Wii Is 2!

Wii is 2!!

The Wii is the leading forcing gaming right now. With Nintendo totally leading the market with sales, and everyone else trying to catch up, Microsoft are despratly trying to catch up, and Sony are attempting to rip Ninty off every more and more. (Natch)

And so Nintendo thought ti might be a good time to take a holidayn in Q3 and Q4 of 2008. Having been very strong and forth-going in Q2 and Q3, what with Super Smash Bros Brawl (One of the best games ever made by any company. Ever.) and Mario Kart Wii (The best online game on the format, plus one of the ebst this genneration.), plus btis ‘n’ bobs like No More Heroes, Zack & Wiki, and Boom Blox being squidged out from third parties.

And yet, after Brawl’s very late realise in Europe (27th June 2008. No, we didn’t look that up. We know it by heart. Mario Galaxy came out 16th Novmember 2007, and Mario Kart was 11th April 2008. We wish we weren’t as bright/sad.) Nintendo somewhat dropped their game, starting with E3.

Many people said Nintendo’s E3 performance was very poor this year, and while we personaly found their Wii Music demonstartion absolutely brilliant, it was somewhat lacking, with the only real new titles coming in the form of Animal Crossing’s latest port (Even if we loved it- Our full review is coming Friday.) and a sequal to the game that won Nintendo this free year off work: Wii Sports.

OK, there was also Wii Speak (Wii Voice Chat! At Last! Tell us there’s updates on Mario Kart and Smash Bros. already!!) and MotionPlus, which will be realised next year. Like the rest of Nintendo’s best game, such as Pikmin and Sin & Punishment, as confirmed at their fall confrence: Nintendo’s highlight of the year.

However, if there was one thing that ‘Saved’ the Wii’s second year, it’s that WiiWare is the ebst Online Downlaod Service In The World™. Begining with the brilliant launch lnie-up including Doctor Mario, Final Fantasy and LostWinds, and continuing with the likes of Bobmerman Blast, Tetris Party and the hilarious Strong Bad games (“Was there a secret time in Earth’s history when the world was ruled by hobos?”), but most of these where third-party titles, as this year was finaly when -No matter what Reggie Fils-Aimes says- third parties finaly “Got it.”

Thankfully then, 2009 loosk set to be better. We’ve got a full-on feature on that set to go up tomorrow, but untill then, continue to remember the basic facts of life: Zelda: Twilight Princess was a launch title. It’s one of the ebst games ever. Super Mario Galaxy was even better, and two of our editors here at KN belvie it to eb the single-greatest game of all-time. Super Smash Bros. Brawl? The greatest multi-player game ever made, with a fine amount of content for single-player.

Say what you like about Nintendo in 2008, just one entry in the “Top #15 Games Of All-Time List” should be a massive acheivment. Having one every single bloomin’ year on top of the top spot is the single greatest achivement any company can make.

Character War: The Survivors Speak Out! (Part Three)

Another part (At last!) of the speaches and stuff from survivors of the Character War. There are now less, with 9 untestifed contentants left, so there's 5 in this one, with only 4 in the next one, later tonight.

Sonic










"Hey Kids! It's me! The one who was awosme in the late 80's and early 90s! Yeah, I suck now, but who cares? Sonic Unleahsed is the ebst of my 3D games, and that's new, so I should be a good memory! keep me here, guys! I'm also good in Brawl."

Kirby



Kirby is unfortuantly only a baby, acording to Sakauri himself. (Even if they also state he's over 1000.) He's not yet able to speak properly. So we'll have his 'Friend' Metaknight talknig about his performance so far and chances of survival.

"Kirby is a master of many things at an early age, he just does not know how to use his mastery: In every possible way." He begins. "His enhaling ability means he has an edge over everyone else." King Dedede then chips in. "Hey, and he looks like a giant pink marshmellow, so everyone loves him!"

Yoshi



Oh heck. What do we do here? Yoshi can say very little that isn't "Yoshi!". Same problem with Mudkip comnig up. And the "Say Nothing" joke has been done to hell, so we'll just ignore this one and Mudkip, and comment on his ourselves.

Yoshi's KN Editor TR's all-time favorate game character. So he could easily win... Yoshi! Yoshi!

Luigi



"I'ma going to wina---AAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!"

And that everyone, is what happens when the average person sees Gibbon for the first time. Although Luigi's a bit of a scardey cat, he's been flung in a fair few haunted houses, so we reccon his reaction is a bit of an undertsatment.

Mudkip



\/\/3 |-|3|^|) |_| |_13|( /\/\|_||)|(19Z.



We'll be back later!

New Site Countdown #1

The blog will have a fair few less exclusives when the new site launches, but all the same: it won't be dead. So we can look forward to it. Out 12/12/08.

One new feature is the video player. They'll be lots of new videos & stuff. We won't spoil it all, but these kinda regular updates will explain more...

Heh.

Lot's of long, long article and opinon posts latley, I thought I'd give you a quick one right now.

Actualy, this is mainly ebcause I'm taknig a moment off designing the new site, (12th December, folks! TWELTH OF DECEMBER!) and decided to check on a nubmer of Blogs. So: Here's my update on the KN Blog. The site's coming along nicley. And it's also Coming 12/12/08. Look out. It'll be MASSIVE.

Character War: The Survivors Speak Out! (Part Two)

Yes, we said it'd be tommorow, but who cares? A characters gonig otu soon, and we have no clue who it'll be, so we'd better get through 'em fast. Ish. Well, he's the responses from the remaining characters. ANYWAY. 20 Charcters remain. 32 have gone. 5 have given their opinons on the war. 5 more are about to. Well, here we go...

Professor Layton



"I'm not sure why Luke's still following me in here. But my word, haven't I done well? This puzzle just keeps on ticking, as a new challenge begins every day. There's not too much logic in this, but it engages my interlectual curiosity. I'm attempting to figure out what the story behind these events is. This is a puzzle..."

We almost understood what he was on about.

Captain Falcon



"I'll Just FAAAAACCCCCAAAAWWWWWNNNN PAAAAWWWWWNNNNCCCCHHHH my way through it all! Come on! Show me ya moves! This is too easy! Yes!"

Well there you go. Everyone's favourite Smash Bro.'s verdict.

Solid Snake



"Kept you waiting, huh? Well, I'm not going. Mainly because you won't be able to find me. I'll be standing realy still just over your shoulder. Inside a box. Wearing camo gear. Having stolen Harry Potter's invisibity cloak. Actualy, I won't of stole it- We're genuinly close friends."

Whatever you say, Snake. Whatever you say...

Sho Minamoto



"Ha! You zetta sons of digits! You realy think you can erase me from this pointless game? Hollow-sculled hectopascals! You're all garbage! CRUNCH! I'll add you to the heap! This is MY game now, and I only allow two things: Flawless Calculations... And Beauty! 3.14159265358979323846264338327950288419716939937 510582097494459230781640628620899862803482534211 706798214808651328230664709384460955058223172535940812848111!"

*Runs*

Fox McCloud



"Come in... This is Fox. Mission should be accomplished within 19 days. Over and out."

Dream on, Foxy boy.

Well.. That was part two. The current nominations to go out are Marth of Fire Emblem fame and Ammeritsufrom Okami. Funnily enough, both of them are due to be in Part Four. Which goes out after the end of the voting. Erm... Well, enjoy murdeorising characters!

Character War: The Survivors Speak Out (Part One)

So then, with only 20 Characters remaining in KN's first-ever Character War, 34 have been evicted. We've gone and asked the remaining 20 to give us the low-down on what's happened in the war so far, and what they hope you happen...

Mario


"Well, it'sa mea! I always win-a these thingsa! I can't go out! If I do-a? Mamma Mia! What-a-disast-a! But I won't-a! Wahoo!"

Erm, well there you go.

Link



"It's been tough, and it's somehow taught me how to talk. Having won many a 'Best Character' contest, I'm sure I'll make it to the final at least. If I ever need to duke it out, I'm easily the strongest of everyone in the remaining roster. And, funnily enough, the only remaining villian is my nemesis. So I should enjoy watching him preish under my almighty power. FOR HYRULE!"

Yup.

Neku Sakuraba



"I'm not much of a Gaming Superstar, and that makes me feel uneasy, and afterall- I'm just a normal 15 year old boy, afterall, no matter how strong I am with a bunch of Pins. So what? I'm a player. But, all the same, I've taken down almost every single Reaper within The Game, and I should be able to make my way out of this alive. Or dead. Whatever."

Well, we love you, Neku. Kinda.

Ness



"PK Victory! I'll be abl;e to win this. Afterall, did you see how awsome I was in that cutscene in Brawl? Yeah, I'm awsome."

Gorrila says "Yeah!" Rest of us? "Meh."

Samus Aran



"..."

Looks like she realy can't speak.

Come Back For The Next Part- Even if a character or two are gone...

Ocarina of Time: 10 Years On

If you're a gamer, there's no way you could of possibly escaped the word "Zelda" for more than a month within picknig up the pad. And if you havn't heard of that word, you've got no right to read this. Infact, use that handy, yet often useless, search bar tab in the top-right corner of Firefox to look it up. Enter the three key words "Ocarina", "Of" and "Time" as well, and most the results will carry a further three words: "Best", "Game" and "Ever".

The Zelda series is among the world's greatest franchises, be it games or TV, film or books. Besides Mario, the adventures of Link is Nintendo's flagship series, and when it comes to "Hardcore" gaming: There's nothing better than Zelda.

Future Zelda titles like Majora's Mask and Twilight Princess have tried to challenge Ocarina's crown, but have failed. Both where amazing games, but have a long way to go if they want to muster the magic of Ocarina of Time. Many will claim they where "The best Zelda ever" or "The new Ocarina of Time" at launch, but we all know that it -Quite frankly- isn't. Perhaps this is why Nintendo tryed to change the visual style straight after the second N64 3D Zelda: They couldn't top it, and they knew it wasn't worth trying. The Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass are both amazing titles, and some of the best games ever, and not directly competing with the gaming might that is Ocarina of Time helps majorly when it comes to this sort of thing.

Infact, only a handful of titles do own the right to eb able to look Ocarina in the eyes. Okami on PS2 and Wii may have flopped when it comes to sales, but it's the closest challenger to the title that doesn't come from Nintendo it's self. Twilight Princess, Majora, Wind Waker and Link To The Past are all amazing games, and among the best Nintendo, heck, any developer have ever made. Yet Ocarina just floats above them.

The scale of Ocarina is also a major selling point. Back then, no other game was nearly as big as Ocarina. Maybe the same thing could be said of the likes of Grand Theft Auto IV nowadays, but we've seen big open worlds before. And in Zelda everything was pulled along by the story, and you never saw the lead characters commiting crimes. Link's a good guy, y' see?

Actualy, GTAIV just -To be honest- wasn't worth the hype. Ocarina of Time was known as the most anticipated game of that decade. And it surpased pretty much all expectations. Zelda's the best game ever now, and it still was even better back then.

"Hold it!" screams Phoenix Wright, the defense in the case against the other Zelda titles. "This is a ten year old title we're talking about here!". Well, yes it is. Sure, the screenshot from this year's Super Smash Bros. Brawl of Link in his Twilight Princess "Gear" may be nice on the eyes, (Even if he is firing an arrow right into it) but A). Twilight Princess was almost identical to Ocarina of Time, but with the abilty to play as a Wolf and the whole Twilight twist. Plus, B). Ocarina of time's eccence is yet to eb captured. And it's one so pure that even the Three Goddesses Of Hyrule have yet to discover how Nintendo managed to trap it in a bottle and then ram inside a Game Cart so sucessfully. And we dobut anybody will ever discover the true reason why Miyamoto's masterpiece is such a brilliant game. It just is.

IGN, Edge, RPGamer, EGM, NGamer, Famitsu... All these and far more have seen Ocarina Of Time top their "Top Games Of All Time" lists, and both Metacritic and GamesRankings have it at the top of their rankings. (For those who don't know what I'm on about, both of those sites basicly add up Review Scores and find the average review score. Ocarina is the only game at the moment to have 97%. Super Mario Galaxy and GTAIV have breifly taken over, but Ocarina has got it back before long.) This just goes to show: Ocarina of Time is the Best Game Ever, and it rightfully deserves it. No matter how much longer Nintendo go on making games, it pretty much definatly won't be topped. Actualy, we can probaly safley say that no matter how long the games industry go on, Ocarina of Time will still stand as at the top spot.

See you for our 100th Aniversary Celebration in 2098.

Opinon: Heroes Fallen

Kid Icarus, F-Zero, Starfox... All fo these featured in our E3 countdown way back in July, when we hoped for a new game in the series. Kirby, Zelda, Pikmin, Mario and Punch Out!! have all recieved a new sequal, and Nintendo have even revived Sin & Punishment- The ultra-hardcore cult classic realised on the N64 in Japan when the console was nearing the end of it's life. It may never of reached the west on it's original cartidge form, -Infact, an original S&P cart is worth upwards of £100 these days- but when it eventualy reached the Wii's Virtual Console last year, it got the popularity it deserved, promting Nintendo to make a sequal. But the best selling VC N64 game -Besides Zelda and Marios, and S&P- is F-Zero X. So how come Nintendo hasn't made a Wii version then? Surely if something hardcore that could still be enjoyed by the 'Mainstream' or 'Casual' audience due to any motion controls Nintendo may stick in there wouldn't go down badly?

But then again, no Nintendo system has got through it's lifepsan without a F-Zero title since it was created back in 1992 on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and the same goes for StarFox. Ok, there was Command on DS, but besides that we've seen nothing from Fox, Falco and Slippy The Berk on Wii outside Smash Bros., inwhich they even made them far weaker that in the GameCube version, despite the far incressed foxy love poured into the game.

OK, maybe Smash isn't the be-all-and-end-all as some fans (Even though our 'Other Ed' Grancko belives) but it is the only way Nintendo are keeping some franchises alive these days. There's 5 Mario characters, 5 Zelda characters, 4 Pokémon Characters (or, depending on who you ask, 6) and then many from other Nintendo franchises. Mainly covering the big ones, it's still a suprise to see that Nintendo's posterchild of Hardcore Gaming (Besides Zelda), Metroid, only recives one character and an alternate version of that one if you hold L & R o the Character Select menu or use their Final Smash. And yet, there's already been a Metroid game on Wii AND DS: Something only Mario and Zelda have accomplised besides Ol' Massive Shoulderpads.

But! Let's not complain too much. There's a new Kirby out on DS next month, even if it's a rehash of an old one, and then we've got Animal Crossing: Another member of Samus, Mario & Link's "Wii and DS!!" club. Not forgetting Sin & Punishment: A series we thought long-dead. Another Code, Punch Out!! and Pikmin are all also set to do the whole "Rwise From Your Gwavez" thing next year two. And now that the Fall Confrence has shown that the Old Nintendo are still in there, we wouldn't be suprised to see F-Zero or Kid Icarus announced during next year's E3.

Oh yeah, and Nintendo, please get to work and realise a new trailer of that new Wii Zelda game. K TNX BY.

Opinon: Best Game Music

Here I'm sat, writing this article, with YouTube open, and Three Minutes Clapping playing. When it finishes -Right after I've linked it, infact- I change over to Transformation. And Twister follows. And then Mute City. And Live And Learn. And A New Venture. And then much of the Smash Bros. Brawl and The World Ends With You soundtrack.

See, I've seperatly written an article -Which will go up on the new site in December!- on whether game music actualy matters, and so this is an article on my person #10 Favroate game songs of all time. I've mentioned my favorate Characters in my last article, so I supose I'll give this a shot...

1). The Legend Of Zelda: Titles Theme (Super Smash Bros. Brawl)
2). Twister/Twister Remix (The World Ends With You)
3). Hidden Village (The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess)
4). The Great Sea (The Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Waker & Phantom Hourglass)
5). Three Minutes Clapping (The World Ends With You)
6). Super Mario Galaxy Main Theme (Guess.)
7). Super Mario Bros. (Almost every Mario game)
8). Corneria (Super Smash Bros. Brawl)
9). Tabuu's Theme & Final Destination (Super Smash Bros. Brawl)
10). Mute City (F-Zero GX & Super Smash Bros. Brawl)

Many a Sonic song (Da-Da-Da-Da-Da-Da-Dah-Dah-DAH!) also almost made it no there, as more from TWEWY (Someone is Caaaallllliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiingggg....) and, frankly, it was realy hard to pick anyway. But I think that's my definative list, so there you go. All should be on YouTube, so try looking 'em up. It'll be good for you.

Opinon: The UK's Top #10 Characters

Sonic. That's who the UK voted their favorate game character of all time. Sonic. The. Hedgehog. Not Mario as would of been expected, (He won Gamesmasters poll earlier this year, with Sonic in second and Link in third, afterall) but SONIC. A character who has been rather off-form latley. Sure, Chronicles, Secret Rings and the Rush games where good, but nothing on the likes of Super Mario Galaxy. Other followers to the hedgehog's crown? Lara Croft only got there because of her body shape, and the size of her "Assets" which is sad to say she's on a far better form now gameplay-wise than Sonic, even if Tomb Raider Annviersary left me tearing my hair out.

Ol' DK follows. Why? It's pretty mcuh sumemd up ni the scene from The Simpsons where he throws the barrell at someone's heard after they tell him "You suck!". A passer-by's opinon? "Hey, he's still got it!". But the even better example of this is Number Five: Pac-Man. He's even more dodgey then Sonic these days, (Pac-Pix was his best agme of recent days, if only because it isn't a rehash or badly-made game. And that was back in 2005.) but it's nostalgia that lives on in everybody's hearts. Sonic 2 is one of the ebst 2D platformers ever, (Only matched by Super Mairo World, infact) and Pac-Man's status as a household name and a bonda-fide classic is what assured it a place here.

I think it's about hime, half way through my opinons/judgement on the list, to say what MY Top #10 would be, where it up to me. Who are my favorate #10 characters of all-time? Watch and you will learn.

#01: Yoshi
#02: Luigi (Well, Mario, but Luigi>Mario anyday)
#03: Link
#04: Neku Sakuraba
#05: Sonic The Hedgehog
#06: Captain Falcon
#07: Sho Minamoto
#08: Mudkip (And Snorlax/Munchlax)
#09: Lumas (By Extension, Rosalina) (Super Mario Galaxy)
#10: Donkey Kong

No doubt there's a couple of choices that everyone will be thinknig "What the heck?" about, but all the same, they're my opinons. Many will certainly disagree with my Luigi>Mario, and putting one TWEWY character in, let alone two, and one of them is even in the Top #5. A). I think that Neku & Pi Face deserves it, and B). This is the opinon of one person.

But this survey was of lots of peeps, and is suposedly the officialy "Thing" run by the London Games Festival. And so, I heave back to my slog through the results. But nto before shwonig everyone Sega's way of celebrating the fact that they are finaly the victors over Mario...




Let's be glad they don't have that happen too often, then...

Oh, hang on, it's just Chunky promoting his new Tidey TV/KNTV collaberation.

So: Back to the official list, and we've just stumbled across Link. He was #3 in my list, and double that in the official one. (I'll call drop the quoteatino makrs in "Official" from now) The hero of Zelda is one of the best characters ever, no matter what incarnation he's in. The "Toon" form is my favorate, but it could be "Adult" Link, Young Link or any toehr Link at any other time of the day. Basicly, though, Link is an amazing character, even if he's yet to learn to speak.

But next up? Max Paine. How the heck did he squeeze his way into the list? His games are usualy bellow-par, just as the new film, but that's probaly what got him all his votes, all the same. An unworthy chocie, great british public. Just as Pikachu. Sure, he's the face of Pokémon, but I had a far mroe awsome Pokémon at the same spot in my list. (It was a coinicdence) Pikachu's an idiot. It's about time another 'Mon took the role as lead. Say, Lucario? Or better yet, Mudkip & Snorlax's tag-team.

Ah, but the best bit of the list? Niko Belic from Grand Theft Auto IV. Sure, ti's new, and, sure, many peopel love it, but form what I've seena dn played, Niko is a moron, and definatly not the sort of character you'd bring home to meet your folks. OK, this is a bit of a rant from me, even being a gamer, I'm still not exactly a GTA fan. I recon many peopel have "Got" that already, so there we go. I'll leave Niko there, even though a simualy-named character would have been a better choice. Hint: Replace the 'I' with a 'E' and the 'O' with a 'U'...

Blanka's the last entery on the list. Blanka? What the heck? She's a more-or-less unheard of Street Fighter, um, fighter. ANYONE would of been better than her. Who chose her anyway? Did they only ask 10 people?

To conclude this, I'll say what i think "By rights" should of been the list. Well, I'll do the Top #5, anyway...

#1: Mario
#2: Sonic
#3: Link
#4: Lara Croft
#5: Donkey Kong

Those are game characters who have genuinly made an impact on the world. While Pac-Man could of taken Number #5, Donkey Kong is still going strong, as the likes of DK Jungle Climber and more prove. Lara Croft's taken the world by storm, and despite a dip in quality control about 7 years ago, Legend, Annviersary and the upcomnig Underworld prove she's back on top. And Sonic's worthy of anything in the top five but Nubmer One. Only one character is allowed that: Super Mario.