Seriously though, with todays hi speed download, why cannot these 3 companies offer downloads of their new games? Tie it to the game console / account that downloaded it and if the machine goes kaput, then the account holder can redownload the game on the new console.

How big is Mario Kart? Less than 4GB I'm sure. It would take a couple of hours to download that. Of course Nintendo doesn't offer a hard drive so there goes that idea. And XBox doesn't allow for external HD's except their own measly ones. I think PS3 allows for extra HD's, correct?

PDF files of the manuals can be downloaded and printed if needed.

Chris

Exactly. I can understand the limits of the console itself, but not being able to find the games is insane.

Well this can't be the case, I was in BB yesterday and they had probably 50 of them sitting on the shelf.

Be patient. It will come. The companies would love to kill off the 2nd hand market by doing this. This will not happen for the Wii though. Nintendo still doesn't really think that the storage problem is that big.

Really?

It appears those who called EA's Boom Blox a sales bomb spoke too soon. EA have just revealed that the game has sold over 450,000 copies!

http://kotaku.com/5030718/boom-blox-...own-from-ledge

I'll believe it when I see it. I love Nintendo, but they are a VERY practical company when it comes to cost/benefit. They are also probably the most aggressive company about piracy. I believe the Gamecube had a very unusual reading mechanism to prevent piracy. They are also very quick to sue companies like the R4 manufacturers and shut down websites that host ROMs.

Imagine how many they would have sold if it was a $30 game.

Sure, we'll all believe it when we see it. But you said they don't think it's a problem, but Reggie said at E3 that they are actively looking at the issue and realize its ballooning. True or not, he said it.

I can say I am concerned about starving children in Africa and think it is a big problem. That doesn't mean I think about them that much day to day nor do anything about the problem. On the other hand, Nintendo doesn't like to reveal too much about what they are developing until it is very close to being released. They could be hard at work on a solution right now.

Cool.

Is anything good coming out any time soon for us casual players? I usually stick to big, high rated games, but there hasn't been much for a while and I'm bored with what I got. I think I am sick of the controls and would just prefer a gaming system. Nevertheless, the Force Unleashed in Sept. will definitely be a pick up. I've also always wanted to play one of those Disney RPG games. Other than that, it looks bleak.....but I guess that's what the past 10+ pages have been about.

fixed.

Did you get Boom Blox? That's probably the best casual game of recent memory out there. Not casual but did you get Zack & Wiki? How about Okami or Resident Evil 4?

Some bargains, Best Buy has Blast Works for $10. It received solid reviews. Toys R Us has Thrillville: Off the Rails for $10 which looks to be in the 70% range.

You said you are sick of the Wii controls, did you own a Gamecube? There are dozens of titles out there that we can toss out as recommendations that would bide your time until the next big Wii release.

I didn't have a game cube. I got Zach and Wiki but didn't really get into it. I didn't like RE:4 because I couldn't save all that often and I kept getting jumpy and scared and shit. I'd be down with some game cube games. I already played Paper Mario for it, which was great. I never played Super Mario Sunshine or Luigi's Mansion, which appeared ok. I also got Mario Kart Double Dash which is fun to play with friends on the wave birds I picked up. I also have Zelda for Wii and GC (the first one) that I haven't played, only because of the time investment - although I'd love to play either.

I'll check around for thrillville since I enjoyed sim city and building stuff games. Blast works as well.

For recommendations on game cube games, I usually go to gamespot and search by highest rating. A lot slip through the crack that way, I'd imagine.

We've had several GC game recommendation threads, you could probably search, but here are some of my favorites:

Metroid Prime (and Echoes if you liked it and then MP3 on the Wii)
Pikmin 1 & 2
Luigi's Mansion
Eternal Darkness
Mario Golf (though there'll likely be a Wii version in the next 2 years)

that should do. I've heard good things about Eternal Darkness. Maybe pick that up or continue on with MP3 or start on 1. MP3 is perhaps my favorite Wii game thus far, with the exception of Excite Truck with a customizable soundtrack. Or perhaps Sports.

My top three non-Nintendo titles on the Gamecube would be:

Beyond Good & Evil
Eternal Darkness
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

As for Nintendo, I second Luigi's Mansion, it's a fun little game(short,but since you're buying used the price should be about right) and Pikmin is a blast. F-Zero is a great racer as well as WaveRace which is more casual.

Also going the Gamecube route isn't as jarring as a 360 fan picking up old Xbox titles since the graphical leap is more like a graphical step.

I'll throw in one of my favorite GC titles: TimeSplitters 2

http://www.gamespot.com/gamecube/act...s2/review.html

A couple other GC recommendations:

The Rogue Squadron games
Eternal Darkness, but if RE4 scared you, this will too
Mega Man Anniversary Collection
Mario Tennis

I liked TimeSplitters 2 as well (only FPS I could get the Mrs. to play), but using the c stick sure gets annoying after a while.

Nintendo addressing the storage issue with holographic technology?

http://www.totalvideogames.com/news/...579_5386_0.htm

http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/200...t-20-off-deal/

Chris

For anyone that cares (very few people I'm sure)

Dunno if it's national, but Comcast has been running these ads lately:

If you sign up for 12 months of Comcast's Triple Play (Phone, Digital Cable, and Internet, $129 a month (presumably new members only)) you get a free Wii (A $250 value).

There's a surprisingly decent Mario Kart ad to go with it.

IGN has a cool WiiMotion Plus demostration video up:

http://wii.ign.com/dor/articles/8952...eo_073008.html

Can't view it because I don't have the latest flash version. Won't "upgrade" again because it ruins all my other flash videos (youtube). Won't play sound at all and the video stops after 2 seconds.