Return to the Review: Wii Classic Controller

I wrote this back in 2006 for NerdBlurb when the Wii was released. Bare in mind this was before the better Classic Controller Pro came out. It was just weird at the time that Nintendo forced the GameCube controller to have it's buttons A to A, B to B, etc-etc, when they were in the position compared to a SNES controller. So having a Classic controller helped. Though it felt really weird to play with one for N64 games.

So... you've downloaded a few games onto your Wii, and you want to get playing, you could use a GameCube Controller. However you can buy a Wii Classic controller for £15/$20. So why should you buy it when you can use a GameCube controller?

First off, playing SNES games with the GCN controller is awkward, back then, the "B" button became the new "A" button to jump, and the new "Y" button became the new "B". The thing is, Nintendo has been literal about what the buttons, so A on the GCN is A on the SNES pad, which mean if you're playing Super Mario World, you'll be spin jumping instead of normal jumping, plus have you ever tried pressing B and Y together on a GCN pad? It's quite awkward to pull off unless you're holding the controller in an odd way.

The Controller itself is very comfortable, think of it as a SNES pad, but a tad thicker. Just like the SNES pad, it features the Dpad, A, B, X and Y face buttons and the L and R buttons; however an additional Z buttons (ZL and ZR), two analogue sticks and a home button are available on the pad for N64 and Wii Home options. The L and R buttons are sprung just like the GCN pad's triggers, including the digital click. This could be used for original download games for the Wii. There's a button in between the ZL and ZR buttons that controls a sort of lock on the back of the pad; there are two slots that looks like something can be attached to the back of the Classic controller.

So, why should you buy a Wii Classic controller? Well it really depends on what games you're going to get, the GCN pad feels OK for all the other consoles (NES, N64, MD/Gen and TG-16), and it's just a pain for SNES games. I’d say buy it if you're going to get a lot of SNES games from the Wii Shop, if not, you might not really need it. Otherwise it's a very nice controller that guarantees to work on all VC games, although the GCN controller at the moment works on all VC games, Sega and Hudson have mentioned that the GCN may not work on up coming MegaDrive/Genesis and TurboGrafix-16 games.

Pros:

• Guarantees to work on all VC games.
• Comfortable.
• Button layout matches SNES pad.
• Wireless (connected to the Wii Remote).

Cons:

• Isn't necessary for other VC games (NES, N64, MD/Gen and TG16).
• The two sticks a little too close to each other.
• Requires a Wii remote to work.

So... That was my review and analysis of the Wii Classic controller in 2006. As I said above, Nintendo later on would release the Classic controller Pro that would be bigger and a lot more comfortable than the original classic controller. Shame it didn't come with rumble or made better for N64 games, but it was a good controller for virtual console, and Wii disc based games that used it. I'll review the Classic Controller Pro later on...

Review for DLC Quest on PC

It's not like you find a game that pokes fun of the games industry everyday of the week. And over the last 10 years or so, the gaming scene has changed a fair bit; micro-transactions, faux money, freemium gaming, etc... But if there's something that gamers get a little annoyed with is DLC, downloadable content. So what's better than making a game that pokes the idea of DLC! Well that's DLC Quest for you! Now before you put your knickers in a twist, and/or grunt in disgust, you only have to pay for this game once, the level of satire in this game is quite high, and a lot of it is very faux indeed...

The game's story, if you even call it a story, I mean come on how many times do we hear this? At least it happens in every Mario game right? lol! But the Princess, to whom you're going to wed get's kidnapped by "Bad Guy", no I'm not making this up. And it's you're role to save the Princess from Badguy. But there's a catch, you start off only being able to move left, you don't animate, can't jump and you can't pause. You you can do is move right, and that's it! Whilst moving to the right you collect a few coins until you come across a man that sells things to you. The game's DLC.

This is where you find that the DLC you buy in the game isn't actually real money, but the coins you collect in the game. In essence, the game is pretty much a Wonder Boy/Monster Land clone, where by the shops are made to look as if you're playing a game on the iPad or Android where to progress quicker you have to pay with real money. The game itself is simply a spoof about modern gaming whilst looking like a Wonder Boy game with an 8/16 bit graphical look.

Oh yes, there's horse armour in the game! But I'm not going to tell you what it does! heh!

This game was originally released on the XBox 360 Indie games section of the Live Arcade, and now it's released on Steam through their Green Light scheme. Which is always a good thing, I do appreciate Steam's love for independent games development. But how does a game that was made on the 360 work on a PC? Well, the game does have full controller support, but using the keyboard isn't bad either. After all there's only four keys that you use once you unlock everything. Left and Right is controlled with the cursor keys, whilst Jump uses the Z key, and attacking and talking uses the X key. In menu you might have to use the Up, Down and space key, but you hardly use those in gameplay; so the game is very keyboard friendly for such a console-centric game.

The only real downside to this game is it's difficulty and ease to beat. I was able to beat the game the first time in about 20 minutes, and I got the best ending in about 25 minutes. But then I have to remember that this game did cost me less than £2 and it's more of a games industry gag than a full blown game. But regardless of it's lack of difficulty, it's still a pretty good game with laughs on the way, especially if you're like me who keeps an eye on gaming news a lot. What good about the Steam Edition of the game is that it comes with it's sequel, DLC Quest: Freemium or Die, which I have yet to play yet, but it looks promising as it looks like it has a lot more to it than it's first game. What would have been nice is to add enemies in the game that can actually harm you, yup, there's no really enemies in the game apart from a huge troll that blocks your way and Badguy. You can unlock a zombie monster pack, but they don't really harm you, but you can mow them down with the gun you earn later in the game. It would've been nice if these zombies that you pay with in-game money would attack you; or maybe it's the developer trying to say that modern games are too easy.

So, should you get DLC Quest? If you're a gamer who's been playing games for a long time, yes. It jabs jokes into the rib cage of the modern gaming industry. It would've been nice if there was some actual challenge to the game, but then again it might be better to treat this game as if it's a piece of art to display how pathetic the modern day gaming scene is with it's downloadable content and micro-transactions. It's simply worth having just to remind us that gaming back in the day was a little better than what it is now.

Win a copy of XCOM: Enemy Unknown!

Yup, I received a free copy of XCOM Enemy Unknown on Steam to give away to my readers! But how do you win a copy of this fine strategy game? Here are the rules!

Hop over to Twitter and tweet...

"I read @GreatBitBlog because..."

Finish the tweet with a good reason and you might have a chance to win a copy of XCOM Enemy Unknown on Steam!

Rules...

• You must own a Steam account, if not, set one up over here...
• Before Tweeting, be sure that the game will work on your PC, if you're unsure, click here to check out the PC requirements before submitting.
• You can only tweet the phrase once.
• You cannot enter if you already own XCOM Enemy Unknown on your Steam account.
• Tweets must be sent before 11:59pm GMT on the 29th of March.

So, have fun guys! I hope to see what you can come up with! :D

Update time!

OK, Back from holiday to Turkey, and I need to write before I get too lazy. So let me give you guys an update on a few things about me and gaming...

Turkey

About the whole CRT and LCD monitor thing I mentioned about in the previous post. I did a little research and it turns out that LCD PC monitors are out there in Turkey, but they're fairly small. According to someone who I meet in Turkey, LCD monitors larger than 17 inches are rare to find in homes and offices because they're very expensive, so if you're Turkish, and you want a 21 inch screen, chances are you'll hunt down a CRT screen, which is quite impressive considering you can't find them anywhere in the western world any more. Maybe Turkey should make an industry for CRT monitors for MAME cabs and arcades!

Whilst I was there though, when I was in Antalya, one of the biggest cities in Turkey, I found a few of these "PlayStation Cafes". Think of it like a Cyber Cafe, or a PC Bang, but you replace the monitors and PCs with a few wall mounted TVs with PS3s attached to them. Sounds like a good idea, unless you go into a bad one. Like I did... The one I went into was hardly decorated, brick wall, concrete floor, a table for a cash desk, and those white plastic chairs you find EVERYWHERE! But what's worse it that you cant just "have a look" inside a PlayStation Cafe, you have to buy something. As I was watching some guys play Pro Evolution Soccer, I had this disgruntled clerk thrust a warm can of Pepsi in my face and told me that I had to pay for it, and I had to pay 7 Turkish Lira for it, which is about £2.75! Damn expensive! Rather than cause a problem, I purchased it anyway and left, Turkey is just one of those countries whereby some places you have to buy something when you enter a shop or cafe, it's just how they make money...

Me in my the British IBM shirt!

the British IBM

So yeah... the British IBM had a gig in Cambridge, and it was pretty good. Bit of a shame that the other bands were a bit naff, maybe they were trying to make the British IBM even more awesome. Plus there were a few laughs between tracks such as bar-codes and why I shouldn't win any more prizes. Plus I got to listen to their new track, so it was all awesome!

Steam Early Access

Here's a cool service, Steam has introduced something called "Early Access" where by you can play games before they get released. Think of it like playing a game's Beta. But unlike Beta testing where you're only playing about 60% or so of the game, you get to play the whole game, but you can put you're own input into the game's final development, such as how to make the game better, or point out any bugs in the game. Think of it like playing gold release games before they're technically gold.

Turkey and Gaming...

So, I'm on holiday at the moment using hotel WiFi. What's awesome is that hotel WiFi is free providing you show the clerks your key card. Sweet! Maybe the UK and US can learn from this. On my travels I've barely seen any gaming stuff, be it legit or pirated, but in one hotel I was in, there was a game room. It had two PCs on a LAN and a PS3 hooked up to a 21 inch HDTV. I didn't touch them as they didn't have anything that I would play; just Battle Field 2 on the PCs and some version of Pro Evo Soccer on the PS3. What cracked me up was the PC. They were on CRT screens. Now mind you, CRT screens are great for MAME but it was being used for a modern game. What was more interesting was seeing Turkish TV commercials whereby a PC was accompanied with a CRT screen. It looks as if as much as HDTVs are becoming popular over here in Turkey, it seems that LCD monitors aren't quite as popular.

I'll need to look into this and see why that's the case. Maybe LCD, monitors are expensive, maybe MAME is really popular over here. I'll see if I can do a little research and see why that's the case...

Sim City Blues...

Yeah... Some how I didn't read into this until today. But EA has been having issues with their Sim City servers...

Launching #SimCity is pretty sweet. Literally! Check out this cake from @charmcitycakesw sent by a generous fan. Aww! twitter.com/simcity/status…
— SimCity (@simcity) March 5, 2013

We’re making changes to prevent further issues, and are confident that Origin will be stable for international launches later this week.
— Origin (@OriginInsider) March 5, 2013

Due to the high demand for SimCity, Origin has experienced delays impacting a small percentage of users. We’re working non-stop to resolve.
— Origin (@OriginInsider) March 5, 2013

Some servers are seeing a lot of traffic. Good news: you can choose any of our servers to play on. If one is busy, hop on another to play.
— SimCity (@simcity) March 5, 2013

If your launcher is stuck checking for updates while selecting a #SimCity server, hit up this thread for a fix: bit.ly/XTLIkb
— SimCity (@simcity) March 7, 2013

We are working on the servers 24/7 - expect performance fluctuations. Our fans are our number one priority. Thank you for your patience.
— SimCity (@simcity) March 7, 2013

However... as much as EA appears to be trying to solve the problem, there are a lot of disgruntled American gamers wanting their money back.

@ea refusing refunds on simcity. develop-online.net/news/43465/EA-…
— Polytron (@Polytron) March 7, 2013

it's like some kind of corporate suicide/cry for help or something. it's fucking grisly.
— Polytron (@Polytron) March 7, 2013

it's like some kind of corporate suicide/cry for help or something. it's fucking grisly.
— Polytron (@Polytron) March 7, 2013

Holy crap. RT @matthewrex: Amazon has pulled the digital version of Sim City from their store until it’s fixed: amazon.com/Electronic-Art…
— Nicole Leffel (@devilherdue) March 7, 2013

So yeah, as much as I'm excited to play my copy of Sim City tonight at Midnight, I might be seeing a lot of server issues... Makes you wonder why they hyped up all this DRM, always online, social networking stuff when EA wasn't prepared for it. Kinda Sucks. You'd think that EA would be prepared for it, but maybe not...

Cross my fingers and hope that I'll get at least an hour of game time tonight!

Local Gaming Store Goodness

OK OK, I'm terrible at blogging at the moment, it's six days into a new month and I haven;t written anything new due to a certain Gun of Icarus Online game. And soon the new Sim City game will turn me into a chronic mouse potato. To be kind of honest, I've been a mouse potato for a long... time, heh! Anyway, today I went into town today and noticed a store with a Virtual Boy in the window!

I would have taken a picture of it, but I have a thing for not taking photos in shops, mainly because it annoys the crap out of my when people do it at my work; so I'm relying on Google for an image. There was an asking price on a tag that said "Higher than £100", and when I went to ask them if they wanted £110 for it, they replied that someone has asked £180 for it. The system comes with five games, Vertical Force, Red Alarm, Virtual Boy Wario Land, Panic Bomber and Mario Clash. Weirdly no Mario Tennis to be seen; but each game were fully boxed with it's manual, though it wasn't clear if it the console itself with boxed as it wasn't seen, and foolishly I didn't ask. The Nintendo Virtual Boy is a bit of a black sheep in the eyes of Nintendo and gamers, as it's Nintendo's least selling console. It was released in Japan and the US between the Super Nintendo and the Nintendo 64 due the N64's delays. It was simply released to keep Nintendo fans happy before they finally release the Nintendo 64 in 1996, but it suffered from low sales, and Nintendo lost a lot of money as some stock was returned to them. Due to this, the Nintendo Virtual Boy was not released in Europe and the UK, so to see one over here is a big deal, especially to someone like me who lived on Nintendo products as a kid. £180 might sound a little steep, but considering that the games are complete in box, it's not too bad, though I wish there was a Teleroboxer game including in that price.

Not only was there a Virtual Boy in this place, they even had one of these!

A Grandstand Scramble!

Again, due to my manners, based on working in a shop myself, I didn't take a picture of it, but they had a complete in box Grandstand Scramble that they were very nice to let me play, and dang! This thing looks like it was brand new, well, maybe not for the little bit of metal tape pealing of the corner of the bevel, but the unit itself was immaculate! I flicked the power switch and oh yes, it's VFD, Vacuum Fluorescent Display, meaning that this thing is bright, really bright! These things would last for generations and still display a strong bright display! Play this game, it's not quite the same as the Konami Arcade classic, but it's a descent attempt at it. simply put, you're a space ship moving right, and the screen slowly scrolls, as enemies appear from the right hand side of the screen and head towards you, you have to shot them before they shoot you, so you have to dodge their lasers, but just like the arcade game there are enemy bases you can take our by dropping bombs on them. The bombs aren't quite like the Scramble arcade game, rather than arcing forwards and then down, the bombs in this game just drop down from under your space ship. Bombing the bases give you points. I played this a little and I like it, despite the fact there's no mountains and terrain in the game. I asked them what they wanted. The shop keeper said he got it for £37 and wants profit for it, so £40 or £45 would be a good guess at what he wants for it. Which isn't a bad price considering that that RetroGames.co.uk want £40 for just the game on it's own; that and it's very scratched on the bottom of the game.

Before I end this blog, let me tell you a little bit about this store that I found these game. It's a shop called Cambridge Toys and Games. They used to be located in a not so great part of town, but now they've gone up in the world in now located in Burleigh Street, right near the Grafton Centre.

View Larger Map

They're a good business that doesn't focus too much on profit, and support the community. Providing second hand toys of very good quality at good prices. But they sell a lot of games too, mainly modern stuff, but as I mentioned above, they do sometimes hold some nice retro goodies too, so it's well worth having a look if you're in Cambridge!