Nintendophiles 08.27.08

Posted by Theo Fraser on 08.27.2008

Nintendophiles brings you news of SEGA working with ratings board to keep Mad World rated for “appropriate audience”, a first look at the new survival horror/adventure game Cursed Mountain, fresh details emerge on Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades, and Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia is shaping up to be one of the series’ best outings! Check out all that and more inside.




I mentioned at the end of last week's news report that I would be attending my first session of wrestling training over the weekend. Well, that was on Saturday, and today I've just about regained mobility. Don't get me wrong; it was awesome! Stepping between those ropes gives you a rush that is simply impossible to describe. I could have turned around and gone home there, and a dream of mine would have been fulfilled. Perhaps if I'd have been sensible, that's exactly what I'd have done. Except no, something inside me compelled me to go through with the training. Let's take a look at the results, shall we?





On top of my back being in absolute agony, I sustained a mild concussion, received whiplash, obtained some nice gashes across both arms, and pulled pretty much every single muscle in my body. My face went unscathed, thankfully, but that's about it. I don't blame the training one bit- I only have myself to blame. Let's just say I should probably stick to playing Nintendo games and leave the in-ring action to ‘real' athletes. I was OK at first, pulling off front bumps like I was Ric Flair (and yes, I did utter a few "Woos" which the other guys didn't seem to impressed with…). But exhaustion soon hit after about an hour, and when you THEN have to move on to flip bumps (somersaults, landing flat on your back), you can see where the problem lies. I kept landing on my head and neck, which isn't the best way of taking care of your spine.

Running the ropes was a real killer too. I think people often forget that the ropes are made out of elevator cable with a thin layer of hosepipe covering. The pipe covering had also worn away quite badly on the ropes I was training on, so I was basically hurling myself back-first into a bunch of metal. The corresponding pain is what I'd imagine childbirth feels like.

I don't want to make it out to be any worse than it is (partly because I'll sound like a total pussy), but it's quite an eye opener and makes you understand what your heroes on TV go through on an almost daily basis. I know a few writers here on 411mania are trained wrestlers, so I have all the more respect for them now. It was a terrific experience, but I think the next time I step inside a wrestling ring will be in the safe confines of my bedroom, playing Smackdown vs Raw 2009.


On a slightly more relevant point, bringing things back to the world of Nintendo, this past week saw the release of Super Mario RPG on the PAL Virtual Console, thus proving that there is a God, and He works for Nintendo. Long time readers will recall how often I've begged for Ninty to put up the title for download, seeing as how it was never originally released in PAL territories, and even longer readers may remember that I actually featured the game as a "Viable Candidate for the Virtual Console" in the debut edition of Nintendophiles almost two years ago, so I'm naturally jubilant about this turn of events. We've had a duff couple of months VC-wise, so hopefully this marks the end of the drought of quality titles.




SEGA work with ratings board to ensure MadWorld meets appropriate critera
Credit: CVG

A couple of weeks back, I discussed the media attention SEGA's MadWorld had been receiving, specifically from British tabloid The Daily Mirror, calling for the game to be banned well before development was anywhere near completion. It was an utter bollocks article from the right-wing newspaper, but evidently SEGA want to play it safe and have made the decision to work closely with ratings boards such as PEGi and the BBFC to work out any issues there may be in regards to the level of violence demonstrated in the game. SEGA's representative at the Leipzig Games Convention last week, David Corless, had the following comments to make on the matter:


Corless: Yes, it's violent. We don't try to hide that, but as publishers, we see it as a fantasy game - it's fantasy violence. It's over the top. It's cartoony.

We also take the violence very seriously. We are working with the age rating boards, with PEGI and with BBFC. We're not at the end of the game's development, but we're working with them now to make sure that we don't go over the top.

The game has been banned in Germany; there's no getting around that unfortunately. But we are taking it seriously and we're going to make sure that this game is rated for the appropriate audience.


If we look at the positive side of things, SEGA's willingness to confer with various ratings boards will stand them in good stead and should ensure that the game sees a worldwide release (apart from Germany, as stated). I just hope this doesn't mean the content of the game is severely compromised, as it would be a terrible shame for a title that had such potential to be neutered at this early stage.





Right from when the title was first unveiled, it was clear that the proceedings would be a visceral, brutal affair, and it wasn't doubted for a second that the game would be aimed at an older audience. The concern now is where exactly the rating falls.

This is where the BBFC system excels, as it goes from 15+ to a strict 18+ rating, which doesn't have any effect on where the title is sold. However, as we saw with all the hoo-ha over Manhunt 2 last year, PEGI ratings go from a ‘Mature/17+' sticker before venturing into ‘Adults Only' territory, which is problematic as many stores refuse to stock such titles. I'd imagine SEGA would want to avoid this AO rating, so the close work with the ratings boards will likely be centred on keeping the title appropriate for a Mature audience.




Wii owners get Cursed as Deep Silver bring survival horror project to Wii
Credit: Cubed3, Revogamers

Deep Silver is a name that isn't overly recognisable, despite the fact that they've been involved in some major titles over the last 5 years, such as S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky, X2: The Threat, and uh...Singles: Flirt Up Your Life. However, they only have one Wii title under their belt; Secret Files: Tunguska, which was generally considered to be ‘average'. But now the developer (alongside Sproing Interactive) comes back with a useful bit of Wii experience, having got to grips with the hardware during Tunguska's production. Billed exclusively for Nintendo's home console, Cursed Mountain is an ambitious survival horror/adventure title, which you can take a look at in the game's first official trailer, displayed below.





First off, I must point out that the trailer was taken from a very early version of the game, and whilst the environments look solid and the particle effects are all fancy, the actual character models and general animation is a touch on the shoddy side. Thankfully, we have been assured that this is being worked on, and the finished product will see considerable improvements in those areas. Phew, that puts that worry to bed then! Apart from those minor niggles, I was reasonably impressed by what I saw from the trailer. It all looks rather grand, which is refreshing after the almost claustrophobic nature of some Wii adventure games. The environments are inspired by real Himalayan areas, and the development team want it to look as true to life as possible. A lot of research has been done in this respect, and not just with regard to your surroundings, but also Buddhist teachings and the mythology of the area so as to ensure the CPU characters (which include humans, phantoms, demons and soul creatures) behave in the expected manner.

Deep Silver and Sproing seem really enthusiastic about the motion-sensing aspect of the title, hoping to utilise it throughout the whole adventure, particularly emphasising its use for climbing. One would assume that you'll be tasked with climbing up the Himalayas themselves, so you'll likely employ a nunchuk-wiimote-nunchuk swinging action to replicate the hand-over-hand motion of actual climbing. Combat will also rely on a gesture-based system, with the team commenting at GDC 08 that they "want a real fight with hard movements." Gesture-based systems in their current format can't really be described as being ‘hard movements', so could this indicate MotionPlus integration? It's still relatively early days for the project, so they could easily add it in, although this is mildly risky as they naturally wouldn't be familiar with the MotionPlus technology. The potential is certainly there, that's for sure.

It'll be interesting to see how the ratio works out between survival horror and exploration. I'd hope it's heavy on the survival horror, as otherwise they'll have a hard time sustaining the tension. You'd get the feeling of "Wow, this is quite scary...but it's OK, we'll be chatting to some Buddhist monks in a minute."




Rock on through the Decades with the latest Guitar Hero on DS
Credit: Cubed3

Fresh details have emerged on Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades, the sequel (‘expansion' may be the more apt name) to the DS outing of Guitar Hero that hit stores a month or so ago. Rather unusual to release a sequel/expansion quite so soon after the first one is out of the gate, no? Well, aside from offering a brand new tracklist (featuring the likes of Linkin Park, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Queen and REM, all of which provide master recordings), Decades has the unique ability of linking up with On Tour, both in single player AND in wireless multiplayer. Thanks to this feature, you'll be able to use just one cart to access songs from both versions (assuming you own both versions, of course), and allows owners of On Tour to play a multiplayer session with a Decades player, with the full track listing at your disposal.





Pessimists may well point out that at its heart, it's still the same game, albeit with a new list of songs. With that in mind, I wouldn't particularly recommend On Tour owners rushing out to buy this next instalment. However, if the track list of On Tour didn't float your boat, thus putting you off from forking over the cash, you might be swayed by Decades, which provides some of the best stuff from the 70s, 80s, 90s and now. Above all that, it should really help to bring a new level of excitement to the multiplayer component, as the ‘inter-version' sessions will allow you to try out new songs you're not all that familiar playing, which should prove a real challenge if you go straight for ‘Expert'. It kind of reminds me of the days of Pokemon Red and Blue, when you used to link up with a friend in the hope that they'd trade you a rare Pokemon specific to their version. It's all good, clean fun!




Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia GDC trailer

As far as Nintendo-related titles went, there weren't a tonne of huge announcements made at the Leipzig Games Convention last week, as most of the major demonstrations were made at E3 last month. However, the convention gave gamers a chance to go hands-on with some of the year's forthcoming titles, with one such title being the eagerly-anticipated Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, the third entry in the DS' portion of the Castlevania franchise.





The above video gives a good look at some of the game's various boss battles, and they look darn awesome. We see some really nice effects employed, and whilst it's not pushing the boundaries of what the DS is capable of, it all runs at a very slick frame rate, which stays consistent despite the presence of multiple enemies on screen at any one time.

Judging by the gameplay shown, it's classic Castlevania action as expected, and is shaping up to be the best DS Castlevania outing yet. To be honest, it's hard to see how they could screw it up from here. I suppose it doesn't really offer anything to entice gamers who weren't turned on by previous offerings, but that's hardly worthy of concern when what you're presented with is of such a high standard as it is.
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin was released with a brilliant pre-order bonus, with artwork, a music CD and much more. Here's hoping for the same treatment for Shanoa's expedition, which is scheduled for a North American release on October 21st.




The 411 Games Crew

Joe Roche writes The Full Circle: 360 News Report, bringing you news on Liberty City, Duke Nukem, and The Force Unleashed mere days before his wedding! That's commitment, folks! And a hearty congratulations goes out to the new Mr and Mrs Roche from all of us (?) here at Nintendophiles.

Vincent Chiucchi and The Select and Start News Report features a look at a controversial World Trade Center/Space Invaders picture, more bad news for Tecmo, Lawsuit of the Week and much more.

B3yond the Report with Derek Robbins has various Metal Gear talk and a special appearance by Mark Salmela.

The Checkpoint is presented by John Curry, taking a look at the Food Network's video game offering for the Wii.

Chris Evans looks at PC sales from 2007 in this week's PC Centric Extravaganza.

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