Nintendo Wii Fanboy

Our blogger in the UK, Chris, provided us with a review of the title last month (thanks to the game releasing in his territory before ours, for a change) and spoke his mind concerning the undersea exploration within. After providing his honest opinion on the title, many here who were otherwise dead-set on picking this one up (this blogger included) then began to contemplate the other releases this week. Soon, its place among the "must-haves" for the week was in question, and we started thinking about picking up one or the other.

What about you all, though? Have you picked up Endless Ocean and found the critics to be off their rockers? Is this game awesome and nobody but IGN knows it?

Let's get to the reviews:

• IGN (80/100) says: "There are enough missions, from becoming a tour guide for other divers to photographing rare fish, to keep you busy for hours, but you might just prefer the pointless exploration to accomplishing set goals. Add in a two-player online mode and there's a lot to like about this scuba-diving simulation, even if some of its basic controls are wonky and its action-oriented scenarios limited. Did I mention it's only $29.99?"

• Game Informer (60/100) thinks: "Have you ever wanted to be as cool as Aquaman, except without any super powers? You could swim around, make friends with fish, and...well, that's about it. That is exactly what Endless Ocean delivers, giving players a chance to pet all sorts of underwater wildlife and watch them float by. The few other distractions, like taking pictures and filling an aquarium, provide only the barest incentive to keep going."

• Eurogamer (60/100) labels the game: "Endless Ocean is simple to the point of being quite dull, and certainly no masterpiece. But sometimes all a game needs to do is offer you something different, and it's an honest relief to play something that doesn't shout in your ear, set any time limits, or feature a single explosion; a game whose raison d'être is just beauty and peace. Playing this game is almost like taking a holiday from gaming. If you can live with that paradox - and if you can find it reasonably cheap - it's worth dipping a toe in these calm, blue waters."

• GamePro (25/100) magazine critiques: "Endless Ocean's underwater atmosphere is soothing and relaxing but it lacks a crucial element: fun." [Feb 2008, p.84]

Here's a very brief list of adjectives I would almost never use to describe video games:

1. Genteel
2. Laid-back
3. Soothing

Historically, a handful of titles have bucked this trend -- Electroplankton, PlayStation 3 curio flOw, Pilotwings and its sublime 64-bit follow-up (one of this writer's all-time favorites) -- but on the whole, the term "video game" conjures up images that are far from tranquil: gobby, cornrowed marines shooting the bejesus out of this week's alien threat, epic battles with scaly fantasy creatures, futuristic pod racing, urban gang warfare. You get the idea.

Endless Ocean does things differently. Arika's scuba-diving sim is almost certainly the most relaxing, pedestrian game of 2007. And while that's certainly a welcome change from other video games, occasionally it can become a little too laid-back for its own good. Or, to be blunt, boring.

If you live in Europe and don't yet know your Humphead wrasse from your Powder blue tang, then fear not, because Endless Ocean (it is known by another name) has the answers, and will be hitting stores in Euroland later this week. To celebrate that fact, developer Arika has treated us to a further 19 screens of its watery exploration game, all of which you can find below.

Needless to say, we're looking forward to this one -- it's pretty unique for starters, and Famitsu doesn't dish out 35/40s for any old tat.*

* Most of the time.

Those of us interested in exploring the (fake) ocean depths won't need to dive too deeply into their wallets. The price for Endless Ocean has dropped from $39.99 to $29.99, putting it squarely into "impulse purchase" territory when it releases on January 21.

It could use the advantage; the first couple of months of 2008 are actually going to be pretty heavy on releases, with Smash Bros. and No More Heroes clamoring for our money, and smaller stuff like Blast Works pushed back into that period as well. We'd like to support unique games like Endless Ocean, but we can't do that if we're out of money. Luckily, by virtue of being a smaller number, it's easier to come up with $30 than it is $40! Good move, Nintendo. We love this new trend of discounted first-party games.

[Via NeoGAF]

Endless Ocean was released into the wild today in Japan (as Forever Blue on that side of the pond), and it seems not all is flowing smoothly for Arika's peaceful diving game. Early adopters are reporting large numbers of game crashing bugs, with specifically reproducible instances when adding shark rays into your aquarium. While there's still time before it's arrival on U.S. shores later this year, this certainly doesn't bode well for its prospects in either country's waters. Some of us weren't all that excited about Arika's glorified aquarium screensaver anyway, but now we have an excuse to be downright critical of it!

No word yet on whether the much beloved penguins have the potential to fry your system as well.

[Via Kotaku]

New screens of Endless Ocean reveal some non-submerged activities, like getting to know your guide and hosting some ambassadors from the Penguin Empire. And where there are penguins, you can also expect brutally inhospitable water: Apparently the Forever Blue of the game's Japanese title refers not only to the pretty ocean water, but to the frozen skin of the insane diver whose death wish you carry out in the game.

To round out the experience, there's some kind of competitive dolphin jumping ... thing that records the length of the jump and notes any tricks. This is probably designed around videotaping the best dolphin tricks possible-- oh, or you inexplicably get control of a dolphin during the game, like most divers do.

We here at Wii Fanboy are pretty intrigued about Endless Ocean, because it looks like such a unique gaming experience-- underwater treasure-hunting mixed with adventure game elements. But, strictly speaking, it is not unique at all. It is, in fact, another entry in the Everblue series of diving adventures for the Playstation 2.

Well-rounded and experienced gamers though we are, there is a big old hole in our gaming history in the shape of the Everblue games. This is especially embarrassing for us, as we are possibly alone in our fandom of Arika games like Technic Beat and even the Street Fighter EX series.

We figure somebody out there has played one of the Everblue games. We'd love to know what you thought of the experience. Should we stop caring about Endless Ocean? Should we be getting Endless Ocean tattoos? Also, do you think this game is the sort of thing that waggle can genuinely improve?

It's been a while since we've seen anything about Forever Blue, the undersea diving game scheduled for later this year, and developer Arika still seems to be keeping things under wraps. One lone screenshot has surfaced, however. We can add this to the slowly developing collection. By this fall, we may know a little more than we do now!

Check out the screen after the jump. All we can say so far is: it's a good thing we're fond of blue.

It's rare that we get tipped off about a title by a scuba diving site, but it looks like there's a first time for everything after all. Forever Blue, a diving game set for the end of 2007 (for now, at least), was first announced during the Japanese Nintendo event last month, but there was so much going on that we hope you'll forgive us for losing it in the shuffle. Developer Arika has some experience in the creation of underwater environments, as they were responsible for the PS2's Ever Blue and Ever Blue 2. A shift to the Wii for a game like this just makes sense. And you won't be swimming solitary in the deep, either; WiFi support is planned, so you can explore with your friends.

It's interesting to note that a diving site not only picked up the story, but presented it with such enthusiasm, while at the same time having to explain the Wii to their nongamer audience. Though this is certainly not the first game of its type -- see above -- the immersion of the Wiimote makes it a unique and exciting title, and one that we have high hopes for.

[Update 1: Somehow, the link to the original story disappeared ... fixed!]