Nintendo Wii Fanboy

The VC Advantage is usually geared toward nostalgia -- specifically, evoking the memories of a time gone by, when we were denied resources such as GameFAQs, we had to look up codes in magazines, and we had to walk two miles uphill to school (both ways!). Help was available in other places besides magazines back then. Needed to know what to play and how to advance? You could turn to a book ... and we're not talking about glitzy Prima strategy guides packed with glossy photos, either.

Growing up, I didn't have much access to gaming magazines, and I'm not even sure why. I'm sure I was aware that Nintendo Power existed, and I know I read a few issues, but I wasn't a subscriber and rarely bought it (blasphemy!). I did, however, read many of Jeff Rovin's How to Win books cover to cover.

The price for Battalion Wars 2 keeps on dropping on Amazon -- first it fell to $32.99, and now you can pick it up for $25.83. Not that we're complaining. Any chance to pick up a good game cheaply is okay by us. We're especially glad that this price qualifies BWii for Amazon's free shipping (by eighty-three cents).

This isn't Amazon's "Deal of the Day," so we don't know how long this pricing will last; make sure you take that into consideration when you debate whether or not to jump on this sale.



[Via GoNintendo]

We weren't exactly hard to convince, since we already loved the "sweded" look of the Wii Ware version of Defend Your Castle, but we think that had we been in the "do not want" camp, seeing the game in motion would have melted our hardened hearts. Every interface is made to appear as if it was crafted from household items.

The temple, where you convert enemies into followers, is a paint can. The battering rams are popsicle sticks. The cursor is a bread clip. It's as if you made a found-art collage depicting a Wii game! And then, uh ... made it move and stuff.

After Square Enix's GDC talk about the game, we are now furiously anticipating Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King. Everything from the gameplay to the actual development process of the game seemed experimental, and that is just not done at Square Enix, especially with an important franchise. Plus it looked fun, especially for cheap.

The latest screens and art on Famitsu reveal a big, very Final Fantasy (but cuter) villain called the Dark Lord -- a huge dude in armor who wields what looks like an enormous hammer with a sword on the back. Practical! Also shown: the previous king, who was "naughty and rarely king-like." He looks pretty rakish, we think. The people loved him, and now the player has to fill his shoes.

When it comes to game delays in PAL regions, there are delays and then there are DELAYS. Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, in case you didn't realize, falls squarely in the latter category. Japan received Intelligent Systems' strategy title back in February 2007, which is not much more than a faint dot in our memories. Almost one year later, and Europe is still waiting, while Australia will have to put its feet up until April.

Remarkably, there's been a breakthrough on a European date, with Nintendo confirming that the game will ship in the region on March 14th, a.k.a thirteen months after Japan.

If you live in Australia, the chances are high that you haven't had the pleasure of playing the Wii's year-old Fire Emblem game, Radiant Dawn. Released last year in Japan and last November in North America, Radiant Dawn will finally be heading down under.

According to Nintendo Australia's website, Aussies can expect to get the title on April 10th. Unfortunately, there's still no word on a European date. We're hoping that translating the game into an additional few languages won't hold it up for too long, and that Europeans can enjoy the title around the same time as Australians. We'll let you know when we hear something tangible, though.

[Via GoNintendo]

At first, it was coming, and then it wasn't, and then it was ... and now, once again, Civilization Revolution is a no-go for Wii owners. An unnamed spokesperson for 2K Games confirmed to IGN that the Wii version has been put on hold indefinitely, and a poster by the name of Jason2K at the 2K forums reports that it's a simple matter of manpower. According to said poster, Firaxis didn't have the resources to work on four different versions of the game at once, and it looks like the Wii title, already set to release several months after the others, drew the short straw.

We can only hope to see Firaxis revisit the project in the future, as the Wii (and DS) are spectacular choices for the long-running franchise, considering that their control schemes can closely mimic that of the mouse. The title was set to feature online multiplayer and several features that are being implemented for the new console versions.

[Thanks, mian!]

Some of you might have noticed the absence of Worms: A Space Oddity in our "awesome games that you forgot about" list; that omission was deliberate (and not an ironic "awesome game that we forgot about"), as we'd heard rumors that the strategy title's promised Nintendo WiFi Connection support had been cut. No online? No sale.

IGN Australia confirmed in a recent preview that developer Team 17 has left out the online multiplayer and WiiConnect24 downloadable content features we were looking forward to. The hands-on impressions also has details on the level editor and new weapons, but those points seem overshadowed by the missing online support.

Why wasn't this a high priority item on Team 17's docket? And what reason would any level-headed gamer have to purchase A Space Oddity over the online-enabled, $20-dollars-cheaper Worms: Open Warfare 2 on the DS?

This isn't as enormous a deal as last Friday's Brawl preorder but at least you can make this purchase without worrying about Wal-Mart sending you a confirmation email for an order cancellation you never requested.

For today only, Amazon has Battalion Wars 2 on sale for $32.99 (free Super Saver Shipping). If you've been putting off buying the online-enabled shooter/strategy title, why not pick it up now while it's cheap? These bargains for first-party-published games don't last long, though, so grab it now before Amazon kicks it back up to $49.99.

[Via CAG]

Koei tried porting one of their most venerable franchises to the Wii, in the form of Sangokushi XI (Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI) with Power-Up Kit. By most publishers' standards, it bombed, selling about 6,000 copies. But how much could those ultra-hardcore strategy games really be expected to sell? Apparently, not that much. Maybe the development costs are low enough that Koei can recoup their expenses just by selling to a small audience.

In any case, ported strategy games are cheaper to develop than original RPGs, and sell about the same. Because of that, we can kind of understand why Koei's putting another of their classic strategy series on the Wii. Well, that and the fact that pointer control is a natural for this kind of menu-driven game. Nobunaga's Ambition with Power-Up Kit offers the same kind of thrills that Romance of the Three Kingdoms did: lots of map screens and numbers representing historical battles. Famitsu's got a bunch of screens of the game, which is due out in March, both alone and in a bundle with Romance.

As long as they keep putting out art like this that we can then post, Koei is free to do whatever they want on the Wii.

There's a couple of things to note about the above video, however. One: that elevator music is freakin' hideous (and on that note, we'd really like MP3 support in this please, Nintendo). And two: where are the optional Nintendo-themed pieces?! To have Mario and Peach playing the king and queen would have been an excellent little touch. Other Nintendo games get outstanding fan service, so why not this? Two words: Missed. Opportunity.

[Thanks, Troy!]

Star Trek: Conquest didn't fare too well in our last metareview, partly due to its lack of options, and partly because its retail price of $30 is double that of the near-identical PS2 version. There isn't anything short of a time-travel episode that can be done about that first complaint considering that the game is already out in the market, and, unfortunately, we used up our one time-travel episode for the season when we visited Nickelodeon's studios in 1996 to stop them from canceling the original Are You Afraid of the Dark? series. We regret to report that we weren't able to complete that important mission due to interference by the Romulans.

Amazon has addressed that second criticism, though, cutting the strategy/shooter title's price by a third and selling it now for only $19.99! This deal ends today, so pick it up now if you're interested, but just keep in mind the 19th Rule of Acquisition: "Satisfaction is not guaranteed."

[Via CAG]

Considering it's a Nintendo game, there's been astoundingly little fanfare for Wii Chess. The game's Wikipedia page is absolutely barren, while a release date has only just appeared (January 18th), and then only for Europe. Despite the lack of information, Nintendo obviously reckons this could have broad appeal, as it's slapped the "Touch! Generations" logo on the corner of the box, which roughly translates as: "Your Gran and her friends will like this."

Anyway, further details finally emerged on the title today, with CVG reporting that Wii Chess is to retail for a budget price of £20 / €30 (we'd presume the game's budget status will be preserved if and when it reaches other markets -- our educated guess would be $30 for the U.S.), and that it will support both local multiplayer and games played over Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. We're also promised a number of graphical styles, which hopefully means Nintendo-themed boards and pieces, including Goomba pawns and knights that look like Yoshi.

And yes, that is the German boxart. We travelled the seven seas of the internet searching for an English version, but returned empty-handed. Still, at least you now know the German word for "chess." Never know when that might come in handy.

When it comes to RPG franchises, a new entry in a series often introduces a different storyline with different characters, effectively providing a clean slate for the player. While Fire Emblem normally follows this tried and true formula, the creators decided to shake things up and make Radiant Dawn a direct sequel to the game that came before it, Path of Radiance.

Whenever a sequel to a game comes out, it's important to know whether the game can stand on its own or if newcomers will be completely lost without playing the previous title. In the case of Radiant Dawn, however, this concern can't be fully answered in simple one-word terms.

We were excited when we heard that Bethesda was bringing Star Trek: Conquest to the Wii, even more so when the strategy/shooter's $30 budget pricing was revealed ($15 for the PS2 version). So, now that it's out, is it worth its weight in gold-pressed latinum? Well, no.

IGN -- 68%: Though Star Trek: Conquest is technically sound, IGN doesn't think there's enough there to warrant pruchasing: "The game is obviously a quick cash-out strategy game that does little to innovate, and lacks the serious depth it takes to sit among the ranks of strategy greats ... For starters, there's no multiplayer at all in the game, so while it's a turn-based board game in nearly every respect, you'll be playing one-on-one with the computer only, rather than bringing friends into the action via local or online play. Even further, the game has no real story mode, as it only includes a user-defined 'Campaign' mode and skirmish extra mode."

Gamespy -- 20%: GameSpy agrees, and takes issue with its combat portions and inaccuracies: "It's not a very good shooter, with trudging controls, no choice over which of your ships you control (you only get to control one), and bland graphics. And just to drive the license fully into the ground, you'll encounter fun things like Borg spheres as fast/light 'scout' vessels. Technically, Conquest could be worse, since it loads quickly and has no real technical issues. But there is simply no reason to play this game or spend the money on it."

Remember how every other episode of The Next Generation climaxed with some sort of warp core breach that required a saucer separation? The red alert klaxon would sound off and the camera would cut to a shot of Geordi rolling dramatically under one of the descending emergency gates, just narrowly escaping death and ensuring he'd be around to host another episode of Reading Rainbow.

We imagine that's just how your Christmas morning would play out if someone were to gift you Star Trek: Conquest, except instead of a saucer separation, you'll be running out of the house and jumping into your car, driving away as fast as possible, glancing at your rearview mirror just in time to see your house explode spectacularly behind you.