G-pinions

It's been so long since a worthwhile Nintendo game came out that I had forgotten just how good they are. I think the last EAD game I bought was last Christmas when I got Mario Kart Double Dash, and before that was in March when I got Zelda. What a long, horrible drought it has been. But finally, finally, I have laid my hands upon a new Nintendo game and, shockingly enough, the game is good. The game is damn good.

Don't worry, I'm not going to go all mouth foamy on you guys... but only because Nick beat me to the punch with yesterday's writeup of Burnout 3. Pikmin 2, though, is a game that is almost beyond running around airplane style, screaming happy yelps. It has that quality found only in Nintendo games. You know, where the characters are instantly lovable, the gameplay, though easy initially, allows you to have fun as soon as you turn the game on. Nintendo games just exude this child like glee that makes me remember why I started playing video games in the first place.

So what's the deal with this game anyway? It's kind of like a real time strategy game, like Warcraft or Starcraft or any other 'craft game, except instead of building troops to fight armies you grow Pikmin to harvest Earth's junk. There are different types of Pikmin - the red guys are good fighters and are immune to fire, the purple guys are slow and fat but really good fighters, and 3 or 4 more types that I don't have yet - and you basically just walk around with this huge pack of singing animaflora fighting enemies and solving puzzles.

What makes the game so great is the presentation more than the gameplay. The little guys are so darn cute that it's quite enjoyable just walking around listening to them sing. And, because of the relationship you build with these virtual flower animals, you actually feel sad when you lose one in battle. When I did a head count after fighting a giant bird head boss and found I had lost 3 of my precious red Pikmin in battle, I got a little choked up. After you finish a day and the results are totalled up, you can even check how many Pikmin you lost and, when the number is revealed, you hear the remaining Pikmin cry a little. I'm sorry, I have to move on. It's getting dusty over here.

Anyway, I haven't touched the two player mode yet and haven't even faced any real challenges, but I can say with confidence that this game is just amazing. It's what I love about video games. Very few games go beyond a simple gaming experience and cause you to actual feel for the characters on screen. Nintendo found a way to make an amazing real time strategy game for home consoles that's not only fun but you actually do care. Yay!

So I wouldn't be a very good G-Pinioneer if I didn't take some time out of my busy first day of owning Burnout 3: Takedown to tell you about it. Plus, my fingers, brains, and eyeballs could use a rest. I've been held to a minimum of thought and blinking for about three hours now, and I don't regret a second of it. Lord, this game is good. Is it the best game this year? So far, no question. Ninja Gaiden is surely as awesome as can be, but it's not miles ahead of other action games. It looks a lot better, but the gameplay isn't exactly revolutionary, just lots of badass funnery. Burnout 3, on the other hand, makes every other racing game, ever, look like a slow, methodic, ugly, boring pile of puke (how's that for hyperbole!?). Seriously, it's the closest I've seen to a perfect game in a long time. And does anyone really disagree? After 114 reviews it's got a 94% going at Gamerankings, so I would venture not. Granted, I've only played a couple of hours worth, but they've been some of the best gaming hours, online and off, that I've ever had. Hell, they've been some of the best plain 'ol reality hours that I've ever had. Maybe I should talk about the game?

For starters, as awesome as Burnout 2 was, I'll never be able to play it again. This game improves on pretty much everything (the load time seems about three seconds slower per restart, but that's the only thing that's worse so far), and everything new kicks ass. The sense of speed, and the fact that you can successfully dodge cars at that speed, makes you feel like a zombie Dale Earnhardt (dead, but highly skilled). The crashes are even better than I could have hoped for, and all feel realistic, unlike some of them in the second game. The Aftertouch system (adjusting your trajectory mid-air after a crash) is great, and makes crashing as fun as it is devastating. So actually, every second spent racing is entertaining, even when getting your ass kicked by traffic. And you do get your ass kicked. Overall, so far at least, the game feels easier than the first one, but I still spend a good forty-five minutes trying to get a gold medal on the second speed trial. The online play is also the most fun I've had online yet next to Socom 2 (which is incomparable), with no lag, plenty of crazy fun modes, and incredibly balanced and flexible matches. I'm ranked about 850th right now, but that's not going to last (I'm sure by the end of the week they'll be a good 50,000 players). I kinda wish I wasn't getting Fable for another couple of months now, because this game is plenty until Halo 2 (and even then, it will be a tough call...). I'm sure I'll talk about it loads more later, but for now, I feel the need for ridiculous speed.

Sorry for my lack of any sort of update to this site of late. With a combination of having a particularly busy schedule at school this fall, combined with devoting all my gaming hours to the utopian bliss that is NFL2K5, I am finding it hard to find either time or an appropriate topic to write about. For that, I apologize. I won't bore you with details on my NFL2K5 journey, as I know most of you don't give a crap about football (and yet you still think you're living?), but I will mention that I've owned the game for about a month and a half and logged about 80 hours into it. It can be completely meaningless to say a given game is good or not, or assign an arbitrary number to its quality. I think 80 hours in 40 some days speaks to the quality of this product.

Moving on...

A funny thing happened on the way home from Gamestop yesterday. Scott and I, returning home from our quest to pre order upcoming September releases, found ourselves walking along State Street next to a slow moving tourist trolley. As it was hot outside and we had been walking for more than 3 miles, I half suggested we should hitch a ride on this free transportation for the last few blocks. A passenger, who was only a foot or two away from us and engrossed in our private conversation, began joking that we were moving faster than the trolley anyway (which is actually true).

As we began to pass the slow moving vehicular mobile, the driver opened the door and, seeing my bag from Gamestop (which contained a wireless router purchased from CDW), asked what I bought. "Katamari Damashi," I responded, talking about the game I just put $5 down for. "What!?" "Katamari Damashi," I said again. Seeing the blank look on the passengers faces, I added "It's Japanese." And then they drove away.

More stories of preorder madness. While in the Gamestop, I asked the clerk if there were many preorders for KD. "Nope, just yours. I actually had to make a SKU just for you." When asked how many copies they would receive he said "We might not have gotten any in."

Just a heads up for anyone out there who wants some ball rolling action. Can't go wrong with a $20 game.