In the most recent generation of video game consoles, backward compatibility has been a major point of competition between the three major hardware manufacturers. The success of the Playstation 2 in the previous generation is seen as being due in part to its full compatibility with the vast pre-existing library of PlayStation games and peripherals. Nintendo, having switched from cartridge to disc media between the Nintendo 64 and GameCube; Microsoft, being a newcomer with their Xbox; and Sega with their non-compatible Dreamcast were thus at a disadvantage, especially given the dominance of the original Playstation.

This time around, the situation is different; all three major consoles have some form of backward compatibility. Though the Xbox 360 has an extremely different architecture to the original Xbox, a system of software compatibility is available that is compatible with roughly half the games on the original Xbox. Sony's stance with the Playstation 3 has evolved with time from full compatibility with Playstation 2 games to complete incompatibility with them, though compatibility with the original Playstation has been maintained throughout. The most complete backward compatibility, however, has been made by Nintendo with their Wii; not only is the system fully compatible with GameCube games and controllers, but compatibility with earlier Nintendo systems is provided through an online service known as the Virtual Console.

When the compatibility of the Wii (then known as Project Revolution) with Nintendo 64, Super Nintendo, and NES games was announced, it was clear that direct compatibility with previously owned cartridges would be a difficult if not impossible endeavour. As such, it was unsurprising that the backward compatibility would be implemented through a download service operated by Nintendo. Some over-optimistic gamers thought that Nintendo would provide full libraries of those earlier systems to any Wii owner for free or by subscription, but most anticipated the paid download system similar to the iTunes Music Store but with classic video games rather than music.

Games and Technology

The Virtual Console was launched alongside the Wii system in November 2006, with a handful of titles available at launch and additional games being released every week (on Mondays in North America). The game selection differs by region with the widest selection available in Japan, and somewhat lesser selections in North America and Europe. A major coup for the Virtual Console is the addition of games from third-party systems, including the Sega Genesis, the Turbografx-16, and the Neo Geo AES. At present (November 2008) there are about 270 games for the North American Virtual Console, 390 in Japan, and 262 in Europe, over a total of ten different systems.

Technically, the entire Virtual Console is accomplished through emulation. The Wii, though the weakest of the current console lineup, is easily powerful enough for full, accurate emulation of any pre-1994 console. The much slower release rate of Nintendo 64 games suggests that a high-level, tailored form of emulation similar to the Xbox 360 backward compatibility is being used due to the higher complexity of the system, but a straightforward system emulator would be sufficient for all other Virtual Console systems. The use of emulation allows one particularly convenient feature of the Virtual Console for non-N64 games. At any time while playing such a game, the player may return to the Wii Menu using the Home button on the Wii Remote. Upon doing so, the system will save the exact state of the game, and return to it whenever the game is next run.

One difficulty with being compatible with a wide range of consoles is their variation in controllers. This difficulty is compounded by the Wii's highly unconventional native control system. The Wii Remote turned on its side is equivalent to an NES controller, which is in turn functionally identical to controllers for the TurboGrafx-16 and Sega Master System, but any further functionality cannot be duplicated with just the Wii Remote. A GameCube controller can be used to control Virtual Console games, though the odd layout of the face buttons may make some SNES and Genesis games more awkward. In addition, Nintendo has released the Classic Controller, which along with its uses in some native Wii games also functions as a full controller for all Virtual Console games.

Criticism and Conclusion

Virtual Console games are much less expensive than full-sized Wii games, but are still somewhat expensive. The standard prices of $5 for 8-bit games, $8 for 16-bit games, and $10 for Nintendo 64 games put them roughly on par with many new games on the Xbox Live Arcade and Playstation Network, even though most of the work for the Virtual Console games has been paid for by their original cartridge releases. However, the display quality of the Wii Virtual Console on modern progressive-scan televisions is superior to all options other than the often dubious option of emulation on a computer. Annoyingly, though, if the Wii is set to a widescreen aspect ratio, Virtual Console games will be stretched to that size requiring the player to manually set the ratio to get undistorted graphics. As a further inconvenience, Virtual Console games must be played from the relatively small internal memory of the Wii system, causing those with large collections to shuffle games on and off the system with SD cards.

Overall, though, the Virtual Console is an important and desirable feature of the Nintendo Wii. It allows access to a large and growing portion of Nintendo's decades-old back catalogue and includes games from virtually all major publishers. The existence of a relatively inexpensive, legal way to purchase and play classic console games is an encouraging development, and one that has been mimicked by Microsoft's Xbox Originals service and Sony's PSOne Classics. In addition, it provided the prototype for Nintendo's WiiWare download service which has proven to be a useful venue for new, smaller games alongside the Xbox Live Arcade and Playstation Store.

Platform: Xbox Live Arcade, PC (forthcoming)
Genre: Puzzle/Platform
Developer: Jonathan Blow
Release Date: August 6, 2008
ESRB Rating: E10+ (Cartoon Violence, Crude Humour, Lyrics, Suggestive Themes)

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One major change to the console world with this generation of consoles is the addition of download services, which publish small, inexpensive games through digital distribution. Xbox Live Arcade, WiiWare, and the Playstation Network provide independent game developers with a new means of distribution, backed by the promotional resources of the large console manufacturers. One developer that has come to prominence through these services is Jonathan Blow, with his popular Xbox Live Arcade game, Braid.

Braid is, on its surface, a lushly animated, beautifully orchestrated 2D platform game. The player guides the protagonist, Tim, though a series of worlds in search of the elusive Princess. However, the overall theme of the gameplay is focussed on the manipulation of time in the game world, and it is in the intricacies of the time manipulation mechanic that we find the meat of the game. At any point, the player may hold down the X button to reverse time. This power is, unlike in such games as Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, completely free and unlimited. You could reverse all the way to the beginning of the level if you wish, and this is occasionally useful. Other time powers appear in parts of the game, each lending their own flavour to the puzzles in the various worlds.

With a basic grasp of the time manipulation abilities the platforming is quite straightforward and a skilled player can quickly traverse the full five worlds that make up the main game. Upon completing these worlds, though, the game does not progress to an ending; there is an additional world that is only unlocked when all the puzzle pieces scattered through the worlds are collected and assembled to reveal a picture for each world. The puzzle pieces are hidden in plain sight through the worlds, with the path to the piece sometimes obvious, but more often requiring an involved sequence of platforming and time manipulation. This puzzle aspect is what elevates and extends Braid's gameplay beyond that of your generic platformer. Of recent games, only Portal combines mind-bending puzzle elements with otherwise standard mechanics as effectively.

Visually, Braid is quite impressive, with detailed, hand-painted graphics and fluid animation. The few enemy types are all animated well and display a whimsical sense of humour which extends to the sound effects. A sweeping musical soundtrack adds to the pastoral atmosphere of the levels; the overall dreamlike atmosphere complements the thoughtful, reflective puzzle gameplay.

The fractured, ambiguous story of Braid is presented through books in the game's hub section. These books are placed as an introduction to each world and obliquely describe each world`s time power. For the interested player, there is much symbolism to be found, especially in the brilliant final level and subsequent ending. That said, the game is still deeply enjoyable without delving deeply into the story.

Overall, Braid is one of the best games available on the Xbox Live Arcade. The clever gameplay and strong atmosphere combine to make a compelling experience equal to the most immersive 3D games on the market. While its relatively high price of 1200 Microsoft Points (approximately $15) may be offputting, its unusual qualities make it stand above the pack. If you enjoy puzzle games and have an Xbox 360, you could do much worse than downloading and playing Braid.

Disclaimer: If you read this and don't laugh, you're probably 1) Not as Awesome as I thought you were 2) Not a geek who grew up in the 90s 3) Dead. You have been warned.

Now, when you ask a bunch of nostalgic nineteen-year-olds what the 'best Pokemon' is, there are really only a few options you'll get. Mewtwo. Zapdos. Snorlax. Articuno. Slowbro. Starmie. Charizard, if you're stuck on Super Special Awesome Card Game mode. Dragonite, if you're ten years old. Mew, if you're a Gamesharker/h4xor/frightfully knowledgeable about a decade-old Gameboy game's glitches. Missingno, if you're trying to be cute. These are all unique, powerful, and obvious contenders for the crown.

All of them wrong.

There is only one species of those magical shrinkable cock-fighting-but-its-ok-since-hey-no-one-really-gets-hurt critters that stands, head and shoulders, above all.

Pidgey.

Pidgey is the Flying/Normal creature that epitomizes the archetype. It's pretty normal. And it flies. It's based off the pigeon, people. No, it does not have psychic powers, fire-breathing, electric sacs hidden in its cheeks, 15% off on car insurance, or massive energy beams of +10 Awesome. It can't even explode, a fact I've always found kind of disappointing. Picture that one:

"So this is my pet parakeet. I named him Snowball. If he's getting beat up, he can turn his body into a raging inferno of fiery death. Also, he rings that bell at the top of the cage when I walk in. See? There he goes, right now!"

"Huh."

So why is this common-as-dirt Pokemon, unequivocally, the best around? I could go with any number of reasons here:

1. Likelihood of existence.

Ok, this one is actually pretty important to me. I'm a bio major, ostensibly to do a bunch of a immunological research and make a pile of money and cure diseases and let people live longer and all that crap. All lies. I'm in it for the sole reason of someday learning enough genetic engineering to make a Pokemon. I already have the plan set out: my good man at Yale is a physics major so he's gonna collaborate with an engineering major at Lehigh to design Pokeball technology. We've already worked together on a teleporter (Scientific American, 2006) and a time machine (Scientia Romae, 500 BC), so this one shouldn't be that hard. Now, let's face facts. It's pretty fucking hard to make my future Pocket Monster able to shoot ice out of his hands. A damned useful trait, sure, but you could YOU tell me what DNA codes for it? And let's not get started on copying shit like Hypnosis, Psychic or (God in heaven) Metronome. Pidgey's sheer banality, on the other hand, makes it a perfect choice. All I've got to do is copy+paste the base-pair sequence of your Mark I Flying Rat, add in the ability to say 'Pidgey!', and boom. Press the button on the Gene-O-Matic and we're in business. And probably having Nintendo lawyers up my ass within the hour, but the great discoveries come with sacrifices, neh?

2. Common-place = evolutionary success.

Look, guys, it's simple. The fact that Pidgey are the most common Pokemon in the game can only mean one thing: they are evolutionarily successful. Many of them must survive. Tauros and Lapras are really rare because they are so poorly adapted; simply enough, they are bad at living. The Pidgey's numbers speak otherwise. Of course, the Pidgeys' high population count implies one other thing: PokeSex. Yup. In order to get numbers so high, they must be spending a lot of nights at home with Mrs. Pidgey and scented candles and satin nest-lining and In Your Eyes playing in the background. Mewtwo's a badass and all, but when he realizes he won't ever, ever be getting laid, don't you think he might be envying those two little lovebirds 'making whoopie'? Or, since I'm not from the 60's, 'fucking?'

3. I'll give you some time to clear the mental image of two Pokemon banging each other.

Ok. We good now? Super!

4. They have heart.

Pidgeys are kind of like the kid who still ate glue in 4th grade. No one really expected them to amount to anything. Some of them developed a fire in their belly in response: to prove to the world the dignity of paste-eaters. Pidgey are exactly like that, except they don't eat glue. They eat a fresh diet of insects and Caterpie, with the occasional Weedle. Weedles are rich in Vitamin B12. Caterpies are not.

Example: Like most Pokemon with wings, Pidgey learns the Fly move. One function of this move is near-instant, aerial, continent-crossing transport. It makes perfect sense for something like a Zapdos to get this move: it's fucking huge, larger than most people, so you can very easily see yourself astride one soaring through the clear blue, cavorting through the clouds and tasting the sun with a spirit as pure as Icarus'.

Now imagine flying on the back of a pigeon. You'd break every bone in that poor thing's body.

Pidgey does it anyway. You know why? Because those tiny bastards have a courage unknown to mortal man. They see your weight pressing down on them and they say, fuck it, I will not be stopped by the goddamned laws of physics. I'm above that.

Asshole.

5. Ten of them are a foot behind me right now pointing their claws at my neck oh god I can hear them god theyre not looking at me while i type this please someone help me save me i dont want to die please just sdsadklmsadkm

Developer: UbiSoft Montreal
Publisher: UbiSoft
Release: November 2007
Format: XBox 360 (version played), PS3, PC (April 2008)

Genre Keywords: Sandbox, Single Player, Stealth, Swashbuckling

Assassin's Creed takes place (mostly) in 1191 where you, as Altaïr Ibn La-Ahad (الطائر ابن لااحد , Arabic), a member of the order of assassins, are chastised for arrogance and sent to work off penance in what turns out to be a major initiative by the order to bring about peace in the Holy Land. This is to be done by locating and slaying individuals responsible for masterminding and furthering the Crusades. The penance starts with the stripping of Altaïr's rank, weaponry and (somehow) special abilities such as countering or tackling. While this was originally not in the game spec, it was thought that regaining these abilities gave a stronger sense of character progression; unfortunately, it makes the early combat more tedious and frustrating due to lack of special moves. As Altaïr completes the order's objectives, he regains equipment and abilitiies and learns more of the task that has been given to him.

Each objective is to - as the name of the game might hint - assassinate a powerful figure. However, since Altaïr has been demoted as punishment, he can no longer simply waltz up to the targets with the information the Brotherhood provides. No, he instead must personally investigate and locate all of the info required for a successful infiltration, and only then is he given the assassin's mark. Each investigation is composed of two or three tasks - eavesdropping on vital exchanges, pickpocketing plans, extorting information, or running goal-based errands for other Brothers - unlocked by arriving in a city's district and surveying the surroundings in a edificeering minigame. There are more tasks that can be unlocked, but only a few needed to unlock each final objective. Once completed, Altaïr pays a visit to the local Assassin's Bureau and is able to set out for the assassination. Each successful elimination ends with a pseudo-interactive cutscene and more information divulged by the guildmaster.

There is a twist, of course. In fact, there are a couple. One deals with the Templars and one deals with how things aren't always as they appear. Both would, however, bring in unnecessary spoilers into the review so I'll omit them as they do not greatly impact gameplay. However, Ubisoft is to be applauded for a sly new take on gameplay mechanics such as hit points, death, saving, and a nonlinear approach to storytelling.

The phrase "more than a sum of its parts" is bandied about a bit in gaming reviews. Assassin's Creed, in contrast, is a game that is precisely the sum of its parts, and little else. The parts in question are often novel, occasionally groundbreaking, often implemented very well and overall a lot of fun - but whether due to time or budget constraints or lack of communication between the teams implementing them, the less-developed features jar painfully with the ones that work well.

The parts in question include: massive, sprawling cities that allow nearly endless freerunning; massive (I apologize for the overuse, but this is where the game really shines), lifelike crowds with consistent behaviors; an action-focused combat model intended to make the character feel powerful but not overpowered; consistent stealth model that actually feels effective; intuitive, kinetic avatar representation. While not all of these are novel, they are all competent and mesh together to provide a solid and beautiful, vivid game.

However (and you knew there was going to be a however), there are the parts that blatantly don't work and undermine the otherwise fantastic efforts of the previous parts. While several of these simply stem from how ambitious the project is, some are downright silly and should have never happened, considering the budget of the game. To wit:

• A grand total of ~5 voice actors and perhaps 5 lines in each of the three locales (15 unique lines total) for the various passersby. To make things worse, even when the voice actors are different, the lines spoken by them as quest, or side mission results, are the same, verbatim! This mindboggling design choice destined to make the player go slowly insane over umpteen bazillion repetitions is downright unacceptable. Also see the "Speak quickly Outlander, or go away" syndrome (way back in 2003!).
  
• The two major obstacle elements, beggars (impede your progress) and madmen (shove you around), react only to you, the player. While again this would have been acceptable in a last-gen game where "crowds" consist of 5 people, in a next-gen game that has realistic, utterly packed streets this behavior is ridiculous. On top of that it's a bit game-breaking, since having them be unpredictable would be much more interesting than simply knowing that you must go around them.
• This highly trained assassin can't swim.
• Pseudo-interactive cutscenes as a method of imparting information. I'm sure someone somewhere thought it was a good idea, but ultimately the ability to move two steps across and three down while talking heads do their thing is not particularly immersive. This is made even worse when the cutscene in question occurs after a lot of mayhem had just occurred and all you want to do is run away and hide from the incoming guardsmen.
• Your character is the only one around that not only openly wears weaponry but also fancy weaponry, such as a short blade across the back - despite this, nobody seems to pay any particular attention to it. Again, while fine in older games where the world isn't observant or reactive, this stands out in Assassin's Creed as much as Gordon Freeman's endless silence does in Half Life II.
• Finally, the game consists of 9 assassination missions, all of which proceed from start to finish in an identical manner; only the locations vary. While the missions themselves are entertaining, slapping 9 of them together back to back with no variation whatsoever seems very lazy. I would much rather take 3 or 4 missions that were more thoroughly developed instead.

Looking at those issues is instructive in itself: they are laughable, by merely yesterday's standards. But by making the game so immersive and consistent otherwise though, UbiSoft has raised the bar and promptly impaled itself on it due to these immersion-breakers, and that is perhaps its greatest accomplishment. It will be interesting to see what the inevitable sequel will bring in terms of expanding awareness that yesterday's game convention standards have become today's blunders.

Title: Okami
Developer: Ready at Dawn
Publisher: Capcom
Date Published: 4/16/2008
Platforms: Wii

Title: Okami
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Date Published: 9/19/2006
Platforms: Playstation 2

Seeing Double

Okami was originally released for the Playstation 2 games console back in 2006. While it released to amazing critical acclaim, the sales numbers were disappointing. The release came towards the end of Playstation 2 (and Xbox and Gamecube) lifetime and a lot of hype was building for the next generation of gaming hardware--the most innovative of which was the Nintendo Revolution / Wii and its unique motion sensing input technology. At the time, Okami was only destined to come to the Playstation 2 with its ancient dual analog input from the days of yore. While this control scheme has served, and still serves, the gaming populace at large, Okami had a very interesting gameplay mechanic of using a brush to draw or manipulate objects on the screen. The poor sales of the Playstation 2 version could be attributed to the awkwardness or simple lack of enthusiasm for using your thumbs to draw lines and circles on a TV while other new and exciting control schemes were in the pipeline.

Fast forward to April 2008 and we have Okami in all its new, shining glory. The developer for the overhaul, Ready at Dawn, went to great lengths to replicate the original experience with a new control scheme. Some graphical differences exist between the two versions but they are the result of the different hardware platforms and not stylistic changes introduced by the developer. The result is an amazing gaming experience that allows a new audience to paint the world back to life one adventure at a time.

White Wolf Publishing

Okami has a very captivating story and art style that must be seen to be appreciated. The artwork and character design all have a definite Japanese origin but the character interactions are entertaining to American audiences all the same. The story and dialogue is relayed via text but each character has a blurred, incomprehensible "voice" that plays while text is being spoken which is a refreshing creative detail. The main character is a white wolf that does not speak, but an aspiring artist follows you around to provide a communications link with the world's inhabitants.

The intro is quite long, but gives you the tale of a great white wolf that goes with a young warrior to fight an evil, eight-headed serpent that terrorizes a small village. The wolf enters the fray to save the young warrior and engage the serpent until the warrior can return to battle and strike a deathblow against the serpent. Unfortunately, the wolf is mortally wounded and dies after the battle. The nearby village erects a statue of the wolf for her heroic efforts and sacrifice. The young warrior's blade, driven through the serpent, is left stuck in the ground where the battle took place.

One hundred years later, the sword is disturbed and the eight-headed serpent, Orochi, is loose upon the world again. As Orochi regains power, a curse spreads across the land sapping the vitality of the earth. A guardian spirit expends the last of its fading power to awaken the statue and bring the white wolf, Amaterasu, back into the world. Together Issun, the companion artist, Amaterasu must defeat Orochi and revive the world. By rediscovering the thirteen godly brush techniques, Amaterasu can write her will across the world once again set the drab world into full bloom.

It's All In The Wrist

Aside from the enchanting art style, the biggest draw for the game is the outstanding and unique gameplay. Even if your Wii experience only extends to Wii Sports, you can appreciate the fun to be had in motion sensing controllers. Some of the motion sensing input is a simple wiggle or snap to dodge, dash or attack during the heat of battle. However, the painting is what makes the game outstanding.

Before Amaterasu was slain one hundred years ago, she held all of the divine brush power. Upon her physical death, the power separated into thirteen distinct techniques and scattered across the world and cosmos, guarded by lesser gods until the return of Amaterasu, the mother of all. As you progress through the game, you awaken the lesser gods who have awaited your return and supply you with their brush technique. The techniques range from powerful slashes to manifesting bombs or lily pads.

Thankfully, the techniques are very easy to remember despite their varied results. A circle drawn around a wilted plant will set it in bloom; a circle drawn on water produces a giant lily pad. A circle drawn in the sky will conjure up the sun itself; a circle dawn on land, with an added diagonal line to resemble a fuse will yield a lit bomb useful for attack or demolition. There are several more techniques to use, but at least half of your techniques has to do with reconstruction or revitalization of the land or nature. You'll spend about as much time reviving the world as you will fighting the various imps and demons that wander across the world.

Although your powers are always used for good, they are not always used in anger. For instance, one village has its pathway through a valley sealed by a giant boulder. The village has-been (or never-was) swordsman decides that he will clear the path by splitting the boulder with sword stroke. When you watch the swordsman attack the boulder, a prompt appears for you to use your Power Slash technique by painting the sword stroke across the rock. To the villagers surprise, the path is miraculously cleared by the swordsman's power! At least they got the "miraculous" part right.

It isn't all about divine intervention either--you'll encounter many animals along the way who are foraging for food. You can carry some food stuffs in your inventory so if you so choose, you may feed the animals seeds, herbs, meat, etc. In return you'll receive Praise which can be used to enhance Amaterasu's abilities. Not that you don't get Praise from helping people, but after you help animals they wander around with hearts over their heads whenever you come nearby. Having a troop of striped baby boars milling around with caricature hearts held high is arguably more rewarding than helping someone find their missing clothes hanging pole.

It's worth a moment to touch on some of the complaints about the controls. Some people complain that the game has little mercy about translating your scribbles to game commands. I have to say that it took some effort to get the first few lines or circles right but that learning curve is quickly overcome. Here's a hint: hold Z to draw a straight line at any time. I had the small epiphany that the game's leeway for registering the brush strokes actually adds to the gameplay. This isn't Wii Sports nor Super Smash Brothers Brawl. You are trying to paint the world back in to order. Therefore, you must paint it reasonably well. Sound surprising to you? Me either.

Final Thoughts

If you couldn't guess, I heartily recommend this game. The controls are enjoyable and a great example of potential uses of the Wii's input mechanisms. The art style and story telling are fantastic. Most games will have a story that results in good beating out evil, but Okami's delivery is something that stands out from most every other game. Yes, you work for the forces of good to vanquish the forces of evil, but there is a deeper mechanic at work than smiting the evil doers. As you travel the country side, you help the world's inhabitants overcome their own unfortunate events, like a bridge collapsing or a mill wheel breaking. As previously mentioned, you have a chance to feed all manner of furry or winged animals roaming the world. When you encounter small spots of cursed land, you simply brush vitality back into them. Every time you rejuvenate a spot cursed land, or a tree or a four leaf clover, there is a small cut scene where lush green grass and thick plots of flowers explode in the world, bringing color back to the barren landscape. The story may not the fight of good over evil but rather an epic story of bringing goodness to a world at the edge of darkness (and I do mean epic, as the game is surprisingly long). This does not mean the story is simple.

Matter of fact, if you want simple, here goes: Take $40, drive to the store and buy the game.