A few more from the IOCT

So, in preparation for tomorrow's open day, I had a run through a few of the games the IOCT has for its other consoles.

Wii:
Super Mario Galaxy: So, other than a bit of Super Mario 64 back in he day, this is the first proper Mario game I've ever played (honestly, I was always more of a Sonic fan). I've gotta say this is one of the most fun games I've ever played. The controls feel really natural and it's a lot more comfortable than holding a standard controller. The concept of the game is great too. It really does interesting things with the concept of a platform game in a 3D environment. The changes in direction/orientation can get confusing at times, but it's still fun. Definitely a game that makes me wish I owned a Wii.

Xbox 360:

Ridge Racer 6: This game is horrible. While I'm not so great at racing games, I still usually find them enjoyable. This one isn't. The cars feel annoyingly slow. My car was apparently doing over 100mph, but it mostly felt more like I was doing 30. The handling is bad too. The slightest nudge of the analogue stick would just send my car into a skid. The music was horribly annoying and repetitive as well, with no way to change what was playing. All this annoyed me so much, I couldn't even be bothered to finish one race.

Perfect Dark Zero: As I've said before, I'm not a big fan of FPS games and this is no exception. My main gripe is the way the movement/camera controls work on a console. Somehow I always end up having no idea what I'm looking at or what direction I should be going in, etc. I much prefer a third-person view, as it means that when I need to be close to something, I don't have my view completely obscured. Other than my standard gripes about FPS games, it was quite a good game. The visuals on the 360 were great and the storyline was interesting. If it had been more of Tomb Raider style third-person game, I probably would've really enjoyed it.

17/04/08 - 24/04/08

So, I don't have as many new games to play recently, so these posts are gonna be somewhat irregular. Anyway, here goes:

Games I've been playing this week:

Mario Kart Wii: This is the first Mario Kart title I've properly played. Others, I've done about one race and then given up. Since I've been playing Burnout, I've got much better at racing games, so I gave this one much more of a go. However, my skills at Burnout don't quite translate to Mario Kart. Using the Wii remote in the wheel accessory is very different from using an analogue joystick on a PS2. There's no real limit to how far you can turn the wheel, so it can be hard to judge how much to turn it when taking a corner. Despite this, it's a highly enjoyable game. The nature of the game of course makes it fun, but, as with most Wii games, it's the physicality of playing that really makes it. Also, the vast selection of tracks, covering every Mario Kart game, means you can have an extended session, over a variety of tracks, without it getting repetitive.