Derek

Derek picks favorite Wii games of 2011

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPA4RiQElc8[/youtube] Let’s be honest. 2011 wasn’t exactly the Nintendo Wii’s best year. Sales continued to dip, and it suffered a game drought that made even GameCube’s driest days seem prosperous in hindsight. But even so, there were still some great Wii games released last year. Believe me. I really had to look. Check out my picks ...

Derek names top ten Donkey Kong games ever made, gets help from ape himself

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9KjSQEyKtI[/youtube] To celebrate the ape’s 30th birthday and the release of his outstanding 1994 Game Boy title on the 3DS eShop, I’ve tried to pick the best Donkey Kong games of all-time. And I got a little help’if you want to call it that’from the ape himself. Watch the video for my picks. If you can stomach more, watch the second half for th...

Happy trails: Ten best Wii games remaining

Remember when consecutive vowels were the most confusing thing about a Nintendo system? Those bygone days when console names didn’t end with text messages? And U thought a remote seemed like a crazy idea. Nearly five years have passed since Nintendo launched its revolution, a small white console with a silly name that suddenly doesn’t seem quite so silly. Its pace may have slowed in re...

This game wasn’t worth $3.99 in 1989

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nq9cgd00UkA[/youtube] Let alone 2011. Although it was an undeniably significant Game Boy title, Super Mario Land has never been a very good one, and the asking price of $3.99 to relive this awkward and inferior Mario misstep is absurd. As Blake said on this week’s podcast, “it’s a bad game.” What about you, Infendo? Agree with our criticisms of ...

Nintendo rep. spills rupees on Skyward story

They’ve kept a strictly professional relationship for decades, but Link and Princess Zelda may soon have their Jim and Pam moment. Men don’t explore dungeons for nothing. According to the fan site Zelda Universe, the plot in the upcoming Zelda title Skyward Sword includes an openly romantic relationship between the two main characters, a first for the long-running franchise. Zelda Univ...

Ape and hog ousted to similarly loony tune

Nintendo’s mascots know how things work in Kyoto. It’s not about what you’ve done. It’s about whether your cap has an “M” on it. As its unabated string of Mario sequels and spin-offs suggests, Nintendo knows who butters the corporate bread. The company has turned to the plumber with unflinching regularity over the years, and while it has sold countless millions of titles b...

Classics define Nintendo’s upswing decade

A lot can change in a decade. Just ask Nintendo. In Apr. 2003, with the month’s rains at their dreariest, the company reported fiscal GameCube sales of 5.6 million units, less than half the total forecast in 2002. Six Aprils later, Nintendo closed another fiscal year with sales of 25.95 million Wii systems, nearly a five-fold increase over 2003, as the company famous for the power-up evident...

Controversies stall would-be kart racers

Transportation isn’t a problem in the Mushroom Kingdom. Much of its citizenry is capable of self-propelled flight, while others can transform into flying raccoons or spurt wings from their caps. Rumor has it there are even flutists who can travel vast distances simply by whistling a ditty. Despite an abundance of alternatives, however, virtually everyone within the kingdom’s limits dri...

Review: Dead Space extracts thrills on Wii

“Jesus Christ, we just killed someone.” You didn’t want to do it. You weren’t supposed to do it. But you had to do it. You didn’t have a choice, right? You saw it. He was slashing, gnawing, clawing at that”¦person. If you hadn’t sliced him in half, you would’ve been that horrifying smear of lifeless flesh on that cold steel floor. If you hadn’t killed him, he w...

Sonic racing game leaked by SEGA Europe

Sorry, Tails. My money’s on Sonic. SEGA Europe today revealed Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing, a kart racer featuring some of the company’s most popular characters. The game is currently scheduled to release in early 2010 for multiple platforms, Wii and DS included. Details are sparse, but SEGA has confirmed Sonic, Dr. Eggman, Tails, Rose and Samba de Amigo’s AiAi and Amigo as ...

Bowser’s personal life shrouded in mystery

Over the last 20 years, you’ve chopped bridges from beneath his feet and dropped him into semifluid molten lava. You’ve spun him around by the tail and tossed him face-first into heavy explosives. And for the most part, Bowser has deserved all of it. Reflecting on how poorly we’ve treated Mario’s long-time arch nemesis, however, I’m reminded of something I learned a d...