The Video Game Revue

Make up your own pun about Wii for the title of this blog entry

So it's to be called "Wii." Wii. As is the case with many fans, I went through various phases in letting go of the Nintendo Revolution moniker and accepting that this new name is likely here to stay. I wholeheartedly agree with all of the fans who protest this Wii business, but I also agree that the name seems more reasonable over time. A lot of consoles have kind of dumb names, actually; I don't think that, for instance, "PlayStation," "GameCube," or "XBox" are very good titles. Sega had the right idea with names like "Genesis," "Saturn," and "Dreamcast," although in much the same way that many Nintendo fans are now clamouring that they prefer the name "Revolution" to "Wii," I preferred the Dreamcast's development title, "Katana."

Anyway, that's about all that I'm going to say about this whole business of naming and brand-building, which is all bullshit anyway, since all that really matters are the games. So let's talk about games.

I'm almost 10 hours into Oblivion now and I've finally gotten over the initial novelty of it to the point where it's starting to seem like just another great RPG rather than some kind of entirely new gaming experience unlike anything I've seen before. I went through something similar with Neverwinter Nights a few years back, where when I first started playing it I was so completely drawn into it that it felt like I'd never played a video game before at all, but as the novelty of it wore down, I began to see how NWN is a lot like every other RPG I've ever played. Oblivion is also reaching that point with me now, but it's still an amazing game.

I went on a game spending-spree last week, but I found myself at EB Games again yesterday to pick up my pre-ordered copy of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children--not the kind of movie that I usually spend money on, but it's Final Fantasy VII, so what the hell. While my resolve was melting away and I was adding a copy of Tourist Trophy to my order, some guy lounging around there complains that there's nothing new out this week. I always find that attitude amusing because at times like this I'm really thankful for the reprieve.

Hell, even during these lulls in the frantic pace of the gaming industry, I'm still starting to play and enjoy more games every month than I will have time to finish. Just to name a couple of games that I haven't succumbed to yet (and am not certain to ever get into, although they're each tempting), there's Ace Combat Zero: The Balkan War, Atelier Iris 2, and Guild Wars: Factions out right now. Sure, those may not be everyone's cup of tea, and not everyone waited as long as I did to get into games like Oblivion (or Tekken 5) to tide themselves over at a time like this, but surely a serious gamer can find something new to get into right now. Maybe I should have told him about Galactic Civilizations II.

And for those of us that can manage to sit tight for another week, the new Mario Brothers game for DS is going to be out. Once again, the DS rules over all other consoles, where the year of 2006 is concerned. It sure would be sweet if Nintendo could somehow carry this momentum over to the Wii when it comes out.

posted by Parappa @ 1:11 PM