Heil Myself, Heil To Mii..

I've recently been subjected to the New Wii Experie... I'm sorry, the New XBox Experience. If you've seen it then you understand the mistake. Besides being subjected to an opening movie celebrating the console which I already own considering I'm seeing the movie, I had to create an avatar for myself. This avatar will be promptly ignored forever.

Despite the promise of avatar games, I went ahead and downloaded the demo for EndWar instead. To the game's credit, the voice recognition system actually works surprisingly well. It can even compensate for those time you stammer out your orders because you started saying it before you really knew what you wanted to happen. On the down side, the AI can't interpret your orders, so anything not in the catch-phrase list won't be recognized. Also, I personally found it annoying that your camera is pinned to Unit 1, vastly limiting your field of vision for commanding your troops.

I also downloaded 1942 Joint Strike, which was an interesting inclusion in the franchise considering it has almost nothing to do with the original 1942. It didn't take hours to play like the original (but that's a good thing), most of the music seems lifted from 1943 instead of the pseudo-rythmic beeping of the original 1942 (also a good thing), and it lacks the weird sense of self loathing that permeated 1942, 1943, and 1943 Kai (Japan should hate itself more). Most people would argue that Ikaruga is the best shmup out there. I'm too old school for that. While 1942 Joint Strike isn't the best shmup to date (that honor goes to Progear), I feel it's better than Ikaruga. If Ikaruga is a shmup then Portal is a first person shooter.