Trace Memory - Will It Ever Make Its Way Back to North America?

Trace Memory, originally released for the Nintendo DS in North America in 2005, felt like a breath of fresh air in a gaming market that feels a bit stale at times. A puzzle-heavy adventure title, it went on to become more successful overseas than over on this side of the pond. Sure, it was pretty much devoid of any action or violence, but Trace Memory was still a beautiful, unique adventure title marred only by its unfortunate brief length (seasoned gamers could finsh it in well under 10 hours, though I do get the urge to play it again from time to time).

Known as Another Code in Japan, 'Another Code: R' has already made its way over to Japan and Europe. Continuing the story of the first title on the DS, foreign genre fans and those who have imported this sequel have been eating it up so far (even if Japanese gaming magazine giant Famitsu did score it an underwhelming 28/40, fan reception has been significantly better).

So, the question facing us is... will Trace Memory ever make its way back to the U.S.? I'm certainly hoping so! While a North American release has not been announced yet (and this dry summer season would have been the absolute perfect time for a title like this), I'm hoping that Nintendo will take a risk and give the U.S. market another chance at this original series. After all, I'm sure hardcore gamers who own a Wii would prefer a Trace Memory sequel over derirative New Play Control re-releases and the glut of shovelware plaguing the console, right?

Wii: What to Waggle From the Summer 'Till the End of '09

Did I truly purchase a Wii solely to play first-party titles? Not necessarily - I'll try anything that plays well, regardless of the company producing it. But just like the N64 and the GC before it, I'm having a perplexing time finding any third-party Wii games that grab my interest. My Wii library is proof of this - of the 8 Wii games I currently own, all are Nintendo published titles. I may have picked up a third-party release here or there, but ending up selling them off because they played like absolute rubbish (gimmicky, pitiful software like Elebits comes immediately to mind). And with Nintendo focusing more on their casual fans than their hardcore base, I'm thinking my Wii will collect far more dust than my otherwise daily-used Xbox 360.

For the rest of 2009, however, there are some titles being released that probably won't make my Wii completely lonely. Punch-Out!! (pictured above) may not be an immediate, $50 purchase, but it looks to be a blast from the past that may very well make its way into my library once the price takes a bit of a dip. Hopefully its old-school style gameplay will still hold up in our modern era, but according to recent feedback from gamers and critics it plays surprisingly well.

I also sold off my copies of Metroid Prime 1 and 3 this week after the announcement of Metroid Prime Trilogy from Nintendo. This disc, coming in August, will pack in all three of the console Metroid Prime titles on one disc for 50 bones. Although it may seem a bit premature to be re-releasing these games, they are indeed excellent, unique titles that are worth a second play through. The fact that I never played 2004's Metroid Prime 2 further sweetens an already tasty deal.

It sure is slim pickings from the big N other than those two major first-party properties, though. On the third-party front Samurai Showdown Anthlogy, another solid-looking compilation, should provide 2D-era fun. Muramasa and Sin & Punishment 2 are two hardcore titles that definitely look to be worth a play. I'm finding myself less enthusiastic about hyped up first-person shooter titles such as The Conduit, though. While this may sell well on Nintendo's platform (due to the dearth of titles in this genre), it looks completely lackluster compared to FPS's on the two more powerful current-gen consoles.After all, Modern Warfare 2 on the 360 will leave no room for generic FPS's such as this.


So while this looks to be a decent Wii lineup for the summer to the end of 2009 from Nintendo and various third-party companies, I'm not completely stoked about playing a single one of these titles. Compared to heavy-hitters such as Bioshock 2, Modern Warfare 2, Splinter Cell: Conviction and Dead Rising 2 on the Xbox 360, this Wii lineup falls incredibly short.

A Lesson on How NOT To Revive an Old Game Series

Although the "Ready 2 Rumble" boxing series was never my cup of tea, none of the past series entries have received the type of scathing backlash that the latest Wii release (titled 'Revolution') has.

A series previously owned by Midway (who sold the license for their boxing franchise off after having troubling financial issues) and now the property of Atari, Ready 2 Rumble Boxing Revolution was supposed to be a casual-friendly revival for this once moderately popular series. The Ready 2 Rumble name has been out of the loop for nearly eight years, after all (its last appearance being the early GameBoy Advance rendition of Round 2 in Spring 2001), so what better time for a Renaissance-style resurrection than now?

Unfortunately, Ready 2 Rumble Revolution looks as if its not the type of comeback that fans have been looking for. Like a harrowed sports legend past his prime and only dirtying his memory by making a pitiful reappearance, Revolution has received horrendously bad reviews thus far. Game Informer went as far to give it their lowest score possible (an appalling 1 out of 10, something that hasn't been given out to a single title in their publication for ages). Gamespot gave it a slightly higher (but still pitiful) 3.5 out of 10, noting that Revolution had an excellent amount of potential but that the atrocious controls and lame, stereotypical characters ruin the entire game.

From the poor recreation of boxing on Nintendo's original Wii Sports pack-in to Ready 2 Rumble Revolution (as well as the glut of shovel ware boxing titles found on the system in-between those two releases), no developer has gotten this sports genre correct on the Wii yet. This is a shame, as the Wii's unique controls could very well make for an engaging boxing experience if done right. Oh well.... maybe EA could release one of their acclaimed Fight Night titles on Nintendo's system in the future, provided it's not one of their dumbed-down "All Play" versions.

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Wii Music Flops During First Month at Retail

Instead of providing Wii owners with an actual music game (ala Dance Dance Revolution or Guitar Hero) or an interesting music tool (like their very own Electroplankton), Nintendo decided to release Wii Music, a music game that features such exciting (and by exciting, I mean “not exciting at all”) tracks like “Yankee Doodle” and a laughable presentation (your little brother would blush if you forced him to play this in front of his friends).

Not only is Wii Music getting panned in terms of reviews, but it’s also been sales flop thus far. While Nintendo probably expected this title to appeal to the same casual audience that eats up titles like Wii Sports, Wii Play, and Wii Fit, their music creation title has sold less than 66,000 copies during its first month of release.

The hardcore following and absurdly high eBay prices of Electroplankton have proved that the hardcore will notice a brand new type of music title if the game itself is actually, y’know, good. That title also had no real goal and was more of a tool than a traditional game, but due to its exciting graphical style and unique presentation it gained a cult following. Also, the immense success of the Guitar Hero and Rock Band franchises showed that the core gamers and the mainstream alike will eat up a music-based release if the game play itself is satisfying – and those games didn’t need to become dumbed down in order to appeal to a wider audience. Nintendo seemed to be banking on that with Wii Music.

Although the rhythm genre didn’t require a more streamlined approach for a large audience, Nintendo seemed to think it did. If sales for Wii Music wane (shops are packed with it, and it’s not flying off store shelves like Mario Kart Wii and other mainstream-friendly titles were), maybe Nintendo will re-think their approach to their next casual release.

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Exploring the Underwater Digital Ocean

When it comes to game genres, underwater exploration games are near the bottom of the popularity chain… in fact, it wasn’t until Nintendo’s Endless Ocean has the genre had any sort of mainstream appreciation at all. Here’s some history to the obscure genre, and a little bit about the three main games of this type released in the Western market.

Aquanaut's Holiday (PSX)

Chances are, you’ve never heard of this game. Like Tail of the Sun, also published by Sony, this is one of those titles that basically appealed to no one. However, years later it is interesting to look back on Aquanaut’s Holiday just because of how unique it is. Released in 1996 during the original Playstation’s early life, this game starred a marine explorer who explored an underwater ocean. In this title you also had to attract fish to achieve your goal of filling up your fish meter. Although the graphics are rather archaic now, it is one of those intriguing niche titles that looks to be worth tracking down simply because there’s not much else out there like it.

Everblue 2 (PS2)
Capcom really gave this title no chance of survival in the U.S. Combine absolutely no advertising with a micro-sized print run, and you have a title that was destined for commercial failure from the start. A sequel to Everblue, a game exclusive to Europe and Japan, Everblue 2 had you exploring the Caribbean as – you guessed it – a scuba diver. There was more of a plot here than Aquanaut’s Holiday, but the game play, similarly, had you searching around for items and interesting sights beneath the ocean. I am still trying to track down a copy of Everblue 2, but I have yet to find one in any game store I’ve visited, near or far.

Endless Ocean (Wii)
Nintendo’s Endless Ocean was the first title in this genre to appeal to a mass market audience. Developed by Arika, the very same company responsible for the creation of Everblue 2, Endless Ocean had a larger budget, more advertising, and way more critical acclaim than the two titles previously mentioned. A relaxing and gorgeous experience, Endless Ocean appears to be a solid title for those who are sick of online FPS death matches.