Tuesday 25 December 2012

That was the year that was: 2012

A lot can happen in 12 months. 2012 has been a tough year for certain studios, one where we've lost the legendary Sony Liverpool (formerly Wipeout developers Psygnosis), troubled publishing house THQ, and even good old Eurocom (who gave us The World is Not Enough, easily the second best Bond game on the N64). The U.K games journalism scene nearly tore itself apart over rows about integrity, while Kickstarter launched its British operations with mixed results for industry veterans Molyneux, Braben, and the Oliver twins. Speaking of Molyneux, his studio 22 Cans faced no end of issues with their controversial debut project Curiosity, which at one point had the man in tears. E3 proved to be an oddly compelling car crash of conferences, with Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo jostling to outdo each-other in the let-down stakes. Perhaps most sadly of all, 2012 saw the closure of some of the best loved games magazines on the market, a depressing indictment of the state print media finds itself in these days. Rest in peace Nintendo Gamer, PSM3, Xbox World, and in the U.S the Official Playstation Magazine and the legendary Nintendo Power; you'll all be sadly missed. And of course we can't forget the sad passing of the Gamesmaster himself, Sir Patrick Moore. So long and thanks for all the cheat codes.

At least as a legend he'll live forever


But with death comes new life. The next generation of home consoles sorta-kinda launched at the start of this month with Nintendo's Wii U. Sure it may not be as powerful as the PS3, but we were so starved for new hardware we'll take whatever comes our way. In March the government finally popped its thumb out and offered the U.K games industry some long overdue tax breaks, the benefits of which will hopefully be felt as we move further into the next gen. A personal highlight of the year came in raising over £200 for Sick Kids Save Point through my 24 hour gaming marathon. Never in my wildest dreams did I think people would sponsor me to do something so daft, so I can't express how grateful I am to everyone that supported the cause. I'm already planning for next year.

And, believe it or not, I managed to play some games outside of that as well. Not as many as I'd hoped to, mind, but a couple of decent ones. long-term fans of the blog, if such weirdos exist, might remember me counting down my top ten games of the year around 12 months ago. I stand by the feeling that in 2011 we were truly spoiled for choice when it came to quality titles, which made picking a top ten a fairly easy task. I haven't been so lucky in 2012. Through a mixture of not playing enough games, not owning the right systems, and good old fashioned shite releases, tossing out ten games of the year would be impossible. I'm having to settle for five, which better reflects my feelings without having to resort to padding the list out with games that don't really deserve to be there. Nae luck, Playstation All-Stars.

So in the next few days leading up to new year's eve, look out for five upcoming posts on my games of the year. All being well I'll have the first up tomorrow, and the final one up before we ring in 2013. What a rush that'll be, eh? Christmas is coming a little bit ea... Oh wait no, that's not right at all. Er, merry Christmas! Disregard that I'm clearly not as organised as I thought I was. Oh well!

Wednesday 5 December 2012

Wii U- Hands on

The launch of a new Nintendo console is always a reason to get excited. Few, if any, games companies can boast such a rich history of quality releases, while so many of us will have cut our gaming teeth on one Ninty machine or another. After the stunning success of the Wii, and the intuitive motion-controlled revolution it brought, eyebrows were raised when details about its successor began to emerge. Back in June 2011 Nintendo unveiled the Wii U, with a strong focus on its key selling point: the GamePad. A sort of Swiss Army controller, the pad boasts a number of features, including a front-facing camera, microphone, gyroscopic control, traditional face buttons, and of course a tablet-esque touchscreen right in the middle. But in the 18 months since announcing it Nintendo have done a poor job of communicating why exactly the Wii U is something we should want to buy. After the universal simplicity of the Wii's motion controls the feature-heavy GamePad came across as confusing, and the more Nintendo tried to explain the more baffling it seemed.


The console finally launched in the U.K on Friday, and courtesy of a very accommodating pal I was able to get my hands on one for a few hours that evening. Even after a short time it became obvious that this is something people are going to have to try for themselves. Picking up the pad, you're immediately struck by how light it is. For its size you're expecting something a bit weightier, though it does feel very robust. The size makes it bulky but not unwieldy. It's comfortable to hold and use, though people with smaller hands might find it tricky to juggle using the face buttons and the touchscreen.

On that, the screen itself is the real treat here. Brilliantly clear and bright, it's almost a surprise to see it display everything with the same sharpness as your TV. The Wii U allows you to stream your console game onto the pad. So if, for instance, someone wants to interrupt your gaming so they can watch something, you can switch to playing on the pad's screen with no issue. This is the sort of innovation you feel could become quietly revolutionary, especially considering that it'll work at a range of up to 25ft. Quite apart from being able to take games with you into different rooms (finally, a home console you can play on the toilet. The future is brilliant), built-in Lovefilm and Netflix apps will make streaming films in bed a tempting proposition, and surfing the internet should be simple too. For anyone that doesn't have a dedicated tablet, the Wii U could prove to be an ideal substitute.

The touchscreen also proves to be an entirely natural way to navigate menus, much more so than the slightly skittery Wii pointer. The screen isn't as touch-sensitive as you'd find on an iPad, instead making use of a stylus that slots into the back of the controller. It feels nice and precise though, with the pad easy enough to hold in one hand. Small functions, like being able to use the pad to change channels on your TV, are a very nice touch as well. Overall you realise that, as a selling point, the GamePad isn't too bad at all. There's something that just clicks when using it, and after no time it feels completely natural.



But how does it work for gaming? Nintendo are clearly pushing the social side of the pad first and foremost, with their minigame compilation Nintendoland filling the Wii Sports role of introducing people to the new controller's potential. As a collection it's typically charming, a virtual theme park that acts as a love letter to Nintendo's past. The games themselves range from the chaotically brilliant to the surprisingly dull, depending on how many people you have playing at a time. My own experience was with two other people, one on the pad and two with Wii remotes. The GamePad player will typically have a different role to play. For instance in the riotous Mario Chase the GamePad gives you an overview of a mazy stage in which you run and hide, while the other players on the TV have a limited view and have to hunt you down before the time runs out. It's a neatly balanced concept that comes to life after a few drinks, with a lot of shouting and giggling as you chase each other around the level.

Other games in the collection provide plenty of laughs. The Pikmin dungeon-crawler is charmingly tricky, while a Zelda-themed slash 'em up has you using the GamePad to fire arrows at onrushing enemies. Sadly Nintendo run the risk of over-explaining everything to players. Each game is preceded by lengthy tutorials telling you the exact rules for each player, what the controls are, and it all flits by so fast that you can go in fairly confused. Things click easily enough in practice, but it highlights the downsides of Nintendo's explanation-driven approach when marketing the console. It's tricky to communicate, but the best way to sell this to people will be to simply put it in their hands.

I sampled a couple of the other launch titles as well. New Super Mario Bros U is what you'd expect from a brand-new 2D Mario game, offering some brilliant platforming challenge and a great multiplayer. Given that this is Nintendo's first console to support HD, you can imagine it looks pretty wonderful as well. Everything's so bright and colourful you can't help but smile. Though it lacks the striking style of Rayman Origins, you get the impression that Nintendo and hi-def graphics are going to be a very nice match indeed.

Tekken Tag Tournament 2 has already been out on the PS3 and 360 for a few weeks, but Namco have upped the ante for the Wii U release. It looks just as good, if not better, than the other versions, showing off the console's graphical muscle, but it's the Wii U specific modes that stand out. Mushroom mode sees the stage littered with Mario mushrooms, that make the characters larger or shorter, all while thumping remixes of Nintendo tunes play over the action. The characters have alternate costumes based on Nintendo characters as well, adding a hell of a lot of charm. There's nothing like seeing a massive Mario-suited Kuma battering into a tiny Yoshimitsu in a Link costume to have you in tears of laughter.


Outside of Mario, the big launch title is clearly Zombi U. Ubisoft's survival horror exclusive has been developed with the console's features in mind, and it shows. The game has you stalking through a deserted London, fending off attacks from the rabid undead hordes. The GamePad is used to access your inventory and tools, but all in real time. There's no pausing to manage your items or solve puzzles, meaning you're constantly on your guard. What little I saw of the campaign seemed suitably tense, bringing to mind games like Bioshock and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. It includes some Dark-Souls style twists, with a brutal difficulty level making death almost inevitable, and online components that will see your game world crossing over with those of other players'. It also includes some interesting multiplayer modes; Capture the Flag has one player strategically controlling zombie placements on the GamePad, while the others survive in first person on the TV. It's fun when it clicks, but that will take a while. It's clear that Zombi U's real strength seems to be in its single player campaign.

And that's lucky, because the Wii U is strangely lacking in solo titles at the moment. It's launched with a handful of third-party ports, including Assassins Creed 3 and Darksiders 2, but it's unusual for Nintendo to release a console without a big first-party title that has solo players in mind. While you can play through games like NSMB and Nintendoland yourself, they'll be at their best with some mates round and a few drinks down. This has been designed as a party console first and foremost, and it seems you're best keeping pals in mind if you're going to pick one up for gaming, at least until the big first-party titles start dropping. Then again, I wasn't able to touch on the online modes during my time playing. Reports suggest that the Miiverse, Nintendo's stab at a sort of Wii U social network, is an absolute joy, with the potential to change the online side of console gaming.

Even as a bit of a Nintendo fanboy, I have to admit the Wii U has surprised me. For months I'd been telling myself this wasn't for me, that Nintendo didn't really know what they were doing with it. But having had one in my hands I can say that Nintendo might have convinced me they were right all along. It's now much easier to see why this touch screen integration might be the next big thing, one that will doubtless be copied in some way when Sony and Microsoft bring up their own next-gen offerings. However, as with the Wii the real key to its success will be to get people trying it. A few hours playing on a Wii U has done more to convince me it's worth buying than 18 months of marketing and explanatory videos ever could have. And as far as first impressions go, that's not too bad at all