Coffee Beans
What happens if you don't drink enough coffee? You may write a post with a "semi-caffeinated prediction" that ends up not being fulfilled. Or, you may miss links for your chance at a FREE PlayStation 3 game, Double Dragon: Neon, HERE, or even a FREE Wii U system HERE.
Wave Race 64 released on November 5, 1996 for the Nintendo 64 in North America. The game, like F-Zero X, was developed by Nintendo's EAD studio and published by Nintendo worldwide. Wave Race 64 was released again, digitally in North America, for the Wii's Virtual Console on August 6, 2007 at a price point of 1,000 Wii Points. The Virtual Console release received the updated ESRB rating of "Everyone" with no content listed for gamers or parents to be aware of.
Did you skip out on Wave Race 64, but have been interested in it? How many hours can you expect from Wave Race 64, at least according to the Nintendo Channel data? Brew yourself some coffee, and let's take a look!
The Brew
Approximately 29,551 U.S. Wii owners have reported playing Wave Race 64 through the Wii's Nintendo Channel, now with more than 5 years possibly reported. The players have reported 72,436 Total Hours of gameplay since the game released on the Virtual Console service, with the average play-time being just 2 Hours 27 Minutes "Per person" (or Wii console) that has reported data. The average per day/session reported played is just over 27 Minutes, which simply means that each time a Wii owner sits down to play Wave Race 64, they are spending about 30 minutes with the game before moving onto something else.
The game has a "professional" review score average of 91.07%, based on 14 reviews on GameRankings.com. Its customer review score average is 83.80%, based on 42 reviews from Amazon.com. (I took one customer review out of the average, because it was a negative against the seller, not the game.)
Wave Race 64 has made Nintendo about $295,510, based on just the $10 price point and the approximate number of U.S. players that have reported data.
Caffeinated Thoughts
Just over a week ago, I wrote my "Wii U - Caffeinated Predictions, Thoughts, & Wishes" post in which I detailed what I was hoping we would see from Nintendo's Wii U preview event. I ended the post with a "semi-caffeinated prediction" saying I thought that "Wave Race Wii U will be announced as a launch title for the system."
Well, if you watched the conference you know my prediction failed, like Michael Pachter often does, and my prediction/wish/hope for a Wave Race Wii U game was not fulfilled. I blame a lack of coffee (never the lack of sleep)!
Perhaps you have never seen what Wave Race 64 looked like? The video below is from the game's introduction screen, and should give you a good idea of the graphics in it:
I didn't own Wave Race 64, but one of my cousins did and we played it a lot. I find the average hours reported "Per person" for the Virtual Console version a little surprising, because I remember having a blast with the game in both the single-player and the multiplayer racing options, and probably spending 2 hours playing it in just one day (or, afternoon back then).
While my Wave Race Wii U prediction failed to come true, I'm wondering if perhaps Nintendo is simply going to re-release Wave Race: Blue Storm from the GameCube as a Wii U eShop title now? Instead of releasing a new Wave Race title for the Wii U, maybe Nintendo will be updating the GameCube title with HD graphics and online features? One can hope!
Questions
Did any of you play Wave Race 64 on the Nintendo 64, and do you have good memories of it as I do? Do you remember playing the game for more than the reported average is now, or do you remember playing it just a short time, perhaps before moving to another Nintendo 64 game?
Also, do any of you think it's time for a new Wave Race title for the Wii U, with full HD graphics on and online leaderboards and/or races?
If you are interested in Wave Race 64, you can download it to a Wii console for $10. Also, see the N64, Game Boy, and GameCube versions linked below:
I did play Wave Race 64 back on the 64, and I do think this is a surprisingly short playtime average. I don't really......I'm not that fond of this or the GameCube game, though I imagine if I bought this to play for the first time in 2007 or after, I wouild give it more of a chance than 2 hours.
ReplyDeleteOddly, I love the Power Cruising section of Wii Sports Resort, which involves a jet ski. The shorter, time-trial style gameplay of it appealed more to me than the racing of Wave Race. If they want to mix that type of challenge mode into Wave Race, and an exploratory type mode (think Island Flyover from Wii Sports Resort) in addition to the racing, then I'd be excited for another Wave Race. I feel like Monster Games (Excite Truck/Bots/Bike, PilotWings Resort) would make a fine new Wave Race.
We don't own Wii Sports Resort, only borrowed it one time from our friends. We didn't even play it much, and stuck mainly with bowling and frisbee. As a matter of fact, I think I only played the Power Cruising game in it once... I don't know, Wii Sports Resort just didn't grab me, because I was too cheap to buy additional WM+ attachments when it released.
ReplyDelete"I feel like Monster Games (Excite Truck/Bots/Bike, PilotWings Resort) would make a fine new Wave Race."
I specifically mentioned Monster Games in the comments on these two posts recently:
http://www.coffeewithgames.com/2012/09/wii-us-release-date-price-games.html
http://www.coffeewithgames.com/2012/09/wii-u-caffeinated-predictions-thoughts.html
Considering their history of racing titles even before the Wii, I would imagine they have something in the works...I just hope Nintendo doesn't pull an Excitebots with it, and announce it the week before (day of) type stuff and don't even promote it.
The mention of an exploratory mode made me wonder about Go Vacation!, and if it had an exploratory mode maybe with the jet skis...and after finding the trailer linked below I'm wondering!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2b2enDN6Sw
Thanks for the comment and thoughts!
Hope springs eternal. At least Nintendo renewed their trademark rights this month.
ReplyDeleteI have actually never played Blue Storm but I know it was developed by a second party and the reception at the time was that it was missing some of the magic of the original. The original was indeed pretty magical for me...I probably put well over 50 hours just playing single player but I played a ton in multi as well...simple and sublime controls. i could play it one handed almost as well as with two.
Nintendo seems to be reorganizing some of its development efforts into smaller teams for downloadable games on eshop. Look at Pushmo and Dillons Rolling Western...an HD version of the original Waverace with a steady network component ought to be an economical project and a beautfiul thing.
"At least Nintendo renewed their trademark rights this month."
ReplyDeleteYeah, never sure if renewing it means much, or if it's just a business move to make sure they keep the name/series.
"Nintendo seems to be reorganizing some of its development efforts into smaller teams for downloadable games on eshop. Look at Pushmo and Dillons Rolling Western...an HD version of the original Waverace with a steady network component ought to be an economical project and a beautfiul thing."
I would imagine they have been working on some "HD" updates from older systems, like they had OoT 3D and Star Fox 3D. My only problem, is that with those games (Star Fox specifically), they didn't do anything for online play. No online multiplayer, and not even leaderboards. It just seems like Nintendo is really trying to play "catch up" with the other consoles and even mobile devices (see iPhone) for making the online aspect more serious/easily used by developers.
I really, really, really hope they address the Wii U's online before the system releases, and that they have some evidence to show with it as to why they are serious and we shouldn't worry with them getting stuck with an outdated system/store/online like what happened with the Wii.
Thanks for the comment and feedback! Perhaps I'll be racing you one day in Wave Race Wii U online!
I can't remember if I owned the game or borrowed it from a friend, but I remember enjoying this game so much! I think it would be great to see a new game in the franchise. I always loved the graphics, especially the water. Anyways, if they could do it right, I would really enjoy seeing a new Wave Race.
ReplyDeleteYeah seriously, the network play efforts are the company's most glaring flaw in their otherwise quality development efforts.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure it doesn't work this way, but if only they had this in-house crack team of kick-ass net-coders who flit from promising title to promising title infusing each with a standard set of multiplay features and rock-solid network performance.
I played We Ski & Snowboard by these guys (I'm guessing) and they seem to be all about the freedom to explore. I bet several of the activities are very open-ended.
ReplyDeleteJeremy (the commentor below me) reviewed the game, and from his review and the customer reviews, it sounds like the whole island is open for exploring. We Ski & Snowboard, I believe that "entire" game, was the "snow" portion/section in Go Vacation...
ReplyDeleteI would love to see a Go Vacation type game release early for the Wii U...HINT HINT HINT developers.
I can only hope. I've been waiting for a long time for a new Wave Race game.
ReplyDeleteI remember playing it A LOT with my cousin back in the 90s. We had a blast with it, and then when the GameCube released I knew another guy that got that one with his GameCube, bud didn't spend very much time with it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment!
Thanks for stopping by and the comment! Are you planning on buying a Wii U day one?
ReplyDelete