Nintendo-themed short video.
I can't tell if this is cool or dumb.
http://www.nintendoshortcuts.com/launch/index.jsp?id=7
Pretty creative though, and quite good quality for a user-video (at least in this layman's and non-creative person's eyes.)
Someone must have liked it, it won.
Here's the main site with the top winners.
http://www.nintendoshortcuts.com/launch/

The Best Buy I work at received over 120 Wii systems on Tuesday. They're for Sunday's ad, so they aren't allowed to sell any until then. I wonder how long this supply will last?

It's been the same way for me. You can't find them anywhere in College Station. I was able to find one last week down the road at the Navasota Wal-Mart though. They even sell out within the day.

There's a Wii exlusive action title coming to the Wii in September that looks interesting. It's called Dragon Sword. The trailer looks promising.

When I went to BB yesterday for that Fantastic Four DVD deal, the guy in front of me in line was buying a Wii. So there's definitely places out there selling them. Maybe they just got a bunch and started selling them, making sure to keep at least the minimum stated in the ad for sunday.

That's definitely possible given the report above of 120 at once store being held. Some may well have decided to put some out and just hoard enough for the ad.

I finally got my $27 copy of Mario Party 8 the other day...thanks to Google checkout and a Toys R Us misprice.

I'm not sure what the reviewers disliked about it, because I think the boards are much better than the ones I've seen before, and the Wiimote minigames are mostly fun.

My only other exposure to the series was a few games of Mario Party 4 on the Cube, and the boards in this one are much simpler and more varied. The controls are intuitive, and anybody could pick it up and play it.

Anytime I can get my GF to play, that's a winner.

Highly Recommended

yea, it's my wife's favorite game


problem is, she get's seriously upset when I steal her stars. It's really bad, to the point I'm going to stop playing

hahaha

Maybe I'm joining the (mario) party late, but I think a lot of the negative reviews are off base. They seem to be calling MP8 a collection of minigames, then saying it's paced slowly. Wario Ware is a collection of minigames, as is Rayman. I would call MP8 a board game first. Perhaps the 'party' in the title is a misnomer, I wouldn't play MP8 at a 'party', except for maybe hopping straight to the section where you can choose the specific minigames. For what it is--an electronic board game with challenges--I enjoy it. And the luck part of it ties in with that as well--sometimes you Get Out of Jail Free, sometimes you pay Income Tax. Again, I'm coming into the MP blind, so maybe there's 7 games worth of pure minigame tomfoolery I've missed out on that is altering reviewers's judgement, but my family enjoys MP8.

:lol:

1. Many people don't like the board game part, at least not after the 1st game as it got slow, clunky and took forever to get through.

2. It makes a great drinking game. Only time I was ever able to have fun with the games was in college when we made up all kinds of drinking game rules and would play for hours and get shitfaced.

That's my beef with the franchise. I loved the board game aspect of the original and everything else since has been slow, clunky and took forever to get through.

a 4 player match usually takes us about 20 minutes. I wouldn't say that's long.


It all depends how many turns you want the game to last, and if someone is sleeping on the controls when it's their turn to roll the die

I got Resident Evil 4 and Mario Party 8 for the cost of Mario Party 8, yay! :D2:

no way. We played 4-player and it took over an hour for a 15-turn game.

there should be no way


each player to move their wiimote, roll the dice, then move their spaces, should take about 20 seconds per person, or a minute and 20 for all 4 people. If you know the controls for the minigames, they take about a minute, tops.

That's 2 minutes, 20 seconds, or we'll just round up to 3 minutes to be safe.


I'd say TOPS, it shouldn't take longer than 45 minutes.

See with all the animations, buying/stealing shit, using items, reading what's going on, I'd say each person averages close 45 seconds to a minute each. Which puts the game at close to an hour without the mini-games and reading instructions/practicing. (15 turns = 15 mins. per person * 4 players = 60 mins)

I'd say it depends on the group then


I think the longest time is spent having every one get on the same page about the mini games (looking rules and controls)

Once everyone gets used to MP8, it really doesn't take an hour

I bought MP7 to play with friends who love board games and enjoy video games. We could not finish one game. It took well over an hour and two of the four people playing dropped off and started doing other things. Maybe MP8 is different than MP7, but I was psyched to play MP7 and I couldn't get rid of it fast enough. However, I have had numerous groups of people (who love board games) play Rayman and Smooth Moves for hours on end. Same with Donkey Konga on GCN, Super Bomberman and Mario Kart on SNES, and to some extent, Warlords on Atari 2600. MP7 was the most disappointing game purchase I ever made.

But don't board games (like real cardboard and plastic ones) take an hour or more to play? What's different about Mario Party (I've never played).

Some board games can last a LONG LONG time... and I've had a lot of fun playing a few hours of Risk or Axis & Allies. Long Monopoly games do tend to get old though.

2 player mode takes about 15 minutes depending on the board


party mode just has a mini game at the end of every turn, so obviously that would take longer

I'm sure we'll play a couple 4p matches this weekend. I'll keep track how long it takes

I think people are more willing to play a long board game on a table than they are a "video board game". I think there's just an expectation that things will move faster regardless if what you're doing on the video game wouldn't even be possible on a tabletop.

Regardless of whether it is a board game or a video game, pacing and progress are the keys. I hate board games where I have to wait five minutes between turns. Or playing with someone who has "analysis paralysis" and has to ponder every facet of their move during their move rather than being ready when it is their turn. There is nothing worse than playing a slow paced game for an hour and realizing that you are only halfway through. Another aspect is how fun is the game when it isn't your turn. Watching your friend frantically hit a rabbit over the head with a hammer in Rayman is fun. I enjoy watching a player's decision making process in Can't Stop (board game). But (in MP) apart from the mini-games, roll and move is, in my opinion, not that hot of a spectator event. If people have the time, they don't mind a long game as long as it is engaging.

That is a solid point that many don't consider. I found watching friends play in Rayman almost as entertaining as playing the game myself. Watching 3 people take their turns in MP is rather dull.

It never fails, I always fall asleep during a Mario Party game.