kick and drag Wii assets out of them, it means the Wii version looks like crap. If there are PS360 previews months before there are Wii previews, the game plays like crap. If the press releases spend lots of time talking about PS360 features and remain ambiguous on Wii features until a month before release, the Wii gets crappy features. It didn't take rocket science to come up with the formula, but it seems to be holding pretty true.
After a lot of time waiting while Quantum of Solace PS360 was hyped and showed off everywhere, NeoGAF user The-Switcher claims to have the first Wii screenshot of Quantum of Solace. This is the game that is supposed to be using the same modified CoD4 engine that WaWii is using. But look at that water (after the break). Bond himself doesn't look that bad (though his jacket does leak into his pants on the lower left), but there's a lot not to like. And remember, this is a screenshot they've chosen to Show-Off the game. Imagine the ones that ended up being rejected as good publicity shots… No, that isn't a poorly textured rug, it's a pool. It's also an omen for 2008 Activision games using the modified CoD4 engine. I'll let you guess whether it's a good or bad omen.
So that's what the modified CoD4 engine can do? It's actually good news in a way. WiiHD has decided to sell our company car after a little tinkering. And we're betting our 'modifed' Jaguar will be super popular on ebay.
The first Wii Screen is after the break. View at your own risk. If you need to recuperate afterwards, go look at The Conduit's gallery.
GoNintendo was trying to embed this last week, but it kept getting deleted from Youtube. It's the video from the Nintendo Event last week, and the first new MH3 video for a VERY long time. It was taken from the audience and at a bad angle, so cut it a little slack. It's got some nice water-based hijinks.
Hopefully, Capcom will release the professionally recorded version before too long. And as always, it's after the break.
Taito is bringing EXIT, their PSP action puzzler, to the DS. WiiHD was remiss in not bringing this one to your attention earlier. We're all for a great brain teaser, but when we were putting together a 1001 piece "horse in front of barn" puzzle yesterday at WiiHD headquarters, we realized what was missing from the equation: Action! Taito's "Action Puzzler" solution is dramatically better than our idea of trying to put the horse puzzle together while the pieces were on fire. Live and learn.
You are Mr. Esc. With a name like that, your career options were pretty much limited to "professional escapologist". Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to run into the face of danger and peril to rescue the downtrodden from impossible situations, and then escape with them in tow. You work on a contingency, so try to make sure you actually escape WITH your damsel in distress in tow.
EXIT has a pretty sweet gameplay mechanism which they surprisingly did not label "slavery" or "indentured servitude". They call it "turning victims into allies". But we can read between the lines. After you rescue someone, you can make them do some of your heavy lifting in escapes. Back problems can be a real bummer, so why risk yours when you can put a resentfuldelinquent grateful rescuee to work for you?
Speed is a big part of the game, and Taito doesn't want you to be the only one to appreciate your super-fast scores and mad skills, so you can upload your times from over a hundred different missions via WiFi and show them off to the world.
Out in Europe this month. In the US on November 4th. Video and screens after the break.
Since the announcement that the Capcom franchise Monster Hunter, loyal to Sony for so long, would bring it's newest iteration as an exclusive to Wii, WiiHD has been ecstatic about the game. Traditionally, MH has had a lot more of an eastern appeal than western, but looking at what's out so far, WiiHD has no idea why. This game looks gorgeous.
In advance of the Tokyo Game Show, where Monster Hunter 3 will be playable, Capcom has opened the official Monster Hunter 3 website. After the break, we've put up a Monster Hunter 3 gallery. Hopefully this is the first volley in a lot of media and information about the game. We certainly can't wait to see more.
Is there really such a thing as Too Much Information (TMI)? Well every so often, especially during review cycles, WiiHD tries to cram too many quotes into a single post, so we use our TMI format to make things a little easier. Below the review scores are collapsible links (+ View So-and-so's Quotes). When you click them, they pop open with that outfit's most important quotes on the game.
Today is the day many have been waiting for, the release of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. So what sort of impressions did it unleash on the critics?
Force Unleashed was a product that was refreshing to see excel over what we expected it to be. Krome could have easily phoned this one in, sloppily adding some waggle here, a quick IR aspect there, and calling it a day, but when ripping through the game's six hour single player campaign it was obvious that the team wanted this to be a truly entertaining Star Wars game, and if it wasn't for a few random bugs and flaws within the execution, we would have rated it even higher, as Force Unleashed delivers a level of satisfaction that we don't find often on Wii.
Where Force Unleashed for Wii really drops the ball though, is in the overall lack of polish found throughout the game. The camera is extremely touchy, the lock-on mode often creates more problems than it's worth, the AI can be extremely buggy, running in place or getting hung up on collision, and some of the boss battles are downright broken, being so unbalanced that you're dying and respawning over and over to complete them, rather than finding a weakness and exploiting it in typical boss fashion. Most of the Jedi battles end up being the highest points of the game, as they can be extremely cinematic and immersive. At the same time, you'll often be battling camera problems and the seldom lock-on issue as you try to use parts of the world to your advantage, or dodge and block incoming force attacks from your enemies.
Controlling the Apprentice is performed done with the Wii remote and Nunchuk. For instance, Force Push is done by pushing forward with the Nunchuk. To execute lightsaber swings, you move the remote in multiple directions. There's also a more effective lock-on system, which you activate by pressing down on the d-pad. For the most part, these controls work reasonably well, although your wrists may ache after an hour or two of play. We're just wondering why developer Krome Studios included a first-person view option. It's mostly useless, because you're able to take damage without getting a good look around.
For the boss battles, you twist around the Wii remote and then push it upward. It's all right at first but becomes tiring after the third or fourth time, as some motions don't read correctly. As a result, the boss removes a chunk of your energy. It should also be noted that the conclusion of boss fights are diluted, made up of button presses and quick jerks of the Nunchuk and Wii remote..
At least there are some "guilty pleasure" moments. You're able to play as Darth Vader in the beginning of the game, ripping through Wookies like they were nothing. There's also something immensely satisfying in taking out a field of Stormtroopers with one big Repulse attack, followed by a little Lightning deep fry. Using the Force powers does use up your energy. Fortunately, each kill replenishes your health.
Seeing as how the vast majority of "Star Wars" games have us playing as some goody-goody hero character, it's not too often that we get to bust some heads with the cool Force powers. That's a problem that The Force Unleashed sets out to fix.
This time around, the story takes place in the timeframe between Episodes III and IV (i.e. the new movies and the old ones). The main character is Galen Marek, a young man who goes by the name Starkiller. The son of two Jedi, Starkiller was kidnapped/adopted by Darth Vader after the dark lord cut down the boy's father during the Jedi purge. Vader intends to train his secret apprentice in the ways of the Sith in the hopes of destroying Emperor Palpatine and taking over control of the galaxy. This setup allows Starkiller to treat both the "good guys" and the "bad guys" as enemies, allowing you to dish out unfiltered destruction.
Despite the solid controls, there's one annoying feature to the combat system. There's no denying that TFU feels inspired by Sony's God of War series. That's all fine and good, but it unfortunately picked up one of GoW's more annoying aspects: quick timer events. You know, those obnoxious "interactive cinemas" where the game developers came up with a very cool sequence but couldn't figure how to implement it into the gameplay proper. Their clever solution is to simply play the canned sequence while forcing you to press random buttons on the controller (or perform specific waggles here). This sort of thing was just super in Dragon's Lair and Space Ace, but it isn't 1984 anymore.
Not the greatest Star Wars game ever, if you believe the reviews. But still a potentially fun romp where you get Jedi powers without all the Jedi moralizing, and a sweet multiplayer mode exclusive to Wii. As always, there's a gallery after the break.
We told you about Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars for Wii. Now it's time for DS to get some exposure with Mushroom Men: Rise of the Fungi. Featuring an entirely different story line in the Mushroom Men universe, Rise of the Fungi tells you about the early stages of sentience for the races of Mushrooms and spiders and beetles and hornets (oh my!). They are just beginning to seperate into the 4 Mushroom Nations that will be battling it out in The Spore Wars. You're a member of the Bolete Tribe, first facing the challenge of how to survive in a hostile enviornment, and then facing foreign Mushroom Men that aren't as peaceful as you'd hoped.
DS Fanboy got their hands on Rise of the Fungi, so we're going to give you some quotes:
The first level's weapon: the Last Line of Defense, which is a fishhook, a tiny metal rod, and a crankshaft stuck together. That enabled me to fight the Mosquito General somewhat successfully, and then it mysteriously disappeared. Following my defeat of the General, I was sent back through the level to pick up Bits of Food for my mushroom tribe, then onto the next level. To reach the entrance, I had to float down on a leaf parachute. To build this, I had to solve a puzzle (identified by a puzzle icon in the level) in which I arranged a picture of the item out of fragments.
all [enemies] have weaknesses and resistances to certain types of weapons and attacks. When you accost one of these enemies, the non-gameplay screen changes to information about your enemy's HP and attributes. Not listed in the mosquitoes' info: they're huge jerks and it can be hard to hit them with a stick.
Also true in real life JC. The two screens are the main action screen, and the other which is enemy info when you're fighting and inventory when you're not. When you need to swap inventory items, you can quickly hit an icon on the action screen and pull up your inventory for swapping items.
Read the whole thing at DS Fanboy, and catch the full gallery with two vids after the break.
The Wii's library has taken extraordinary leaps and bounds since last year, especially in the 3rd party category. But that shouldn't keep us from hoping for more. There are some great games out there that Wii hasn't gotten a shot at yet, and Wii Wish is where WiiHD (and you) can document those great titles.
Today's featured title is Mirror's Edge. A First Person Action Adventure title, Mirror's Edge has a highly versatile gameplay model that allows you navigate the finer gradations of your environment with more freedom than most games. As we've talked about before, more photo-realism begs for more freedom of movement—and Mirror's Edge seems poised to deliver just that.
You are Faith, a loving sister looking to secure your sibling's freedom from an evil regime. Right now you're acting as a message runner for the criminal element, since Big Brother watches all conventional communications. In the course of playing (running), you'll be subjected to a game interface that really tries to immerse you in your environment, not just with effects and lighting, but with visual feedback of your actions. You'll see your arms and legs pumping, hear your lungs laboring and you'll see realistic recoil when you make a landing.
In fact, seeing this game is believing (unless you're prone to motion-sickness). Hit the break for some video, tell us what you think, and then describe the game you wish were coming to Wii. Don't hold back either, swing for the fences.
When last Kotakugot their hands on MadWorld, they felt it might be a little repetitive (though probably not as repetitive as the, uh "MAD" post titles that are all the rage /abject shame). It's hard to know from a distance, but the new MADWORLD trailer looks as though there are plenty of ways to kill and mutilate your fellow game show players. Watch it after the break.
In other MADWORLD news, Nintendo Wii Fanboy tells us that MADWORLD, amongst others, won't be released in Germany due to a restrictive ratings system.
Finally, to round out the MAD news cycle, Nintendo Wii Fanboy brings us counter-coverage of MADWORLD's violence from freelancer Thom Binsdale. He looks at backlash from the British Press, founded on the idea that Wii was supposed to be THE family-friendly console, and wonders if the casual crowd will be as accommodating of the core crowd as we have been of them. Core Wii players (this is WiiHD speaking, not Thom), have never been happy about not getting core games, but they haven't really begrudged the casuals from having their fun. The main complaint is that while Nintendo has been catering to casuals, they've largely ignored the core. If that changes, as it seems to be, core gamers are going to perfectly happy no matter how successful Wii Fit is. Thom thinks that, judging from the British Press' reaction, casual gamers may not be quite so accomodating. They may not want to share their gaming platform with… you know… games.
Where are you suppose to install the hombrew channel? what website I know the steps but I didnt...
(by Amauri Rodriguez (guest)13 May 2010 22:58,
posts: 2)
I've been a PC gamer for more than a decade. Last console I owned before Wii was an NES. It's a...
(by David Marseilles (guest)05 Apr 2010 21:34,
posts: 8)