New Play Control Wii Releases: How Are the Reviews?

I've always found it mind-blowing that gamers would be quick to criticize companies such as EA (who would release gluts of annual games such as Madden and Need for Speed ad naseum) for milking game series for all they're worth yet they'd be the same people first in line to purchase the newest incarnation of the DS from Nintendo or an updated version of a Metal Gear Solid release (such as the Essentials collection or the Substance upgrades) from Konami.

I'd say that the recently released New Play Control series re-confirms that Nintendo rehashes their releases more than any other company. For those who are unfamiliar with the Wii re-releases of Pikmin and Mario Power Tennis, these are the same exact titles that appeared on the Gamecube years ago except with new inferior cover art, higher prices, slightly upgraded visuals for Mario Power Tennis and motion controls. That's it.

New Play Control! Pikmin has garnered a 77% average thus far, and despite its mostly favorable reviews UGO makes a great point about this soulless rehash:

"New Play Control! Pikmin exemplifies Nintendo’s “most profit from least effort” strategy. Like the no frills Virtual Console emulations to the last-gen Wii hardware, this game’s a money grab barely disguised by a low price tag and abandoned potential. Why isn’t Pikmin 2 on the same disc? Why isn’t their bonus content to warrant a re-purchase? Why are we paying $30 for a modified launch title for a dead console? ".

According to IGN, Mario Power Tennis' controls have actually been downgraded on its way over to the Wii. When commenting on its game play, IGN has said this:

"What was once a great game has been pruned and morphed into lots of waggle, unreliable motion control, and a game with very little control over ball placement."

So far, New Play Control! Mario Power Tennis has received a mediocre 65% average from Game Rankings.

Overall, although these games will probably see much success due to the casual market, I'm hoping they flop at retail in order to prevent such worthless cash-ins in the future.

And the Award for Most Rehashed and Least Improved Game Goes To...

What gaming series has been beat to death more than any other? Could it be the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, where the quality of the games have been on the decline for years now? Nah. While it's true that Sega's once mighty blue mascot has seen better days, the Sonic games are generally different enough not to be considered mere rehashes. How about Mario? Well, most of the plumber's adventures are quite good.

So what could it be then? Well, none other than Koei's Dynasty Warriors series. Since its original release this mediocre and highly-repetitive action series has seen a staggering 32 releases (if you count the offshoots like Samurai Warriors and such, which share the same exact game play as the Dynasty Warriors titles. The Dynasty Tactics releases were not included because the game play is unique from the action versions). That comes out to nearly four new Dynasty Warriors games released per year with little innovation (if any) from title to title.

However, someone must be eating these titles up. Despite the Warriors series typically being a one-trick pony, the releases of these games seem to have no end in sight. Koei already has Dynasty Warriors 7 and Dynasty Warriors Gundam 2 in the works, as well as a few other titles for the series. However, it seems like Koei has built up a cult audience. While the Warriors games aren't in the same league as something like Grand Theft Auto in terms of sales, I'm sure each new release sells a decent enough amount to churn a profit for Koei. And I hear that these games are quite popular in Japan... so much for Western gamers being stereotyped as the only ones with poor taste in games...

Activision Drives the Guitar Hero Franchise Even Further Into the Ground

Although I was never a huge fan of the series, I once thought that the Guitar Hero games were decent rhythm titles that provided a good amount of fun. However, with Activision releasing countless spin-offs with negligible improvements and song lists that decline in quality with each new edition I quickly lost interest in the Guitar Hero games.

It looks like Activision is going to milk the series even further in 2009. Although we're all aware that they're going to be releasing Guitar Hero Metallica for consoles this upcoming spring, it looks as if they have their third DS title already planned for release next year as well. The ESRB has confirmed the existence of Guitar Hero: Modern Hits for the Nintendo DS for a 2009 release. This will mark the third time Nintendo's ultra popular portable has seen a Guitar Hero title in less than a year.

After playing the mediocre Guitar Hero: World Tour on the 360 and deciding that the series has lost its appeal I can't say that I'm excited for another title in this series, especially a dumbed-down portable off-shoot. In the end, though, I really can't blame Activision for rehashing the same one-trick pony ad naseum. The sales are certainly there, and the public seems to be eating these sequels up. However, this is a series I see heading down the same route as Tony Hawk (another Activision property that was milked beyond belief) where the franchise is eventually run so far into the ground that the public will eventually lose interest.

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