and All Consoles

Developed by: Monster Games, Inc.
Genre: Racing
Players: up to 2 players
Release Date: November 19, 2006
ESRB Content Rated: E – Mild Violence

The Introduction from Nintendo:

In the grand racing tradition of Excitebike, get ready for a big-air experience like no other! Players rocket their trucks across dynamically changing terrain in this nitrous-injected, high-flying racer for speed junkies. Showing the Wii Remote controller’s versatility, players tilt the controller on its side to turn it into a wireless steering wheel!

Excite Truck:

Excite Truck is the first of the launch titles from Nintendo that will require you to sit in order to truly enjoy the experience. There is no need to think of Excite Truck as a traditional racing game, as it’s quite the opposite. As it’s greatly influenced by Nintendo’s Excitebike for the NES, Excite Truck is an arcade styled racing game. Simply finishing first is not you only way of winning.

Game Play:

One of the first things that you notice about Excite Truck is its incredibly fast paced action. The game play of the races is insanely fast and will require you to stay on your toes. Having one false turn and you’re toast. In single-player mode the game is not as exciting and can be quite short. In fact, there are only really about twelve playable tracks. This does ultimately provide a somewhat unsatisfying experience. The multi-player mode on the other hand, does try to improve things, but doesn’t help quite enough to keep you satisfied.

In the main multi-player mode the screen is split for a 2-player race. Although this is a much appreciated addition, I feel that having a 4 player would have been a much more interested experience. With the option of only a 2-play multi-player mode, as well as only having 12 tracks to race on, makes Excite Truck replay ability rather low.

Once you’ve completed the single-player experience, there is not really much to tempt you back for a second time. One benefit to the game play is how Excite Truck enables you to import your own music into the game. The is allowed via a SD Card. The handling in the game is also rather remarkable. It does take a little time to get the hang of things, however once you have completely mastered the controls, you’ll never want to return to a regular remote again.

Using the Controls:

Excite Truck does really display how versatile the Wii remote can be. You simply hold the remote on its side and use it as a steering wheel. The control and accuracy are really fantastic. Although the control will at first take a little bit of getting used to, simply because you’ve never really played a game in this way. You also have the option a use a steering wheel attachment that is available but not entirely necessary to play. It does retail as a separate item.

Look and Appearance:

The graphics in Excite Truck are actually rather beautiful, although with the fast pace of the action you’ll never have any time to actually stop and look at them. The game does feature great textures and visual effects, as well as some excellent level design.

Sound Effects:

If you start out using the default soundtrack for the races it will rather quickly seem quite sub-par. However, as Excite Truck will allow you to import your own tunes via an SD Card. This is an excellent addition that adds that much appreciated personal touch to the game.

And the Pros Are:

+ Excellent graphics
+ Ability to import your own music into the game
+ Intuitive and accurate controls

And the Cons Are:

- Limited replay value
- Lack of multi-player support
- Low number of tracks

Overall: 7.5 / 10

Published by Darren Lintern

Published by: Nintendo
Genre: Sports
Players: up to 4 players
Release Date: November 19, 2006
ESRB Content Rated: E – Mild Violence
The Introduction from Nintendo:

This is what video games should be: fun for everyone. Wii Sports offers five distinct sports experiences, each using the Wii Remote controller to provide a natural, intuitive and realistic feel. To play a Wii Sports game, all you need to do is pick up a controller and get ready for the pitch, serve or that right hook. If you’ve played any of these sports before, you’re ready for fun!

Wii Sports:

Wii Sports is the first game that has been packed with a Nintendo console since Super Mario World was released with the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). It is a compilation pack of 5 different sports events: baseball, boxing, bowling, golf, and tennis.
Game Play:

Each of the five sports games does it’s best to represent the sport; however they are all simplified versions. If you take tennis for example, all you are required to do is control the movement of your tennis racket. The players are automatically controlled and run where ever they are supposed to. Although these simplifications to take away some of the game play from each sport, there are still quite a few of options for each sporting event.

The most exciting of the five games in Wii Sports is the bowling game. Getting the hang of using the Wii remote can take some time, as it is very precise, even too precise for some games. Golf tends to be the game that suffers from the over-precision of the Wii remote. The least entertaining game out the compilation is the baseball. As all the fielding is taken care of for you, it is only necessary to concentrate on throwing the ball, and hitting the ball. For many this may just seem too dull. This game does however shine is in the multiplayer mode.

With the option to play some of the games simultaneously it will be necessary for more than just one Wii remote. Other games, such as bowling, are played in turn. Each player takes their own turn and then passes the remote to the next player.

This game also allows for the use of “Miis”, which are caricatures that can be created with the Wii console. Nintendo intention for this game was not for it to win Game of the Year awards; it was to offer an exciting and fun experience for the casual gamers as well as the non-gamers. They have ultimately reached their goal, as the Wii Sports is a great deal of fun, even for the core gamers.
Using the Controls:

The controls for each of the five sports are exactly what you would hope for; a throwing motion to throw a ball, a rolling motion for bowling, a swinging motion for swinging a baseball bat or tennis racket, etc. Only with the exception of golf, the controls are very user-friendly and intuitive.

Look and Appearance:

The graphics in Wii Sports are not what you could call amazing; some are referring to them as terrible. In fact, they are probably worse than terrible. However, this was intentional on Nintendo’s behalf. They wanted to create a game that had basic graphics and absolutely fantastic game play.
Sound Effects:

The sound is similar to the graphics, nothing really to get excited about. Simple music and sound effects are used throughout these games.

And the Pros are:

+ It’s FREE!
+ Fantastic for multi-player
+ Mostly intuitive controls
+ Infinite replay value
And the Cons are:

- Terrible graphics
- Some games are too simple

Overall: 8 / 10

Published By Darren Lintern

The Xbox 360 had the luxury of a year’s head start over its competition, the PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii, and that served Microsoft well. For any serious gamer the thought of waiting a year may be just too damn long, and they certainly gained market share in view of this, at least in North America and Europe. But now that all the shiny new consoles are out, is the Xbox 360 starting to show its age and look a bit shabby?

To start with, each of the three consoles – the Xbox 360, the PlayStation 3, and Nintendo’s Wii all has their own dedicated fan base that won’t change their minds for anything. These diehard fans do matter, simply for the fact that their spend on gaming is probably worth a fair few families of the casual gamers. And without doubt all these consoles significantly outperform their predecessors.

The two games consoles that are the easiest the do a straight comparison with is the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3. They are both intended to function as more than simply a games console – they play DVD’s and music, connect with the internet, display photos, and allow chat. Sony will however be in major trouble if Blu-Ray loses out in the high-density DVD war with HD-DVD. Microsoft has also an edge with their online content, having had the ability to build up a considerable and frequently-updated stock over the last year. They’re now providing movies for download via the Xbox Live Marketplace. It is likely that Sony will eventually catch up with this, but for now, Microsoft holds the edge.

The start with, if you put aside what’s actually inside the consoles for a moment and look at how the consoles perform instead of how they should, the PlayStation 3 isn’t really a year ahead of the Xbox 360. If you do a side by side comparison of cross-platform games this will tend to favour the Xbox 360, which has the ability to offer better lighting effects and less of a tendency to flatten and blur textures. Although, having taken this into account, the PlayStation 3 still has longer loading times.

The Xbox 360 is well and truly a Microsoft product. In the attempt to get the console out quickly wasn’t the best way to ensure reliability, and as widely reported a small but still significant number of the original releases crashed to ‘blue screen of death’. Also, during the recent Fall update, where Xbox Live use were required to download to access the service, causing about one percent of consoles to brick.

The PlayStation 3 console has offered the Sixaxis controller, Sony’s half-assed attempt to respond to the Wii-mote. Whilst this will enable your to tilt the controller to affect your on-screen movements in games such as Tony Hanks, you still get much better control from using the conventional D-pad. If you compare the Sixaxis to the Wii-mote there is a simply object lesson in the difference between a rushed gimmick and an innovation.

So on to Nintendo’s Wii, starting with its bad points. It doesn’t support HD-TV display, and not equipped to play DVDs. If you only looking for your game console to play games, than this should not really be much to worry about. It’s just a game console and that’s that. It’s not by any means as graphically impressive as its rivals. The wireless controller needs to run on batteries rather than being rechargeable.

But hold on. Nintendo have attempted to attract the family and non-gaming market with the impressive play abilities with the Wii-mote. Yet still be able to keep the hardened gamers in view of its difference in game play. Even though being different, Nintendo are also better at being the same – the Wii has been designed to be backwards compatible with more of the old console games than with either the PlayStation 3 or the Xbox 360. This is particularly appealing at that, offering software emulation for a impressive 30% of Xbox games.

It’s always going to be a hard call to make, which is the best console. But if you word the question differently, will the Xbox 360 sink without a trace since the release of its newer and shinier cousins, the answer is NO. If you preference is serious, mature-rated games with lots of online content, your choice will have to be between the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360, and then to go with your preferred choice, usually whatever you had before, Sony or Microsoft. But if you now looking for family gaming, or something to play with a bunch of mates, then the Nintendo Wii should definitely be your new best friend.

Darren Lintern