My Conduit Impressions

Well a lot has been said about the conduit, but its hard to begin, I’ve never written a review of a game but this isn’t supposed to be one.

The Conduit was a game that I had been looking forward to for a long time, it was the sort of game I have wanted to play on Wii since it’s release. The build up to it was long and HVS did a great job of keeping the game in the public eye during its development. We were promised a lot of things by Eric Nofsinger, he seemed to have tapped into what the Wii core wanted and was telling them that HE was going to deliver, but did he?

Eric Nofsinger with Cliff Bleszinski

Nintendo – Shock and Awe

Well this blog post may be something that a lot of people will wish happen but in true fashion may never.

What does Nintendo need to do to win back the bread and butter of the industry, shock and awe. The bread and butter I refer to is the consumer that purchases more than one game a month, who vocally express themselves insatiably, who go nuts over every title that satisfies their cravings in games.
Now I fully understand that Nintendo do have a large fan base, but the industry knows that the base on the Wii do not pick-up titles to the same extent as on other systems. The core fans of the Wii tend to stick stringently to Nintendo software, they find it hard to stray from this due to years of disrespectful treatment from 3rd parties on Nintendo hardware with poor ports, features missing and down right negligence for quality. Some of this is still true on the Wii even though it is the highest selling console.

So how do Nintendo solve the riddle, well they can’t necessarily solve it like a maths equation all they can do is take steps in the right direction to rectify and attract those who in the early years of the Wii’s lifespan were ignored for the attraction that was the casual expanded audience. I will try to outline the steps that Nintendo should investigate and take measures to attain these goals.

How will PEGI work in the UK?

Video Standards Council and PEGI logo's

Well the simple answer to this is the same as always. The Video Standards Council (VSC) is the body behind which will enforce and have the power to enforce the ban on video games that do not receive a rating for retail. I have contacted the VSC for information and Laurie Hall gave me the following statement;

Michael Pachter – A New Nintendo Lesson

Granted throughout my blog i have mentioned Michael Pachter once or twice, maybe more. But this is due to the fact that he is a representative of the industry, not through development but through his research and analysis work at Wedbush Morgan Securities. As an industry analyst it is Michaels job to know the industry inside out and provide reliable information to his employers as well as their consumers, on the sideline he is an analyst that regulars on GTTV with Geoff Keighley, to provide his unique insight to the future of the industry.

Michael Pachter on GTTV

My Opinion Matters!

So just for laughs I thought I would shoot off a “small” email to High Voltage Software about their upcoming game, ‘The Grinder’. It was generally about my thoughts on the IGN E3 walkthrough on Youtube. Well I’ll let you guys read what I sent to HVS;

Hey,

I’ve been thinking about the grinder and how awesome the whole game appears.
I have a couple of thoughts that I’d like to share these thoughts with you guys if your willing to listen, which I know you are 😀

Well first off, The Slasher, great character, i dont think its been done before in all honesty. A thought though, as the influence is Jason, maybe after so long of a pursuit without out-running him mid attack he could disappear (of course when not on screen) This would give the impression of throughout the game it is the single same Slasher that pursuits you. In the IGN live demo i could help to see the slasher still trying to attack you from the high office within the warehouse while the battle with the first werewolf was happening, it kinda gave the opinion that he isnt so formidable if he cant climb and jump down to the floor like the player did. And the influence of Jason leaves me hoping of a Freddy Krueger style/armed foe that possibly crawls about like the lickers from Resident Evil/Voldo from Soul Calibur.

New PEGI Ratings In-Store by Summer!

So the new PEGI ratings brand will be on products by summer.  If you haven’t been following the whole dialema PEGI have been going through a number of re-designs of their ratings to make them more appealing as the single rating board for videogames.  Their final re-design has been confirmed to be in production already and through manufacture time scales should be in stores by the summer.

“We are very happy with this result. The best system won in the end. PEGI was always designed from the outset for games. PEGI is able to react to the games industry – legislation and other systems just don’t move that fast. We authorized publishers to start using the symbols as of last week – it obviously takes a while for them to work through the manufacturing system, but those new ratings will be seen in shops by the end of the summer.” – ISFE boss Simon Little

UK Government chooses PEGI ratings!

David Yarnton, UK General Manager, Nintendo, said: “The Government has made the right decision. The PEGI age rating system is right for the protection of children as it is designed specifically for games and interactive content.

“As a global company we welcome the decision as mature and intelligent as it works across some 30 international territories.“Rob Cooper, Managing Director, Ubisoft UK, said: “The adoption of PEGI as the rating system for games is a good decision. The PEGI system is future-proof, delivering effective child protection now and in the future. PEGI Online is a key component of the system, ensuring that the government does not have to re-assess the entire system once again in 12 months time.”

New Play Control – Motion, is it the Vital Component?

Nintendo pioneered the move for console manufacturers to rethink control designs with the Wii remote. This was quickly and somewhat unashamedly ripped off my Sony with the Six Axis controller, we have Microsoft heavily hinted to release their new control scheme at E3 (you can read more about this in my previous blog). We have Tony Hawk’s RIDE coming soon for a rumoured $120 that includes a motion sensing board controller which is the only control option. It leaves me thinking, what about the other component of the Wii Remote.

New Play Control – Microsoft

Now everyone seems to have an opinion on new ways to play videogames, whether you love it or hate it this seems to be the future for the industry. This is not exclusive to console manufacturers, it is also open to publishers/developers of video games the best examples are EA/MTV/Harmonix and Red Octane/Activision with their seemingly never ending stream of music controllers, or an even more recent one would be with Tony Hawk’s RIDE with the new board peripheral that simulates a skateboard for the game but could also be used in the future as a snowboard, surfboard or even wakeboard.

Nintendo was the pioneer of opening up the games market to new control types, going all the way back to the NES with the power glove, the power mat and the synonymous R.O.B the robot. Up until the recent times Nintendo had a prototype controller for the Gamecube that is similar to the Playstation 3’s sixaxis controller they also had Donkey Kong bongo’s moving to the Wii with the Remote as a primary control option with motion and infra-red pointer control. Also looking at what the touch abilities have done for the handheld market and the possibilities for the in-game use of the DSi’s cameras already showing with augmented reality games in the works.