We’re facing a prequel-heavy year in entertainment: Star Trek, Wolverine, Terminator: Salvation, the upcoming Caprica (based on the new Battlestar Galactica), and shows that involve so much time travel it’s hard to say which is the beginning or end. Some of those shows won’t even be coming back next year, thanks to a slew of announced cancellations.

Rock it out with us in the Powetcast for the week of May 18th, 2009!

(Are there any prequels you have an opinion about? Angels and Demons turning your crank? Huge fan of Dumb and Dumberer? Leave a comment below!)

Audio Netcast Details
Subscribe to the Powetcast on iTunes
Direct Link: Powetcast Episode 10: War of the Prequels

Show notes after the jump!
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One of the major complaints about the Wii is that Nintendo doesn’t cater to the hardcore gamer audience enough. I’m hard pressed to disagree, as I only own 4 games that aren’t Virtual Console titles, and one of them is a port of a 4-year old game whose sequel was just released this past March. With that having been said, I can’t believe how anyone, casual or hardcore alike, could have overlooked this 2008 title from Majesco/Budcat Creations. It’s a classic-style shooter with a very flexible set of creation tools. In fact, I’d almost go as far to say that this is the Wii’s answer to Sony’s Little Big Planet.
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So Nintendo Power has a big front-page splash for a new Silent Hill game that’s coming out for the Wii. GoNintendo elaborates;

“This is a reimagining of the first Silent Hill,” explains producer Tomm Hulett. “It’s not a remake or a port. That’s an important distinction. It really feels like a new game.”

Apparently the story is the same, concerning Harry Mason as the main protagonist and him searching for his daughter Cheryl after she gets lost in the surreal town of Silent Hill. However, certain things have changed. On top of challenging puzzles, you now can find ways to access every room presented to you, rather than some rooms being locked in one phase of Silent Hill and others being unlocked in another phase. No load times have been announced, the Wii control stick and remote are used for separate actions, such as walking and using the flashlight respectively. We’re also told there will be no combat in this new game, and that you can only run from your enemies.

Ok, no load times and more in-depth controls seem like a good deal to me. The issue concerning the locked doors is nice, but takes away a bit of what made the other Silent Hill games different, even if in a frustrating way. However having no combat whatsoever and only being able to flee? How does that make the game any better? “Survival” isn’t just about running away from the threat; it’s about keeping yourself safe from harm. Sometimes you can’t always run and need to defend yourself, even with a crappy knife or wrench you picked up. I hardly see how removing combat makes this game more “survival horror”, but that’s me. I’m sure we’ll hear more about it in the near future.

Right on the heels of Resident Evil 5 being released overseas, and tomorrow here in the states (though some got it sooner), it seems the momentum of the Resident Evil franchise is still running strong and plans to for some time.
Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles has been announced for the Wii, and will follow up big brother Umbrella Chronicles as another rail-shooter in terms of gameplay. Darkside Chronicles will be filling in the gaps left by the previous title by exploring the Resident Evil 2 part of the story. As seen, Leon and Claire will make their candid appearances as primary character to control, while other characters and additional story will be shown and explained. Game producer Masachika Kawata also hinted to the inclusion of other game scenarios from the series being explored as well. Code Veronica, anybody?

No release date has been set, as the game’s development has been rumored to not even be halfway done yet, though we do at least have some nice eye candy to show for what has been completed.

RE: Darkside Chronicles

“Final Fantasy IV: The After” or “The After Years” as it will now be known, is coming to the Wii. What is this game? Final Fantasy IV: The After – Return to the Moon is a direct sequel to Final Fantasy IV, the greatest game ever made, which was previously available only to Japanese cell phone users. Many North American fans have been wanting to get this game, but unable to even imagine a mechanism by which we might get it, but Siloconera has done a bit of sleuthing and found an ESRB entry for the game stating it will be released on the Wii by Square Enix.

Not much else is known about the North American release of this game. Will it be it’s own title, a Wii Ware game or on the Virtual Console? Any of those could fit so far as I can figure, but I’m just extremely glad that we’ll actually be getting this game. The cell phone game was released in monthly installments, though it’s too early to tell if we will be getting this game all in one shot or in similar pieces.

A quick look at this game’s graphics show it to be nearly identical looking to it’s 1991 predecessor. The story follows the events of the original game by some 17 years with many character having aged, being descendants of original characters, or being secondary characters we’re getting more of a showcase on. For example we have characters like Palom and Porom all grown up, Cecil’s son, and even character’s like Luca, the daughter of King Giot.

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I review a butt ton of Nintendo themes candy, and give myself diabetes in the process.

The second of my twin reviews on the recent Castlevania games released, this one about the Wii game Castlevania Judgment, this one being not quite as lenient as it’s brother. Be sure to check out that review also if you haven’t already.

Ending Music: Dracula’s Castle Remix (Alucard’s Theme)
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A step that has not only been high on the wish lists of not only Konami fans, but oldschool NES fans in general, Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse was released today for the Wii’s Virtual Console for the low purchasing price of $5 US.

Favored in the series for its early take on RPG elements and a vast array of stages and a varied cast of playable characters to be unlocked beyond top-class Belmont whip-toting compliments of Trevor Belmont, Dracula’s Curse has not only been desired for a VC release, but also has been highly demanded by fans to be the next installment in the “Chronicles” sub-series. At the very least, now we have the 1st part of that request. Here’s hoping the 2nd will be in the near future. For now, we have one more installment of classic Castlevania NES goodness to tide us over. REJOICE!