Nintendo Wii - Its Successes and Its Failures

Nintendo has caught everyone, even themselves by surprise after the unbelievable success of their Wii console. A year before it's release, many experts predicted that the industry leaders at the time, Microsoft and Sony, would eat them alive with their hugely powerful machines and huge marketing budgets. After the generation that saw the death of the Sega Dreamcast and saw the Gamecube struggle to move units, many industry experts assumed that big companies that can throw a lot of money at advertising will in the end prevail. Nintendo has proven that if you just show a bit of innovation and take a bit of a risk, you can do anything.

The first thing that you think of when someone mentions the Wii, is the very original approach Nintendo took with regards to the "control pad" or, more accurately, the "control remote." The creative team acknowledged that they couldn't match it with the big guns when it came to a regular console, so they began thinking outside the box to offer an affordable console that was also unlike anything we'd seen before.

Unfortunately, such a move was always going to be met by criticism for various reasons. Many are of the belief that game developers are struggling to work out what to do with the unique control system, and that there aren't as many quality games as there are on the Xbox 360 and PS3. This is a fair criticism. A quick skim through the games available for the Wii will leave many feeling quite underwhelmed. While there are a few top quality games on the system, many are sick of poor quality party games that get thrown together in a month.

The other problem Nintendo are currently having is that there simply aren't enough consoles available to meet demand. This just goes to show that the success of the console has even caught the company off guard. There are reports that the lack of consoles has cost Nintendo upwards of $1 billion in sales. Not to mention the fact that many will just elect to buy a much easier to find PS3 or Xbox 360 instead.

Regardless of the criticism's, Nintendo seem to be comfortably in the battle this generation. Not only are they outselling the 360 and PS3, but they're obliterating them. With more than 3 million consoles moved compared to the 360 (even though it's been out a year longer) and more than 11 million consoles than the PS3 as of the 29th of December 2007. That should say one thing to us all: After two consoles that lost out to the respective PlayStation systems, Nintendo are back.

Keep up to date with your much loved Wii. Check out my Wii blog entitled Wii Want to Blog for all my adventures in Wii.

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Unreal Tournament 3 - The Truth of the Matter

I have been playing this series of games for more years than I care to remember, and when I first heard about the impending release of this game, I was ecstatic. This was enhanced by the unbelievably gorgeous graphics used for the teaser trailer for the game, and my heart skipped a beat.

However, this is all before the actual release of the game, and for me, I guess it proved that the hype-ing up of a game, and movie for that matter, does not necessarily guarantee a great game.

Undoubtedly, those reading this have read reviews of the game from games magazines and websites, that state just how 'amazing' this game is. These are undoubtedly the same individuals who said that Halo 3 was brilliant, despite the fact that in fact, the Halo series is a poorly programmed video game that is only as popular as it is due to the fact that Microsoft makes it. But I will write about my opinion on the Halo series when I next get the opportunity.

You see, the truth of the matter is that Unreal Tournament is in fact, not a very good game at all. Putting aside the glitchy graphics and textures, the actual game play is no where near as good as previous games, and in fact there are even some game modes that are missing or have been modded, and it is for this reason that the game does not succeed in appeasing me. In fact, it left a sour taste in my mouth that could only be diminished by playing Alone in the Dark.

This game was delayed for about a year, which in itself is ridiculous when you consider just how poorly made the game actually is. Sure, it uses the unreal 3 engine, but if this is what we are to expect from this engine, then I am seriously considering boycotting most other games that utilise this engine, unless I see that they are using it to its full potential, otherwise, well you end up with Unreal Tournament 3.

One of the other issues that I had with the game was the fact that they have tried to give a game that is basically based around death matches, a storyline. This concept is ridiculous. If I wanted a storyline, instead of just beating the crap out of the nearest opponent to me, then I would just throw in Gears of War into my 360. Basically, they should have left the stories to Unreal, and not Unreal Tournament.

Now, the greatest criticisms I have with this game are the graphics. I don't care what anyone says; this game is 100% NOT pretty. In fact, I would even go so far as to say that it is ugly. The textures are flat, the characters lack any sense of reality, and everything is shiny. The game is no where near as pretty as it pretended to be in the teaser trailer. And believe me, I know pretty when it comes to video games, and even with the best settings on my HDTV, this game is still appalling.

Now, don't get me wrong, it's not all bad. There are some redeeming points for this game, though not enough for me to want to keep this travesty of an unreal game on my shelf, but you never know. Whilst it has in fact mutilated the Unreal Tournament game, this is still basically a game of death and destruction, and if you are looking for a game where you can kill twenty people in about 10 minutes, then I guess this is the game for you.

I certainly (in hindsight) wouldn't pay full whack price for this game, but about 30 is an acceptable price. Though be warned, this game is set to disappoint, which it has done many of my friends who have been fans of the series for many years.

My advice to one playing this game is to not listen to the hype and false reviews written in magazines. Do not expect this game to compare in any shape, way or form to its' predecessors, as quite simply it does not, and will leave you ever so slightly dead inside.

Kristen Barghout

Blog: http://www.animezonecentral.com

I am a professional programmer, with a keen interest in all things related to anime and video games. I don't just like certain genre's, I like all genre's, and will always give my honest opinion.

I can't always find the time to post my articles here, but if you visit my blog, there is lots of news and reviews, so please check it out.

AP - The first Vietnamese-American elected to Congress took advantage of dissatisfaction with a longtime incumbent dogged by corruption allegations and reflects the changing nature of New Orleans politics since Hurricane Katrina.