I was talking to someone today about the Wii, a co-worker in fact. He’s really into videogames, like really into them. He takes his PSP out when his family goes to dinner, as does his son and wife, and they play while waiting for dinner. This guy’s got to be around 40 years old, and when I envision that scene, it cracks me up. Anyway, he was telling me how he’s disappointed in the Wii. How there’s nothing but party games, and they aren’t fun, and all the typical ignorant things people assume about the Wii. I had to be patient with him though, he’s a 360 owner and has to send it in to get fixed about every 6 months, but I also had to smash his argument. The thing is, these conversations happen all the time. Those of us who own a Wii, and pay attention to it, know that the Wii has grown in leaps and bounds. We know that The Conduit is one of the best shooters available, that MadWorld is one of the funnest and goriest brain dead games you’ll ever play. We also know that PES 10 is going to be ridiculously good and will continue to revolutionize the way football games are played, and that Dead Space:Extraction is on pace to be one of the greatest on-rails shooters in years. The thing is, no one else knows this. I mean, obviously people do, but not the masses. I’m not talking about the masses that launched the Wii into a must own system for everyone aged 8 to 80. I’m talking about the masses that claim they are videogames. The supposed “Core” gamer. Just like KRS-One taught us that you are not doing hip-hop you are hip-hop, these people believe they are what games are. Ok, not in that literal of a sense, but I’m sure there are those that do. They feel like they know everything about games because they have a 360 and have like a 50million gamerscore and beat Halo 3 on legendary three times in one night with the lights off because their parents were asleep upstairs and if they woke them up their mom would probably make them sleep in the treehouse. First off, these people are sad. They aren’t sad because their life consists of playing videogames, they’re sad because they neglect an entire console. To continue your education in hip-hop, these are the same guys that act like Flo-Rida is real hip-hop when they’ve never heard of Rakim or Eric B. Well, the Wii ain’t no joke, so follow the leader and when it comes to the fun to be had playing videogames you will definitely be paid in full.

Now that I’ve just stunned you with a segue so amazing I should go ahead and retire, time for something completely different. One of the greatest things about the Wii is the level of imagination it invokes in game developers and publishing houses. All three of the major consoles right now have a service to provide independent games, but WiiWare blows them all away. Like, I don’t even think it’s close. The games available through the Big N’s downloadable service are amazing, at least most of them are. Ok, some of them are. But, the ones that are really are. It has to be the controls. It just opens up the imagination with what you can do, and allows developers to dive into worlds that are only possible here. All of this adds up to a huge bowl of win, and right now NyxQuest is floating at the top of that bowl. NyxQuest is a platformer centered around Greek mythology and is brought to us by Spanish developers, Over The Top Games. The first thing that should be said is that if you loved/hated Lost Winds, you will probably love/hate NyxQuest. If you haven’t played LostWinds you should kill yourself. I KID!! I KID!! I didn’t mean it, I would never want you to do anything like that, but you should seriously do whatever you have to in order to get the 1000 points and buy the game right now. In fact, you’ll need 2000 because you might as well go ahead and get NyxQuest at the same time. I’m serious, I can wait…. Okay, now we can get back to the matter at hand. I’ll put NQ in the simplest terms possible: you play a goddess named Nyx who is on a Quest to meet up with her old pal Icarus. During Nyx’s Quest (I do hope you’re sensing a pattern here…), she’ll use wind and fire to guide herself to the safety of platforms, it is a platformer after all. Once you dig a little deeper you’ll learn that NQ is a beautifully paced and designed game that invokes not only the innovation but the imagination that all games promise to have, yet so few can (or choose to) actually deliver. NyxQuest is a short burst of a game, but one that you will thoroughly enjoy the entire time. Over The Top Games’ debut on WiiWare is only the latest gem to hit the platform, let’s all hope there are many more to come. Tonight I leave you with the debut trailer (which I’m kinda late on) for NyxQuest, which is available right now for 1000 points. I’m also blessing you with the legendary (and greatest MC of all time) Eric B. & Rakim’s classic track Paid In Full, just because I can. Enjoy, and stay thirsty my friends.