Achievement Unlocked! Episode 1

We kick off this new regular feature with all things Nintendo.

BEST NINTENDO WII IMITATOR

Logitech MX Air Rechargeable Cordless Air Mouse

^ Logitech will put all magicians out of job! Look out! The floating mouse!

The word air in its name is not there for nothing. It means that you will be using this mouse in the air – literally. When I saw the MX Air, something struck me: Disregarding its color and appearance, it is very much alike to the Wii’s controller, the Wii remote. Logitech has what it calls the Freespace motion sensing technology built into the mouse, giving the mouse the ability to be used in the air. And just like the Wii remote, a few flicks and twists of your wrists will get the MX Air into action in no time. For example, to adjust the volume, all you need to do is to wave the mouse left or right, depending on whether you want to decrease or increase the volume. The MX Air also makes the scroll wheel seem like an obsolete thing. With a touch panel in between, who needs a scroll wheel?

MOST STUPID RECENT GAME ANNOUNCEMENT

Wii Fit

^ The next big thing on Wii: Exercise games!

I knew it was coming, but that does not mean that I was going to embrace this idea. It looks stupid, dumb, and idiotic. After a huge pile of mini-game compilations and puzzle game crap, this is the next big thing on the Wii – exercise games! Oh, how exciting is Wii Fit! You stand on that board and pretend to be Silver Surfer. Excuse me, but I want to make it a known fact that games are for people to relax, to retreat into another world, not for people to exercise. Alright, who am I kidding? This is not a game in the first place!

BEST RECENT COPYCAT

Commando 07

^ Commando Slug wants to play.

The game looks and plays like Metal Slug. Well, isn’t it Metal Slug then, you ask? No, it isn’t – much to my surprise. The game is coming to the DS early 2008 and fortunately, it isn’t entirely Metal Slug. The interface is a little different, the character models do differ, and there will be some touch-screen mini-games included in the package.

MOST GRAPHICALLY IMPRESSIVE DS GAME TO DATE

TMNT

^ Concentrate! This is not the time to admire the landscape!

I have to go with TMNT for this award – it is one of the most graphically impressive DS game. Oh well, I lied, so it’s not the most graphically impressive, but one of them. By the way, Metroid Prime: Hunters looks gorgeous too, but I do feel that TMNT edges Metroid out a little. Given the easy nature of the game, you might just have more time to admire the landscape!

MOST STUPID GAME GENRE

Mini-game compilation

^ Trust me. This is going to be the best Wii game - ever.

Don’t flood me with these kind of trash. Mini-game compilations are nothing new on the Wii and the DS, but lately, they are starting to get annoying. Sure, some of them are good (like Rayman Raving Rabbids for both the Wii and DS and WarioWare: Smooth Moves for Wii), but most of these games are crap, put out by publishers who want to make a quick buck out of the unsuspecting. These games are also often too shallow and you will be hard-pressed to find interest in any of them.