Super Mario Brothers returns to the Wii, this time with up to 4 player simultaneously on the screen helping to get through the puzzle.
I was hesitant to get this, because it's pretty expensive and I don't know how much better it would be than Super Mario Brothers 3, which you can download on the Wii as well. I also heard the multiplayer is "kinda cool" but really frustrating. Disregarding all of these seemingly valid points, I decided to throw my money away and pick it up anyway.
This game is cool. If you like the feel of Super Mario Brothers 3, you will love this. It can get just as challenging and frustrating as the old games and the multiplayer is really fun (so long as you don't get overly frustrated with taking your time through the levels). I find it's actually more challenging with other people because the difficult sections become even harder trying to get another person with you through them. Nintendo came up with an easy out though in case it's just too frustrating, just have your partner enter their bubble and they'll float around as you finish the section of the level.
All-in-all, I've been pretty addicted to it this past week and would recommend it.
That video is an unlockable video in the game and is really impressive and cool.
GJ said 33 minutes later
The game is awesome, and I'm enjoying it more than Galaxy. Multiplayer will be very frustrating if you take it too seriously, but once you chill out it's a blast. We've had it for a few weeks and are still playing it all the time.
GJ said about 1 hour later
And the bubble is hilarious--that's how you come back into the game after you die, provided other players are still alive and not in bubbles. Nothing like getting popped over a chasm or some other trap!
Marc said about 6 hours later
Laura is the champion of the dying, or I should say was. She's gotten real good at bubbling right before she falls to her death. I didn't realize how often I had been doing it too until I played the single player and started to die a fair amount!
I liked Galaxy, but from a multiplayer standpoint is was pathetic, which is fine since I thought it was at least a neat little addition over no multiplayer. Galaxy was really easy though, this game just has that classic feeling of difficulty and well thought out maps.
GJ said about 9 hours later
Yeah, we're mired somewhere in world 5 with those damn rolling logs. We're *all* good at dying, but some of us (I'm looking at you Darcy) have made an art form out of bubbling. Unlimited continues is a good thing...Aaron is somewhere around 60 now. I'm about halfway there. :)
GJ said 3 days later
Oh, and the bubbling to get players through would be fine, except when the bubble drifts near you. See, you interact with the bubble--hit it in midair during a jump, and you fall from where you hit the bubble...likely over a death trap. So you bubble to save your skin--and of course the original bubbler has (probably) bubbled. If all players bubble, the music slows to a crawl and you're booted from the level. You don't lose a life (good), but you lose any status changes (dammit, I want my propeller hat back!!!!).
Marc said 3 days later
The propeller hat is by far the cheapest upgrade in the game. I love it to death, cause it's so much fun, but man it makes the levels easy. Laura and I beat the game last night (or DID we?!) and we were really struggling with Bowser, then I had the bright idea to upgrade before going into the level to the propeller hat and beat it first go.
To me, the ice levels kill me. I thought the swimming world would suck based on the first swimming level, but it turned out to be pretty tame. Now I'm just going through and collecting all the gold coins (I never was a big fan of collecting everything, but it's kinda fun in this game) and man some of them are in ridiculous locations. One of them I found by "dying" or so I thought until I was warped into another part of the level.
Playing back and forth between multiplayer and single player is a very strange feeling with Mario. Some things are super easy by yourself (pretty much all the castles), and other things are super easy in multiplayer (collecting star coins). The best part is attempting to bubble right before you die in single player, it's so disheartening and makes you feel like such a cheater that you even attempted it. :)
Marc said 3 days later
I also love, love, love jumping off walls. I don't remember what mario they first added that in, but it's a joy in this game. That's actually how I found another star coin, I was fooling around waiting for Laura to catch up (hopefully she doesn't read this ;)) and I was trying to get really high up bouncing between two close walls and suddenly got warped to the coin part of the level.
GJ said 3 days later
Yeah, overall this is a terrific game (which is high praise indeed from a non-Mario gamer).
Geoff said 4 days later
how much is it?
GJ said 4 days later
$50 (but I got it on sale for $40 at best buy several weeks ago).
So far, at least Dominion (both the original game and the Intrigue expansion) and Killer Bunnies. Anybody want Catan and/or Ticket to Ride? Anything else?
How about Wii games? Any suggestions? NHL06 for the genesis? :) I played that on the big screen the other day and fell back in love with it. :)
I was gonna say, NHLPA96 might be more like it. :)
If the kids like Dominion/Killer Bunnies then those two are probably fine. I'm definitely game for some NHL06, that's always fun to beat you guys up in.
GJ said about 3 hours later
hehe...you and geoff leave me often yelling...."Kaaaaahn!" after you guys finish pummeling the crap out of me in that game.
GJ said about 3 hours later
And actually, 1993 was the only version of the NHLPA game. Beginning in 1994, it went to just NHL94.
And frankly, the 1993 game is still the best game in the universe.
Marc said about 5 hours later
I need it was early or mid nineties and the NHLPA was the best.
Kristen said about 19 hours later
Don't forget to call mom, it's her birthday today!
I won't be home for turkey day--I'll be driving Drew home from the hospital after hip replacement numero uno. I have to give him shots as part of the recovery plan...hehe...I guess I'll bring up everything I want for christmas then.
GJ said about 20 hours later
good luck with the hip replacement!!
Geoff said 2 days later
I'm back from driving all over US and Canada...ugh. Sorry I missed out. Ticket to Ride, definitely. I'm game for anything else!
Steve said 5 days later
I've now played Dominion 4 times, and it is indeed fun. I don't really like the beauracrat card. Have yet to play with any of the other attack cards, but have heard from a friend of a game he played where the winner was the one with the least negative victory points! Sorry we'll miss it at Thanksgiving, but would love to play it at Christmas.
GJ said 5 days later
The Bureaucrat card has its place--it's a great money making card in games that lack card like the Mine and such. I think the most fun in the game is finding out how to make the set of cards in the current game work for you, and work against the others!
That's right, it's almost time for Turkey Day again--and that means GAMES!
Of course, Ticket to Ride and Settlers of Catan will be making appearances, as will Apples to Apples and a new social game named Clever Endeavors. Hold on to your hats, however, as Game of the Year 2009 will find its way to Baldwinsville this year. What game, you ask? Why, none other than Dominion!
Dominion is an exciting, addicting, fast-action, deck-building game that plays well with two or three players. I predict that it will be one of our top selling designer card games in 2009. What makes Dominion such a great card game? For starters, Dominion is easy to learn. The rules are simple, the game can be explained in just a few minutes, and newcomers can be up and playing in less than 5 minutes. Dominion includes 500 cards, but you do not use all of them in the game. Each game uses 100 of 250 possible kingdom cards. Through this variety, Dominion allows each game to have a unique flavor and challenge. Dominion plays fast. Although Dominion has a solitaire-type feel to it, you are playing against opponents. After your first couple games, you will find yourself racing through your deck of cards, shuffling and reshuffling. This is not mandatory, it not a rule, you will simply be drawn into the game. Dominion will continue to grow. In fact, the first expansion set (Dominion: Intrigue) is already available.
So how do you play Dominion?
Dominion uses an A-B-C turn-based system. During a turn a player completes the following steps:
Action: At the beginning of the game the only cards you have in your hand are copper (worth 1 coin) and estate cards (worth one victory point). Very soon you will need to begin buying actions cards which will allow you to take various actions such as gaining additional cards or money, attack your opponents, and receive extra actions or bonuses. A clever player will learn to string a series of action cards together for maximum benefit.
Buy: During this phase, you will purchase new cards. At the beginning of the game, you can only make one purchase per turn. However, as you build your deck, you will be able to buy multiple cards per round. Sample cards that you can purchase include treasure cards (which give you money), victory cards (which give victory points), and kingdom cards (which provide all sorts of bonuses and actions).
Clean up: During this phase, you discard all of the cards from your hand and take five new cards. This is one of the best aspects of Dominion. You will start every round with a fresh set of cards.
The game ends when players deplete a stack of Province cards (the highest victory point cards), or deplete any 3 stacks of kingdom cards. At this point, all the players count their victory points. The player with the most victory points wins.
In a nutshell--Dominion is a deck-building game. You race to build the most efficient cash-building machine so that you can quickly purchase victory points before the game ends.
So, you'll get to see this one in just a few short weeks!
Darn, I think Parsla and I are going to her sister's in Minnesota for thanksgiving, so we'll miss out on the trial of this game. We'll be home for Christmas though, so if it's good, please bring it then (along with Wii Sports Tennis of course!)
GJ said 2 days later
It's awesome, I've played it a few times already. We'll definitely bring it at Christmas.
GJ said 8 days later
Ok, now having played about eight games of it, the game definitely has some cool variety to it due to the mix of Kingdom cards that are used in the game. Thankfully, they suggest several play tested varieties and all but one work pretty well. Random picking is probably more hit and miss--you pretty much want to have a few complimentary Kingdom cards, otherwise the game drags because funds are hard to come by.
Game length, then, is also a function of the Kingdom cards. For the most part, I'm seeing games taking 45 minutes if the players have minimal distractions (i.e., no TV on and they're not multitasking during the game), up to 75 minutes if they're newbies or are not paying attention and do all their turn planning ON THEIR TURN.
I think we'll definitely find this a hit--the game gets loud, and is all about direct competition as you race to gain resources and (if the cards are available) screw your game mates.
Steve said 9 days later
Parsla and I played this for the first time last night, and it was fun. Took a while to figure it out, but honestly, your quickie instructions helped. Probably not going to make it for Thanksgiving, but will be home for Christmas for sure!
GJ said 10 days later
Yeah, you'll spend the first 2-3 games getting a feel for the Kingdom Cards and how to combine them efficiently. Once you get the hang of it, the game is a blast to play and pretty quick if you're playing with other experienced players who aren't easily distracted (like my kids). I play this at work with several coworkers at lunch twice a week, and during each session we can typically get in two games in 60-75 minutes.
We may pick up Dominion Intrigue by Turkey Day, but almost certainly by Christmas. That will allow us to play two games at once, since Dominion is best played with 3-4 players and I have a feeling that this game may be more popular than Ticket to Ride and Catan have been, due to wider audience appeal.
well, I gotta be honest...if I had a clue about half the folks he was talking about (or even followed NHL remotely), I'd probably find it more funny. I'm not exactly sure if he even played the game.
GJ said about 5 hours later
Darcy and I laughed our butts off. We're hockey nerds, and yes, it helps enormously to be pretty familiar with the NHL to understand the humor.
GJ said about 6 hours later
See what he had to say about Kyle Wellwood, and tell me you didn't laugh.
Geoff said 1 day later
Much better :)
Golf Thread! posted by GJ on June 19, 2009 @ 8:50AM
Ok, now that the Tennis thread went into overdrive, let's review the golf game. First up, a word from the developers:
Golf has shipped for me, but Newegg was a bit slow, so I might not see it until Monday. This game has great reviews, so it better not let me down. :)
Geoff said about 1 hour later
dude that weather thing is awesome!
Eric said about 3 hours later
My golf combo is in the car. Apparently, I have a lot of catching up to do in tennis, but I'll try to get a jump start on Marc and GJ in golf. I already had Tiger Golf for the Playstation 2, but I don't know if the experience I have with the controller is going to help me much on the Wii.
GJ said about 3 hours later
You don't need a leg up on me in tennis...I still lose to the *$&@&^@!!! medium computers on a regular *$#$@(!! basis.
Marc said about 4 hours later
That weather thing really is awesome. It's such a simple little feature, but such a great idea. And Eric, if this game is as realistic as it sounds, I think you have a leg up on all of us.
Where's Steve? He's gotta get himself a Wii now to jump in this action. :)
GJ said about 5 hours later
The coup d'état would be getting Drew doing this. He's just sooo driven, he'd be a joy to corrupt. :)
Geoff said 2 days later
Gave golf a shot real quick...played 4 holes. It is awesome. I did quite well to boot. Birdied two, parred one, and bogied the other. It is actually very good for working on your golf swing if you can believe that. Immediately took my regular swing just to see how it wood hit. Sure enough I hit it into the Pacific ocean (facing north). Next round I really focused on keeping the remote straight and turning my body in the follow through...worked beautifully.
I don't know how much of this I'd play by myself (golf is only really good when you get to watch your companions hit it into the water), but I'm sure career mode could be cool.
GJ said 2 days later
Disc Golf is also really, really fun. Give it a shot.
Marc said 3 days later
So how awesome is the MP with golf? Does it respond pretty much 1:1 with your motions?
GJ said 3 days later
Yep. MP works great w/ golf.
Geoff said 3 days later
Yeah it rocks.
Marc said 5 days later
Just to note, golf has arrived (and my slice has returned). I'm ready to kick your guys' butts. Just send me an IM, e-mail, or call me and I'm in.
Can you do disc golf online too? I tried playing that right handed yesterday and I managed to introduce my slice there too.
GJ said 5 days later
Not sure, just got back from my SMA trip (oh, the manatee!) Will check it out tonight, maybe.
GJ said 5 days later
No online disc golf. :(
I started my "career" last night. Wow, do I suck. Six holes in, I was already +12. Kind of like real life--a great much of my game needs work. Hahahaha.
Except that in real life, six holes in I'd be +20 and have lost at least two balls.
Eric said 7 days later
I can't wait to play you guys. My first round I was +6 in career mode. I'm only on my second round, but 5 holes in and I'm -2.
I don't have power at the house right now, but I've got the Wii and the tv hooked up to the generator, so I might be available tonight.
I'll try to send an email out tonight, but I need to run an extention cord to the computer (come to think of it, I need to do that anyway to go online on the wii!)
Marc said 7 days later
I'll be at a baseball game most of the night, but will be available for late night golf if anyone is up for it. (Probably around 10 or 11)
Geoff said 7 days later
I think I may be up for it if I can convince Michelle to give up the TV.
GJ said 7 days later
I'm here, so ping me online if anyone wants to play. oh, and I really, really suck at golf. just like real life.
GJ said 7 days later
WERE GONNA PLAY NOW STOP ERIC YOU NEED AIM STOP
Marc said 7 days later
GJ and I just traded bogey's for 18 holes, but GJ ended up beating me by like 5 strokes. Apparently hitting into the trees as a shortcut works as well as it does in real life.
GJ said 8 days later
Yep. Took me an entire hole to figure out that stupid 30 second rule on the stroke. First hole should have been a birdie, too.
Anyone up for golf tonight? We should do a conference call. :)
This game is played using the motion plus attachment to the wiimote. No more just swinging the wiimote--you now have to swing like you would in a real tennis match. The MP item has three gyroscopes embedded in it, so it can figure out the orientation of the Wii remote in real-time. The difference is nothing short of amazing.
Even better--it comes with a seamless WiiConnect interface, allowing you to play with the rest of the world in lag-free matches. It also has a number of party games that look pretty cool.
Prefer golf? EA's Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 also uses the MP attachment, and it's even BETTER than the tennis game. No more power meters--how you swing is how you swing (or putt). Which likely means I'll be spending a lot of time in the virtual trees on the right side of the fairway. :)
Sweeeeet! I have been itching to get both these games. So they are available at the store? How much are the MP's?
GJ said about 2 hours later
Both games are $50. MP is $20 each unless you buy them at Gamestop, who sells them for $25. You can get an MP bundled with either game (if you can find them) for $60.
Wii Sports Resort is coming in early July, and will also include an MP, all for $50. It also includes updated golf and bowling games, along with fencing, archery, jetski, disc dog/golf, ping pong, basketball, cycling, canoeing, and wakeboarding. I hear most are pretty good with the exception of cycling.
Marc is buying Tennis today, I'm probably doing the same and have PGA Tour 10 coming early next week.
Marc said about 3 hours later
I wasn't able to find the MP bundle for Tennis for some reason, but Best Buy seems to have the games for $50 and MP for $20 and have no shortage of them. Tennis looks really awesome, some of the party games that GJ alluded to look very fun, King of the Court for example.
As for PGA Tour 10, I'm hesitant to pick it up. I've played various golf games and never been a fan. Perhaps with the motion plus it will feel more real and I'll enjoy it more, but I'm still thinking it's not gonna be my cup of tea. Wii Sports' golf was obviously so horrible, but I still enjoyed it more than other golf games.
Wii Sports Resort looks to be a nice sequel, I'm especially itching to play fencing and ping pong. I had no idea they had an updated bowling game, but the updated golf might be enough of a replacement for PGA Tour 10 for me. We'll have to see Geoff's double fairway cross slice. Whichever game reproduces those best clearly has their physics right. Unfortunately, I don't know if either game will let you stand sideways Geoff. :)
Geoff said about 3 hours later
I'll figure something out, maybe reverse the MP on the Wii remote
GJ said about 4 hours later
Or hold it upside down.
I'm getting golf shortly, so I'll let you know. I'll be honest--I'm half hoping I can use it to correct my god-awful slice.
GJ said about 8 hours later
Network details: doesn't use Nintendo's wiiconnect servers--goes through EA's multiplayer service (may require you to open TCP and UDP ports in your firewall). Can play with anyone in the world, or limit opponents to those in your WiiConnect friends list or EA buddies.
Net play appears to be lag free. Not clear yet if you can play four-way doubles on the net, but I see no reason why not. Also unclear if the party games play over the net.
GJ said about 8 hours later
Wii Sports Resort release date is July 27, so we've got six weeks or so until that comes out, unfortunately.
GJ said about 12 hours later
Oh boy, here comes tennis elbow.
Played online, didn't have to open any ports. Some dude kicked my butt. We had a bit of lag, and it did factor into a few points, but it wasn't huge and was fairly equal opportunity. I sucked so bad in the first set, the lag points were my only freaking points.
But, it started to click by the second match. Still have a ways to go before I'm even remotely proficient. Got good enough to scare off my opponent, who barely won the second round.
My ea profile name is, what else, DragonIV. Some of you have me as Wii buddies, so you can find me that way too. Will be back on later tonight.
Marc said about 15 hours later
Been playing the game most of the night. Very addicting. The computer is extremely difficult (read: I suck) even on medium.
GJ said about 15 hours later
I suck worse than Marc. He let me win earlier.
GJ said about 18 hours later
ok, I'm sucking less. I can beat the easy computers...just handed Venus and Mac their behinds in Australia.
GJ said 1 day later
Went back to medium, and Boris just beat me up pretty good. I'm down and out in Australia. On to Europe when I'm done icing my elbow.
GJ said 1 day later
My elbow is blown. I'm on the Tennis DR for at least a week. Dammit! Golf can't get here quick enough.
Geoff said 2 days later
I have to talk to Onkyo...my stupid receiver doesn't like any signals being passed through it except HDMI apparently. After fiddling with it for an hour to come up (it randomly works), I decided the heck with it. I could hear the sound though!
Damn Circuit City...should have never bought it from there.
Eric said 2 days later
I didn't realize everyone was buying this. I'm going to pick it up as well so we can get some matches going. Don't know when I'll get it. Maybe Wal-mart has it. I have to pick up a fishing license today anyway so I'll see. Let you guys know when I have it.
Geoff and Marc: make sure you post your EA profile names as well.
GJ said 2 days later
mine is dragoniv. :) but heads up, I haven't figured out how to do four-way tennis.
Golf, however, is four-way. A buddy of mine at GamerDad got it and says it is freaking awesome.
GJ said 2 days later
oh, also, we've been matching up via wii friends so far. we might want to try EA and see if the lag goes away (it's not bad, but it shows up every now and then).
Eric said 2 days later
I got it. Didn't come in a combo with wiimotion, so I had to buy that separately. I want to get the golf, too, but I may have to wait a little while. I'll buy that in the combo so I can have two wiimotions. I'll see if I can try tennis out tonight. Wal-Mart had plenty of everything. Why the heck didn't they make a combo for the tennis though? Stupid.
GJ the only one who has golf so far? I'll get it sooner if others do (hint, hint!)
GJ said 2 days later
geoff has golf, gj and marc have ordered it and are awaiting shipment
GJ said 2 days later
Combos are hard as hell to come by. There will be one in Wii Sports Resort, tho.
Eric said 2 days later
Wal-mart had the Golf combos. I guess I'll be picking that up for the weekend, if I can swing it (i.e. hide it from the wife.) Hey...I need it! Sorry for the pun, completely unintended.
Geoff said 2 days later
I got my Golf Combo at GameStop..they had a bunch..though it costs a good penny. $70. I picked up Tennis and an extra Wii Motion Plus so Michelle and I can have it. I guess I'll have to tear apart my Wii and directly connect it to my TV to get it to work...stupid receiver. Gonna send it to United Radio to get fixed after talking with Onkyo. At least I got an english speaking guy! That was a surprise.
Geoff said 2 days later
I believe I only have GJ Wii code...Marc, Eric? I thought this was posted elsewhere on the blog but couldn't find it (search isn't working either on the blog).
Marc said 2 days later
We were exchanging the Wii codes via e-mail before Geoff. My EA account is: Hgoale. I'll look into the search, maybe Site5 upgraded Rails on me without letting me know.
GJ said 2 days later
Geoff, GameStop is a ripoff.
The bundle's retail is $60. These are the same idiots charging $25 for the MotionPlus.
Geoff said 2 days later
Yeah I paid $25 for motion plus...where are you getting it and for how much?!?! Sorry, I paid $60 for Golf...$50 for tennis.
GJ said 2 days later
Meanwhile, even though my elbow hurts, my new HD setup is working flawlessly, even with my Onkyo receiver. Of course, it's probably nowhere as nice as Geoff's, since my Onkyo came from Radio Shack and is something like five years old.
GJ said 2 days later
MP is $20 everywhere else. Walmart, Target, Amazon, etc.
Marc said 2 days later
The search problem is a limitation in Site5's MySQL. I'm assuming you searched for something like "Wii" or "wii codes." Sorry sucker, they only allow searches of 4 characters or more. I'll put in a ticket to see if they can change that because to be honest, there's a lot of 3 letter words out there. :)
Geoff said 2 days later
yeah really, that's dumb with MySQL.
My Onkyo works great other than this HDMI thing. I'm hoping it is just my receiver with a loose connection or something, but the sporadic working/not working has me wondering if there are some incompatibilities with the HDMI cables and my components. I know HDMI 1.3 is fairly recent and I don't believe my TV is 1.3 compliant since it came out after my TV was purchased I believe...however my HDMI HD-DVD player always work through the receiver...so I'm at a loss.
In other news...I fired up tennis before my hockey game...boy that is tough! Went 4 rounds with a 3 star tennis player, and lost. Had a couple 3-1 set losses that were close. Was getting better as I went along, but yeah way different from Wii Sports. Definitely more enjoyable to play against the computer (lots of mileage this game is going to get)...though somehow I don't think anything can oust the sheer craziness embodied in Wii Sports Tennis in multiplayer mode. The front net battles we have are just hilarious. This is far more technical, and will still be fun. It is definitely the best Wii game I've played since Wii Sports. You can bet though that I will still request a good Wii Sports Tennis battle next time we're all home as well, just in case I get whooped in REAL tennis :)
Next up, Golf!
GJ said 2 days later
Yeah, you're right, Geoff. The totally unrealistic net battles don't happen, but as Marc and I can attest, playing live people is simply outstanding and even more fun. And once you get pretty good, you'll see some wild rallies. I haven't played much in the way of doubles yet, so that will probably be even crazier.
You can see, however, why this game is so highly rated. It's everything it claims to be. Now, Newegg, where the hell is my golf game????
Eric said 3 days later
Okay, I didn't get a chance to get the tennis game fired up last night. I don't have a profile yet, but I'll find yours tonight. I'll post mine too, when I get it. Kyle and I will probably play around with it for a while before we try to go online. So still no way for 4 of us to play doubles together, unless it's local?
I'm picking up golf today (don't tell Gina!) She wasn't happy that I picked up tennis, to be honest. Oh well, she'll get over it. Kyle and I, being outnumbered now, have to stick together. I told him I was buying TW golf, and it's going to be our little secret, at least for now! It may turn out to be a little difficult to hide on a 50" TV - I haven't worked this all out yet!
Geoff said 3 days later
Just tell her it's a hidden easter egg game in Tennis...like they do on DVD's. I'll setup a profile sometime this weekend...I've got to win at least a few games before I make a fool of myself online.
GJ said 3 days later
Hey, getting slammed online is what it's all about! But yeah, the medium computers will give you a pretty stiff challenge.
Golf is showing up sometime today, but I have to head to 'cuse on Monday to do some emergency virus recovery at St. Marys's. So, I may get some playing in this weekend, but not much.
Marc said 3 days later
You guys better practice up, you're looking at a two time champion now (on medium). I won the US Open and Australian Open, all in one night! Take that Pete Sampras (who I beat in the championships both times). Hopefully before you guys even start playing I'll be a Grand Slam champion.
I'll probably step it up to hard soon, as the medium guys are falling for the same tricks every time. But like GJ said, the medium guys will give you plenty of a challenge, especially while your character is young and weak.
Geoff said 3 days later
what if you yourself are young and weak? I think my arm is going to be sore after serving up 15-20 sets.
GJ said 3 days later
You suck. My elbow still hurts.
Marc said 3 days later
I stopped playing after two hours last night because I could feel the burn in my neck...I really give it a good hard swing on the serve.
GJ said 3 days later
Marc--I confirmed it's all timing. I can serve pretty freaking fast with just the right timed hit.
Marc said 3 days later
What are you "working from home" to get a leg up in tennis? Taking this competition to a new level. :)
Have you started to get some equipment that enhances your character? I've got a racket to improve my serve power, new shoes for speed, and finally got a second ability to use (being silver forehand and silver diving and reach). What kind of speeds are you getting GJ? I can usually hit a serve at around 119MPH pretty consistently. Wondering if I should use the serving ability, even though mediums can't handle the 119 too well.
how do you tell your speed? does it only tell you when you play with your character?
I've yet to create a profile since I've been doing actual work
Marc said 3 days later
As surprising as it sounds, I actually WON a bet. Stanley Cup Finals night my team at work had a party and my third line manager bet me $200 I wouldn't shave my head. So I took him up on it. That little piece of hair that was left got me another $50 for coming into work on Monday with it. The money was put to good use in buying all these newfangled Wii games and gadgets. :)
Eric said 3 days later
I don't know how any of you are doing any work with the number of posts you all put up. Man, is this a record?
Marc said 3 days later
Your speed will show up on a little LED board in the arena, usually in the top left part of the screen by the line judges.
I'm pretty sure this is the most comments in any blog post. And who said anything about doing work? :)
Geoff said 3 days later
definitely is the most comments of any post.
Steve said 3 days later
Holy crap.....
You guys are killing me. I really shouldn't be buying a Wii, but god I really really want one, especially if Tennis is as much fun as it sounds. That said, I prefer the 4 player battles we have at home, it would be a shame if you can't make that happen online (though it's more fun when you do it all in the same room).
GJ said 3 days later
You can do it all in the same room, no worries. And golf is four way live and online.
Work? Dudes, I've averaged about 14 hours of work per day for the past week. It's the damn Victoria's Secret Semi-Annual Sell (translation: that's my client, and this is hell week. One of many.)
I had no idea about the serve speed. But damn my player is slow and clumsy. Anna Sharpova just pounded the living crap outta me, 6-4. On medium. Grrrr.
GJ said 3 days later
Where do you get the fancy fast sneakers? Is that the swag we keep opening up? Didn't know it made you faster.
Steve said 3 days later
You mean Maria Sharapova. My dream girl.....
Steve said 3 days later
Or Anna Kournakova, but she hasn't been heard from much in the past few years. She was the original Russian beauty though.
GJ said 3 days later
Sorry, yes, it was Maria. She runs like the wind, and has a nasty backhand. Still have welts on my face.
Marc said 3 days later
Yea, eventually you'll starting opening some swag that gives you boosts. So far it's just been sneakers and rackets. I'm waiting on the backhand enhancing wrist guards.
Eric said 3 days later
My EA profile is ecas33. My console code is 6900 3473 1894 3513. I only have GJ's so you other two can send me a message if you want.
GJ said 3 days later
I got my green endurance sneakers, and my top spin enhanced racket. Made it to the semifinals of the US Open, beating my nemisis Boris Becker along the way. But I lost to Andy Roddick in the semis...the big jerk!!
Won my second online match, too (beat Marc one of three games in our play early last week). Made sure to use Federer, but this tough guy (who had about 630 online points to my measly 332) aced me twice early on, and I thought I was going to lose my service (for shame!). But...turns out, he sucked at the drop shot, and I got some cross-court drops at the line that were just gorgeous. He continued to fall for it for the rest of the match, and he went down in flames 3-0. Jerk disconnected as the match was ending, but he still got the forfeit loss. Good work, EA--I positively hate multiplayer services that reward line droppers.
So, I'm only AIM (my id is expgregbaumbach). If you see me online and my status isn't Away or Sleeping, feel free to ping me for Tennis or Golf. I have done a pretty good job of rehabbing my elbow and can now play 3-4 games in a row without pain. Yay!
Marc said 4 days later
My console number is 4374-6358-6590-7148. Hgoale on EA.
Eric said 4 days later
I send buddy requests to both Marc and GJ last night. Let's see if we can get a game going tonight, if your free. I'll ping you when I'm in. We could try golf as well. I really sucked last night. +6 for the first game. I need some practice.
GJ said 4 days later
Yeah, I sucked at golf too..mostly, my putting needs work. I accepted Eric and Geoff's invites in Tennis, and sent invites to all three of you in golf. Marc, I have an open invite to you in tennis--I think we've previously played as wii buddies.
GJ said 4 days later
not sure if we can play four player online with tennis--that may have to be golf.
Geoff said 4 days later
Eric, I am MajesticIX on ESPN, and I sent you a buddy request in Tennis. I already played Marc earlier (and got whooped..though 3 of the 4 matches were close). I'd be interested in playing as well...depending on what time and whether Ashlyn is awake or not. Let me know...txt me if need be as I may be away from my computer
GJ said 4 days later
I'm going online now. 4:04pm et.
Geoff said 4 days later
dinner...feeding baby...forgot the fights are on tonight, so I probably won't hit up online Tennis until midnight lol
GJ said 4 days later
You and your WFC. I'm gonna golf tonight, I think. Elbow needs a rest. Played a dude in tennis ranked 600th in the world, and man-oh-man was he tough. I lost twice to him, but it definitely helps to play a better player to improve...or watch yourself make the same dumb move, again and again and again. :)
Just working on dinner now, so the earliest I'll be on is 9pm, likely.
I'll be offline Sun-Tues, since I have hockey tomorrow night, and will be in Cuse Monday-Tuesday.
Kristen said 4 days later
Hi guys! Sweet haircut Marc!
That's my contribution, as I wanted to be included in the record breaking number of comments to this post. My elbow is sore tonight too, but not from Wii, unfortunately. I was busy scrapping princess decals off the walls of one of my bedrooms. Geoff, I left a hilarious message on your cell phone tonight. I was calling to find out what color paint is in your kitchen, and as we were turning into Lowe's Drew almost took out some chic doing a u-turn in a little Kia. I don't think I let out any 4 letter words, but I bet you'll be laughing when you hear my reaction.
Steve said 4 days later
You guys aren't helping me stay away from buying a Wii. I'm going to look at a Neon next week, an 01 Neon R/T. If I buy that, I'll dump the Challenger, and that will free up some money long term (6 Challenger payments = Neon).
GJ said 4 days later
Just so you have the numbers:
wii: 250 comes with 1 wiimote and nunchuk.
Extra wiimotes, 40 apiece
Extra nunchuks, 20 apiece
Motionplus (need 1 per controller, but you may not want one for each controller as few games use it) 20 apiece
Golf, 50
tennis, 50
Tennis elbow: priceless.
Marc said 4 days later
Well, it's official, I've gone through my second "year" in tennis, went undefeated and earned myself a Grand Slam. Nearly have all 3 abilities open and now have Roddick's serve. I have no clue how I was getting 119MPH before, but some equipment change put me down to a consistent 78. Now that I have Roddick's serve, I'm up to 94. Once I get this third ability, I'll be able to serve bullets, dive cross court, and slice the ball like I do in golf. :)
From the looks of it, Tennis is only 1v1 online, unless you have a buddy on your own console to get the 4 player online. Golf, however, is definitely 4 player online. I look forward to losing in that.
Geoff said 4 days later
i suck at online tennis. I simply can't finish. I always start ahead, and then slowly lose, almost always in tie breakers...accept this one dude who could hit 200 mph servers and crank it everywhere I wasn't. I lost that easy 3-0 :)
I can however crush the computer in easy...once I win my first tournament I'll jump back up to medium.
GJ said 5 days later
My career ground to a halt. Not sure why, but I'm seeing mucho problems with the MP--a whole lot of missed swings where either swings way late or not at all. Persisted across three sessions--but that doesn't rule out I'm doing something goofy with the remote. I'm going to give it a shot without the MP and see how it works.
GJ said 5 days later
Oh, and my serve with the silver Serena serve is 83mph. Using the pros online, I can get 85-90mph, tops.
Geoff said 5 days later
I've got to let me arms heal...damn shoulder is sore from all this tennis. And to boot I'm sick so I can barely breathe through my nose.
GJ said 5 days later
Tried with without the MP. Don't bother with that, it sucks. Can't really do the placement that you can with the MP working.
Still, very broken MP. Tried both of mine, similar results. Yet, it works fine in the ball machine practice, even on high speed / high frequency / random everything else. So...not sure what I did, but the game is unplayable for me right now.
Disc golf, however, is a lot of fun.
Marc said 5 days later
Did you happen to be playing McEnroe during that? I swear to god they disable your Wiimote when he starts losing. I demolish him on my serve and then I get up 40-0 on his serve and suddenly I can no longer swing and he wins. Needless to say, I tend to swear the most when playing against him. :)
I saw the no swinging too GJ, but it turned out to be because I forgot to plug in the nunchuck early enough. Just as a match was about to start, I felt like I was missing something. Doh, forgot the nunchuck! Ran and grabbed it, plugged it in and swinging was very off. I have no clue why it caused the swinging to be off, but after barely winning an exhibition, I left the Grand Slam mode and came back in, and it was night and day.
Geoff and I have seen some pretty ridiculous bugs online, where the opponent will hit it out or outright miss the return, yet win the point. I hit it out against Geoff on a game point and I won the game. It happens very rarely, but I've seen it enough to confirm it does happen. Last night I witnessed a very obvious double bounce against the computer. I had a drop shot (you know my ridiculous ones), that I saw double bounce, so I put my hands down assuming the point was over and suddenly on just about the third bounce, the computer returned it, I didn't hear out, so I frantically swung and naturally sliced it way out. Computer got the point. I've read in some forums though, that people seeing this glitch unplug the nunchuck and plug it back in during their serve and haven't seen the problem return for the rest of the match.
You can watch the forums here. Lots of discussion about these glitches online.
GJ said 5 days later
I've seen the double bounce issue online again and again. Word to the wise, always play the ball on that unless it's going out of bounds.
I have the nunchuk plugged in from the get-go, so no dice there. I'll take a look at the forums.
Geoff said 5 days later
I'm out of commission for awhile...arms are sore and got a pretty nasty head cold. I'm sure Ashlyn will come down with it today or tomorrow after just recovering from sickness last week...ah the joys of life. I can only hope I picked up what she had, but I'm sure I would have gotten it last week some time.
Marc said 5 days later
I just had all of the glitches combine online at the worst time. I was absolutely rocking people, then I got paired with a guy ranked 125th. We battled it out for a good 6 games, then when I had MATCH POINT on his serve, he served it, I returned it. Pretty normal stuff, but before the ball even bounced, the announcer called game, Federer wins. So I figured worst timing...oh well, I get him on my serve. He scored 3 points on my serve, twice where he hit it out and once where he it double bounced and he knocked it over my head. Finally, he won when I served a rocket, the screen said ACE, and then "Federer wins." In the end, he worked his way back and squeaked out the "win." Absolutely ruined it, I haven't had that bad of an experience with the game yet.
That's quite frustrating, mostly because I've moved up to hard and the computer isn't much harder than they were on medium. They fall for the same tricks, they just happen to dive a little better and recover faster. I was hoping the online play would at least extend the game a bit more, but if they can't fix these glitches, it's not gonna hold my attention unless we're all in the same room. I only see this online, and lately have seen a ton of lag, so I'm wondering if EA's servers are being hammered and they are introducing problems while trying to fiddle with their networks and servers.
GJ said 5 days later
Yeah, but the swing problems are plaguing my single player game too. You're not seeing that in the single player mode, Marc?
GJ said 5 days later
Note, I do only see the double bounce, out of bounds, weird display crap online...and it's getting worse, not better.
Marc said 6 days later
I don't see any problems in single player mode, except the double bounce once. Although it could've just been my mistake, but I was pretty certain. Either way, online it happens all the time and yes it's gotten significantly worse. Which is actually a good sign, since it can probably be fixed remotely.
Eric said 6 days later
I suppose I haven't played enough to be sure I'm seeing the same errors. There have been a few time Kyle and I have both said, "Hey, that was out!" I'll have to keep a closer eye on it.
Sorry about Saturday night - Kyle and I were forced off the Wii for awhile.
About the WiiMotion. I've been having the same problem as GJ with both my WiiMotions. It gets to the point that you can't even swing at all. One fix that seems to work for awhile is reconnecting the remote. Every time I've done that, the swing goes back to normal. I had to do that twice playing McEnroe, but I ended up beating him (in Easy mode - I still have some work to do.)
Marc said 6 days later
Don't throw away those MPs, it looks like it's probably the game. People who have played Wii Sports Resort and PGA Tour 10 think Grand Slam Tennis hacked in their support for MP, because the 1:1 is horrible in comparison. I kinda hope they are right, because Tennis, while awesome and much cooler than the original Wii Sports tennis, does not feel like a 1:1 motion with the MP. It does feel a lot better, but not jaw dropping.
There's a huge discussion of this on the forums. I'm going to give it a week or so and see if the online play gets fixed, but if the bugs continue, I'm definitely contacting EA about getting a refund. The single player was fun, but certainly couldn't hold my attention for too much longer. Laura isn't too interested in playing and I'd probably kick her butt anyway, so that pretty much leaves online play for me. So if it continues to be buggy, I'll take that $50 and apply it to Wii Sports resort.
Steve said 7 days later
Wow, did you guys know that there is a REAL game called tennis, where you can actually swing a real racket and hit a real tennis ball on a real tennis court? Man, that is a lot of fun. Parsla and I went out last night to play. The only downside, you have to chase the ball down when you hit it out of bounds. But boy, is it fun! Turns out, you can find these tennis courts at many high schools. To think, they finally got around to taking something from a game and actually turned it into reality. And so fast! I mean, wii tennis has only been around for 2 years or so, and all the high schools have already replicated the wii tennis courts with real life size tennis courts! Simply Amazing!
GJ said 8 days later
As a matter of fact, I have played several racket sports, most notably tennis, racquetball, and squash. Tennis is my least favorite to play in real life--there is a lot of ground to cover and the game isn't very forgiving. Squash and racquetball are much more in-your-face and competitive, so when in real life, I'll play those. Unfortunately, those courts are not as popular as tennis courts.
The computer game allows me to play the sport far beyond my natural abilities. That's the cool part. It also allows me to find an opponent any time of day, and play on nearly a moment's notice. So...don't go dissin' my imaginary sport, tough guy! :)
Marc said 8 days later
Actually, this game will be the second that has brought me into the real game. First was rock band, which turned my interest into learning guitar for real...I always wanted to, but figured I didn't have the dexterity and rhythm. And a couple days ago, Laura and I picked up rackets to get into tennis, as I haven't played it in ages and we have a court literally 50 feet from our apartment.
I agree with GJ though, tennis is pretty unforgiving and I have a feeling I'll prefer racquetball, I was playing pretty competitively in college, but alas, there's one racquetball club within 50 miles of me and they are outrageously expensive.
I find Grand Slam tennis to be much more of a mind game when playing people online. I've had some pretty ridiculous volleys and seen some returned shots where they just quite simply outsmarted me. Those matches are rare, but I know playing with you guys, I'll see those matches all the time. Geoff threw me for a couple loops when we played the other day. :)
GJ said 8 days later
I'd agree with Marc--it's definitely a mind game. You truly want to play a sport and use calories? Head outside, as Steve infers.
Geoff said 8 days later
I'm not sure all of my loopy shots were intentional lol. I know a number of times I put the ball in the opposite place I had intended which drove me insane.
Steve said 8 days later
Actually, beginner tennis isn't too bad, once you stop running towards the ball, and once you realize you don't need to swing much to return the ball. Now, learning how to hit fast and how to put spins on the ball, that takes time and talent. Bust just volleying the ball is fun. Parsla has never really played, and I've played just enough to be dangerous - I try the advanced shots, and usually they either go into the net or almost over the fence....
You know I'm just giving you guys grief. If I had the time and money, I'd be right there playing alongside you. Now Forza motorsport, that is fun. I raced at Road America last night, got punted off in turn 1 on the first of 5 laps, and battled back, passing the leader on the last corner of the last lap. That was fun!!!
GJ said 8 days later
Don't get me started back on Forza, man. I never won the full race at that Deutschland track, and it still eats at me!
On a totally unrelated note, I've solved my swing problem. Now if I was only halfway decent!
Steve said 9 days later
Which race at Nurburgring Nordschliefe? The arcade mode? The endurance race? Or one of the others?
Played tennis again last night with Parsla, and am sore. It was hot. Guess that's one of the benefits of the computer - you can play in a nice air conditioned house.
GJ said 9 days later
Arcade mode, last bit (all four segments). Doesn't seem to matter which class I run, the computer cars all accelerate poorly, but have amazing top speeds. Make one mistake, and they zoom past and disappear into the horizon. Best I've done is lead about 50% of the race, but in order to do that, I'm blocking the lanes best I can and invariably I enter a turn poorly at some point.
Steve said 9 days later
Oh heck, I beat all four of those sections no problem. Having real life experience helps a lot though. Have to run a near perfect lap though. Not looking forward to trying to win the endurance race there though.
GJ said 9 days later
I can beat all four sections individually--that's easy. Put them all together, and that's where the wheels fall off my bus.
Steve said 10 days later
Was there a full course in arcade mode? I know I beat it, I'm at 100% in arcade mode, about 75% in career mode. Won several full length races at the ring too, longest one was only 2 laps though. I think the endurance is 10 laps (130+ miles).
GJ said 10 days later
it was the last race in arcade mode
Steve said 10 days later
Back to tennis - have the issues been resolved yet? I'm not buying unless I'm sure I will have countless hours of fun with it. Wii sports Tennis is fun multiplayer, but not so challenging on your own.
Marc said 10 days later
The single player gets old pretty fast. The online seems to have gotten a little better, but not entirely. If there's any lag at all on any side, your game is screwed. For instance, Laura started watching a video on her computer while I was playing online and things slowed to a crawl.
If you're going to be around during July 4th, I'm sure you'll get a chance to check it out, so I would hold off until then.
Geoff said 11 days later
yeah no doubt. I'm rethinking purchasing my games not because I don't like them, just finding the time to play them is impossible. Interested in a Wii Steve?
I honestly don't put it to as much use as it deserves (as in I've played it maybe handful of times since I've owned it)
Actually, the only time I really played it was when I purchased the old SEGA Wonder boy in Monster World :) lol not even a Wii game!
Steve said 11 days later
Yea, I'm thinking about getting a Wii. I don't have a ton of time to play it, but now that the last event of a very busy May-June racing season is over, I might have a bit more time. Only 3 more autocrosses that I have to organize for the rest of the year, spread over August through October, compared to 5 that I organized in the past 8 weeks, including a last minute site change for the event today, plus working 4 days at Formula SAE. Phew. I'm looking forward to some time off.
I won't be home for 4th of July, since Mom and Dad are coming out here the following weekend for Maddie's baptism. So I get to spend 4th of July weekend furiously scrubbing down and cleaning my house! Then after Mom and Dad take off back to NY, Parsla and I start our road trip out west, stopping by one of her friends in Lincoln, Nebraska, then on to Colorado to spend time in the mountains and watch the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, then back to Minnesota to see Parsla's sister, then to northern lower Michigan for Parsla's family reunion, then back home and back to work the last week of July. Should be fun.
GJ said 11 days later
Sounds like an awesome road trip--cool!
Geoff said 12 days later
I've waited for this day all my life....the FIRST 100th COMMENT TO A POST! WOOHOO!
ok, got that out of my system. Sounds like a cool roadtrip! Unfortunately I won't be coming out to Michigan, have a wedding to go to that weekend (I also need to get extended licenses and crap to go through Canada as well)
Steve said 12 days later
extended licenses? Oh, that's right, you guys probably don't have passports and such.
Geoff said 12 days later
Nope. I ain't paying that kind of money for a darn ID unless I'm going way out of the country. That's ludicrous.
Those of you who grew up in the 1980s know the Ghostbusters franchise well--it was pretty much everywhere in the mid-80s, and continued on into the early 1990s with the second movie and animated series. It's coming back as a top-notch video game, which should form the launchpad for a third movie, handing the torch to a new set of young Ghostbusters.
The New York Times did a good interview with Dan Akroyd which you may wish to read, if nothing else, to rekindle old memories and learn some fun facts. You might want to check it out!
That's not all. I forget where I read it, but it was another interview with Dan Akroyd verifying that Ghostbusters 3, the movie is coming out. Supposedly is likely to start filming in the winter. The rumor has been floating around for quite some time, but this was straight from Akroyd himself and he verified all of the original Ghostbusters are back to pass the torch on to younger, and female, Ghostbusters. Likely will be terrible.
The game looks pretty cool, graphically, but based on the videos it looks like it will lose the fun factor after capturing 2 or 3 ghosts.
GJ said about 1 hour later
Actually, don't write off the game. I think it could well succeed due to the quality of the writing. It'll be more than just capturing ghosts, methinks. It's being hinted that there is enough original material in the game to equal a movie--no small feat. I'm looking forward to it.
As for the movie, it's hard to say. First order, the movie isn't a done deal--the game is supposed to "test the waters." However, writers have been commissioned, so that's a very good sign. I think filming could potentially start this year if the studio likes the script. The younger ghostbusters won't all be female, btw, but expect at least one female cadet.
Marc said about 2 hours later
I saw a video preview on Gamespot of the game and they said the script is really well written and pretty hilarious, but the gameplay does get old pretty fast. I imagine it will be successful due to the script, but likely won't hold my attention. Every game that focuses on storyline never holds me, but I'll certainly give it a shot and see how I like it.
GJ said about 3 hours later
Thanks for the linky, I'll have to check it out. Me, I like the story-based games just fine--that's partially what drew me to things like Wing Commander back in the day. So long as the game duties don't become totally mind-numbing, it should work for me.
Geoff said about 21 hours later
Looks pretty cool from the Gamespot review.
GJ said about 22 hours later
The gameplay looks interesting, but the graphics were too jumpy for my tastes. Here's to hoping that's cleaned up some by launch. Wonder how it'll look on the Wii.
Honestly, this doesn't really even give you a taste for the game. It is indeed the "friendship breaking game." Being competitive as we are, I'm guessing we'll all love it.
Believe it or not, PopCap isn't paying me for this plug. :) But this will probably be their biggest game since the original Bejeweled for them.
And yes, this game features a Zamboni. What perfect game doesn't?
Marc said about 6 hours later
Was this a first time playing review? That was a horrible review. The game looks sweet though.
GJ said about 9 hours later
Yeah, first time playing, and he's never apparently played a casual game which always plays out like this. This is definitely in the casual game genre, but it's much more fun than most...and pretty hard at times!
Marc said about 11 hours later
This game is pretty addicting. :)
Geoff said 2 days later
Thanks a lot GJ...I don't think I'll be getting anything done to the house now.
