Punch out

So, I've been away from my blogger duties for some time now. I've been playing the latest Punch-Out game for the Wii and have a few comments about it.

In general, I find the game really amusing. It is a fine game in which the boxing action feels very real and the possibility to use the Wii balance board adds a lot to the experience as you duck and dodge your opponents' attacks.

The opponents are basically the same as the original for the NES, the graphics are cartoony. (As wii is making users feel used to, as they lack the creativity or confidence to make things better, I don't know)

There are some details in the game that aim at waking a certain nostalgia for the old game, like the reappearences of all the characters, the cutscenes of Little Mac's training, or even the movements of the opponents.

I don't know if I love or hate the predictability of the movements of the opponents, or the fact that if you throw punches at a different time than what is set in the game, they will always be blocked. I think they are aiming at the nostalgia of the old game, but that's what it is... Old!!!

Still, I'm having a lot of fun with it and I sweat like a pig every time I play it. I think that having the possibility of playing it using the old configuration of the controller (Holding the Wiimote sideways and using it like the old NES controller) is absolutely stupid and I think that whoever chooses to use that configuration is missing out on a great experience of gameplay. I highly recommend using the Wii Balance Board for this game.

Now, for the two-player mode...
What were they thinking?
The motion is stiff and unresponsive. No skill involved and no way to predict what's going to happen. I could have accepted the game better without it. I tried it with a friend and I ended up tired and frustrated at seeing Little Mac turn into a beast and not responding to my movements like in the tournament mode.

In general I would give the tournament mode a recognition for gameplay and control. Kudos for that, but I would throw the two-player mode into a bog so it's never seen by anyone else.

Extralife radio

ELR is a podcast that has been going on for quite a while. I have to admit I have become a fan of the show for many different reasons. It is custom made for geeks, nerds and basically anyone who really enjoys fantasy, video games and movies.

I have been listening to the show for a few years now, and I thought of making a review of it. They have a very fresh and witty style that doesn't try really hard to be politically correct, which might make it a little offensive for people who take themselves too seriously, but the show stands alone as a good space for good entertainment and a good place to go to get great suggestions for video games, comics and movies. In the show there are mostly three speakers, Scott Johnson from Utah (he always reminds people that), Bryan Dunaway from the "damn american south" and Obsidian from Colombia. This really particular trio displays a sarcastic and smart humor in which they discuss topics that are absolutely useless, (those that geeks love so much) and really develop them thoroughly. Kudos to them for their job which has been very consistent over the years. They have managed to keep an average of a show almost every week. You can find related links in www.myextralife.com , www.commissionedcomic.com , and www.missiondeep.com . I highly recommend this show. I don't use a system to give scores to what I review, but I can tell you I love me some ELR every week while I'm in my car.

Cheers!

Quantum of Solace

So last week I watched this movie. I know it's a little old, but I had been watching other things, catching up on TV shows. My conclusion is... I was terribly disappointed. When I watched Casino Royale I was blown away by the depth of the character of James Bond, and I couldn't wait to watch the next one. When I started watching the next one, I felt that they had gone back to the old easy formula of having great chases (I have to admit the chases were quite impressive) and some good fight scenes, women falling to Bond's feet for no apparent reason and a simplistic story with no depth at all.
The great environment they had created for Casino Royale was almost irrelevant for this movie. Everyone betrays everyone, and everyone seems to mysteriously know what others are doing. In general I was disappointed by this movie. I have never been a James Bond fan, but I had built some hopes for this release based on the previous one, only to be terribly sad about the outcome.