Mario can take it

I was just thinking the other day that a lot of my posts are negative and I was going to vow to not be so lopsided in my posts. However, since there are so many positive reviews of Super Mario Galaxy, I felt it was my duty to take good ol' Mario down a notch. Don't worry though, Mario is tough and he can take it.

I have two gripes:

• My kids now fight over the Wii because only one person can really play at a time. They even fight over whether someone should assist as a second player. I say this only half jokingly.

• You can't save anywhere you want and anytime you want. Normally I wouldn't think much of this but it is exceedingly frustrating to try and get the kids off the system (or myself for that matter) at a moments notice when you can't save just anywhere you want. You either have to exit out of the galaxy you are in forfeiting progress or hang in there a bit longer and hope you can finish the level out. I understand the technical reasons you can't do this. Without a hard drive, saving the state of the system is difficult. It is the one thing (and I do mean one thing) that right now keeps Galaxy from being perfect.

If only other games had it so good.

I'll take Galaxy for $25

Well, sort of...

I discovered at the last minute that Toys 'R Us had a special running to get a $25 Gift Card when purchasing a copy of Super Mario Galaxy. Of course, I had to go get it which was great since I really didn't want to wait until Black Friday.

For a really good review, check out GameSpot's site.

The quick answer to whether to buy it is YES, go buy it. It is a great game. I've not played too far into it but it really is a stellar achievement. It's a qualified BUY because if you have no interest in platform games, then this probably won't appeal to you.

It is a masterpiece of presentation. It is also quite a piece of programming. I have to hand it to the developers for figuring out how to make such incredibly complex worlds that Mario can walk and run and jump on. All this is done while still keeping the controls simple and intuitive.

The other thing that they did which I really appreciate is that they added the ability for a second person to participate in a cooperative fashion and really feel like they are contributing. At first, when I read how it was handled, I thought it would be lame but it is actually quite fun.

It is most certainly a game that is worth purchasing if you have a Wii. Nearly anyone will find it enjoyable unless you really only like first person shooters or racing games. This game really sets the bar very high for others that are coming out with Wii games. Everything from here on out will be compared with it and I feel sorry for the other developers. They are all going to have their work cut out for them.

Wii Shortage or Wii Ambush?

This probably isn't at all close to what is really going on but wouldn't it be really cool if Nintendo, on Black Friday, opened the floodgates on all the Wii's they've been stashing the last few months and just let loose with an ambush that no one saw coming?

It would be pretty funny and would have Microsoft (and Sony but are they really a player?) scrambling to figure out what to do. It is sad when Microsoft and Sony are banking on a Wii shortage to boost sales of their consoles. I don't happen to hate the XBOX 360 but I wouldn't mind if Microsoft had the smug little grin wiped off their faces this holiday season.

My Apple Dilemma

I know I'm beating a dead horse here and you must forgive me. I still can't help myself so I'll say it.

Apple must be totally oblivious to the market and truly not care how they've priced their systems because now they are incredibly out of tune with the rest of the world.

My wife and I desperately would like to get a Mac laptop. She likes the Mac, I like the Mac, both of us think it would be fun to have and be a bit easier to use down the road. We're both willing to suffer through the transition to OSX given we have no Mac software and for a while, we'll probably run Parallels or Fusion so we can run some Windows apps.

While that sounds fine, in practice it is going to pretty hard to justify the price premium now on the MacBook Pro (the preference since the MacBook has a substandard video card). Apple set their prices quite a while back and when the MacBook Pro premiered, it was on parity with the rest of the laptop world. This isn't true any longer. Not by a long shot.

I configured two Dell Inspiron laptops today that are comparable to the "low end" of the 15" and 17" MacBook Pro. Imagine my shock when, after configuring nearly identical systems, the 15" was $1000 cheaper and the 17" was $1300 cheaper. That doesn't even include the $200 Gift Card Dell is throwing in now with that same purchase so depending on how you view it, you could knock another $200 off those Dell prices.

To be fair, these prices used a $500 off coupon that Dell has out right now. You could exclude that but it would still be a far cry from the Apple prices. The problem is, Dell ALWAYS has these kinds of coupons so I figure you have to factor that in.

Is OSX really worth the price premium being charged? That is basically what you are paying for plus, I'll argue, a more elegant looking design. The MacBook is simply a more attractive notebook PC.

We've hashed out he merits of the price difference before (see here) of which there are arguments the used market helps eliminate the price gap and the features and benefits of OSX add to the value and Apple doesn't care to sell a whole lot of notebooks. I'll agree but $1000 and $1300 difference??? You are talking, in both cases, nearly double the price. In the case of the $1000 Dell vs $2000 Mac, we could hypothetically figure that I'll get $200 for the Dell used in 3 years and $1000 used for the Mac (optimistic I think) and that still puts the Dell at a better deal.

So where is the Apple Holiday Special? Do we have to wait until Black Friday to hear about it. Is there even going to be one?

My mind and soul want to say Apple but my wallet wants to say Dell (or some other cheaper alternative). I sure wish Apple would make this easier.

Beware the Exception

At least in the case of Circuit City you need to beware!

Circuit City has a price protection plan called their Unbeatable Price Guarantee. To quote it:

Q: Will Circuit City match its own prices?
A: Yes, if you purchase an item from us (in-store or on circuitcity.com) and we advertise the same item at a lower price within thirty days of your purchase, we will refund you 100% of the price difference. Bring the advertisement and your original sales receipt to your local Circuit City for the refund.

Of course, you need to beware the EXCEPTION:

Circuit City's Unbeatable Price Guarantee does not apply to services, nor does it apply to special offers or promotions, including rebates, mail-in offers, free-with-purchase offers, limited quantity offers, bundled promotions and special financing. Circuit City's Unbeatable Price Guarantee does not apply to products and services offered by third parties operating in Circuit City's stores.

Under what circumstances would there ever be an advertised special that isn't a "Special Offer or Promotion" is my question? Isn't that the point? When would Circuit City or anyone else for that matter advertise a price anywhere unless it was a "Special Offer or Promotion"? Sounds like a wonderful escape clause if you ask me.

Buyer Beware as usual.

Why does this matter? Well, I wanted to buy Super Mario Galaxy for the Wii tomorrow even though I happen to know that there is a special being offered on Black Friday and the Saturday following for $15 off. You would think I'd be able to use their Unbeatable Price Guarantee (say that with a little reverb in a deep voice for the best effect) and get my money back. Guess not! I wonder how many other consumers will be out of luck because of this?

Personally, I'd like to say the heck with Circuit City but I'll probably end up waiting until Thanksgiving anyway. My Wii Remote will just have to wait a little longer I guess. $15 is just too much to part with willingly. Either way, CC is probably losing money on that as a loss leader so it'll be my way of sticking it to them!

People are going to think I'm obsessed with video games and I'm not really. I just like to blog about them. Honest....it's true...

Simple and Incredibly Fun Game

Desktop Tower Defense is easily one of the best Flash based games I've played in a while that isn't a simple derivative of every other puzzle game out there. It has some elements of strategy and puzzle solving, an online scoreboard, and you get to blow stuff up. What more could you ask for?

Well, how about Multiplayer Desktop Tower Defense for starters. It is in the works and due to be released soon. Try it out. You too can drop into the vortex of lost time.

WiiCade = Cheap Fun

If you have a Wii and want to enjoy some cheap thrills, browse using the Wii Web Browser ($5) to www.wiicade.com and check out some of the Flash 7 games that have been uploaded, sorted, rated, and made available for Wii users to play. They all still work on your PC too but most of them are a lot more fun with the Wii Remote.

My personal favorites are:

Dice Wars (Risk)
Interactive Buddy (who knew hand grenades could be so much fun)
Dice Mogul (Monopoly)

Check it out!

Game Developer meet Game Player

Why is it I can play a game and instantly within an hour or so see problems with it?

I really don't understand how a game can be in development for any reasonable length of time, play tested by players, previewed by critics, and then have noticeable flaws instantly out of the gate or within the first few hours of game play. It defies comprehension and seems to me to say to the game player that the developers really couldn't care less.

My best example at the moment is with the new Wii game "Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games". It looks like it actually will be a really fun game over time. The problem is, they really screwed up some simple things.

First, they only have FOUR (yes, four) save game/data slots for tracking stats and progress in the game. For some, this may be fine, but listen, I've got 2GB of SD storage on a plug in card and more internally on this Wii of mine and I can't use it! Why do these companies, particularly with Nintendo based games, put such severe limits on save space? Why do they need this artificial limit? I've got six people in our family and sometimes a friend comes over too (yes, it is known to happen) and I've got to now figure out who gets to use the save game slots. What a let down.

Second, they don't save stats in multi-player games. What??? I thought the whole point of the Wii and to a large extent, this game, was to foster togetherness and group play. Well, guess what, if you decide to do that, you can't unlock anything and you can't save any of your records. Yeah, that's encouraging us all to play together. Way to go Sega! The best example I can give is that my wife absolutely blew away the Olympic Record in the Javelin, she got excited, wanted to see her score on the leaderboard (yes this game actually does use the online element...but more on that later), and guess what, it isn't there. It isn't saved anywhere. She crushed this event and has nothing to show for it. All they had to do is let you tie a character or Mii to a save game area so it always shows your scores and tracks them. If they couldn't do that, they could have at least just asked where to save the data each time. This is a big disappointment.

Third, why do companies insist on forcing me to watch all the cute stuff all the time. Some of the replays and medal ceremonies are cute the first couple of times but frankly, I just want to play. After the umpteenth time watching the stupid ceremony and the medal crap, I want to scream. You can click past it sort of but everything just takes too long. I want to get into event, play, and then retry, and I want to do it as fast as possible. There should be an option that says "Cute - ON/OFF" or something.

Fourth, is it too much to ask for real instructions? The number of Olympic games represented are vast in this and each game for the most part uses the controllers in a very different way except for the running events. Was it really that technically difficult to show real video examples of how the dang control scheme works? The animations and icons are about the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen. Also, apparently, the developers don't know the difference between horizontal and vertical either.

Finally, the whole leaderboard scheme, while welcome, is badly managed. Don't get me wrong, I'm so very thankful for a game that finally actually uses the internet connection. Even the vaunted and greatly anticipated Super Mario Galaxy that is soon to be released doesn't use it (I think...) so it is nice that the internet connection isn't totally wasted. But why can't I scroll the whole list? Does it really take that much memory? Why can't it auto-update? They also blew it with how they track the scores here. I can't post anything if I'm playing a multi-player game and it would be nice to know just a little bit more about the scores such as when they were posted and from where. Why can't I see the online records while actually playing an event either? Was that so difficult? Oh, and did I mention you can only have FOUR names tied to the Wii in this game?? Oh yeah, I did didn't I. It was also disappointing that you can't play a friend online either.

With that said, I still like the game. I just can't understand why they didn't perfect it. I've only played for a few hours and if I can pry the controllers away from my kids, I'll actually try it again soon. I think it'll offer a lot of game play value. It's the first game so far that made me think that I didn't make a mistake buying the Wii. Hopefully Galaxies, releasing next week, will further convince me of the same.

Oh one last thing. Don't let anyone fool you into thinking the Wii is cheap. Sure, the console is only $250 but don't forget, you need to buy at least one more Wii Remote and Nunchuck for $50. On top of that, if you really want to play four players at a time, plunk down another $100 for two more Remotes and Nunchuks. If you don't have a GameCube, you'll need a Classic Controller for $20 too. Grand Total for Wii = $420!! You haven't even bought a game yet.

Sure, you can spend that on the other systems too and more for controllers but guess what, I can play online with them too and make the person I'm playing with buy their own dang controller. I sure hope they work out some way to make online play really click with the Wii and soon. How else am I suppose to crush my friends and family from far away?