It’s been five years since the last big boy console version of Zelda.  Count ‘em!  Now the obvious question here is, “Has Skyward Sword been worth the wait?” The easy answer is, “Absolutely!” But intense enjoyment is sometimes limited by the controls a gamer is given to play a game with.

You start the game through a tutorial, not unlike the previous two Zeldas (Twilight Princess and Wind Waker) to get the player adjusted to the controls. I would say that Link’s actions were on point initially except for rolling items, as sometimes the Wii remote didn’t pick up you holding the controller downwards for a swing.  This would be a small problem and not a big deal right?  Well, more motion control issues creep up.  Later in the beginning, you meet up with the “Divine One” and at some point, you lose her which begins the big adventure.

The story in Skyward Sword is much meatier than ever before, and so is Link’s facial expressions. I didn’t find Link to be boring at all. His actions and mannerisms gave more meaning to his character, as opposed to being just a plain-faced, green-clothed hero in times past. You actually get a great sense of his relationship with Zelda, the Master Sword’s beginnings, enemies–especially the big one, and other Skyloft –the main town– folk. The plot defines the origins of the series, and finally answers the question of why the series is called The Legend of Zelda, rather than The Legend of Link. I mean, how many of us have wondered that for years? Why are Link, Zelda, and “villain” nearly always tied together?

After learning how to run and pick up vases, Link eventually has to leave his bed and meet up with his mentor, Fi, the spirit of your sword.  Fi is this generation’s Navi (“Hey, Listen!“) and your guide throughout the game.

Dungeon design shines in this Zelda, even though Twilight Princess’s dungeons were a bit more “flashy”. One of the biggest complaints previously was the dungeons were too easy and non-boss enemies took too little damage. Well, that is fixed in this iteration. For instance, bats take a whole heart damage despite being one of the first enemies in the game. The developers really took Link’s health to “heart”, making some enemies much more harder than they would have been normally. Get use to the low-heart music, you’re gonna hear it a lot.

Puzzles are clever. Some may even take you a bit longer to solve than one would expect. In times like these, Fi is very helpful, although you may hear her sometimes repeating things she just told you a few minutes prior. Also, the dungeon map will prove to be a huge aide. You will find yourself using it more than usual to check your location and find areas that you have not explored before. There is a ton of ground to cover and the areas are quite large in some places.

To move the story along, you are presented with fetch quests (or even note quests as I call some of them). These can sometimes become a little tedious and are more-less hit and miss. Some will be fun and interesting –pirates–, while others will feel like a complete waste of time.

Somehow Nintendo found a good mechanism of introducing mini-dungeons into the mix. This increases player finish times, and also presents you with a bit more adventure.  You can expect to complete this game, depending on side quests, in 50 to 75 hours.  Of course, it’s not like you are just going to walk around the place for hours without seeing an enemy.

Enemies not only take a large portion of health now, but they’ve become harder to defeat. The key is to understand that your sword movements determine their reactions and defense poses. Once you have a good grip on that, you won’t find yourself dying as much. Needless to say, NO MORE WAGGLE –MWUHAHAHA! Waggle might work once every 3 hours, but if you want to minimize the number of deaths, learn how to properly use the Link’s sword movements.

However, there are sometimes cases of when you position/swing Link’s sword correctly, but somehow the enemy mysteriously blocks your attacks or your swipes do absolutely nothing when they should have caused damage. This is another case in which the motion controls are not exactly “spot on”. It can be VERY frustrating, especially against a certain crazy boss in the game who loves to attack you, but doesn’t like being attacked back apparently.

The topic of motion controls is a heated debate for the game and it’s my hope that Nintendo will try to improve the precision of sword swings/positioning before the Wii U version of Zelda is released.  Bosses and sub-bosses have been really well done, as you will use a fair share of fairies getting through fights. Old school items have been redefined too in an effective manner. You will find yourself using previous items in newer dungeons more than in earlier console versions.  My favorite item completely changes the area around you.  Literally.

The world that Link now lives in is becoming larger and larger with non-player characters having more serious and longer roles with every new version. There are many items to collect and plenty of side-quests in between dusty dungeons. Whether you’re searching for pumpkin soup or unlocked treasure chests, the music has been beautifully done –it’s fully orchestrated now instead of midi.  It’s not the best in the series, Ocarina of Time and Wind Waker had better music, but some scores like the main theme “Ballad of the Goddess” are on par.  I’m actually happy that they are moving away from the games being so wrapped around musical items. We have Wii Music if that’s what we wanted to play.  Even while I enjoyed flying through the skies on your trusty Skywing, nothing replaces the urgency and fun of riding on a freakin horse. Here’s hoping we go back to Epona in the next round.

In closing, there are definitely some improvements in the series like better enemies, redesigned items, more mini-dungeons, better story, and sound improvement. Problems would be the motion control precision of picking up your movements, slight invulnerability of certain enemies, and a reset of the item grab popups when you come back to the game from loading a save.  Despite the fact that Twilight Princess gave us the Link and realism we wanted, I think Skyward Sword is a more satisfying adventure.  There’s simply more to do and many elements that feel closer to older Zelda titles such as dungeon design and puzzles.  I do feel like something kept the game from being perfect.  Maybe there wasn’t enough towns–is this a recurring thing recently?  Or it could be the sometimes finicky controls.  But hey, it’s the Legend of Zelda.  Let’s raise up our swords to the sky and appreciate this game for the next four or five years.  LOL

The PS3 and Wii are both 5 years old. The Wii, already a generation behind in the hardware dept, has a successor coming next year in the Wii U. Sony has been quiet about PS4 release timeframes. They’ve touted the PS3 as having a 10 year life cycle, but much of that is lip service. Both the PS1 and PS2 had 10 year cycles that heavily overlapped each other, expect that to happen again. The soonest I would expect anything from Sony is at least 2013, possibly later.

Yeah, remember that?

Typically the need for new hardware arises about every 5 years. Since the third generation (NES and Master System), the average time between consoles is 4.8 years. We are at 5 and 6 years into the seventh generation with no end in sight. This delay can be attributed to multiple factors. Updatable firmware, graphical diminishing returns, and consistent hardware sales are factors, but the biggest thing in the way of the new generation is the economy.

The current economic climate initially didn’t affect the games industry, but now that we are 3 years into the recession, less money is being spent on everything, including software. The argument goes both ways, on one side sales could be down because there are no new consoles, but on the other side consumers might not be able to afford new hardware. Right now, both Sony and Microsoft are more comfortable rolling out stop gap upgrades and peripherals to prolong what is becoming the longest generation since the Atari 2600 days.

What that means for game development is that the innovation typically tied to new hardware is being stifled. The more developers work with consoles the better they get at exploiting the strengths of its features. That’s why first generation games on every system are ugly. Go back and play Perfect Dark Zero, or Motorstorm and tell me you don’t agree. Its not just graphics, its physics, lighting, shaders, enemy AI, crowd dynamics, or basically anything a game does that needs to leverage the hardware strength. We are getting to a point where the software wizards making games cannot get anything more out of the hardware.

I don't get it, I he supposed to be on fire?

Battlefield 3 on PC is evidence that there is a better looking graphical standard out there. This difference is a relic of a bygone era. It used to be that PC games were looked at as the future; “This is what games will look like on consoles in 4 years!” The decline of PC gaming is causing development to flip and instead of games being built for PC and ported to consoles, consoles are getting top billing and the PC games are upres-ed ports of console games.

Without PC developers pushing the boundaries of what can be done in a virtual space, console makers are content sticking with their current horse as long as the sales are consistent. Developers are hitting the glass ceilings created by processing bottlenecks, and unavoidable power limitations. The games being released this year are evidence that this is a growing problem that will only get worse until the next generation kicks off.

The top tier games this year are all still great, but they don’t have the innovation that came from their predecessors. Uncharted 3 is great but basically its just another Uncharted game. Sure it does alot of really impressive things, but I wouldn’t say anything in it is groundbreaking. Modern Warfare 3 is basically the same game that was released 2 years ago in Modern Warfare 2. The settings are different and the perks are adjusted, but again, no innovation.

I promise you, nothing in that game is nearly as epic as this painting.

Assassin’s Creed Revelations, Batman Arkham City, Gear of War 3 and Battlefield 3 are all guilty of being more of the same. Outside of some nifty Motion Plus features, Skyward Sword is exactly like every other Zelda game. The only real innovation that I hear coming from Game of the Year candidate Skyrim is that its scope is huge and you have a lot of choices, two things that don’t need new hardware to improve upon.

I’m not saying these games are bad, but they aren’t the generational milestones that their predecessors were, and outside of Bioshock Infinite, I don’t see anything coming down the pipeline that has “milestone” written on it. I hope you were pleased by the games released this year because chances are you will be playing them again next year and possibly the next. Come on guys, bring on the PS4 and Xbox 3, I’m ready for genuine excitement.

I’ve seen this happen a million times. Console company has breakout success and starts enjoying the smell of its own farts…

CUE THE DISASTER!!

Well, to make a long story short, it appears that the gravy train at Nintendo may be coming to somewhat of a screeching halt (at least for the time being).  They actually forecasted the 3DS to sell 16 million units this fiscal year. So far it has sold 710,000 in the first quarter. This has caused Ninty to cut its profit forecast from $1.41 Billion to $257 Million. They will also be cutting the price of the 3DS in the US from $249.99 to $169.99 beginning August 12th. A similar cut will take place in the homeland.

While I am indeed poking fun at Nintendo, they are not in trouble by any means. Don’t throw them under the bus just yet!

Looks like the NGP *slaps himself* PSVita has somebody sweating though…

Hate to say I told you so, but I did.

Source: Wall Street Journal

The funny thing is, I have always had a passing interest in golf since I was in the 7th grade (thanks to Mr. Woods). I actually purchased the first game in the series, Tiger Woods ’99 after his popularity had reached critical mass. His win at the Masters made me interested in a game I thought was only for rich white people.

Racial liberation aside, this the first time Augusta National has allowed their famed course to be in video game since 1986 (Mean 18). Private golf clubs are pretty exclusive, and Augusta National is exclusive still. There are only about 300 members at any given time, and membership is invitation only. To save a little time, let’s just leave at this: having this course in the game is a very big deal.

In addition to Augusta National, 23 other courses are included. Some of the standouts are Pebble Beach, Waialae, Torrey Pines, Spyglass, Bethpage Black, and my personal favorite TPC at Sawgrass (the one with the island par 3 17th hole). Each course is modeled with accuracy and precision, but I guess that’s to be expected. They’ve been doing this for awhile now.

You have all your standard game modes (match play, stroke play, bloodsome, greensome, skins, etc). There’s also a Tiger at the Masters mode in the game that is similar to the Michael Jordan modes in NBA 2k12. You lead Tiger to victory through each of his Masters victories (’97, ’01, ’02, and ’05).

There are also a few new additions, the most significant of which is the new caddie option. Caddie advice is available at the press of a button. I kind of feel like it is cheating because he pretty much gives you the best possible shot. You can even choose between safe and aggressive shots. It will definitely improve you scores and give you new ways to look at different situations.

You have a myriad of control options. The default mode lets you see your player as you swing and doesn’t penalize you as much for off-center or non-square hits. The pro mode, however, is a different story. The camera looks down at your club and the ball as if you were actually on the tee box.  If you slice, hook, or whatever, the ball is NOT going to go straight. This mode is very difficult (it’s fairly close to 1-to-1), so I only use it on the (all new) driving range.

I remember reading a tweet in which Tiger said you could practice your swing with the game. I also remember laughing hysterically. I will say that he isn’t far off. The game won’t do anything to improve your ball striking, but yes, it can and has actually helped me improve my swing. No joke!

I think Tiger Woods 12 encompasses everything that a great golf game should be. It is extremely easy to pick up, but difficult to master. I can play a quick round with my two nephews and they can compete without being bogged down by the technical aspects of the game. My only real complaint is the cartoony graphics, but that is to be expected on the Wii I guess.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters won’t win any awards for innovation, but it is a solid golf game and the new additions make it a worthy purchase.

I guess Nintendo caught a good deal on those Chinese knockoff Android tablets.

Techpedition may not be attending E3 this year, but we will definitely be there in spirit. There are a lot of knowns and unknowns coming out of the press conferences and one of the big three is sure to trot out the show stopper. With software publishers also having a lot of games to show, this year’s E3 could be one for the ages. Nintendo will be there, let’s discuss what to expect from them.The biggest news will be the unveiling of Nintendo’s next console. Are the controller rumors true? Will it be playable? Will they finally get online right? Are 3rd parties going to care? You can also expect to see Skyward Sword again, a proper showing of Mario Bros 3DS and Kid Icarus needs a date. As much as we know about what’s coming from Nintendo, the amount that we don’t know is even greater. 

Here are the projections and conjectures on what might go down:  

Tons of 3DS games will be announced. With the Wii dying, and it being very likely that development of its games has been shifted to the next console, Nintendo will focus very heavily on the 3DS. The reigning king of the handheld will not let Sony outshine them with the NGP and they have some ground to make up after the weak 3DS launch titles. Mario Kart, Kirby, Paper Mario, Yoshi, Metroid, and Animal Crossing might pop up, and 3rd parties should have a nice chunk of software as well. If Nintendo were developing games for me specifically they would announce a new Smash Bros for 3DS…I’m just sayin’. 

As for the new console, expect to see tech demo-y software and sparse details.  I think we have to see a controller.  With the Wii they were secretive about the controller, but enough speculation has surfaced about this one they can’t get away with omitting it.  the console itself probably will not a have a finalized name.  Whether its currently called Project Cafe, is really irrelevant.  Connectivity to the 3DS is possible, and compatibility with Wii games and controllers is also a huge possibility.  Being the first company to have to deal with what to do about downloaded titles they might talk about future availability of Virtual Console games on the new hardware.  

As to whether or not the new console will be playable at the show, I highly doubt it.  The Wii, (then called the Revolution) was kept behind closed doors for nearly a year after being announced before it was playable, but Nintendo could surprise us.  Expect very few big-name Wii games to be mentioned.  Barring an announcement of Pikmin 3, most of what’s coming to the Wii this year is already known. What do you want out of Nintendo this year?

Well, in 2003 Nintendo released an updated version of the game that was previously unreleased (presumably, it was originally designed for the N64 Disc Drive) called the Master Quest.  The catch was that it was only available as a pre-order bonus for the Gamecube title The Legend of Zelda: The Windwaker.  After the Windwaker was released copies of the Master Quest pre-order disc became scarce and have been going for premium prices ever since (especially since ostensibly the game was free).

Seeing an untapped market, unlike usual, Nintendo has announced that the Master Quest will be playable in the 3DS version of the Ocarina of Time.  Content wise its not too different from the original Ocarina of Time, but the Master Quest does change the layouts of the Dungeons, thus creating a unique alternate playthrough.  Players that are extremely familiar with the puzzles in the original title would be doing themselves a favor playing the Master Quest, as it provides the classic experience with unique content.

Giant Bomb has a nice write up on the supposed origins of the Master Quest along with info on rumors and hacks that make the Master Quest a truly unique piece of Nintendo history.

1.Legend of Zelda Ocaring of Time

Each game is listed at $39.99 but Dead or Alive and Samurai Warriors Chronicles are listed for $49.99.  I have not not heard of this Dream Trigger title.  It could be a misplaced DS title but with $39.99 pre-order price tag I think not.  None of these games have release dates on their product pages and most have been confirmed to not be launch titles.  So keep your eyes open and focused on that “sweet spot” or you may miss something special.

You can start lining up at your local store March 26th because it’s being released on the 27th. Make sure you’ve got the green to make the scene, cause it’s going to set you back an easy $250 pre-tax with 5 launch titles to choose from. Fighters Dead or Alive Dimensions and Super Street Fighter 4 are there for your pugilistic needs, with Samurai Warriors Chronicles for your mobile hack n’ slashing. The classic SNES Pilotwings makes it’s return with Pilotwings Resort and for all the cute kiddies we have Nintendogs + Cats. Just in case you haven’t had your fill of the pet sims yet, or you just want to see them poop in 3d.

Now the big question is this…….$250!?!?!?!?!!! I know you might be saying to yourself, “I could get a new 360 or Wii for that!!!” and yes you could. So what does the 3DS bring to the table to tempt you to drop the bones…other than it’s Nintendo, and DS, aaaaand glasses free 3D? Well I’m glad you asked.

First off, digital purchases you’ve made for your DSi or DSiXL can be transferred over to the 3DS. Not everything mind you, but Nintendo has yet to announce what can’t be transferred. Also, it’s been stated that there might be a limit as to how many times it can be transferred. I’m curious as to how this works. Will it mean how many 3DS systems it can be transferred to or how many times you can transfer it to your personal one? Also, the 3DS games are being kept to a nice $39.99, so no $70 dollar games here yet.

Secondly, is the hardware change itself. The 3DS has some guts to go with it’s bluster. It’s a DS so it’s still a dual screen. But now the top screen (if you haven’t heard by now) will give you 3D effects without the need for butt ugly, heavy, battery eating glasses. Which is great news because who wants to walk around with huge, weird, ugly shades on their faces? I mean seriously, the 80′s was over with over 20 years ago. Also, the processing power is pretty damn good. Which it will need to put out some of the games in the 3D that they are wanting to do.

The controls have had a little addition. You still get the stylus A, B, X, Y, Left, Right buttons, and D pad. But you also now get a handy dandy analog pad. Since everyone knows you can’t have a powerful system without analog.  There is a nice little 3D intensity slider so you can adjust the 3D to your liking and built in gyro/motion sensors, so no more bulky cartridge add-ons. Game cartridges are about the same as DS carts and according to the big N most DS games will work on the 3DS without 3D ability. Sorry, no Castlevania or Metroid in 3D. YET.

It comes with an adjustable stylus, charging station, 2GB SD card, and a built in 3D camera. That’s right you can take 3D pics with the 3DS. Personally I can’t wait for someone to hack this and we start to get 3DS films. LOW RES 3DS FILMS LOL. It will also be bundled with a bit of built in software.

First is an opening “HOME” menu much like we see on the Wii. It will have an internet browser, Mii maker, 3D video player, and two new additions for connecting to others, STREETPASS and SPOTPASS. With both of these you can connect to other 3DS owners and the 3DS shop. SPOTPASS uses the included charge cradle allowing your 3DS to charge in sleep mode, and still connect to a wi-fi hotspot and download game data, videos, and other free materials that are available. Now, whether this is set to where you can fully choose what is allowed to download has yet to be made clear, but I’m quite sure it’s there. The STREETPASS is a very interesting feature all on it’s own.  While walking around doing your daily grind just keep your 3DS on and in sleep mode about your person and if you walk within range of someone else with a 3DS you can trade Mii, and game information without every saying hello or actually noticing each other. It has been confirmed that you can set what to share and what not. So if you don’t care to add new Mii’s to your stuff you don’t, but if say some other game has a character customization mode you can share, and get personal characters from others.

Another great feature is the VASTLY IMPROVED ONLINE FRIEND INTERFACE!!!!!!!!!!!!! For most players, the dreaded “FRIEND CODE” just killed trying to play online with any of your friends on the DS, DSi. Inputting a 16 digit number was just a pain, especially when most games didn’t save the code, might make you put it in twice, and the systems didn’t allocate any hard memory for the function. Also, in the top right corner of one of the screens it will let you know if any of your friends are online. Becoming friends has been made much much easier. A friend code of some fashion is still in place, no Gamertags yet unfortunately, but the 3DS will save friends in it’s on board memory.

With the added bonus that if you are playing wirelessly with friends in a group like the Mario Kart roadtrip escape days you can simply click to send or respond to a friend request. So no number inputs, period. Friend codes will be system specific instead of account. At the moment, if something untoward should happen to your 3DS and you replace it you’ll have to start over from scratch in the friend’s list department. But this could make it easier to find stolen systems. Robbers beware!!!!

Aside from the initial 5 games at launch another 8 will be available on June 1st. With an additional title on July 7th confirmed. Now don’t fret because we may always have games pop up and be available between March and June, hopefully.

The confirmed Titles so far are as follows:

June 1st: (Of course no system is complete without) MADDEN NFL, Kid Icarus Uprising, Star Fox 64, Legend of Zelda Orcarina of Time, Super Monkey Ball, The Sims 3, and Cartoon Network Super-Toon Rumble.

July 7th: Resident Evil The Mercenaries

Other than the launch line-up the 3DS is seriously looking to take over the reigns of the portable market from the DSi. With improved net browsing, friend linking, and keeping the ability to play most of your DS games the system is looking solid. Still whether or not you should early adopt is in question. $250 is still a pretty steep price point, but the 3DS might have makers for the money. With the cheapest portable 3D tech, viewing and taking pics, and a beefy graphics system, if you got the cash and want to make the dash I say go for it. Otherwise, wait a bit enjoy your DS/DSi’s and wait for some more game titles to come out. Or you know do that Ebay thing that no one has thought about doing.