Hey guys, Chris here. Kevin and I have been lucky enough to score some hands-on time with Brawl today, and we’ll let you know how things go. Unfortunately, the situation is a little strict, as you can imagine, so I’ve resorted to typing this from my phone. We’re sharing 6 consoles between about 100 people so far so Kevin and have only gotten one round in.

We can only use the sideways-wiimote control, which sucks.

Graphics are incredible, but we can’t hear much over the crowd.

Gameplay feels a lot more explosive and fast.

Ivysaur’s up-A is awesome.

Metaknight is one of the better characters

I’ll try to add more as we go. We’ll both be writing up full impressions tonight or tomorrow.
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New Item: Lightning bolt. Shrinks everyone but you, just like Mario Kart.

Dragoon is hard to control. Could just be because of the D-pad.

Ike has amazing Smash attacks.

Stages are a lot more busy and active than they appear. Lots of stuff going on. They’re also reeeally pretty.

PK Freeze is an awesome, useful move.

Most new stages have destructible elements. Awesome.

Wiimote controls still suck. Can’t wait for gamecube controls.

After about 8 hours of constant 4-person matches, unlocked characters include Sonic, Snake, Marth, Luigi, Ness, Lucario, King Dedede, Falco. I might be missing one.

Kevin: ‘Squirtle has the best Up-B ever’

Luigi’s final Smash is really weak on a large stage.

OMG ONLY TEN DAYS LEFT

Okay, first thing’s first. No More Heroes is weird. You play as Travis Touchdown. An anime-loving, porn-collecting, wrestling fan. Not your normal hero. It gets stranger. Having won a lightsab… I mean… a ‘beam katana’ in an online auction, Travis takes on the task of killing the top ten assassins in order to become number one. And his motivation really just ends there. He just wants to be the best. No More Heroes is the latest creation from director Suda 51 and his team at Grasshopper Manufacture. Weird games are really their forte, as seen with the Gamecube’s Killer 7. But No More Heroes isn’t just a super-violent action title. It’s a big deal actually. Can developers really take a chance not creating mini-game collections on the Wii? Especially with an original, M-rated title clearly geared towards the hardcore audience? Grasshopper jumped in head-first with this one, going where really no other game has gone on the system. Now was this a mistake, or is No More Heroes a hero for the hardcore gamer on the Wii?

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 Like all those ‘W’ words in the title? Yikes!

Today at the Game Developers Conference, Nintendo revealed the release date for two of it’s big second quarter hitters. The exercise simulator Wii Fit will be arriving on May 19th. Interviews have revealed that the entire package (with the balance board) will cost under $100.

 The other more exciting release date was a May 12th launch date for the WiiWare service. If you’re out of the loop, it’s essentially Nintendo’s answer to Xbox Live and Playstation Network. Developers can make small independent games that can be purchased on the channel with Wii points. All of us here at nWaffle are pretty excited!

Of course, people must be shocked that now we have TWO updates in one day after another long hiatus. I can explain. I know personally, I’ve been incredibly busy with school. I also had to beat the first Prince of Persia game. Chris has been busy applying for some fancy pants art school, and Shaan… well, Shaan’s a ninja. That should explain enough. School is slowing down a bit for me now so there will be more frequent updates, trust me. Stay tuned!

A recent press release has brought my attention to a very cool-looking adventure title by the name of LostWinds.  The title is being developed by UK developer, Frontier.  Built on an in-house 3D-engine, the game boasts some excellent art and solid visuals.

You claim the power of Enril, the wind spirit, and use it to help a young boy named Toku save the land of Mistralis.  You use the wind to help boost your jumps, attack enemies, glide around, and solve puzzles

The game looks like a very solid WiiWare effort, somewhere along the lines of Square’s upcoming Final Fantasy WiiWare title.  This is a very exciting project and let’s hope we can see more from it soon.  It’s really worth checking out.

Check out the game’s website to see more screens.

http://www.frontier.co.uk/games/lostwinds

A while ago, rumours about Nintendo hosting numerous tournaments in celebration of the upcoming Smash Bros.  title were surfacing.  Well those rumours certainly have come true.  Held at the Nintendo World Store (a Nintendo fan’s wet dream) in New York City, the first night of the tournament apparently went really well according to some people who attended.  Of course, there was a large turn-out as the public finally got their hands on Brawl.  Other tournaments were apparently hosted across the country, but not too many details were revealed regarding these other venues.

But while the U.S. usually gets most of the love regarding these tours and tourneys, Nintendo of Canada is jumping on board to give Canadian Smash-ers a chance to jump in.  Revealing some very exciting news on their site, dates, times, and locations were listed in this collaboration between Nintendo and EB Games.

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Ever wanted to actually throw a red shell at your sister? Well, it seems now you finally can without getting yelled at (maybe)! Finally, we get some new info on the upcoming Mario Kart Wii. We’re all still wondering if this baby will get pushed to Q3 or Q4 to completely avoid releasing near Brawl. Well… we still don’t have an answer, but we have plenty more details regarding the tracks and online modes, as well as other features.

One such feature is the ability to take your Mii’s and let them race as well! It’s a cool idea for sure. But personally, I don’t really see the point of it. I’d rather be driving around as Dry Bones or Yoshi than myself. Oh, my self-esteem issues…

As we already know, bikes are in the game. Now while stunts were confirmed for the game, bikes will have exclusive moves like wheelies. No clue if that’s the only one, but it’s there. How big a factor are the stunts to the overall game? There’s some talk going around that bikes may be exclusive to the cup mode, but nothing confirmed. Seems rather pointless to do so, though.

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