cookies and code

For those of you who read/listen to the folks over at 2ndPlayer.net(http://www.2ndplayer.net), you may have read Dan’s write-up on the state of online play in the latest Dragonball Z game for the Wii. I’m not terribly savvy when it comes to looking into these things (so I’m definitely grateful to the 2nd Player guys for the investigation), but I’d like to throw my experience with the game into the ring.

First off, I’m a huge fan of the DBZ games since Atari took over the franchise. This installment of the game is probably some of the most fun I’ve ever had playing a DBZ fighter. The controls are definitely different from 2, but after a few chapters in Dragon History, you get used to how simple they are and how much more fun it is to pull off super moves. That being said, holy crap, why is it so hard to block in the Wii version. Maybe I’m extremely slow witted (which is probably the case), but man, I cannot pinch those damn (A + B) buttons fast enough to deflect an energy blast, teleport, or block. If it weren’t for easy mode, I’d probably be having less fun.

I digress though, online play … yeah it sucks. Here’s my advice, pray you can fight in an area with sparsely populated terrain and someone who is just as patient as you are. I haven’t had much luck pulling off any special moves, movement is like crawling, and my Wii has locked up twice while in this game mode; did I mention once you’re in an online battle, leaving is out of the question until it’s over. If the answers that Atari have given are true, then I’d suggest that anyone who owns this game just write off online play all together. Ignoring the fact that broadband in the US is all over the place, you figure most people have DSL/cable, getting 5-7Mbits down, and the Wii is running an 802.11b adapter (max 11Mbits). Even if your running some form of encryption over the wire and the Wii has less than favorable signal strength, I find it hard to believe these issues are coming from running DBZ over the wireless adapter. Maybe it’s the peer-to-peer connections, but come on, the game play experience is the same no matter who I’ve played against online thus far. Are you telling me we all need to use a 100Mbit wired connection to our 7Mbit pipes? Give me a break.

I bought DBZ Tenkaichi 3 because I’m a fan, but the promise of online play brought the potential for high replay value. I’m gonna be playing this game for at least a few months because of all the things necessary to get 100%. If online play isn’t fixed though through some type of patch, I’m gonna be cashing this game in for store credit once I get that 100% and moving on. Atari probably only cares about the original sale, so I’ll just say, if you’re looking buy this game because of online play, save your money. It sucks.

2ndPlayer.net rules, keep up the great work guys!