Really. Europe is getting an Exclusive?

Yeah you did read right. But what is going to be so Exclusive?
Is it maybe Lucky Charms Delux. With extra sugar and E numbers then what you poke a stick at? Sadly no.
Maybe there will a special Koob Day, exclusive to the U.K. Again no. But that would be such an awesome idea. You could have floats that look like me. And in the parade (cause there will have to be a parade) there would be portable karaoke machines.
Errr.... where was I? Oh yeah the Exclusive to Europe.
Well I'll give some clues to what it could be.
It is video game related.
It's about colour.
When you say it's name you sometimes giggle (well I still do).
And sometime when you play with it's controller it feels like you have a very kinky sex toy in your hands.

Yes you guessed it. The Wii is getting a little makeover with the Black Edition.

Mmmm. Well that's it. It does look nice. But I got one already. And can't be arsed to replace it. It's not like I play it much any way.
But I guess there will be a load of people that will do so.
Koobs

Wii LAN adapter

This thing has made me fall in love with the Wii online capability. It wasn't my connection in the long run. It was my Wii's Wi-Fi ability. God knows why it screwed up.
Anyway, I just got this little plastic block of happiness today and wow what a difference it makes.
I went onto the Wii Shopping Chanel and got on right away. No waiting, no nothing (not even Wii points to spend).
But after that the big test came. A game. But what game should I try? I wonder.
I believe that this is going to be the last chance Super Smash Bros Brawl has to make a good impression.



So what do I think of the online now. Well, its kinda embarrassing to say this after knocking it so much but I'm giving it a 3/5 now. It would of scored higher if it weren't for the blasted Friend Codes and the fact that there is no voice chat. I also don't like the fact that because of the anonymity of it all that it almost feel like your playing the computer on hard mode. But there is no lag. That is the most important thing. At least at the moment.

So with that new score in place how does it look for Brawl overall?
Well it looks like this:

Gameplay	4/5	Simple and easy to learn. But can get repetitive in signal player. And clones don’t do it for me.
Multi-player	4/5	You won’t be able to get a better multi-player game. Would be 5/5 if it weren’t for the…
On-line	3/5	...those damn Friend Codes ruin the fun.
Graphics & Sound	4/5	Beautifully renderer and clear as a summer’s morning (well as a summer morning somewhere other then England). It’s a shame the music wasn’t orchestrated.
Overall	75%	Just so you understand 0% is “Crap”, 50% is “Average” and 100% is “Wow”. Only a dew games deserve a “Wow” and this game is definitely not one of them.

So there you have it. Are you happy now? =0)
Koobs

Super Smash Bros Melee...Finally

I said I'll do it and I did. Now leave me alone for a while. I need some sleep. ZZZzzzzz....
Oh here's the review btw:

So what's it about?
I doubt that there are many people that don't know what Smash Bros is. But I know how annoying it can be to try a get information about some things so I'm going to set a little background down about the game.
The game itself is the third installment of the smash bros series and was the most anticipated releases for the Wii this year. Boasting more characters, bigger stages and even on-line game play. It was going to raise the bar set by its predecessor.
The basics of the game are simple.
Take a Nintendo charter. You have a long list to chose from. But worth while going thought. With classic such as Mario and Pickachu. To classics such as Pit from Kid Iccurus or Mr Game & Watch.


Now as with all fighting games there are clones. Clones meaning different character, same moves. The best example I can think of off the top of head is Ryu and Ken from the original Street Fighter games. It was so bad that not only did they have the same moves their bodies where the same as well. You could only tell them apart from there heads and the colour of their clothes. The worst culprit for this in Smash Bros is the Star Fox team. Fox, Flaco and Wolf. They are all the same. Why waste space with Wolf when you could of put someone like Kystle in? That way you are keeping someone from the game but is likely to have a different move set. Just a thought.

Now all this talk about the moves leads nicely on to how to pull them off. And in true Nintendo style it's kept really simple. Now each charter has 8 basic moves that you can pull off. This involves the use of the A and B button and what direction you tap on the control stick.
The A is used for what are called smashes. In other words punching, kicking, clawing and biting. The B button are the special moves which are unique to each character. Well them and their clone. For example Mario basic B move (standing still and tapping B) is a fire ball where Yoshi's is to stick his toung out and shallow the enemy. Oh Yoshi you saucy thing you.

Now not wanting to have just another fighting game, Nintendo have thrown in another feature to make things interesting. You don't lose the match based on having a set bar health depleted. This doesn't mean that you can let your self get hit. Oh no no no. The more you get hit the higher your health % goes up and the further you get sent flying. Up until you're sent sailing off the screen. To which you then lose a life. But this opens up a whole new set up. How embarrassing would it be if you managed to get your friends damage up to 200% (Most people get knock out of the arena at around 150%) only to have them pull a reversal and wham bam straight to the moon. I would say it would be very.

What I expect.
Now as you can guess from all these words I'm very into Smash Bros. I've been counting every second for Brawl to be released in the U.K. Every unantagonizing second. I wanted to know how they have improved on and added to a game, that in my eyes is a very polished. Now the biggest feature I've been looking forward to is of course the on-line gameplay. If you where to ask me a couple of years ago if this was important then I would have said "No". But back then I lived close to all my friends and we would all have free time and be able to go around to each others houses. Now we work. Oh how it sucks. Can't buy games with no money. Need to work to get money. Can't play games because we're at work all the time. The cycle is vicious. Anyway back to the point. Now on-line gameplay is essential for any multi-player game. Now with Smash Bros you can play the single player game but it is predominately a Multi-player affair.
If Nintendo nail on-line play on the head then will have a contender for Game of the year. If they don't then we'll be looking at Super Smash Bros Melee 1.5. Better graphics, better sound but all in all the same game.

Graphics and Sound
Now the graphics are far superior to the originals. At first I didn't notice, but on one of my friend's request (Yeah I'm talk about you J), I went and played Malee right after Brawl. Damn. You don't realize how your brain make a happy memory even better. Just so you can see heres some comparisons I found on the net.
The most noticeable thing is Link's (the dude in green) hair. Well at least to me it is.
The sound, even though it is not orchestrated is great. You will hear the some tunes and you stop humming them for days. I know this is a fact because every one at work gives my evils the moment I start any type of humming now. Over all the Music and Graphics are crisp and clear. What more could you want?

On-Line
Now you might of noticed that I left this part till last. I felt that it was necessary because Brawl is a good game...Well. It is if you can get your friends around to play it that is.
It rested on the on-line functionally of the game to prove that Nintendo can hold it's own in the gaming world at present. Sadly, as you can properly tell from my previous comment, it didn't.
(You will have to trust me one this. It actually hurts to say it. Being a Nintendo fanboy and all.)
The first reason (there is more then one) why on-line sucks do-do is the lag. A 90 year old granny, that has arthisits in all her joints and has riggo-bloody-mortis setting in because she is so close to death is quicker then this game on-line.
Take this as an example of the lag. One of my friends live on the other side of London from me. I would say it just about 10 miles or so. We couldn't connect. Another problem we had was those blasted Friend Codes. And that's the second reason why the game fails in the on-line market.
Its not easy trading codes. There's no guaranty hat both parties will add each other. And they are so long as well. Why can't Nintendo make set User Names?
Now I've have competed in 3 matches that were bearable. I try to play on-line 40 times. That means that I have a 7.5% of getting a decent Brawl going. =0(
And before any one tries to say my connection must have aids or something. It doesn't. My 360 plays perfectly well online, even while my mum is surfing using the wi-fi connection.

Overall
I was expecting so much but received so little for a game that had such a delayed release. You would think all the bugs would have been iron out. But it seems that they have been left in. After the brilliant Super Mario Galaxy, I belived that Nintendo were going to look after there own brands. However after playing Mario Kart and Brawl I doubt that very much. The fan boy in me wants to give in and say "Yeah this game Kick Arse" 10 out of 10!" But I can't lie. Not even on Nintendo behalf. Sadly it's more "Dude. This game Sucks Ass. 6 out of 10."
If you have the money to spare then it's a ok addition to your collection. Other wise save it for a rainy day.

Gameplay	4/5	Simple and easy to learn. But can get repetitive in signal player. And clones don’t do it for me.
Multi-player	4/5	You won’t be able to get a better multi-player game. Would be 5/5 if it weren’t for the…
On-line	0/5	L…A…G
Graphics & Sound	4/5	Beautifully renderer and clear as a summer’s morning (well as a summer morning somewhere other then England). It’s a shame the music wasn’t orchestrated.
Overall	60%	Just so you understand 0 is “Crap”, 5 is “Average” and 10 is “Wow”. Only a dew games deserve a “Wow” and this game is definitely not one of them.

Super Smash Bros Brawl Review...well kinda

I was having a look over my blog and apart from 2 post (Hot Damn! & Gaming Goodness From all 3 Fronts), I've not done any reviews. Well video game reviews. This is something I need to sort out.
And I am. With this. My review of Super Smash Bros Brawl on the the Wii.
But I won't be doing it yet. I want this review to show what I really think of this game. So I'm going to play it a bit more before I make any final comments.

But while you guys wait, I'll tell you what I'm testing the game on.
The main reason for this is to show I'm not using some sort of 14" Rear Projection telly from 1993. And can fully justify myself when I say anything about Graphics.
So the telly. It's Samsung and it a 37". It is capable of an HD output of 720p. And it has connection ports for SCART, Component and HMDI.
My Wii is currently using the Component port, my 360 is using the HMDI port and my PS2 (Yeah damn right I got a PS2) is set up via the SCART.
I have a Boardband connection which reaches speeds of up 16gb. But in a test of the speed it gets around 8gb.
Now that should make it clear that I won't being giving bad info on anything from the Graphics to the On-Line Gameplay. Sound is a slight problem. T.vs are never give a good sound quality as the game designers hope. But all the games I've played so far are good on that subject.

Last but not least I'll give a rought layout of my reviews.

• The Game. A little background story (if any) and basically what the game is.
• What I Expect. This I set down what I expect of the game. If it is a sequel then it will have to prove it is better then the last one. These expectation have to be met if it dreams of getting a high score in the "Overall" section.
  
• Game Play. Speaks for it self.
  
• Multi-Player. This will be based on local play (i.e two guys in the same room, on the same sofa battling it out).
  
• On-Line Game Play. Like above, but also if there any other features (e.g Downloadable content)
  
• Graphics and Sound. I'm not the best person to ask about Graphics. I would happily play REZ all day.
  
• Overall impressions. Again say what it is on the tin. But this will be the most important section. It will be here where I give my score.
  

Now a quick not on scores. They will be based on a 10 out of 10 scale.

• 10 meaning "You Must Buy This If You Haven't Done So. What. You don't own the console? Then buy it and the game, B**th!"
• 5 meaning the game is average. "It's a good game. But thats all. If you have the money to spare buy it. If you don't then don't."
• 0 being "Why on Earth, No in Hell Did I buy this B***ard game.
  

I'm not the kind of person that will give a 10 to every game. It might seem that way sometime, but thats only because I don't want to waste my money if possible on crappy games.
Hopefully that will clear up some of the scores I given in earlier posts.
I wasn't being nasty or stupid. Just truthful.

Any way I'm going to go Brawling. Review up next.
Ice Koobs

Let the brawling commence!

I did it again.
I have a massive pile of games I need to complete and I've gone and added another one. But it was a "Must Have". I swear.
If you didn't guess from the title then this pic should give it away.
Yeah I know its opened already. Its just that when I got it I have a weird habit. I got to smell the instruction manual. Each page. Individually. I don't know why but the only thing I can think of right now that beats the smell of a new game is freshly cut grass.
Any whoo. I'm off to play this. I don't care if I got work tomorrow. Once my internet is sorted (hopefully by Monday), I shall post my Wii friend code and my Brawl one as well. Smash Bros will be my first online game for the Wii. So it might take me a little while to get use to. So just bear with me. Enough I'm going to go and play now.
Toodles
Ice Koobs

Gaming Goodness from all 3 fronts. First up the wii

Over the years I've gained a load of knowledge from video games. Like I mean a LOAD, we are talking around 15 years here, maybe even more. I do have to say that up till now, the gaming scene wasn't cheap. It still isn't.

But that where Nintendo have it sorted.

Before, if you wanted to play a shooting game you have to buy a light gun. It's impossible to play with the controlled because by the time you aim at something, it's moved and you have to start the whole process of aiming again. Of course if you had a P.c then you didn't have this problem, but then you had to make sure that your p.c was up to the job of handling the game.

If you waned to play a racing game and get the true racing experience, then you needed to buy a steering wheel. Well you could just use the controller but how could you show off to your mates that 180˚ hand break turn you've master. It doesn't have the same effect with a controller as it does with a wheel.

Now that is all a thing of the past with the wii-mote A.K.A the wii controller. It can do virtually anything. Aim it at the screen and its a gun, turn on its side and you can use it as a wheel. In a game coming out later this month you can even put it in your pockets and jog on the spot. Why is that cool you ask, because the console will tell you how far you have jogged. It like the swiss army knife of the gaming world.

Now throw in the point that the Wii is the cheapest console on the market you cold say that it is the best console. Right? Well kinda.

Don't get me wrong I would not sell my Wii for the world but, the graphics are somewhat lacking. Also add in the point about online game play. While being there it is missing a certain zing. I can't put my finger on this "zing" but as soon as I work it out I will defiantly post it.

In this day and age, with H.D tellies and Blue-ray disks, people expect to have realistic and almost lifelike graphics. This is something that the wii can't do. Not that it doesn't try. But as a gamer I can see why Nintendo did this. It's simple really. They needed to place their selfs back at the top. Now how are you going to this by not having at least similar graphics to the competition.

Instead of me trying to explain in technical terms think of it like this.

You go into a shop. There before you is two bars of chocolate, they are virtually the same. Both in wrapping, taste and price, but are made by different companies. Which do you chose? No don't send me e-mails. I know it will be split right down the middle. But now let say there is a slight difference.

This time one has a great wrapper, cost a bit but after eating a little bit of it you find that its either too chewy or too sickly. The other bar doesn't have the fancy wrapping, is cheaper and you love the taste. Now which one do you chose.

The majority of readers will go for the second one.

Now lets put things into context. The wrapping is the graphics of a console, the price is well the price and the taste and texture is the gameplay.

By doing what Nintendo have done they now have all the time in the world to iron out all the bugs of online gaming. Plus they can now work and test out different ways of improving graphics while not breaking and raping our banks and wallets.


Hope you enjoyed this post.

If you want me to do more or have any comments then just drop me a message or e-mail.