Archive for the ‘Review’ Category

Endless Ocean Online Play Impression

By Victor | Published: February 23rd, 2008

Endless Ocean Wii - Underwater Adventure Screenshot

Endless Ocean has an online co-op play option that allows you to dive with a buddy. Sihumchai has written a short article on his experience diving with a buddy in Endless Ocean. Here’s an excerpt from his experience.

Online was fast, and quick. Setting up a game is just as easy as opening your gate to your boat, and letting your friend come over, similar to Animal Crossing DS. In fact, it was only like 10-20 seconds when I opened my gates, “DonS” was already on his way to my boat with his jet-ski.

Ah-HA! I walk over to the gate, I saw him climb aboard. To greet him, there was no other way to communicate, but only through pre-set dialogue available through pressing UP on the D-pad.. so “THIS IS FUN” became the first line, follow by “PLEASE”.. So much sense.

Without further a due, I already promised that I’d take him to the “Abyss”. The Abyssal plains take place 500ft down the sea, which is about 1/2 a km according to him. But in reality, the abyss is located some 1.5 miles down(IINM), and goes as deep as 4 miles(or more).

But during our first dive, confusion started, as we started drifting away during our dive, we were lost, we were laughing our heads off thinking where the hell is he, then I said “RETURN TO THE BOAT”. I was still laughing while the screen was loading, and I proceed to call him to clarify things. He was laughing his head off too.

Finally, we got down to business. …

Read the rest of the article in this Lowyat.NET Nintendo forum posting.

Swimming with Manta Rays in Endless Ocean

By Victor | Published: February 13th, 2008

Here’s a photo of a real diver with a manta ray.

Swimming with a Manta Ray

Here’s a screenshot of a computer generated diver with manta ray in Endless Ocean.

Endless Ocean Screenshot

The screenshot looks better.

For a lot of us, the closest we ever get to swim with a manta ray is in Endless Ocean on the Nintendo Wii. Endless Ocean gives you an underwater adventure with realistic graphics and soothing music. It is a totally different gaming experience unlike any other Wii game. There are no enemies to defeat or kill. No frantic waving of the Wii Remote and Nunchuck in this game. What you get is an opportunity to explore and dive into the world of fishes, sea animals and corals near the fictional island of Manoa Lai. You sail around in your ship, the Gabbiano (meaning seagull in Italian) while penguins wander around the ship’s deck. There is a 40 page encyclopedia of the sea creatures that you can discover in the game.

So, how do you win in this game? After spending some time with the game, there’s no mention about how to complete this game. You can dive to discover and interact with the sea creatures, train your dolphin and bring divers along with you on your dive. There is no way to lose or get killed in this game. It’s all very open ended. The closest thing to completing this game that I can think off; is to fill up the 40 page encyclopedia of sea animals in the game. The game begins with the encyclopedia containing only outlines of various sea creatures. As you interact with the different sea creatures, the outlines get replaced with pictures of the actual sea creature. The encyclopedia contains a wide variety of sea creatures from the tiny clown fish to giant whales. There is definitely plenty to see and do in this game. I would recommend this game for anyone looking for a relaxing and stress-free gaming experience.

Furu Furu Park – Amazingly Boring Minigames

By Victor | Published: February 10th, 2008

Furu Furu Park Box shot

I tried out Furu Furu Park, played 3 of its mini games and gave up after 10 minutes. The collection of 30 arcade style mini games just doesn’t cut it compared to offerings such as Warioware: Smooth Moves or the Rayman Raving Rabbids series. Get Warioware or Rayman Raving Rabbids to get a laugh out loud gaming experience on the Nintendo Wii.