I haven’t personally had any time with Skate It for the Wii, but it looks like some negative opinions are already starting to fly concerning the controls. I was wondering how well the balance board could possibly work with a skating game and so far, most opinions out of PAX have been on the negative side. While I enjoy the various Wii peripherals on some games, I’d rather just have a standard controller for others. Here’s what Ben Kuchera had to say about Skate It:
Skate It seems to use the Wiimote and balance board because it can, and during the demo I kept thinking to myself that I’d rather be playing with a standard controller. I think these concepts have value, Shaun White Snowboarding looks and plays great so far, but Skate It just doesn’t pull the execution off well enough to justify the balance board’s use.
The NCAA Football franchise never sells the way Madden does, but it’s still a huge series. I have always been partial to the little brother of Madden considering my love for college football. We expected big things with the 2009 installment, but it seems there’s really not a lot to write home about. Online Dynasty mode was surely welcomed and the ability to share custom roster files was a nice bonus. Other than that, the game really doesn’t offer many improvements over NCAA 08. There are a few minor changes to the game that I’ll try to break down below.
Gameplay
Gameplay hasn’t changed a lot, but the offensive game is definitely more wide-open than ever. This is great if you love offense and a step backward if you are a defensively minded player. An unfortunate addition to the game is the ability of the home team to “ice” kickers. This ability works entirely too well and really dilutes the realism of the game. I suggest turning this option off in any game you play. Another problem I noticed with the game is the fact that the AI simply does not work well at all, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. AI controlled players will run the wrong direction and frequently miss easy tackles. While the game certainly is slightly better than 08 in most areas, I expected more. If you currently have NCAA 08, you may want to simply wait until NCAA 10 hits shelves to upgrade.
People have been saying that the value of a college education has been declining for years. I’m finally starting to believe it. Currently, I’m searching for a new career to help make ends meet. I make a little money writing about video games, but it’s not enough anymore. During my job hunting experiences over the past few months, I have realized that my degrees don’t mean a whole lot. I’m still competing with people who have no degree at all for entry level positions. While the value is decreasing, I still feel like having degrees is an important thing. There are still quite a few jobs out there that require them. It’s just a sad fact that a degree isn’t worth what it once was…
When we first asked you “Will Saints Row 2 Be Better than GTAIV?” we were not surprised to see a split decision. Now, two months after GTAIV has been out, we wonder… Which game will have a longer replay value? After reading some reviews on GTA IV a lot of people have ejected the disc.
What’s in your PS3 or X360 this weekend?
I do believe Saints Row 2 will do well in sales. Since GTA was an exclusive title for the Playstation and GTAIV did well for the X360, I see the same happening with Saints Row 2.
Some of you may have noticed a lot of changes going on with the site lately. Hopefully, you like all the changes you see, because there are many more to come in the future. The latest piece of news is that we have teamed up with R3Match.com to advance the value of both sites. If you are interested in tournaments and ladders, R3 is definitely a place you need to check out.
Many of our logos and graphics on Kezins are being designed by R3Match’s founder, Jason.
GoNintendo recently posted an ‘Emergency Heroes’ gameplay video that runs approximately 15 minutes. If you enjoy really stupid games that are still kind of fun, this is one worth looking into. I spent a day playing it myself. I can’t say the value lasts much longer than a day, because the game really wears on your nerves after a while, but it’s still one of those games that’s fun to play when there’s nothing else to do.
We have been using games as teaching tools for many years, but I believe that we are just starting to realize the educational value of mainstream games such as Second Life. Montclair State University recently held their Learning 2.0 Conference and an interesting presentation that came out of the event was one titled ‘Second Life as a Pedagogical Tool’. Montclair State is New Jersey’s second largest university. If you are interested in learning more about Half Life and the teaching value it presents, the following slide show is something worth looking at:
Recent Comments