This has been on my mind for a long time, and I believe now is as good as time as ever to talk to you about the Wii’s Friend code system. This prison cell number has been plaguing gamers on the Wii since it’s launch a couple of years back. There is absolutely no excuse for making gamers enter not only one 16 digit number to share messages with friends, but also a separate number for each and every other game that supports online multiplayer with friends.

Here is my main beef with this whole system. The Xbox 360 and PS3 both have a simple gamertag system that only requires you to enter one name in order to share messages, and to play games online with friends. This is a simple and effective way of organizing chaos into one simple idea that will benefit everyone who uses the specific consoles online services. Nintendo decided to go the other route and make a complete mess out of everything by making you enter a different code for each game that you want to play with your friends, as well as make you enter a different code to share messages from console to console.

I just want to know one thing Nintendo, why did you decide to go this route, what gave you the idea that we wanted a challenge just to play games, and to share messages with other people? I know that parents are monitoring everything that is going on with their kids these days, and the Wii is supposed to be a family friendly console and all that, which means you have to cater to all types of gamers, but the Wii already has a parental control system built into it.



You can simply enter a specific code that allows only the owner of the console to access certain features of it, so why do you need another set of numbers for each game that your child plays, so you can anal retentively watch their every move, that’s just a crock of crap if you ask me. It would actually be easier to have one list of friends that you know your child plays games with, that way you know that your child only plays games with these people. Instead of saying, “Oh thats one of my friends from Brawl, Smash Up, and Mariokart”, your kid can simply say “Oh that’s so and so, he or she likes the same games I do, so I decided to add them to my friends list”, but I digress.

And another thing, for us gamers out there who like to associate with other gamers, why can’t we simply just have the name of our Mii characters appear in the place of our Wii Number. I never heard someone having a conversation with somebody else online going “Hey xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx I just got this new game, you want to play it with me” and have them respond by saying “sure xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx, I would like to play that game with you”. No one on this earth associates with someone else by using a 16 digit number to call out their name, it’s simply ridiculous. You can still have the friend code (just one) and just add the option of adding your Mii characters name as a nickname or something, that way it would sound like you are talking to a human being, instead of a convicted felon in prison.

There is hope for the future though, and that is due to the fact that some games(preferably EA Sports ones) have created an online system that has combined both friends from your Wii, and friends that you have met from playing games with into one cohesive list, making it easier to play a game with them, send them a message, etc. If only Nintendo themselves caught on to this idea, and implemented this into the Wii to begin with, then maybe this problem would not exist at all. One can only hope that they do keep this in mind while designing the Wii 2, but like I said before, i hope they do, but more than likely, we will be dealing with this problem for years to come.



Either way, the friend code system sucks, and something needs to be done about it.

That is the end of my rant, if you have anything to add, leave a comment, or send me an email at mrb4@rejectedgamer.com.

New concept art for Interplay’s upcoming Fallout MMO codenamed Project V13. Snow in the Fallout universe seems kind of strange to me, but exciting either way. This is however only concept art so no idea if it will really end up in the game. I really hope Interplay wins their lawsuit against Bethesda so they [...]

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See you in 2010!

This is not your bar buddies fantasy football.

Developer – Cyanide
Publisher – Focus Home Interactive
Platforms – Xbox 360
Releases – Jan 2010

Originally a 1987 board game, Cyanide’s 2010 release of Blood Bowl on Xbox 360 is just what the fans want. And anyone who has never heard of Blood Bowl now gets a chance to play this tactics based football hybrid.

Two teams, one ball. Get the ball into the end zone for a touchdown. Team with the most TDs wins. But unlike American-football, Blood Bowl doesn’t play by downs. More like rugby, once the balls snapped it’s on. And unlike any sport, anything goes. From battle axes to the back to bribing refs, and everything in between, Blood Bowl can’t help but make me a bit excited. If not for the fact that a hybrid of its kind is non-existent in this generation, using elven archers instead of a 3-4 defense just seems more fun.

Expect scrimmage, season, and dynasty modes, as well as a campaign mode which allows you to manage every aspect of your Blood Bowl team both online and off.

Only time will tell how well balanced the strategy end of gameplay will hold up, as well as its net-code and online play. 2010 is right around the corner though – so it won’t belong before you get a review.

Till then peep out these screens and visit http://www.bloodbowl-game.com for more info on Blood Bowl.

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Bayonetta is a new intellectual property that rises from the creator of the Devil May Cry series, and as a result Bayonetta is even more insane and epic with its gameplay set-pieces to the genre its in, but sadly the game also suffers from the same problems that are known in the genre.

Presentation:

Interesting cut-scenes in form of a rolling  film, comic book  esque types and also traditional style of cut-scenes have different effect but also shows different side of the story, the rolling film parts gives you the flashbacks and the amnesia state that Bayonetta is in, the comic books type gives you the more current story and the regular style is to keep everything at flow with the gameplay and it gives something unique to the entire game, sadly the characters, script and story is not interesting by any means, terrible accents and stereotypical characters with over-the-top moments  but its  just not good of a story, and when the main character don’t have any real character, its hard to get attached to the narrative.

Visuals:

A highly sexual protagonist with almost nothing interesting visually to sell.

Special moves and attacks that are being created from Bayonetta’s hair can be a nice change and add something to the concept of the main character and perhaps even the narrative, but its just visually cool not more than that. Environments looks pretty varied and detailed, weapons looks fantastic, enemies looks good and fitting and the gore is just in the right amount.

Sound:

Horrible and stereotypical voice overs, terrible and repetitive music but the weapons sounds great, especially the ones you unlock later on in the game.

Gameplay:

As a 3rd person action hack’n’slash game, the game works good, the known open world linear structure from the Devil May Cry series is back, and its great, the known factor of being stuck in one area until you kill the number of enemies the game is throwing at you work, the game also have small parts for exploration to find extra halo’s (the currency in the game) or to find extra LP’s to unlock extra weapons at the store that is available in the game, which adds something to the narrative, unlike DMC, the game have small yet noticeable transition to the narrative in the shop, that adds alot, even if the narrative is not that appealing or interesting.

Using the Evade button will give you the opportunity  to use slow-motion in the game called “Witch Time”, which allows you to tackle enemies faster and cause big damage to bigger enemies that you will encounter, the problem with the ability is that the game after a certain chapter, forces you to evade and counter to attack the enemy at all, and it breaks the crazy and generally flowing game, the second problem with the ability, is that the mechanics and the detection to use the slow-motion is not perfect, the games takes perfect timing to counter, in a normal game it wouldn’t be a problem to just adapt to it, but in the genre of hack’n’slash, where the camera can be an issue, its unbearable, especially with some of the weird environments design to some of the levels.

On top of the evade mechanics, holding B or Y will result shooting with pistols on your legs or special position with your hands(B for legs Y for hands), there are some camera issues with rotating the left analog and shooting with the B button mechanics, but it works ok with the Y.

One of the problems with the game is the boring regular enemies, while the bosses are  pretty good and epic, also having enemies dropping their  weapons and picking them up adds another layer of depth and fun to experiment and try different types.

Torture rack attacks can be activated once filling a special meter, with killing a set number or enemies or doing long combos and you’ll have a small sequence of pressing usually one button to get more points and have something crazy to see visually with the kill.

 Air and “hair” combos all work pretty decent, but  some of the animations cutting\transition have some  problems (exp, pressing Y Y Y and  B as one stretch can be an upset).

Walking on walls work decent,  but it feels contrived with specific  missions, areas or challenges, also the small puzzles when you’re needed to use slow-motion to pass a certain part in timed place.

*The  game is easy if you get the mechanics but if you are new to the genre it wont be as easy as you think, part of the challenge appear  when the game have at least 5 enemies or more, and its  not working that well especially as mentioned where you have to counter each enemy and use the Witch Time. Big bosses encounters can be tough but only if you are not recognizing the patterns.

Pros and Cons:

Pros:

Crazy and epic boss battles that really get you in the game.

Great weapons and combos, even if its not the smoothest transition sometimes.

Great variety with the different unlock-able weapons (each weapon that you unlock\discover in the story will have a different vibe to the fighting, whether its the gameplay or visually).

Cons:

Unappealing and just horrible characters with a really dull story.

Loading times take you out of the immediate immersion. 

Locked difficulties is a bad choice, especially for the fans of the series\genre that would like to start on harder difficulties.

Some of the mechanics don’t work perfectly, but if the fast adaption is there, it will be less of a problem.

Some of the mission design is really bad, they are not fun or interesting, frustrating is the best way to describe them.

Camera issues are known to this genre, and it is still there as a problem, but knocking the entire game on that problem is not a fair thing to do, but mentioning them is fair.

Conclusion:

Bayonetta is a great game for the genre, it adds a lot of depth that was needed, and it also ups the ante with the craziness of the enemies and bosses, sadly it also doesn’t change the core problems with the genre, and specifically the Devil May Cry series, this is really a game for the lovers of the genre, if you have any interest in the characters or the premise, you might like it because visually everything is blowing up, dying or your just having alot to see, but the problems are the known problems in the genre, if you never played a game like Devil May Cry but you are interested in Bayonettas character, be aware that the game is not easy to adapt, especially in the later levels.

Scoring:

Presentation:

7 Its high just because the actual design and style works and looks great, sadly everything else is terrible.

Visuals:

8.0 The game looks good overall, there is alot going on screen with no frame problems (played on the xbox 360 version, it seems that  the PS3 version suffers from technical issues and frame drops), weapons and enemies looks great.

Sound:

5  Terrible accents and voice overs, and even though  the weapons sounds great, its just not enough.

Gameplay:

7.2  The core gameplay and new mechanics can work but not always, the crazy combo system is easy and works well overall, the game is fun when you have a flow, but the game have flaws that stop the flow every once in a while, that takes you out of the immersion of the game, also some of the mission design can be frustrating.

Replay Value:

6  The game can take you around 10 hours or more, depending on skill and adaption level, any sense or need for exploration and if there is any interest to get the best scoring for performance, online  leader boards are an interesting choice to have.

Final Score:

7.2  Bayonetta is a good effort to give something new and unique to the genre, especially when its coming from the maker of DMC, but sadly its not all there, some of the mechanics are a big problem, and even though the camera issues are notorious for the genre, some moments will really frustrate you because of it.

Atlus is extending the Holidays with the “Twelve Days of Atlus,” a promotion giving members of the Atlus Faithful a chance to win special prizes as thanks for their continued participation and support. The holiday giveaway will kick off the New Year on January 4, 2010 and last for twelve glorious days, until January 15, [...]

Rock Band will be getting a three pack of songs from Paul McCartney’s new live album, a three pack of songs from Blink-182 and singles from The Psychedelic Furs and The Ramones will be added next week to the Rock Band Music Store. Available on Xbox 360 and Wii (Jan. 5) and PlayStation3 system (Jan. 7): · [...]

The Return to Ostagar DLC for Dragon Age: Origins will be released on January 5th in North America and Europe for the Xbox 360 and PC for 400 BioWare Points or Microsoft Points. The DLC will be available for the PlayStation 3 later in January. Return to Ostagar allows players to exact their revenge and [...]

Back again for the final RQR of 2009. We talk about the games we’ve been playing, talk about Hell Week, and have a disscussion on online games as well as have our predictions for 2010. Alan was working so we had Jesus jump in for him. As always, you can catch us live every Monday, Friday, and Saturday right here: www.justin.tv/frustratedfury

A longer show this week, divided into 4 parts, hope you enjoy!

Watch live video from Rage Quit Radio on Justin.tv

Watch live video from Rage Quit Radio on Justin.tv

Watch live video from Rage Quit Radio on Justin.tv

Watch live video from Rage Quit Radio on Justin.tv