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David Marseilles

Via OffContract.net: Civilization Revolution 2 Arrives on Android

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OffContract.net | Permalink

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Via Joystiq | Permalink

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David Marseilles

Summer 2014 Buyer's Guide for Unlocked Budget Smartphones, iOS, Android and Windows Phone

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The Wii version, on the other hand, deserves the rating IGN gave it — falling below the barely known PSP-port MOH:H2. This despite the fact that Modern Warfare had a proven sales record, a publisher bigger than some countries, a game engine already in place, an experienced developer team that did well with Call of Duty: World at War, and oh yeah, TWO YEARS to get it right; but it can't do the one basic thing every FPS on Wii has to do — control well. Between framerate issues screwing with precision, and lack of polish all over, this mediocre game is a slap in the face to Wii owners and to a great underlying game.

Frak you Activision. If you want my money, re-release the game in a year when you've actually finished it.

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David Marseilles

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Moving slightly with the Wii-mote doesn't always register in on-screen movement, so trying to dial in that precise pixel-by-pixel aiming is a serious chore. With the framerate also pretty inconsistent at times the cursor takes the brunt of the impact and the only real hope for precise shooting comes with the game's single player lock-on function.

In regards to the online mode:

The overall framerate and connection quality is pretty remarkable considering it's pushing more options and modes than any other online Wii FPS, but it, too, is hurt by the unreliable controls. Shooting someone that's zig-zagging back and forth while running towards you is actually pretty tough (since you also have a somewhat unresponsive cursor control), and players know it.

Was there a big rush to get Modern Warfare Reflex out the door TWO YEARS after PS360 version so much that they couldn't attend to the SINGLE most important element of a Wii FPS: control? Of course not, but there appears to have been a rush to capitalize on Christmas sales and the Modern Warfare moniker. It's a frakking shame too. Modern Warfare and Wii fans deserve better. We've certainly waited long enough to expect better.

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David Marseilles

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Treyarch, who also ported World at War to the Wii using the much vaunted modified COD4 engine, is taking another whack at Wii. It makes sense, since 1) Activision already had an engine on Wii 2) Call of Duty 4 was one of the best received shooters ever and 3) World at War (Wii) topped 1 million sales. Apparently Treyarch and Activision are both fond of money. As far as I'm concerned, Treyarch did well with World at War — far better than Wii porters ordinarily do — so I welcome their involvement and hope they bring their A game.

Should I be complaining because we're not getting MW2 at the moment? Who knows. Just because the first one rocked the casbah doesn't mean the sequel will (remember Halo 2?). For now, I consider this the best news for Wii this year. It sucks that it took this long, but at least it's finally here.

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David Marseilles

Photo Credit: Christian (Men in Black) | Via kotaku | Permalink

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There are some things that previews and even pre-launch reviews are worthless for. Multiplayer is one of them. This is because you can't know what the network performance will be like until tens of thousands of gamers raid the servers and bring things to a crawl. I'll be putting down some initial pros and cons in this post over the next couple of days.

Pros:

• Finally, Scifi. Enough with WWII shooters already. We get it, they had guns then. Explore something, ANYTHING else. The environments and weapons of SciFi make for an excellent alternative.
• You can find a Friend online and join whatever game they are in. Neither WaWii nor MoHH2 had this functionality.
• Great control customizations
  • Full custom button remapping is a first for Wii (WaWii had different presets, but no custom). If there were any justice, there would never be another Wii shooter without it. You can even take vital functions away from motions and put them on a button. I did.
  • You can change the sensitivity of motions, which is VITAL. In MoHH2 I'd always accidentally trigger a reload when I was fighting someone on a staircase and aiming up, then down. I'd just as soon have no motions, but this is nice too.
  • The standard dead zone alterations, turn speed, cursor sensitivity are all present and accounted for.

Cons:

• Friend Codes
  • We'll stop complaining the day they finally fraking die. No sooner. If you don't understand why they suck, I envy your bliss.
  • We don't blame High Voltage for this, as so far, they've been the most sympathetic to gamers of any company on the topic, but it still screws up the game so it's still a con.
• Lag — could just be launch day excitement. Hopefully it improves over time.
• Framerate drops
  • it is unclear if network performance is the cause of this. Will it get better after the launch is over? Who knows.
• There's an intermediate connection screen between when you select a game type and before you go into a game lobby that can hang and there's no way to back out (B gets you out of most menu stuff) if it has trouble authenticating some of the players, short of actually turning off your Wii. It's a rare problem, but still a con.
• Analog lag.
  • I don't know if this is a function of the networking or control design, but the control response to the analog stick is terrible. It feels like you're trying to drive a tank instead of moving a nimble secret agent whose job it is to save the world. Strafing speed is okay, but the time it takes you to get to full strafe speed from rest or to switch from strafe right to strage left is appallingly slow. The same for changing from forward motion to backward motion.

Neutral:

• You can't take a party of friends into a public game. This is nice because it sucks ending up with 2 n00bs against a skilled, skype-using party of 4 friends. It sucks because with the ever-disgusting friend code system, putting together a full-fledged private match is tough to do, with the party system, you only needed half a private match to get a full game going.

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NewASE11
SuitMP13

Enter the codes under Extras -> Promotional Code

To turn them on, Extras -> Unlockables -> Cheats

Screenshots:

The manual from 4colorrebellion.

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David Marseilles

Via Kotaku | Permalink

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The highlights are that HVS apparently improved performance in the online mode by reducing graphical fidelity (smart move if you ask me). You probably already know that the Conduit reduced the total number of players to 12 from a planned 16. There are seven maps, 3 categories (Team Objective (which includes a CTF sub-type), TDM, FFA), and there seem to game sub-types for each category (Joystiq played a Free For All variant called "Bounty Hunter" where everyone races to be the first one to kill the player designated as the hunted, also spotting a Last Man standing mode and a "King of the Hill"-like mode).

They reported that movement speed felt slow and there was no Sprint option. WiiSpeak lets you talk either to your team or the five nearest players—it's unclear from the preview whether that's automatically chosen based on the mode you're playing, or if you can manually switch it and say, talk to someone on the opposite team in TDM. Everything is as customizable as you've come to expect from HVS, from modes, rules, HUD arrangement and of course, control config.

Read the whole thing and keep marking the time until it releases. Then buy a copy for you and another for a friend. The success of this game reflects not just on the Wii, but probably on its successor too.

There was a past multiplayer demo Sega ran that fell through a little while ago, and I expect this demo will be reported by some other sites soon as well, so keep your eyes open for more impressions.

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David Marseilles

Screenshots:

The manual from 4colorrebellion.

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Madworld

The Conduit

Bayonetta

Well look at that. Sega does what Nintendon't.

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David Marseilles

Via Kotaku

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David Marseilles

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What does this mean for our hopes and dreams? The Timesplitters IP can still be sold, and employees as talented as Free Radicals' are bound to be back in the game lending their talents to other games. Until they land on their feet, WiiHD's thoughts are with them.

Some people might blame the worldwide economic recession. Others might suspect Free Radical over-invested in the poorly performing Haze. WiiHD blames Vitamin E. It knows why.

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David Marseilles

gamesindustry.biz Via Wi Fanboy | Permalink
Thanks Lakkus for the head's up

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Watch this post in the next day or so. I'd upload it now, but I want to test the new programs first.

For now watch the old, very mockable video guide after the break if you don't know what this homebrew business is all about (pssst, it's about Quake). Also, see the full WiiHD Homebrew Guide if you need links to goodies or more help.

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David Marseilles

Hackmii Via Joystiq | Permalink

Props to text-image.com for the matrixification.

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The Really, Really Bad

• Friend Codes
• Inability to choose a map or other settings in "Find a Match" games (likely the most common kind you'll play given how fraking long it takes to collect, enter, and get someone else to reciprocate with FCs)
• Update: Invites from your Friends pop up a display that interferes with your gameplay even if you're in a game. It's almost as annoying as MoHH2's battery warning — the solution to both should have been the same — display a HUD icon to notify, but not interrupt your game. Once you're in a place to do so, you can pause and address the notice. As it is, you can pretty much count on Invites only coming JUST when you're in the middle of a serious and deadly dogfight.
  • Workaround: create a second profile for when you don't want to interrupted. Of course, your two profiles will have to unlock everything separately and rank up separately

The Bad

• Voting to skip a map you don't like requires 50% + 1 (with a minimum of 3). Less would be better
• No Comm
• Some framerate drops
• World War II. Again. If it were all European theatre, it'd be in the Really, really bad column.
• Update: Only DM and TDM? Call of Duty should be better than that. Where's CTF and SaD?
• Limited Control customization.
  • Presets for turning speed instead of a sensitivity slider
  • No bounding box (dead zone) resizing are with 4 presets
  • Honestly, this would have been acceptable in VERY early 2007. Now it's fraking criminal. Shame on you Treyarch, even beenox did better with QoS, to say nothing of what the PSP port MoHH2 did.
• Update: Only a Host can invite to a Private match. If you're invited to one, you can't in turn invite someone else in to help fill it out. That makes Clan wars all that much harder, since the game host doesn't just need one enemy clan FC (and then just let that one player invite the rest), but ALL of them. And what happens with last minute substitutions? Massive game delay failures.
  • For clan wars, you can still have each clan form a party prior to the beginning of the game. One clan gets all their members into the party, then the game host invites that party host. Still, it's inconvenient.
  • For regular matches with Friends, it seems pretty inconvenient that invited users can't use their friend lists to supplement the hosts friend list and make there's always a full game going.

The Good

• Nice look
• The super-confusing single player campaign really captures that jungle warfare "where the frak is the enemy…. OH FRAK, THERE THEY ARE" feel
• players blend in easily in multiplayer as well—forcing you to keep you're eyes very very peeled
• Unlockables. Weapons, perks, upgrades, challenges…
• Fresh FPS. Sadly, its networking lacks a lot of MoHH2's flexibility, but the maps, the weapons, the campaign… WaWii is the whole package, not one of the PSP/PS2 ports we're used to
• Weapon selection is good, and their respective strengths are clear from the selection screen
• Custom Classes rock and seem well balanced.
• Streak bonuses rock. Yeah, they get used against you as much as for you, but they add a nice element to the game. I recommend relying heavily on melee to get the dogs. You can shoot them at a distance, but once they're in your face, pull that knife baby. Surveillance plane: 3 kills, Artillery strike (which can kill friendlies too): 5 kills, Dogs: 7 kills.
• You can jump. I spent a good 5 minutes looking for the jump button when I first bought MoHH2 before finally (*gasp*) opening the manual, only to discover that in EA's book, apparently man had not learned to jump yet in the World War 2 era. Activision and my grandpa disagree.
• Update: Spawning in TDMs starts you with your team and tends to put you close to your team on respawn. A welcome system.
• Update: I never have to use the accelerometer. I do toss poison gas grenades, but I suspect Treyarch used the IR light orientation for the twist feedback rather than the accelerometer, like MoHH2 did with scope zooming. Bad motion controls can really screw an experience, but Treyarch wisely limited them.

The Neutral

• You can change button layouts between several preset layouts. This would be in the good column if there were one custom layout option.
• No ammo pickups online. You can pick up the weapons of the dead, but even if it's the same weapon you already have, you don't get to combine ammo.

Expect a few updates tomorrow, and feel free to flame my list in the comments.

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David Marseilles

2 Wii Screens (yes, only two):

2 DS Screens

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Why are you still reading? Go vote!

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David Marseilles

Free Radical Polling Via gonintendo | Permalink

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But if you want to set up a non-random match on Wii, you still need Friend Codes.

Remember the Christmas Story where the kid has to wear the pink bunny suit? This is more embarrassing than that by a lot.

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David Marseilles

Christmas Story:

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• No lobbies =(
• As we told you, it's an 8 player online game =(
• Options for getting into a game are "Find a Match" or "Private Match"
  • There are 8 maps
  • Large Maps are Asylum and Cliffside, Medium maps are Castle, Hangar, Makin, and Upheaval, Small maps are Dome and Courtyard
  • You don't get to choose your maps in "Find a Match", they appear to be randomly chosen. To skip one you don't like, at least half the players gathered must choose to do so. =(
  • You can customize a lot options, including which map you want, in private match. More details when we have them.
• Early reports are that Friend Codes are Not required for private matches =)
  • WiiHD remains skeptical and awaits more information however
  • It is still unclear how you get other players into a private match, so you should remain skeptical too
  • Update New reports indicate that the only conceivable way to get people into your private match, is through your Friend List — which is Friend Code controlled.
  • Update one user from callofduty.com claims (based on 2nd hand information) that after a random match, you can send friend requests from a list of recent opponents, a la Mario Kart Wii, in addition to adding via Friend Code
    • Update: so far there is no corroboration for the idea that you can add someone without a FC. WiiHD is investigating and encourages skepticism with all things related to FCs. Update: On further inspection, WiiHD can find no such option. Until someone with firsthand experience explains it, we're assuming it's bogus.
• Leaderboards can be found under the "Barracks" moniker, and there is a locked mode called "Create a class" for custom class creation
  • For Create a Class, you choose a Primary weapon, a sidearm, a primary grenade and a special grenade and 3 perks
• Match modes are "Bootcamp" (TDM for people under level 8 only), "TDM", "Free for All", "Hardcore TDM" (a locked mode, presumably just for vets), and "Veteran" (also locked at the beginning)

We'll update this when we know more about the Private Match setup.

Special thanks to zzzpwned and garththecat for sharing the info. Special thanks to MetroidCrime and the best Wii gaming forum for bringing it to WiiHD's attention. There is user gameplay footage after the break.

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David Marseilles

User Gameplay footage from zakypoof and Wii clan WT

First 10 minutes of the game (Thanks Stelzig):

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In an interview with Iran White (IW) at Wiirincontrol.com, Eric Nofsinger again confronted the topic of Friend Codes, empathizing with gamers' frustrations. It is possible to read part of the passage below as saying that Friend Codes are not inevitable, but given the bolded underlined portion (emphasis WiiHD's) a more fair reading simply has Nofsinger explaining, as he has before, that they're doing everything they can to improve the Friend Code system, not trying to bypass it altogether. Some months ago, The Conduit makers alluded to Mario Kart in a pretty positive way, as if it had solved the Friend Code dilemma and they were no longer a problem

IW: Many Xbox 360 and PS3 gamers have a sort of “one eye on it” interest in The Conduit. Graphics aside, for them the clincher will be how well the game plays online. While Friend Codes aren’t a deal breaker, it is a major concern. Has Nintendo given you an explanation for why they are so adamant about the use of Friend Codes for even such a game as The Conduit, even though they’ve built a significant Parental Controls system into the Wii?

EN: Yeah, this is definitely something that we go back and forth with them on. They do have their security issues that we need to be cognizant of. We’re very aware of those concerns and understand where they are coming from with that. But really all we can commit to is creating the best possible experience.

Personally, I’m not a fan of Friend Codes, I don’t think that anyone on the team is a fan of Friend Codes. What we’re promising people is that we’re working with Nintendo, we’ve had them out to the office. We’ve been over to their place. We’re in regular communication with them. It will be as good of an experience on Multiplayer as possible. We know it’s important. We don’t want to let folks down.

IW: Yeah, I understand. It’s Nintendo’s thing, you have to play by their rules.

EN: Yeah, absolutely. And you know, I know that there’s been one notable exception of a game that hasn’t had friend codes. As far as I know, at least from what’s been relayed to us, that exception was a one time thing. It’s something where we need to continue to work with them closely, and figure out something that does hit what they need, but also hits what we need as gamers, you know?

What was that one time exception? Medal of Honor: Heroes 2. An otherwise unremarkable game that may well still be the gold standard in Wii FPS multiplayer even after QoS, Call of Duty and The Conduit come out if Nintendo doesn't get their act together.

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David Marseilles

wiirincontrol.com Via Gamefaqs user Teh_5_Starz | Permalink

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