Netflix on the Wii, Drugs & Guitar Hero: Metallica & Call of Duty Dogs vs Nintendogs – Welcome to the column that think this is the gateway drug to Benny Hill episodes & Jerry Springer reruns known as Dare to Play the Game.
I mentioned last week that I didn’t think I was actually going to complete Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection. My defining sentence is that honestly I don’t think I’m going to get the achievement for Mean Bean Machine. I was wrong. I got three achievements this week. First I got enough Photons in Vectorman and then I found my way through the first episode in Comix Zone (which is actually a fun game if you can figure out the best way to tackle each room). Last but not least, I found my way to defeating Robotnik in Mean Bean Machine with a very well placed triple combo. Yatta, indeed!
The achievements remaining are only four. Two are exercises in simply playing games with the playing all Genesis games and playing all of the arcade game achievements. The other two are E-Swat (getting to the second mission) and Vectorman 2 (getting to stage 11). My points are 825 out of 1000. My goal is to leave the two easy game playing achievements until the end to make sure I keep up the momentum to get the 2 final game related ones. This is the first time I’ve felt really close to getting the full 1,000 points. I don’t want to blow it. Sure, I have high points in Fable II or Lego Star Wars Complete Saga, but I always knew that there were one or two achievements I simply wasn’t going to plow my time into. This time, it is different.
Most of you would know the above girl as Alyssa Milano, who would probably be featured every week if I could somehow tie her picture to an actual video game. Apparently this time, I have a reason. Alyssa will be taking on the female lead in the upcoming Ghostbusters title, published by Atari. She will be Dr. Ilyssa Selwyn who is in charge of the “World of Gozer” exhibit at the Natural History Museum. I wonder if Gozer gets upset and then transforms Ms. Selwyn into a Gatekeeper. I own 4 seasons of Charmed, most of her B movies, maybe I should pick this up when the game drops.
Wii
According to a rumored customer survey, Netflix is gauging subscriber interest in a streaming movie and television service on another current generation console, this time on the Nintendo Wii.
According to a report on Joystiq, the Netflix streaming subscription service would be comparable to the one implemented via Xbox Live. The proposed service for the Wii would offer a library of “over 12,000 choices” to Netflix subscribers over the internet, but would require that a “Netflix Instant Streaming Disc” be in the console’s drive while watching.
That could imply that Nintendo has no plans to closely integrate Netflix streaming into the Wii as Microsoft did with its “New Xbox Experience” upgrade.
Nintendo has already announced its intentions to bring a streaming video on demand service to the Wii in Japan, but would offer original, more family friendly viewing options.
This development could have been foretold by Curt Marvis, president of digital media for Lionsgate, just a few weeks ago. The entertainment exec said that he expected to “see the Wii come into the market with the ability to stream movies, which I think is maybe going to happen as soon as this year.”
Consider it rumor for now, as Netflix has not officially announced plans to partner with Nintendo on such a service. We’ve reached out to Netflix to learn more and will update when we hear back.
Update: According to our sources, Netflix streaming on the Wii would be a “long” time off should it ever come to fruition. We’re still waiting to hear from Netflix reps themselves.
Netflix streaming on the Wii would be a long long time off if it ever worked out. Why? It could be figuring out that whole little thing called lack of hard drive. The internal memory and optional 2gb sd card are simply not going to cut it for Netflix’s streaming to work correctly. A simple Instant Streaming Disc I doubt would do the trick. Take this final tidbit into consideration, Nintendo isn’t even going to help most likely. That means no changes to the existing system. Consider this a pipe dream at best. I applaud Netflix’s effort (since they are essentially driving Blockbuster into extinction) but they are just trying to latch on to the most successful console of this generation.
See, just imagine it without the Xbox Logo and that will be as close as it ever gets.
Guitar Hero
Metallica frontman James Hetfield continues the payday publicity blitz in an interview with Rolling Stone that comes straight out of the celebrity endorsement playbook for music games.
There seems to be a formula to these interviews: 1) Genuflect to rhythm games as a whole, citing at least one quality that inspires music appreciation. 2) Tell people how you, a world-class musician, suck atrociously at playing the instrument controllers. 3) Mention the oldest-school game you can think of when someone asks you what you grew up playing, even if you haven’t touched a console in years and won’t ever again once your game finally releases.
How does Hetfield do? Well:
1) “I think Guitar Hero is a great gateway drug to real music. If you’ve got the music bug, nothing’s gonna stop you. It’s your destiny to express your gift.”
Check!
2) “The initial thought was, ‘This is gonna be so easy.’ And then I picked it up and tried doing it. And it was like [makes plunking sound]. ‘Are you kidding me? You guys suck! You’re supposed to follow me!’ I gotta be on with the lines. And Metallica’s not as on with the lines as some other bands. Especially having Lars as a drummer [Laughs].”
A little overboard there, but still satisfactory.
3) [Q: What’s the first video game you fell in love with?] “My buddy had Pong. We were obsessed with it. That was it, man.”
And … check! Awesome job, James Hetfield!
You know what’s another gateway drug to real music? Reefer. Lots of it. In fact, chances are that Hetfield was smoking some of it before the interview. However, the sentiment James expresses is true. I’ve wanted to sing for a band since my early college days. In fact, if my voice had matured fast enough and my mind had gone along with it, I might have had my chance. Instead I have to settle for fronting our “Rock Band” band or going to Karaoke night. But the desire is certainly there.
James also tends to rant like he did in the second question which could have been summed easier as “We suck playing Guitar Hero.” One question: Does anybody actually like having Lars as a drummer? Okay, I digress. But I have particular beef with his “Pong” response to the third question. I’m not sure I’m doubting him playing Pong, I’m just thinking he could have come up with a more creative answer. Pong, really? For me, first game I actually fell in love with. That would have to be the original Legend of Zelda or Metroid. Sure I played other games first, but the question says Love, and who really loves “Pong”?
Here is James Hetfield during the 80’s when he was trying to be the frontman for Wham or Color Me Badd (I can’t decide which), geez dude I thought you were supposed to be a rocker.
Call of Duty
The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals have thrown their support behind the Academy of Notre Dame student protest against dog killing in Call of Duty: World at War.
To show their support to the student group that organized a petition to voice their disgust over the shooting of killer guard dogs in Activision’s latest Call of Duty game, Peta sent Activision a care package…the is, a package that tries to teach them how to care.
To help the folks at Activision Blizzard learn about the ethical treatment of animals (something we’re sorta experts on) we’re offering to let them take PETA’s “Developing Empathy for Animals” seminar free of charge, and we’re sending a package of dog-friendly Nintendogs games to their office.
With a little Nintendogs influence, perhaps the next Call of Duty game will have you unlock achievements for petting the dogs you encounter and going on walks or playing Frisbee with them.
I think that’s a great idea! Why don’t we do this instead – go through all of the history books and documentation concerning the military application of dogs during World War II, and just erase it all. We don’t want impressionable gamers getting the wrong impression of Nazi Germany, now do we? We could splice footage of people being lined up and marched into cement buildings with clips of people enjoying a puppet show! A few new lines of voice over dialogue and presto! The world is a much happier place.
Bah. Not going to argue realism with PETA. That’s like going to a rave and trying to convince the kids there not to do drugs. They’re already far too gone to understand what you’re saying.
Also, I’d just like to give a pat on the back to the commentor that called PETA’s response within the first few comments of the original post. You’ve officially earned an entire day of being an insufferable, gloating bastard. Enjoy!
*blink*, is this for real? Oh wait….PETA is involved, of course it is real. Guess they never saw Wolfenstein 3d either which did the same exact thing along with countless other World War II games. Heck, killing dogs in World War II games ranks right up there with making Hitler deep throat your rifle. This just in, PETHIT (people for the ethical treatment of Hitler) have issue with that statement. Alright…killing dogs in World War II games ranks right up there with making Hitler assuming the fetal position and sucking off your pistol waiting for the chamber to unload? Still too graphic? I don’t think those PETHIT people are going to be reading my column anymore.
Anyway, the truth is that militant dogs existed back then (they exist now too, just ask anybody with Pit Bulls) and the Call of Duty games are simply trying to be accurate. They aren’t interested in making Call of Duty friendly. They are interested in realism and from what I can tell so are the majority of the players. This sensitivity bs that constantly flows through organizations such as PETA needs to stop. Oh wait, we have a special guest with us today. My ex-wife! She actively supports PETA and is a vegetarian.
“Don’t you think that PETA is wonderful by showing these Activision people that killing dogs is wrong and that we should save these dogs for the sake of humanity, don’t you think that’s wrong Michael? “ Hrmmmm. What I think is wrong is that you wasted 6 years of my life. What I think we should do is get these PETA people to play Duck Hunt for 12 hours straight and see if at the end of the ordeal, they don’t want to kill that honorary dog that laughs when you miss. Oh wait, that would be wrong. Of course it was also wrong that I couldn’t cook fresh meat in my own kitchen without condescending remarks. “It smelled nasty!” So did something else, and you didn’t see me complain too much about that. *shuffle of feet and slamming of door*. Remember kids, if your girlfriend or wife is considering going Vegetarian or worse yet, Vegan? Just be sure she still likes the other white meat.
It’s about time we got a Uno sequel. Uno is arguably the most successful XBLA game of all time with just about everybody who owns a 360 has a copy of this one. Now arguably, the reason everybody has Uno is because of download codes and compilation arcade discs but success does belong to this family card game. This new version will include all of the features you are used to including Avatar and Big Button Pad Support (think Scene-IT). My guess is that the variation will be the ability to play all of your cards in a single turn if possible. Hence the “Rush” idea. Hopefully, we will also be able to import all of the deck themes we bought in the original. Kameo and the SF2 theme were teh awesome.
Another cheap puzzler from Hudson Entertainment. You must clear matching blocks in sets of 2 or more. More points are given if you clear out all your blocks at once. Clean grids get you on to the next level. There are several modes called Fame Game, Shame Game, and then this contraption shown above called the Blame Game. It’s a free-for-all where everyone vies for blocks on one big grid. Multiplayer fun doesn’t come much cheaper. Might be worth a look.
One of the last great Bomberman story games before they decided to focus on the multiplayer/online aspect. This was the third title on the Turbo Graphix system. Here Bomberman has arrived to restore peace on the planet. The problem is that the planet has been split into five parts by an evil entity. This time around in addition to various members of the Bomberman family, you have Rooi which are rideable animals with special abilities. I have played Bomberman and Bomberman 93 on the TG system and this one is no different. If you always wanted Bomberman with a story mode, this is one awesome game.
One of those cartoony shooters that appeared on the Turbo system. This is a vertical one where Twinbee and Winbee are trying to save the planet from evil alien invaders. In six stages, you’ll gain attacks like Big Shot, Twin Attack and even Burst Attack. There are even more affects when you use your shot to transform bells into even more items. It’s cute, it’s 700 points, it’s not bad.
PS2
Monsters vs Aliens
Naruto Ultimate Ninja 4: Shippuden
PSP
Tenchu: Shadow Assassins
Samurai Showdown Anthology
PS3
Monsters vs Aliens
Stormrise
Wheelman
Wanted: Weapons of Fate
WWE: Legends of Wrestlemania
Xbox 360
Stormrise
Ski Doo: Snowmobile Challenge
WWE Legends of Wrestlemania
Wheelman
Wanted: Weapons of Fate
Monsters vs Aliens
Wii
Monsters vs Aliens
Totally Spies: Totally Party
Moto GP ’08
Broken Sword
DS
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time
Broken Sword
Monsters vs Aliens
Fashion Studio: Paris Collection
Imagine: Family Doctor
Discovery Kids: Dolphin Discovery
Discovery Kids: Pony Paradise
Discovery Kids: Kitten Korner
Discovery Kids: Puppy Playtime
Gardening Mama
This might be the week where it’s the battle of the average games. Wheelman got pushed out to this week and Wanted, Stormrise, WWE: Legends of Wrestlemania as well as another Final Fantasy DS game went gold. I am interested to see the curving of bullets in Wanted but that will probably be a budget release before I get around to it. WWE: Legends of Wrestlemania was mentioned last week as a possibly day one release but I have not pulled the trigger at this point. I would of course want to review it if I did buy it in the next few weeks but I’ve been let down by WWE games since the 360 debuted. WWE games were awesome on PS1 (Smackdown 1,2) and PS2 (Bring the Pain and the original Smackdown vs Raw) but lately I haven’t found one to my liking. Maybe I’ll snag the offer on WWEShopZone.com for the Game/Strategy guide for $62.99 with Free shipping. But I think they still charge tax which kinda defeats the purpose. *sigh*. Stormrise might also be interesting from the minds at Sega & Creative Assembly but rumor is that it’s a near carbon copy of Halo Wars but not as good. Maybe next week perhaps?
In my Rockband experience, I had never touched the drums. I saw them as mostly another instrument to learn how to play. I was perfectly content with the microphone and the guitar. My girlfriend’s brother had sold his Xbox 360 but still had his Rockband 1 drums. He simply gave them to us (he’s moving and the less to move the better). Naturally we took them since he came over on a semi-regular basis anyway and we could always have them for other games that supported it. While I couldn’t grasp them (and I’m totally okay with that), Sarah took to them quite well. In fact, for the last week or so, she’s been playing drums regularly and not spending as much time on World of Warcraft. She started out at easy naturally but has progressed pretty well. So in that regard, it’s a win situation. I am good on the vocals and guitar. Sarah likes the guitar and drums. Her brother, the same. It works out well. One question for the RB & GH:WT folks this week though, Sarah’s hardest part is that darn foot pedal. It seems that the pedal you kinda have to mash down and causes for a straining effect. Are there any easier pedals out there or modifications we can make? She’s pretty awesome otherwise but has consistent trouble in the pedal area. Anyhow, just thought I would throw that one out there. Have fun kiddoes.
As Always,
Kedrix of Aldrianian
(*The Forgotten One*)
03/25/2009 @ 2:18 pm
“Reefer”, LMAO!
I’ve heard that the RB2 drums have a more responsive pedal over the RB1 set. IF you have the means, I’d recommend upgrading to the RB2 drums, or even trying out the GH:WT set (I believe they are cross-compatible).
Great column as always, and keep at the Genesis Collection! It is so choice. 🙂
03/25/2009 @ 3:15 pm
Wow, Michael. Funny stuff. I am still at a gasp at the PETA bit, but James on Reefer? Yeah no way! *sarcasm* lol.