Shawn Vermette

Wizard of Oz: Beyond the Yellow Brick Road

December 9, 2009

The Wizard of Oz: Beyond the Yellow Brick Road is a strange game. Essentially, it is what The Wizard of Oz would have been if it was told by the Japanese: an interesting premise. Unfortunately, it rarely lives up to its potential.

The story of The Wizard of Oz: Beyond the Yellow Brick Road diverges from the movie almost instantly. Your characters, Dorothy and Toto, are sucked into Oz by a tornado, but upon arriving there are no munchkins to sing to you. Instead you are greeted by a large and sinister shadow proclaiming himself the Wizard of Oz. He asks you to visit him at his palace in Emerald City, and then leaves you to find out how to get there. On the way you meet and fight the Scarecrow, Lion, and Tin Man, all of whom join your party for no apparent reason after you defeat them. Upon arriving in Emerald City you’re greeted by the Wizard of Oz, who explains to you why he wanted to meet you. He proclaims himself the all-powerful King of Oz, but says there are some witches who don’t like him being the self-proclaimed ruler and are fighting against him. Thus, he wants to send you to kill these witches. Once you do so, he’ll return you home.

From this point on you basically run through completely linear levels, fighting a somewhat diverse array of creatures, all of whom will either be very easy to kill, or very difficult. This is a long game, but mainly because of the distance you have to run through each of the 40 levels. There really aren’t any choices in this game either. Every member of your party has one class of weapon and armor they can use, they have one type of enemy they are effective against. You can’t wander off the Yellow Brick Road even if you wanted to.

The best thing that can be said about the battle system is it is unique. You have four slots you can fill with attacks from any of your four members you want. However, the Tin Man and the Lion use more than one slot when they attack. Their attacks are more powerful, but it will always be a trade-off you’ll have to make- power or more attacks. Unfortunately, this decision is largely rendered pointless because of the other half of the battle system. The second half of the battle system is comprised of a series of advantages against enemies. Each party member is particularly strong against a certain enemy. This leads to completely disregarding the strategy of the four slots system because the Tin Man and the Lion are not powerful enough to make it worth ignoring each character’s bonus against enemies.

The control system is very distinctive, and actually made the game much more enjoyable. In order to move, you must roll a trackball on the screen with the stylus. With this method, you can run by moving the trackball faster, and you can turn or even stop yourself instantly by changing the angle of the trackball’s movement or by stopping your stylus on top of the trackball. It takes a little bit of practice, but eventually you’ll be running across Oz like a wild man on steroids.

The graphics of Beyond the Yellow Brick Road are reasonably good for the DS. Everything is 3D and the environments are vibrant and fitting for each area. The character models are fairly unremarkable as well as the soundtrack.

Some of the design decisions in Oz are just confusing, as you can only save in Emerald City. Additionally, all shopping for items, weapons, and armor can only be done in Emerald City. It is amazingly hard to buy anything, though, because gold coins are very scarce. This makes the game take longer, as you’ll have to backtrack anytime you want to upgrade or save your progress.

The Wizard of Oz: Beyond the Yellow Brick Road could have been a resounding success, especially considering the unusual take on such a classic story. Unfortunately, it never cashes in on its potential.

ESRB: E for Mild Fantasy Violence-if you can watch the movie, you can play the game

Plays Like: Well…it is a generic RPG, but it has a control scheme unlike any other

Pros: Controls are intuitive and responsive; Has lots of potential

Cons: Never fulfills potential; Plot feels rehashed; Unique story and location undone by poor design decisions

Snackbar Speculator: Back to the Future

December 6, 2009

Features / Speculator / by Shawn Vermette /

We’ve finally got some results on some of the rumors we’ve posted in previous editions, so before getting to this week’s rumors we’ll give you a rundown of the results along with our hits or misses. Since this is the first time we’ve had confirmations, here’s how we keep score:

True: Guess – 50

False: 50 – Guess

Sticking your neck out with a 5% or 95% score is risky, as is should be. 50% is lame.

Cross-game chat to be present in next PS3 Firmware update

Well, next update came out, and it didn’t show any sign of having cross-game chat.

Andrew Passafiume 95% = -45

Graham Russell 70% = -20

Shawn Vermette 65% = -15

Facebook integration to be present in next PS3 Firmware update

This rumor turned out to be true, as the same update that did not have cross-game chat had Facebook in it.

Andrew 85% = +35

Graham 60% = +10

Shawn 95% = +45

Phoenix Wright coming to the Wii

This was decided almost as soon as we posted it, as Capcom has confirmed that ports of all three Phoenix Wright games are coming to WiiWare early next year.

Andrew 25% = -25

Graham 60% = +10

Shawn 25% = -25

Current standings:

Shawn: 5

Graham: 0

Andrew: -35

Now, on to the rumors.

Scribblenauts 2 drawing on Wii, DS, and PC

Scribblenauts was a small indie title going into E3 and a media phenomenon coming out. Now there are rumors that Scribblenauts 2 is in production. Not only that, but it is rumored that Scribblenauts 2 will be coming to the Wii and PC in addition to the DS this time around.

Andrew: This seems like it is inevitable. Knowing how successful the original title was, despite its shortcomings, is a clear sign that people loved the concept and want to see it go even farther. I think this title, like a lot of DS to Wii games, is a very easy transition. A PC version seems unlikely, but it could work just as well as a Wii version, so I can’t see why not. 75%

Graham: The main shortcoming in Scribblenauts was the controls. The Wii and PC both offer the potential for a more suitable scheme, and yes Shawn, people buy PC games. Especially quirky stuff. I’m hoping for a Steam release. Regardless, a sequel is what 5th Cell needs to fix the issues with the original, and I’d love to see some multiplayer of some sort. 65%

Shawn: The only thing about this rumor that sounds iffy to me is the PC edition. 5th Cell has already said they want to make games for systems other than the DS, and Drawn to Life 2 was made for the DS and Wii. A PC edition would work, but I’m not sure that enough people purchase PC games anymore for it to be worthwhile anymore. 90%

WiiHD coming in 2010

Nintendo is being frank about the relatively slow sales of the Wii this year, with Iwata saying the Wii had “stalled”. There have been rumors of a “WiiHD” for awhile now, but with it being publicly acknowledged that they aren’t happy with the performance of the Wii, it is now being rumored that the “WiiHD” is closer than many would think…next year, in fact. Is it possible that this rumor will finally get answered one way or another?

Andrew: This is one rumor I am completely on the fence about. On one hand, the market for the WiiHD might not even be there. The people who actually care about it seem to only make up one small part of the Wii’s entire audience. But on the other hand, it could become an even bigger success than the original Wii if marketed correctly. I’m still completely unsure, and Nintendo is a company that continues to surprise us (for better or for worse). 50%

Graham: I can’t see there being a WiiHD. At all, really. Yes, Nintendo will have a followup console sooner or later, and it’s possible they’ll keep the framework for backwards compatibility. But releasing a HD system with no other upgrades would just confuse the market of casual gamers they created and rode back to the top of the industry on. Also, the whole WiiHD concept is one of those Pachter-isms, and…I just don’t know why he’s become this authority. 5%

Shawn: I fully believe Nintendo will release a “WiiHD” at some point in the near future. I just don’t believe it will happen next year. Nintendo has enough first-party games coming out next year to support the Wii for one more year, but after that I just can’t see how Nintendo can keep the Wii afloat after that unless the third parties finally figure out how to make good games for it. 25%

Logitech to offer UMD accessory for PSP Go

The PSP Go has had many detractors since it was announced that Sony would not offer any kind of conversion program for owners of UMD games who bought a PSP Go. However, one company may be taking advantage of this lack of conversion. Rumor has it Logitech is working on an accessory for the PSP Go that would enable the PSP Go to play UMD games. Given the furor over the lack of a UMD drive in the Go, it seems there would indeed be a market for such a device, but is it really being produced?

Andrew: This has to be the dumbest idea a company could have ever thought of. I think a lot of people who bought a PSP Go knew what to expect, they knew they could not play their old UMD games on it. Even if they didn’t, I’m sure the entire point of it was complete portability. To have all of your games, music, movies, all right there in the palm of your hand and hassle free. To release a bulky attachable UMD device not only ruins the purpose, but could also just make you want to go back to the original PSP. 10%

Graham: Is it a dumb idea? Yes. Do I think someone would still make it? Absolutely. Is it Logitech? I doubt it. For one thing, they’ve never been one for niche products…they’re an accessory titan and they cater to the mass audience. Also, well, they put out a statement saying, and I quote, “This is not something that our company is working on.” 5%

Shawn: Unlike Andrew, I actually think this idea has some merit. Logitech makes more, and better, accessories than even the first party companies do. I wouldn’t be surprised if Logitech has perceived a need that Sony refuses to even admit exists. Most PSP Go owners probably realize that the PSP Go won’t play UMDs, but at the same time, not having the ability to buy them greatly increases the amount of money they have to spend to buy games digitally. My hesitation for this rumor is whether or not enough people even bought the PSP Go for Logitech to bother making this accessory. 60%

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky

November 23, 2009

DS / Reviews / by Shawn Vermette /

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky is the latest in the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series. However, it is more like an expansion to Explorers of Darkness and Time than it is a new entry in the series. It adds a few extras to the mix, but not enough to justify a second purchase if you’ve already played through Explorers of Darkness or Time.

Explorers of Sky is played the same way as the previous games in the series. You’ll take on jobs from Wigglytuff’s Guild, and then while exploring ‘mystery dungeons’ you will attempt to complete the missions. A mystery dungeon is a dungeon that is randomly generated each time you enter one. This lends itself to the possibility of easier travel than a man-made dungeon because you’ll often descend a floor and find you don’t need to search for the stairs to the next floor- they’re in the same room as you. However, it does add replayability since the dungeons will be different every time you go into them. In the end, this is a good thing because you will be repeatedly descending into every single dungeon in the game numerous times.

You will control one Pokémon. This Pokémon is chosen for you from a group of 19 based on how you answer a short personality test when you begin the game. After a Pokémon has been selected, you’ll get to pick a partner from the remaining starting Pokémon. You and your partner will be inseparable through the rest of the game, and if either of you get knocked out in a dungeon you’ll be penalized half of your items and money. Eventually you’ll also be able to recruit various other Pokémon you defeat in the dungeons. You can have up to two recruits join you and your partner in the dungeons. Unfortunately, the dungeon designs and the AI of the Pokémon tend to work against having a team of any size larger than two; in the majority of fights you’ll only need two Pokémon, and in the ones that you do need more teammates, the extras will invariably get stuck in a corridor and be useless in the fight anyway.

You can choose to simply follow the storyline of the game or take on jobs, collect items, and grind your Pokémon to higher and higher levels before continuing the story. No matter how urgent the next story mission seems, you can always put it off to explore a random dungeon or rescue a lost Pokémon.

The biggest addition to Explorers of Sky is the inclusion of a series of five special episodes that you can play through in addition to the main story. Each special episode places you in the shoes of another member of Wigglytuff’s Guild and allows you to participate in an important period of their lives. This gives you more insight into the personality of each guild member as well as showing more of the history of the Guild featured in the main story.

A couple new Pokémon are added to Explorers of Sky, increasing its Pokémon count to 492. Some new optional dungeons have been added as well, giving you more of a challenge at higher levels. The last addition to Explorers of Sky is Spinda’s Café, an underground area in Treasure Town that you can go to and receive new jobs, take part in some prize drawings for new items, and also increase the potency of the many gummies (items that increase the intelligence of your teammates) you’ll collect throughout your adventures.

While there are quite a few additions to Explorers of Sky, unless you are a hardcore fan of Pokémon or mystery dungeon games, it just isn’t enough to justify another purchase before the price drops. If you never played Explorers of Darkness or Time, but were thinking of getting one of them, it may be worth getting Explorers of Sky instead for the extra content. Explorers of Sky feels like a premium version of Explorers of Darkness and Time. It’s just a shame that over a year after the release of Explorers of Darkness and Time we get a retread of the same story with a few bonuses added instead of a completely new game.

ESRB: E for Everyone- If you can play Pokémon, you can play this.

Plays Like: Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Dungeon; Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness; Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time

Pros: Special episodes are enjoyable glimpses into the main NPCs; Music is better than standard Pokémon games

Cons: Same story as previous Mystery Dungeon games; Pokémon are very similar in use and stats; hard for a team of more than two to actually be used

Valhalla Knights: Eldar Saga

November 23, 2009

Reviews / Wii / by Shawn Vermette /

Valhalla Knights: Eldar Saga is not a bad game. It is a horrible game. It’s also not a buggy or incomplete game. It feels like it was finished about 13 years ago–for the Playstation 1. Valhalla Knights wouldn’t even have been a good game on the Playstation, but it would have been more tolerable on it. On the Wii, it is simply an unforgivable game.

Valhalla Knights doesn’t really explain its story very well, so I’ll explain it better for you here. A thousand years ago civilization was almost destroyed by a war between monsters and the four races of Eldar- human, dwarf, elf, and halfling. An alliance of the four races managed to drive off the hordes of monsters. Soon after, however, conflicts between the races soon ended the alliance and they all secluded themselves from each other. Now, one thousand years later, the monsters are returning to finish what they started. This story isn’t that intriguing to begin with, but the fact that it is never really explained very well in the game makes it even worse.

Your part in the story is to reunite the four races to combat this returning menace. However, the character you create and customize, the character you’ll spend hours building up, will disappear halfway through the game. Once you unite the races, you’ll be told to pick a wife from one of them. This choice will influence the entirety of the rest of the game for you because once you reach this point decades will suddenly pass and you’ll continue playing as the child of your character. The abilities and stats for your child are directly dependent upon what race they are, be it human/elf, human/dwarf, human/halfling, or full human. The problem is you are never told this, so you won’t find out until it is too late to change anything.

There is no tutorial to speak of in Valhalla Knights, and there is absolutely no direction given in the game. You will be told to do something and thereafter will be expected to remember exactly what it is and exactly where you need to go to do it. No hints, no reminders, no breadcrumb trail. There is also no map to speak of, other than a minimap showing vague outlines of the current area you are located in. Additionally, when you die, and you will die…repeatedly…because the difficulty ramps up insanely fast, you are sent back to the last town you visited. You will then have to traverse the entirety of the world back to where you were trying to go. And it will be a long journey back because the distances you have to travel in this game are vast.

The controls are awful and laggy. If you push the attack button three or four times while attempting to attack an enemy, you will slowly perform those attacks in the direction you were facing when you hit them, regardless of where the enemy has moved and with no option to stop the attacks. There is a lock-on option, but it makes you so slow and vulnerable to attack that it’s almost worthless.

The graphics are bad…real bad. They look as if they were made for the original Playstation, but even then they wouldn’t look good because of how bland everything is. The landscapes are uniformly grey, the buildings are grey, the trees are dead and grey, and the enemies are grey.

The soundtrack is the best part of the game simply because it isn’t grating or annoying; however, it is still subpar compared to the soundtracks of other RPGs. The voice acting is appalling; luckily there isn’t much of it. The worst part of the sound design is definitely the sound effects. Nothing sounds remotely close to what it should sound like. Dragons roar like squealing pigs (seriously); death screams sound like laughter; running people thud like horses galloping across stone; and birds flapping their wings sound like plastic bags rustling. Yes, the sound effects are that horrific.

Finally we come to the multiplayer. You can link up with a friend to play Valhalla Knights co-op by using friend codes, though why you would want to subject a friend to this kind of misery remains to be seen.

There are surprisingly few RPGs on the Wii, but despite this, no one should ever consider this a game worth playing. The entire thing is ugly and confusing, and there are absolutely no redeeming qualities about it.

ESRB: T for Alcohol, blood, and fantasy violence- if you can play any kind of action RPG fare, you can play this

Pros: With the right mindset, the sound effects are hilarious; You aren’t forced to play this game

Cons: Everything

Snackbar Speculator: Objectionable Content

November 15, 2009

Features / Speculator / by Shawn Vermette /

This week on Snackbar Speculator, we’re covering crime, justice and social networking.

Phoenix Wright to hold court on the Wii

The USK, the German ratings board, has submitted a rating for a Wii game simply called Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. There’s been no news from Capcom or Nintendo regarding this possibility, so it remains to be seen whether this is a game that will actually be released or not. It also gives no information as to whether this will be a completely new game or a port of one of the DS games.

Andrew Passafiume: It seems like an inevitability, but at the same time, the series seems to be perfectly suited for handhelds. It might work on a console (especially the Wii), but I honestly doubt anything will come out of this and I think it will remain a rumor. 25%

Graham Russell: They’ve thrown Harvey Birdman on there, so there’s precedent. The interface works as well as the DS one, so that’d be fine too. My only worry: Capcom seems to always have to put Wright games in the bargain bin in the U.S., so I don’t know if it’s financially viable. 60%

Shawn Vermette: While I for one would relish a chance to play Phoenix Wright on the Wii, and I think it would indeed work well on the Wii, I’m not sure that this rumor will come to fruition. It would really need to be a new game to be commercially viable and I’m pretty sure Capcom has no plans to revisit Phoenix Wright in their stories. I think Apollo Justice is their new protagonist. So, unfortunately, I think this will not happen. 25%

Xbox 360 exclusivity for GTA4 expansions to end

Microsoft paid Take-Two 50 million bucks to get Xbox 360 exclusivity on all the downloadable content for Grand Theft Auto IV. Now, however, there is talk of the expansions coming out on the PC. This is something that would go against the current exclusivity deal, but it’s possible Microsoft and Take-Two would revisit their deal to include PC. After all, the real reason for the exclusivity deal is to lock the PS3 out of any DLC opportunity.

Andrew: This is something that does not surprise me at all. The word that the PC crowd will get the DLC next which is actually not too surprising (and probably an easy transition for the developers), but I doubt we will ever see it on the PS3. Either way, for the DLC coming to the PC, I expect it will happen in the near future. 90%

Graham: Microsoft is Microsoft, and their Games for Windows initiative certainly could use whatever help it can get, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see the DLC on PC. If the deal’s airtight, though, and I think it is, PS3 is out of the question. 55%

Shawn: I’m not really surprised by this because Microsoft had two agendas with this deal. 1) Hurt Sony. 2) Make money. Yes, I believe the primary motivation was to attempt to hurt Sony. I don’t know if Microsoft expected to actually make money after spending 50 million for exclusivity, but they definitely wanted to make Sony hurt. The PC isn’t really even on Microsoft’s radar lately, despite saying that they were renewing support for the PC. Perhaps this will be a step in that direction. 85%

PS3 to offer Facebook integration with next firmware update

Sony posted a bunch of screenshots of their next firmware update on their official website that seemed to show an integrated Facebook application under the account management tab of the XMB. These screenshots have since been removed from their website. Microsoft has touted their integration of Facebook into the Xbox 360 ever since E3, while Sony has remained silent about any additions to their system outside of Netflix support. However, given the widespread use of Facebook and its integration into the Xbox 360, it makes sense for Sony to at least explore the possibility.

Andrew: Considering that a once “exclusive” feature to the Xbox 360, Netflix, came to the PS3 a little less than two years after it came to the 360, I can’t imagine Facebook (or Twitter and last.fm, in that case) being exclusive to the 360 either. Especially with the increase in sales of the PS3, I can imagine Facebook support being something that will pretty popular with owners of the system. 85%

Graham: Let’s set aside the issue of why people would want Facebook, or Twitter for that matter, on a game console. There’s no exclusivity deal involved here, and Sony wants to take away any possible bullet points in Microsoft’s arsenal. My only hesitation: it may not make it in the very next update, though. 60%

Shawn: I’m really not surprised because I never once (to my knowledge) heard Microsoft refer to Facebook as a 360 exclusive. I think that in this case it makes sense for Sony to wait to develop support for Facebook until Microsoft test drives it, but that they should look into integrating it as well as they can. In fact, I think they should go one step farther and integrate it into Home. Maybe then Home will be as relevant and popular as Sony has hoped it would be from the beginning. 95%

Sony to offer downloadable PS2 games via PSN

Ever since the discontinuation of the 20GB and 60GB Playstation 3 models, gamers have been clamoring for a return of backward compatibility. Rumor has it that Sony is working on releasing popular PS2 games as downloads on the PSN in the same manner that they offer PS1 games. This may be Sony’s way of attempting to satisfy those gamers and make money at the same time.

Andrew: This is definitely a good possibility, especially since PS1 classics have been doing incredibly well in the Playstation store. There are a lot of PS2 games that have been out of print for a while that could do really well in the store too, and it will be a solution to the “backwards compatibility issue” that has been present since the most recent models of the PS3 90%

Graham: Unofficially, they’ve done this before with some Buzz! games. Officially, I see them doing this in a noncommittal way like Microsoft, with a small launch to say they did it. And it would certainly help mitigate the removal of backwards compatibility. 40%

Shawn: I think that perhaps Sony has been planning this ever since they discontinued the 60GB PS3. Unfortunately, I’m not sure that this will appease Backwards compatibility fans very much because of one thing- they’ll have to rebuy all their games again…assuming that all their games are even eventually put on the PSN. Not cool at all. On the other hand, it means people who are either new to gaming or sold/lost their PS2 games will be able to play them again finally. Either way, I think this is almost a guarantee to happen. 95%

Microsoft to release Blu-ray add-on for Xbox 360

This rumor is making the rounds yet again, and so we have to include it here. Rumor has it Microsoft is working on a Blu-ray Drive add-on similar to the HD-DVD Drive add-on they sold during the format war. Despite repeatedly denying that they are working on said add-on, this rumor keeps popping up. Surely there is some truth to it, if it just won’t die.

Andrew: This rumor does keep popping up, doesn’t it? Ever since the failure of the HD-DVD format, Microsoft hasn’t had a way to compete with Sony in that regard (even if the HD-DVD drive for the 360 was sold separately). I think this could happen, but is it really a way for Microsoft to “compete” with Sony in that regard? Sony has that market cornered, and most people who want to watch Bluray movies will pick a PS3 over a 360. I guess it could satisfy current 360 owners who don’t want to buy a PS3, but I don’t see much of a profit in it. 35%

Graham: I really doubt it. Blu-Ray is Sony’s baby, so Microsoft doesn’t want to help them, and honestly the format hasn’t yet proven it will overtake downloads and streaming. Also, there’s the chilling effect of not wanting to make the same mistake twice…Nintendo is still a bit timid about online after Satellaview and 64DD, and it’s been a decade. Microsoft’s HD add-on was just a few years ago. 5%

Shawn: Well, ever since HD-DVD died a sudden and painful death, Microsoft has been left with only digital distribution for providing HD videos. Logically, it makes sense for Microsoft to make a Blu-ray add-on for the 360 so that it isn’t a feature Sony has over Microsoft. Believe me, a lot of PS3s are sold simply because of the Blu-ray drive in them. On the other hand, if Microsoft hasn’t done it yet, I doubt they ever will. I think the idea of having to pay royalties to Sony for anything chafes them enough that they will wait as long as they can before touching Blu-ray. 15%

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