Nintendo DS

Have we been too hard on Nintendo? According to your feedback, we have. We take a thoughtful look at the company, it's past, present, and future and offer our definitive stance on The House of Mario. Don't worry, it's not 60 straight minutes of unbridled hate. 56 minutes, maybe. Featuring Chi Kong Lui, Brad Gallaway, Mike Bracken, and Tim Spaeth.

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Topic and Game References:

• Nintendo Wii
• Super Mario Galaxy
• Wii Sports
• EA Sports Active
• Mario Kart
• Metroid
• The Legend of Zelda
• Animal Crossing
• Assassin's Creed
• The Conduit
• E3 2009

Please send feedback and mailbag questions to podcast (at) gamecritics (dot) com.

How'd they get it to fit?

HIGH A very faithful Shin Megami Tensei experience in a teeny package.

LOW Lacking the typically-excellent and usually-plentiful Atlus voice work.

WTF The AI gets another turn... why, again?

A star is born

HIGH Finding new nooks and crannies to explore.

LOW Bubble-hopping in Sogwood Forest. Man, that's hard.

WTF Rainbows are for swimming in, apparen

Just from the description Lair sounds like a can't-miss, but it was savaged in the reviews at the time for a number of reason—one of the primary ones was that control of the dragon was linked directly to the motion of the Sixaxis instead of a more traditional setup. I tried it briefly and found the controls as atrocious as most said, so I quickly moved onto other things. However, I was aware that Factor 5 had produced a download patch that gives players the options for standard flight controls using the sticks, and considering that I needed a third game to get one free, I was willing to give it another chance.

Not even the Wii Vitality Sensor could measure the explosive force of our E3 episode. Press conferences! Motion control! Overpriced handhelds! And of course, games, games, games. It's the Internet's only source for E3 analysis, so of course you won't want to miss it. Featuring "Big Daddy" Brad Gallaway, "Horror Geek" Mike Bracken, "Canucklehead" David Stone, and "Nicknameless" Tim Spaeth.

Download: Right click here and select "Save Target As..."
Subscribe: iTunes | Zune | RSS

Please send feedback and mailbag questions to podcast (at) gamecritics (dot) com.

Viewers really need to support Conan's Tonight Show. He is such a refreshing change from Jay Leno.