Nintendo Okie

2009 was a very interesting year, at least in my opinion for video games.  It was the year I jumped into the realm of video game coverage.  I started that journey with a brief stint at Nintendojo beginning in April before circumstances beyond my control pulled me away from gaming for a short period.  I decided to jump back into that realm in August with this site and have really enjoyed the experience up to this point.  We started small, and we’ve grown to now have a staff of 6, two podcasts and bigger dreams for the next year. 

The year in gaming for Nintendo started relatively slowly.  January didn’t see any high profile releases and it wasn’t until February and the release of House of the Dead: Overkill that the gaming year really got started for Nintendo.  That was a game that brought a new entry in the House of the Dead franchise to Wii and put the series over the top in terms of camp, violence and language.  It was a great game that I hope every at least played once.  On that same day Electronic Arts would release what would become the last game to come from their relationship with NASCAR.  That game would be NASCAR Kart Racing, a Mario Kart style game that featured a number of faces and products from the world of NASCAR racing. 

Mad World had the hopes of hardcore gamers everywhere placed on its shoulders this year and its release in March had many people saying that the hardcore market wasn’t something that could be captured on Nintendo.  I don’t think it’s fair to place the thoughts of a purely marketing driven demographic on one game, but that’s exactly what happened with Mad World.  Sales did not meet the expectations of many people and that hope shifted to another title that would be released 3 months later. 

The Game Developers Conference was held during the period of March 23^rd to March 27^th.   Nintendo held a press conference during the event where a number of things were announced.  The first was that a storage solution had been worked out for Wii, meaning you no longer had to “clean the fridge” in order to play a WiiWare or Virtual Console title on the system.  Games could now be downloaded to and played directly from High Capacity SD Cards up to 32GB in size.  While still not a perfect solution it did solve a number of the problems that many people had with storage on the system. 

The next installment in the Zelda franchise, The Legend of Zelda Spirit Tracks for DS was also announced during GDC.  There were few details revealed about the game at that time, but it raised the spirits, no pun intended, of many gamers and we know knew that another Zelda game was on its way. 

The last big announcement to come from the show was that a new DS system was on its way.  The Nintendo DSi would be officially announced then and it was also announced that the system would go on sale April 5^th, just about two weeks after the show.  The system would feature a slightly faster processor, two cameras and a new downloadable shop known as the DSi Shop.  Users would now be able to download original games and take them on the go, though no portable version of the Virtual Console was announced for the system and still has not been talked about by Nintendo other than to say it won’t be coming. 

My pick for one of the best games of the year hit stores in May and brought boxing back to its most simple elements.  Punch-Out!! made a return in a big way and brought the feel and fun of the classic franchise with it.  The over the top characters and simple, yet in depth game play was something that a lot of people were looking for this generation.  Newer gamers had the motion control options, but Punch-Out!! knew what franchise fans wanted and delivered in a big way.  The fights were familiar, but brand new at the same time and then threw another wrench in your plans when you had to defend your belt against those same fighters who had learned from their previous mistakes. 

The biggest gaming show of the year, E3, returned to the LA Convention Center this year during the first week of June.  The show was trying to get back to some of the flair of the past and Nintendo made quite a few announcements during the show.  The first and probably most unusual was the Vitality Sensor, a new peripheral that will connect to your finger to take your pulse.  There was no software, only some vague ideas of what they wanted to do.  There were also two different Mario games announced during the show.  The first would be a return to Mario’s roots with New Super Mario Bros. Wii, a new side scrolling adventure that would feature four players for the first time.  The second was a direct sequel to 2007’s Super Mario Galaxy, and this time Yoshi would play a part.  Probably the most surprising announcement during the show was Nintendo and Team Ninja’s collaboration on a new Metroid game, Metroid Other M.  We still don’t know a lot about the title, but it promises to be something interesting.

On the handheld front during the show Nintendo announced a new Golden Sun game for the DS and many games were playable, including IGN’s game of the show, Scribblenauts.  We were also able to get our hands on Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story and The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks.  

Nintendo’s new peripheral, the Wii Motion Plus, would hit store shelves the following week and would be bundled with a couple of different games meant to show off the technology.  These were both developed by EA; Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 and Grand Slam Tennis.  They both showed off exactly what Motion Plus could do and Tiger Woods benefited most from the technology.  The depth that this new motion controller allowed meant that the game was more realistic than ever and gave people hope that the Wii Remote add on would be worth their purchase. 

Later during the month of June the most high profile first person shooter to show up on the Wii since Medal of Honor Heroes 2 was released.  That game was The Conduit, a sci-fi shooter set in a near future Washington DC.  Many people were resting their hopes on this finally being the game that would show that shooters deserved a place in the Wii’s lineup.  The game was most notable for being completely customizable.  There wasn’t anything about the presentation that you couldn’t change.  It was marred by a mediocre storyline and a multiplayer component that was prone to crashing and was easily hacked by cheaters.  Despite that it was a good showcase for a shooter on the Wii, and I think there is still room for improvement in the genre on the platform.

Motion Plus made its debut in June, but hit its stride with the release of Nintendo’s first effort with the peripheral; Wii Sports Resort.  This sequel to the Wii’s launch pack in added 9 new games, brought back two favorites, added in game achievements and created a new character from the world you inhabited.  The simple games had layer upon layer stacked onto them and mixed up the action with a number of variations that created what would be one of the most fun and most talked about games of the year.  While Wii Sports might have been a tech demo to show you what the Wii could do, Wii Sports Resort was the showcase for all that Motion Plus could do and it was fun as well. 

Nintendo re-released a number of GameCube games during 2009 under the New Play Control banner.  This series of games brought back many gamers favorite franchises from the previous generation, and added a new wrinkle in the mix with a brand new control scheme tailor made for the Wii.  These games included Pikmin, Mario Power Tennis, Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, but probably most notable for not having that banner, but still belonging to the series, Metroid Prime Trilogy.  This new release packed all three games from the series onto one disc and added all the functionality of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption to the two original GameCube games.  The achievement system and control scheme were both added and the graphics were given a bit of polish to create what was essentially a brand new title. 

September saw three really big game releases from third parties from three very different areas of gaming.  The first, Muramasa: the Demon Blade brought beauty and simplicity to the side scrolling action game.  The levels of depth that were added to gorgeous hand drawn environments were something many thought weren’t possible on Wii.  The controls were simple, yet elegant, even if the game was too long for its own good.  The second saw the Beatles reimagined in The Beatles: Rock Band.  The game even came packed in with replicas of the group’s actual instruments.  It didn’t bring a lot new to the Rock Band franchise, but saw the world’s greatest band brought back to life and introduced to a generation who might not have known them.  Lastly we have Dead Space: Extraction.  This guided first person experience raised the bar for rail shooters on the system that was becoming known for them.  It was able to take the visual prowess of the HD version of the game to Nintendo and made for an experience, that was fun, while still frightening. 

October is probably best known for Halloween, but Nintendo wanted to make sure you were able to shed those added candy pounds with the release of Wii Fit Plus.  This new game added a few welcome features to the original Wii hit with the ability to string exercises together to create a workout play list as well as a bunch of new balance games. 

November is always the biggest month of the year for game releases.  This year was no exception.  November saw the release of a large number of high profile games, Lego Rock Band, Tony Hawk: Ride, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare – Reflex Edition and most notably New Super Mario Bros. Wii.  After first getting hands on with the title back at E3 gamers were chomping to have a go with three friends in this new entry into the Mario franchise.  The action was frantic, fast paced and totally insane.  Everyone will tell you the game is a totally different experience when played with friends compared to solo.  While many disapproved of the graphical style of the game it is considered one of the best Mario games to come along in a long time. 

While there were a lot of highs during the year, 2009 will also be known as the year of the layoff.  The last half of the year saw layoffs at just about every studio there is.  Here are just a few that saw big hits in their workforce this year; Electronic Arts, Activision, Ubisoft, Maxis, Midway, Eidos, Square Enix, Nokia, Sony, Transmission Games, Slipgate Ironworks, LucasArts, and Harmonix.  There’s no denying the economy was not good to anyone this year, and the game’s industry, once thought recession proof, proved that even it is not invulnerable. 

So there you go.  There’s a bit of a look back at some of the biggest events of 2009.  2010 is proving to be a very good year as well.  We know Super Mario Galaxy 2 will probably see release, but there’s also a possibility of the new Metroid, and maybe even a new Zelda game.  Stay tuned to the site next week to see what we think might be coming to your living rooms in the next year, and join us back here again this time in one year to see what 2010 had in store for us.