If you hadn't guessed, Radio Ninty is dead at the moment.

I'll keep the website up and the feed live, so feel free to check out some of the great stuff from the last few years. 

Will we ever return?  I hope so, but it mainly depends on the games industry somehow getting out of the horrible horrible rut it's in.  I'm fed up with free-to-play-massive-rpg's-social-generic-shooter 4 clones and unfortuantly games as good as Mario Galaxy 2 and Red Dead Redemption are becoming rarer and rarer.

I worry for our favourite hobby, there seems to be less creativity in the industry than at any other time in it's short history, and the forced elongation of the current console lifespans, by using tacked on casual based bullshit doesn't seem to be filling me with the hope and excitement I once had.  We're 4 or 5 years into the life of the current gen and, bizarrely, apart from the Wii and Nintendos always brilliant games, I think it's been one of the most boring and unimaginative generations yet.  

I blame this on several factors.

1. The recession.  It really hasn't helped has it?

2. Shooters.  Even in the mid 90's when nearly every game made was a platformer it still didn't seem as bad as it is now.  Sure, there are some cracking shooters out there but for goodness sake why do we need a new one every fecking week, with each becoming more and more generac and boring and clichéd?

3. Sony.  They got it wrong. The PS3 (now admittedly a decent machine with a great Katamari game!) was/is nothing more than a device to plug other Sony products.  Move, 3D, Blu-Ray & HD.  None of which have added anything to the creativity and fun that games should have.  All these features have done is drive up costs thus eliminating any potential risk a publisher is willing is to make.  The average cost of making a console game these days has risen to over $10m if Edge is to be believed, and this is largely down to games being forced into HD (which adds an average of around 6 months per game in dev time, according to Develop) which adds NOTHING, that's right, ABSOLUTELY FUCK ALL to the gaming experience.  In many cases it actually makes it worse with audio/visual lag, unreadable text and clipping, oh so much clipping.

4. Nintendo.  By sticking in some ways to what they do best, making games for everyone and having the nerve to build a console around this idea they have disrupted the market to such an extent that the competition are hell bent and topping them whilst they themselves struggle to balance the demands of their core fans and the social market that has undoubtedly saved them. 

Finally 5. Super Mario Galaxy 2.  This game is perfect, there is simply no other game I have ever played (and I've played a few) that comes close to it's majestic beauty.  Every game I have seen or played since has seen me simply complain that its camera isn't as tight, it's world not as varied or it's design isn't as wonderful as Marios latest.  

I hope next year with the 3DS and hopefully a new Wii things pick up, I also hope that Kinect and Move are massive failures, forcing Sony and Microsoft back to making great games.  I miss the PS2 days, after 4 or 5 years of that console we had probably 20 or 30 games that still today can be held up as classics.

Unfortuantly I fully expect things to stay the same and the games industry pissing away everything it has built up in terms of acceptance and respect over the last 20 years.

Anyway, as I say Radio Ninty will hopefully return at some point and who knows, maybe I can one day be arsed to get together with Centy to get some kind of podcast out there, afterall I do think the world needs us.

Just not sure why.....

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A few weeks ago we asked you to send in your favourite 10 games from the past 10 years on all of Nintendo's platforms, a suprising number of you sent in your lists and it is now our pleasure to bring to you the list of games that made the final cut. There was a slight problem in that the fight for the final spot ended up with games with exactly the same number of points and thus all 5 have been included. There were ties elsewhere too, most prominently the two games that head the list had the most points. I'm sure you'll agree its a great list of games and shows the quality on offer over Nintendo's various platforms.

So without further delay, lets begin the countdown

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Buy New Super Mario Bros. Wii on Wii

This is a guest review by rockinghorsedreams.

When Nintendo announced they were making a sequel to New Super Mario Bros. I was ecstatic. When they said it would be on the Wii I was heartbroken. Let the Wii have the 3D Mario games, but don’t take the 2D platformers from the DS. I’m sentimental that way, and thankfully I was wrong.

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Radio Ninty would like to draw your attention to something a little bit different.

Video Games Live is a live music event centred around the world of video games and will be visiting the UK in a couple of weeks time.

We're hoping to have some coverage from the event, as for some reason the event is visiting Dundee!!  Yes, that sun soaked hot spot that's home to the Scottish Department of Radio Ninty!

You can catch Video Games Live in the UK at the following:

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Buy Dead Space Extraction for Wii

Dead Space Extraction, the name may be familiar to you thanks to the release of a survival shooter on the PS3, PC and XBox 360. This particular release just so happens to be a prequel to what was one of my favourite games of 2008. However, Visceral have taken it in a very different direction to their previous release.

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I just wanted to take this opportunity to say sorry for the sheer lack of anything from us over the last couple of weeks.  It's mainly due to a massive decrease in the spare time we have.  It doesn't help that at the moment we're not sure on where to take Radio Ninty.

If you would like to get involved in the discussion regarding the future of Radio Ninty, please get involved in this thread (members only, join here!).  All ideas will be given serious consideration and we appreciate ALL feedback you can give us.

In the meantime, please check out the best bits of Radio Ninty, and catch up on things you may have missed the first time round.

RN Guide To Mario
Radio Ninty Top Tips
Podcast Episode S4:E6 - When RN is great, it really is great!
The Arcade (members only, join here!)
The Soul Bubbles Interview
The NinjaTown Interview
S3:E21 - Spike, Centy and Stu with one of our best shows!
Leipzig 08 review show
Leipzig 07 review show
Photo Gallery

Enjoy these and we promise some new stuff will be up soon.  Have no fear, Radio Ninty will not die.  It just needs a rethink!

Buy The Haynes Video Gaming Manual

Haynes are a company who have had to evolve.  People don't/can't work on their cars anymore and so no longer have a need to get the brilliant Haynes Manuals.  So, instead of moaning or crying about the current world, Haynes have confidently and cleverly branched out into a huge range of merchandise drawing on their iconic technical diagrams as well as books about just about anything, whether it be Man, Karts or the Home.

But most impressively, they have produced 2 of the best gaming books I have ever read.  The first, Driving Games Manual was reviewed on the old site and I concluded that it was a loving tribute and a detailed guide to the world of Driving Video Games.

Now we have the second, The Video Gaming Manual.  And it's even better!

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The best rhythm game ever along with the most cherished back catalogue in music, a match made in heaven right?
Let's find out as we take a Magical Mystery Tour through The Beatles : Rock Band.

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Buy Guitar Hero 5

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Buy Mini Ninjas on DS

This is a guest review by rockinghorsedreams.

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Buy Professor Layton and Pandora's Box on DS

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Buy Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor on DS

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