Posted on Mar 30, 2008 under Reviews |
Fans of the game Excitebike 64 will get all giddy when they see this latest game, Nitrobike. As for everyone else… well… not so much.
Graphics: 5 - Gamers have been starting to expect more from Wii games, particurally after titles like Super Smash Bros. Brawl have been able to prove the Wii’s game rendering engine is not that bad. Although the sense of speed is amazing (it really does make you “feel” like you are going fast) thats about all this game has to live up to. Sure, you feel like you are moving fast, but does it matter when everything else looks totally fake?
Game Play: 5 -The Wiimote was not given any chance to shine with this game. It is just not good enough for the super sharp hairpin turns you are going to make 90% of the time. This is the kind of game that would make your thumb sore on a PS2 controller because of all the turning back and forth. On top of that, most of the actual racing is utterly random. Sometimes you can bounce off the wall of a turn and make it out OK, other times you just crash and blow up. Sometimes you can “bounce” off other opponents without being harmed, other times you are sent flying off the bike into the air. Most objects you can crash right into and keep on riding, but seemingly random objects will cause you to get stuck and crash.
Single Player: 4 - Single player mode is fairly set forward. You have to earn a series of medals by playing increasingly hard tracks on an increasingly high difficulty rating. The game stagnates and becomes very old very fast as well. 
Multiplayer: 7 - This is your only chance to have any fun with this game. You can play on a variety of tracks and bikes and other settings — as long as you unlocked them in single player mode. The online game play is also pretty decent, as long as you can actually find someone who owns this game and wants to actually play it with you…. a rare event.
Online: 0 - Good luck trying to find someone.
Overall: 5 - If you just bought a Wii and are looking for a good game to learn all the “coolness” this is NOT your game. This game looks like it was written for something like N64 and just “upgraded” to work on the Wii.
Buy Game Now - When we searched online, the cheapest we were able to find this game was from GameExpress.com ; If you know a cheaper price let us know!
Buy Now!
Posted on Mar 26, 2008 under WTF Department |
Editors Note: This story is region based in the UK. All research and facts are also based on stats from the UK.
“Computer games to get cigarette-style health warnings”, Says the headline of the news story. (1) Now, last I checked, this was the warning label on cigarettes: “Smoking seriously harms you and others around you”. (2) So whas it supposed to read? Video games harm you and those around you? WTF! Sure, video games are violent. Sure, it causes issues.
But a freakin warning label on them? Come on. Thats a bit much, dont ya think? “Warning, this game is violent”…. uh, thanks? I think most people can figure out if a game is violent based on looking at the cover. Seriously, if it is anything like those warnings on the cigarettes someone is going to be hearing from me. Although, granted, the UK does not have a video game rating system like the US does.
“In the end, what their children are doing is still the parent’s responsibility”
- says gamer Archie Monji.
There are better ways to warn people about the violence in video games than big warning labels. Yes, there are rare cases that people have enacted violence they saw in a game - but there are also cases of people who enact things in movies. A much higher rate. Should we start warning people about that too? The mental affect it may subconsciously have on you? Warnings are a great idea but this is a bit much, in the wrong direction. Parents need to step up to the plate and control what their kids do, just like they need to control what their kids eat instead of blaming it all on McDonald’s.
Image Credit PCWorld
Posted on Mar 25, 2008 under Site Updates |
The Logo
Wow, haha. Version 7.0 sure sounds dorky. I am technically calling this version 3, but in reality it is the 7th time this site has undergone a major overhaul. Lots of work was put into reprogramming the new site, but at the last moment as the site was about to go live, we thought the new logo was crappy - so we scrapped it and used the old logo and nav bar instead. All new content elsewhere, and actually starting soon you should be able to read the blog and post in the forums under that same template - until I get around to that, we have a nice mario theme from the folks at wordpresstemplates.name
The Cheat Script
As you can see, we are running an all new script that is 90% in-house made. This new script adds lots of power and functionality to our existing system. On the old system, users had to create an account and go in a painstaking process to have a cheat added. There was also a manual admin review. The new system is instant. Type a game in the box, click the “Yes” or “No” button, and then add new cheats. The process is streamlined and many many times easier than before. We look forward to future upgrades of this script.
The Review Script
We are also working very hard to bring you a one-of-a-kind user review system. Unlike anything you have seen elsewhere, this review system allows you to upload screenshots and clips to your review, and has a detailed 10 point system. We look forward to pushing it in the near future!
The Forums
…will come back soon. Dont worry, it will be back in a bit. I am going to delete everything and start totally fresh. Less clutter, more clean-ness.
The History
TheGamingWizard was cofounded by myself and Brady22 a few years back. After ownership changed hands, things started to pick up to being a “real website” and not something hosted on invisionfree.
The Versions
TGW Version 1.0 - early 2005: A pro-boards forum was created for discussion of video games. The board no longer exists. We quicky outgrew the limited features and annoying ads of proboards and only used the site for a few weeks. (Staff: Brady)
TGW Version 2.0 - mid 2005: A freewebs website designed overnight by brady that he asked me to do a bit of design work on. The site is still alive, here. (Staff: Brady, Collin)
TGW Version 3.0 - late 2005: A new forum was created, this time at Invisionfree. This was the longest time we remained on one host, for about a year. The site is still alive, here. (Staff: Collin, Brady)
TGW Version 4.0 - Early 2006: The site forum and main website was moved to funpic.de hosting. We were running IPB 2.0.0 unlimited trial. (Staff: Collin, Brady, Mike)
TGW Version 5.0 - Late 2006: The site was moved from all the free subdomains to a domain and hosting donated by Ultima Development Labs, thegamingwizard.org. The forum was moved to SMF. The homepage is still in archival here. (Staff: Collin, Brady)
TGW Version 6.0 - Early 2007: New hosting was bought for the site at SiteGround.com and a new domain (TheGamingWizard.com) was paid for also. A copy of Invision Power Board was donated once again by Ultima Development Labs, whom I regret abusing the forum and making it lose its potential. My neglect and over-bloating of the forum is 100% the cause of it slowly suffering a painful death. (Staff: Collin, Rusty)
TGW Version 7.0 - mid 2007: The forums and homepage were totally redone, and the now-present logo designed. A different color scheme and cheat script was used, and there was an overly high amount of clutter on the actual cheat view page. Archive here. (Staff: Collin, Jesse)
TGW Version 8.0 - early 2008: One more major change. New script, allows for user moderation and ranking. Easier to actually submit a cheat - no registration is required. (Staff: Collin)
The Conclusion
Welcome to our all new site! Please stick around and enjoy the changes - all of them were made with you in mind!