Congrats on getting a Wii :) I've had a couple of goes during my time off at a friends so I am sated for now. Will probably wind up getting one eventually as I'm not likely to see anything decent on it in any other capacity. Where did you score yours from?

You can buy Wii points online with a credit card. I think it's even slightly cheaper than getting the points cards, in the UK at least.

Ah, brill, now I'll just need to use black magicks to summon a component cable from a different, otherworldly plane.

I placed a pre-order with "Komplett" on the.. um.. 19th of december I think, and people don't seem to have ordered as many from them.. it's slightly more expensive off there, but not by much. A tenner or so.

I have another pre-order with swedish site Discshop that I might keep for a while despite getting one already, because I'd rather see to that someone who wants one gets one than just let it slip into an ocean of whomevers. If it's about to be delivered anytime soon I can get back to you and check if you want it. I'll just grab some extra for the shipping, I'm not in it to make a profit.

Komplett are a good site, built half my PC on parts from there :)

lol, never mind, komplett just moved back the date to the 23rd. Damn. :)

Ok, so what's the chances of this little trickle of golden goodness being bundled with Galaxy, come release?

Oh Simon. your wii-ll power deserted you hey :)

When I first started reading your post I thought it was going to be a DS game and I got all excited :(

I hope they bring this series to the DS..don't own a Wii, and I love SRPG's.

Np..I just looked at some of the pics and it looks really good. It does look a lot like the GC game, but Fire Emblem is a great series..this is actually one of the first Wii games I've seen that I'm especially interested in.

That and Smash.

Wiiiiiii-hihi-hiiiii!

Thank you.

*returns to it*

Well I finally got my Wii. :)

Actually I'm enjoying Red Steel quite a (surprisingly immense) bit. :O

I haven't tried Monkey Ball yet, but will soonish. Been playing with the channels and the Mii and stuff aswell so hours have been flying by.

I checked out the weather channel. It lets you zoom out from where you live, grab and spin the earth. Also, when you zoom out, the sound gets more and more "vast" as you go out into space.

See, these things almost bring tears to my eyes. This is the stuff my gaming dreams are made of. This kind of charmful approach to seemingly trivial things that I truly love. Nintendo still has it.

It.

And I believe in the future. :)

(Because the forecast says it'll be sunny)

Yeah I really like it a lot. I mean yeah, the AI isn't the best, but the game is basically a shooting gallery anyway. Thugs pop up and you shoot them down.

By itself, controlled with a normal pad the game prolly wouldn't be half as interesting (though the setting/subject matter is oddly overlooked in the genre for the most part) but with the Wii controls - albeit initially cumbersome and awkward - it gets to be a joy to play.

The story is really straightforward, and the cutscenes - often consisting of sliding, drawn images - are cheesy in a semi Max Payne kind of way. It's a backdrop as good as any, and it just adds to the feeling that this is your average hong kong action flick, and playing one of those isn't too bad at all. The voice acting is crappy, but even that is crappy in a Jackie Chan "I can't really act in english" way, and it feels somehow at home here.

Graphics may be "dated" per se, but the settings are mostly well thought out and the attention to detail is appreciated. You've got a lot of settings that are reminicent of ones in the two first Splinter Cell games when the sun is up and the lights are on. The progression through levels also feels natural, and while you end up in the same room more than once in some stages, there's a logical path to follow, both from a design and story standpoint.

The biggest issues raised with the game are controls/execution, AI and presentation. (from what I gather)

The controls take a lot of time to get used to. Even if you're used to the Wiimote itself you'll spend at least an hour before they feel reliable. I think it's too early to tell if this is a design error or a matter of adjustment - but you will adjust for sure. The swordfighting bits feel a bit superfluous and not nearly exciting enough to warrant the inclusion, but they make encounters a bit more intimate and personal, so it's good that bosses and stuff get that kind of exposition. They start out feeling a bit frustrating, but they get better as you collect more moves and just generally *get* them better.

The AI is better than Killzone's for instance, but you won't encounter any "tactics" to speak of here. However, I'm fairly certain you won't miss them either. The thing is, this feels a bit like you're controlling a game like Virtua Cop or Time Crisis freely, and you don't even WANT those guys to run off and invent a cure for cancer. These guys roll over obstacles, take cover and yell enough to feel like stupid stereotypical action movie henchmen, and shooting them in the face is something you do pretty swiftly, sort of like an action hero.

Presentation feels pretty old school, really. This feels like videogame presentation lifted from the early/mid 90s. The menus feel like SNES menus and the whole thing has a semi arcadeish look to it. The music is brilliant for the most part, and like later Ubi offerings it changes dynamically to what happens on screen. Riffs mixed with oriental AAAHS and OOOHS do the trick and it all feels like an america produced action flick starring hong kong actors trying to speak english. Though these are obviously japanese.

Bit of a messy *review* I suppose, but the bottom line is: I can't imagine anyone would be actively disappointed in this if they give it enough time to sink in properly. It's Dead To Rights with an FPS view and swordfights instead of bare knuckle fights, and if you don't demand that every game you play has production value coming out of its ears and you're looking for an FPS/Action experience with Wii controls, I dare recommend this wholeheartedly.

It's one of those relentlessly "okay" games that are just plain fun.

From what little I've played of the US version, Elite Beat Agents, it's also really good.

Yeah it's more of a remake than a direct localization, they both seem very cool. I'd like to pick them up, still need a new DS though :/

Younger slimer models have caught his eye I know less doubt 0_o