Nintendo's hardcore problem (Muthafucka)

Last week, I hung out with the guys (and girls) from our little collective here for some post-school gaming fun. After a quick drumming in Street fighter 4, (on me by Dustin) and before another Halo 3 torture session (as I like to call them) we moved to House of the Dead: Overkill. After reading the write up about the game Dustin did a while ago and with many comments to the effects of "J., you've got to play this game." I said "sure."


And wow.......

While the settings of the game, a nod to corny B-Movie-type backdrops and laughable dialog, I have to say that I'm almost offended by the portrayal of one Detective Isaac Washington. Not to say that the game is racist, but very racially insensitive and stereotypical. I held my head in shame as Mr. Washington dropped the phrase "muthafucka" like it was 1989 and NWA's 'Straight out of Compton' just came out. While comical in it's attempt to recreate Sam Jackson's Muthafucka delivery, I speculated whether Nintendo could be turning a corner. And 'turning a corner' meaning making a U-turn in the middle of a highway. Here's what I thought out loud.......

"This is Nintendo's new deal. Fanboys bitch about there being no games geared towards the hardcore player on the system, here's the answer."

With this and Madworld, also a very violent, very not 'typical' Wii centered game, Nintendo is saying "Look! We are making hardcore games. Now get off our backs! We're counting money." But, with this possible answer the mounting fanbase that feels left out of the fun with more.....adult themed games, could Nintendo shoot themselves in the foot? The Wii appeal is that it's NOT like "video games." You can pick up and play without getting into a deep story. It's something that your mom can play. It's something that your kids can play with little objectionable content. Could the big N go too far in the other direction? I don't know. Moms and dads could pick this one up (And they will. After working in retail, I can tell you that parents do not read ratings on games), figuring that 'it has to be ok, it's for the Wii' and get a big surprise at the dinner table when little Johnny drops more F-bombs than 50 Cent.

I'll leave it at this: I feel like this could be a bad trend in gaming. With now two kind of high profile games playing with stereotypes to various degrees,if left unquestioned, this could get ugly. I'm not sure if I'm still offended by the game. It's themes and dialog are more eye rollingly bad then we really need to get Jessie Jackson involved. Jessie isn't working. He could use the work.

To end this, if you have no idea what I'm talking about, is House of the Dead: Overkill summed up in 4 minutes. I feel that this kind of says it all. NSFW for f'ing sure......


another random quote from me after playing: "Wow. We really need to do better. We've got a black president now......."


J.

Sega Gives Wii a Pair

We’ve all heard the story before: “Nintendo = TEH KIDDIE,” but Sega is stepping up and offering a couple of prospects for Wii that make this a much less viable claim by releasing House of the Dead Overkill last month and Madworld this month. It’s quite a one two punch, and gamers who check these offerings out are in for a treat.

House of the Dead Overkill

Sega has teamed up with Headstrong Games to give The House of the Dead series a much needed shot in the arm. Back in May, I was at a Dave & Buster’s with Maureen and my pal Mike, and we played House of the Dead 4 (or attempted to; it was a janky machine). There was some motion aspect of shaking the gun controller to the game, and I got excited that the game might come to Wii. What Wii owners gone is much better by a great margin: House of the Dead Overkill.

Overkill keeps the spirit of the HOTD series alive, but does it very differently; namely by framing the entire game in a “Grind House” style drive-in exploitation movie setting. There is lots of over-the-top violence and the most swearing in a video game ever--something Dustin has alluded to in his impressions of the game. But that doesn’t mean it’s a slouch in the gameplay. Far from it in fact; you’ve got to be quick on the draw to get several power ups and a careful shot to rack up massive combos, which in turn rack up points, which leads to cash to buy weapon power ups or new guns. Yes, it is the first HOTD with more than one weapon, and it’s a very welcome addition. The story is pretty engaging, albeit a bit silly, and there are even mini-games (how could it be a Wii game without them, amirite?) for 1-4 players.

If you were ever a fan of any of the HOTD games, you owe it to yourself to check out the latest and easily the greatest one, House of the Dead Overkill on Wii. It’s definitely not a kiddie game by any stretch of the imagination.

Mad world

Unbelievably, I have not picked up my copy of Mad World yet. Mainly because my tax refund check didn’t go quite as far as I hoped it would. However, I plan to pick the game up in the next couple weeks for sure. Therefore, I don’t know the ins and outs of the game, but I do know it’s an uber-violent brawler that is based on the evolution of reality TV shows becoming something called "Death Watch" where people tune in to watch people kill each other (a la the film Running Man). You take the role of a guy named Jack, a chain smoking, bike riding, doesn’t give a crap about anyone else, tough guy—and he will draw blood.

It seems that the main weapon of the game is a chain saw, though almost anything can be used for a weapon, from simple things like garbage cans to more ominous traps such as a giant aircraft engine conveniently parked near a battle area, to a passing subway, to a pit complete with a stomping spiked top to it.

One of the more interesting aspects of the game is that it is entirely in Black & White, a very interesting choice by Platinum Games, but one they came up with from the get go. It’s causing many to liken the game to Frank Miller’s Sin City franchise. The other awesome fact is that it’s being done by Platinum Games, who along with doing the promising looking Bayonetta, are also the remains of Clover games, who have done many great games including my beloved brawler God Hand.

Since I can’t give impressions, here’s a little look at the gameplay:

Call the Wii kiddie all you want, developers, especially Sega, are reaching out to mature audiences who have a Wii. There are other games like the new Tenchu game or the upcoming Dead Space semi-sequel coming in the Fall, or even the much hyped Conduit game. Right now, mature gamers have some quality choices on the Wii, and Sega’s offerings are definitely worth checking out.

Max

Suffer Like G Did? House Of The Dead: OVER-MOTHERFUCKIN-KILL!!!!

MOTHERFUCKER! This is a damned MOTHERFUCKIN fun ass game! I can't tell you the last time I had this much of a MOTHERFUCKIN blast killing zombies! "What did I tell you about using the 'Z' word?" Sorry, I meant MOTHERFUCKIN mutants! "What's with all the MOTHERFUCKER this and MOTHERFUCKIN that, Stein?" Oh, thats just a bad MOTHERFUCKIN habit I picked up from Detective Washington, the new guy in the HOD series with the wallet that says "BAD MOTHER FUCKER" on it. He's also the ironic MOTHERFUCKER that calls every MOTHERFUCKER he sees a MOTHERFUCKIN MOTHERFUCKER except for the MOTHERFUCKER who actually is a MOTHERFUCKER! Then we have Agent Gwendollynn who you may remember from every other HOD game out there as Agent G. Together, G-Wash and the Zombie Sauce go chasing around Papa Ceasar, with the ever so busty (you'll see what I mean when you get there) Varla Guns, to exact vengefull justice before they realize that Papa is not the MOTHERFUCKER that they need to be putting down in this grindflick inspired B-shooter.

Now I'll tell you this right now, if you are a fan of "quality" (and by quality, I mean cheesy) 70's era grindflicks and light gun shooters, then this is the game for you. The entire presentation of the game from the intro to the loading screens to the music and scratchy ass film grain filter make this campy game stand out in the crowd of light gun shooter on the Wii. And by the crowd of light gun shooters, I mean all 6 of them... and 3, technically speaking, is a crowd. At any rate, the game gives off the low budget drive in vibe the whole way through, missing reels, plot holes and all.

Despite the "by the hour" hotel vibe HOD:O gives off, the gameplay is top notch. There are plenty of options available to you once you've made your way through the 2 main modes, including one of the options that most gun games have skimped on up till now, Dual Wield mode. That's right, you finally don't have to play as 2 characters to mow MOTHERFUCKIN zombies down with both hands. Weild 2 of the same guns, or any other combo of guns you have unlocked through out your progression. Of course, obviously, since 2 guns are supported, 2 players can enjoy the fun. It's always better when someone on the same couch can play with you.

There are a few minor hiccups that you have to overlook, like an occasional smidge of slowdown here and there when the action gets too intense, but just remember that this is the Wii we're talking about here.

So I urge you people, if you've got a Wii, you like light gun shooters, and zombies, mutants, and MOTHERFUCKERs (as well as people that would fuck their mother) don't offend you too much, then get ready to eat yourself a tasty, tossed brain salad, MOTHERFUCKER!

Oh yeah, if you don't approve of the phrase "MOTHERFUCKER", you probably shouldn't have read this article... MOTHERFUCKER!