GamesRadar - Wii Features

18 awesome games that died at retail (Okami)

21/10/2009

There’s a widespread notion in the videogame industry that game reviews can have a profound impact on game sales, and for the most part the evidence bears that out. But as tempting as it is to gloat about the supposed power that we, the videogame press, hold over the livelihoods of publishers and developers, it’s not always true. In fact, history is littered with countless examples of megahit games that had originally been ripped to shreds by reviewers ...

The Top 7... Deadliest shark attacks (Okami)

3/08/2009

In real life, everyone knows sharks are perfectly lovely creatures that hold down good jobs, drive responsibly in hybrid cars, and almost never prey on humans. In popular media, however, they’re vicious aquatic bastards who like nothing better than to sneak up on unsuspecting swimmers and devour them as gruesomely as possible, preferably in front of an audience. ...

Before and after: the games that changed during development (Okami)

15/06/2009

Splinter Cell Conviction

Sam Fisher’s gone through some midlife crisis-sized changes over the past couple of years. One minute he’s a tortured emo agent on the run, with as little respect for the law as he does for kept facial hair. The next he’s a malicious murderer, who makes Jack Bauer look like Jack Osborne.

Above: From badly groomed to just plain bad

The Conviction of 2007 has heavy influences from ...

The Top 7… greenest games (Okami)

20/04/2009

How noble, the human species! Once a year we selflessly take a break from wrapping products in toxic plastics and burning piles of old tires to appease this stupid, stupid planet we live on. How dare it demand more trees, breathable air and animals that don’t choke to death on our trash? ...

The Top 7... Games you won’t get to until 2009 (Okami)

1/12/2008

Another holiday shopping season is here, bringing with it the grim realization that, once again, the game industry has failed to learn its damn lesson. Just like every other year, seemingly every game publisher on the planet has decided to shove its biggest releases onto store shelves for the holidays, confident that they won’t be buried under the avalanche of every other publisher doing the exact same thing. ...

The Top 7... Little heroes in big worlds (Okami)

20/10/2008

Our weekly Top 7 lists usually cover timeless topics that could probably post any point throughout the year. But this week, with the newly released, critically fellated LittleBigPlanet inspiring countless cases of tiny heroes roaming gigantic worlds, we wanted to be a bit timelier and celebrate the very best of the very small. ...

Top 10 Entries on Top 10 Lists (Okami)

1/08/2008

If you’ve been reading gaming lists - magazine, internet or bar napkin - for as long as we have, then you’ve probably noticed a number of inclusions that seem to always make it. It’s like you can’t have a “Defining Moments”, “Worst whatever” or “Underrepresented blah” list without mentioning what every reader assumes will be the top pick. ...

MGS4 makes last stand against casual games (Okami)

9/06/2008

“We’re in the era of casual games, and it’s time to say ‘this is for the hardcore gamer’,” says Hideo Kojima, creator of Metal Gear Solid 4. “So it’s really, really important [MSG4] succeeds.” Has he got a point? With budgets spiraling (a decent next-gen title costs anywhere from $20-40 million) companies are becoming more risk-averse, keener on pumping out sure things than trying out new ...

Bikes in Gears of War 2? (Okami)

25/04/2008

With yesterday's announcement that Burnout Paradise is to get motorbikes, we thought we'd see what other big-name games would be like with bikes in them. How? With Photoshop, of course ...

Five reasons you suck if you don't play Okami (Okami)

26/03/2008

If you didn't go out and buy Okami, you suck. Period. Okami is one of the best games that hardly anyone played. Despite having received rave reviews and numerous awards - including our very own “Too Beautiful to Live” accolade - sales for the title were lackluster. What the hell, gamers? Do you want to play crap like Deer Hunter 17 and Bratz: Inappropriately Sexed-Up Pre-Teens all your life?Luckily, the Wii version of Okami is just ...

Top 7... Death Rattle Games (Okami)

10/03/2008

We'd like to think that every developer sets out to make the perfect game. But as budgets swell, stockholders throw tantrums, and release dates draw near, there's a whole myriad of snafus can explode in the face of well meaning folks. Plenty of games spit in the eye of gamers’ expectations and miscarry at retailers every year - that’s not special. These games are the great white whales that tanked so hard they dragged entire companies down with them. ...

2007's worst kept gaming secrets (Okami)

18/12/2007

18th Dec, 2007 There are some things that developers and publishers just don't want you to know. And given the unnaturally high number of game announcements, hardware revelations, industry shake-ups, and all round cool things going on this year, they've wanted you to not know a lot during 2007. Thankfully though, the internet exists, and thus nothing is sacred. That's the eternal irony of the games industry. It's a business which tries to shroud itself in secrecy, but whose patrons congregate ...

Meet the crew of One Piece (One Piece: Unlimited Adventure)

12/12/2007

Dec 12, 2007 When theyre not swabbing the poop deck, battening down any un-battened hatches or doing any other cliché-ridden activity; the Straw Hat crew sails for adventure and most importantly, the One Piece treasure. However, every now and then Luffy and co. get sidetracked and duke it out with nautical nasties. Because good always defeats evil, we thought wed give ya a sneak peek at the winning team under your control in the Wiis upcoming One Piece: Unlimited Adventure. Anime, ...

New Onechanbara babes revealed (Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers)

5/11/2008

We know we’re supposed to be morally outraged at the incredibly sexist idea of a game in which bikini-clad ladies hack away at swarms of zombies. We get that. But you know what? Most of us here really LIKE girls in bikinis (and schoolgirl outfits). And we love zombies. So, you put those two together and add in some samurai swords, and we’re there, outraged or not. ...