Water, Ice, and Steam Forecast! Fluidity's Debut Game-Play Hours Report

Coffee Beans:
     Fluidity was released on December 6, 2010 in North America through Nintendo's WiiWare service.  Fluidity was developed by Curve Studios and published by Nintendo.  The game is available for download through the WiiWare service for 1200 Wii Points, which is $12.

     A portion of the game's description reads, "Tilt or twist your Wii Remote controller to use the various forms and properties of water on your free-flowing journey through Aquaticus, where every page has multiple panels and illustrations that have come to life.  ...additional powers, such as sticking to objects as a block of ice or shooting bolts of lightning as a steam cloud, will be needed to win the day and destroy the Influence and its minions."
     The ESRB rating for Fluidity is "E for Everyone", with "Comic Mischief" being the only content listed for parents to be aware of.

     How many hours have Wii owners spent sloshing and sliding their way through Fluidity, in the 64 days reported?  Let's take a look!

Hours shown are for the United States of America, not world-wide.

Approx. Number of Players Reporting Data:
     Fluidity has 5,961 Wii owners reporting game-play data through the Wii's Nintendo Channel for its debut, just 64 days after it released.

Average & Total Game-Play Hours Reported:
     Fluidity has 53,108 Total Hours of game-play reported on its debut, with an average "sloshing" play-time of 8 Hours 54 Minutes "Per person" reporting data.
     Fluidity's average play-time per session is just over 1 Hour 36 Minutes.

Sales Information:
     Fluidity is currently in the top 20 on the WiiWare's "Popular Titles" section, sitting at the #11 spot.
     Based on the approximate number of players reporting data, and the $12 price point of Fluidity, Curve Studios' net sales on Fluidity would be about $71,532 in the United States, before profit sharing with Nintendo.

Review Score:
     Fluidity has been received well by the "professional" reviewers, and its current "professional" review score average is 86.78%, based on 9 reviews on GameRankings.com.

Odd Beans:
     I thought it was interesting that Fluidity allows you to take on the different states of water: solid(ice), liquid(water) and gas(steam).
     With H2O in each of those states, you could use the water to brew regular coffee, use the ice to make iced coffee, or use the steam to make an espresso drink...how fitting!

Filtered Thoughts:
     First, if you haven't seen anything about Fluidity, check out the trailer below, and it will give you a good idea of what the game is about:


     Second, if you think you might be interested in the game, but aren't sure; I highly suggest going to the Wii's Shop Channel and downloading the free demo for Fluidity and giving it a try.
     I just completed the demo, and found it to be rather fun and interesting.  If you like puzzle-platform type games, I really suggest you give it a try!

     If you go to the Shop Channel to find the Fluidity demo, here are the steps to find the demo:

1. Click the "Start Shopping" button
2. Click the "WiiWare" button, located at the top of the screen in the middle
3. Click the "Newest Additions" button on the top right
4. Click the right arrow at the bottom right, and go to page 3, and the free Fluidity demo should be second from the bottom

     Considering that Fluidity is a brand new IP, and a WiiWare title, I think the fact that it debuted in just 64 days is really awesome for the game.  With the game's price tag being $12 compared to a lot of other WiiWare titles with lower price points, I think it's a good sign for Curve Studios and Nintendo that the game is still in the top 20 right now.
     The one bit of game-play data that I'm really surprised by is the average hours "Per person" being 8 Hours 54 Minutes...especially for a $12 game!  There are many full retail games that release at $50 or more, that have about the same number of hours for a single-player campaign.
     Being that I haven't played the full WiiWare version of Fluidity, I don't know how many hours it takes to complete just the main campaign, but I do know there are items players can go back to find in levels to unlock another mode in the game; so the 8 Hours 54 Minutes could be reflecting more of the "completionist" players that are going back to collect everything.

Questions:
     If you have played and beaten Fluidity, about how many hours did it take you to complete?  From your experience with Fluidity is it a WiiWare game you would recommend to other Wii owners looking for a good puzzle-platforming type game?


If anybody is interested in Fluidity, you can use a Wii Points card shown below, or a credit card to pay for the game from the Wii's Shop Channel:
  

GoldenEye 007's Multi-player Black Box Videos - Defense

Coffee Beans:
     About a week and a half ago, I wrote a post titled, "GoldenEye 007's Multi-player Black Box Mode - Defense".  In the post I explained the objective of being on the "defensive" team in Black Box matches, and I included a multi-player video showing one of the matches I had played.

     If you aren't subscribed to my YouTube Channel, I just uploaded two more Black Box videos from GoldenEye 007's online multi-player that you may have not seen.  In both videos, I was on the "defensive" team, and hopefully these videos will give you a better idea of how the matches normally go:

Black Box match on Archives map


Black Box match on Facility map


     If any of you are still playing GoldenEye 007 online, feel free to add my friend code to your list, 2043-7355-3797 and my username will appear as "Coffee".  If you add my code to your list, feel free to leave your friend code in the comments, or email it to me at Scott(@)CoffeewithGames.com(remove the parenthesis from around the @ symbol).

If any of you are interested in GoldenEye 007 for the Wii, you can see prices for it on Amazon.com linked below:
  

Congratulations Cheeseheads! Madden NFL Wii Games Hours Report

Coffee Beans:
     Well, well, well...congratulations to all the Cheeseheads out there on the Green Bay Packers' big win last night!  While I was rooting for the Packers, neither of the teams playing were "my" team, and I didn't watch the game, but just refreshed ESPN.com every now and then to see updates and the scores.

     Last year after the Super Bowl, I showed the reported game-play hours for Madden NFL 08, 09, and 10.
     With another Super Bowl played and a full year of data reported, how many hours have Wii owners played Madden NFL 08, Madden NFL 09 All-Play, and Madden NFL 10 in the last 365 days?  Let's take a look!

Hours reported are for the United States of America, not world-wide.

Click image to enlarge to read text in bubble.

Approx. Number of Players Reporting Data:
     Madden NFL 08 now has 213,430 Wii owners reporting game-play data through the Wii's Nintendo Channel.
     Madden NFL 09 All-Play now has 180,180 Wii owners reporting their game-play data.
     Madden NFL 10 has 93,084 Wii owners reporting game-play data now.

Number of Players Increased Reporting Data:
     Madden NFL 08 has seen an increase of about 38,165 more gamers reporting data in the 365 days between recorded data.
     Madden NFL 09 All-Play has seen an increase of about 55,328 more Wii owners reporting data since the last report.
     Madden NFL 10 has seen an increase of about 65,095 more Wii owners reporting data since last year.

Average & Total Game-Play Hours Reported:
     Madden NFL 08 has 6,494,606 Total Hours of game-play reported, with an average play-time of 30 Hours 25 Minutes "Per person" reporting data.
     Madden NLF 08 has seen an increase of 1,364,171Total Hours reported since February 8, 2010.
     Madden NFL 08's average play-time per session is just over 1 Hour 44 Minutes.

     Madden NFL 09 All-Play has 5,404,102 Total Hours of game-play reported, with an average play-time of 30 Hours 0 Minutes "Per person" reporting data.
     Madden NFL 09 All-Play has seen an increase of 2,145,025 Total Hours reported since last year's report.
     Madden NFL 09 All-Play's average play-time per session is just over 1 Hour 47 Minutes.

     Madden NFL 10 has 2,336,676 Total Hours of game-play reported, with an average play-time of 25 Hours 6 Minutes "Per person" reporting data.
     Madden NFL 10 has seen an increase of about 1,883,500 Total Hours reported in the last year.
     Madden NFL 10's average play-time per session is just over 1 Hour 45 Minutes.

Odd Beans:
     I was curious as to how long it takes to make a block of cheese, so I made a few phone calls today to two Wisconsin cheese factories.  I spoke with two gentlemen at Mullins Cheese(same last name, no relation!), and one gentleman at Bletsoe's Honey Bee Cheese, and they informed me that it averages between 4-5 hours depending on the type of cheese being made, and that the cheeses are usually made in 40LB blocks.
     Based on the 14,235,384 Total Hours of game-play reported for all three Madden NFL games shown, we could make between 3,558,846 and 2,847,076 blocks of cheese.
     With the 5,392,696 Total Hours reported just in the last year for all these games, we could make between 1,348,174 and 1,078,539 blocks of cheese...that's a lot of cheese in a year!

     I also learned since researching last night that the famous Cheesehead hats, like my Mii is wearing, are a compilation of three cheeses borrowing shape, color, and holes from a different cheese for each.  If you want to read all about the Cheesehead hats, here's a great article I found, HERE.

Filtered Thoughts:
     First, if you're wondering, "Why isn't Madden NFL 11 included with these games?"  Well, Madden NFL 11 isn't listed on the Nintendo Channel yet, and while it probably has enough hours to be reported by now, I can't access that information until Nintendo or EA get it added.
     As for the reported data, I think it's interesting that Madden NFL 10 only gained 9,767 more players than Madden NFL 09 All-Play did in the last year, and I assume it's because Madden NFL 09 All-Play can be found for lower prices, new or used, at stores.
     If you haven't seen any footage of Madden NFL Wii games, here is a video containing footage of Madden NFL 09 All-play and Madden NFL 10:



     Again, congratulations to the Green Bay Packers, and to all the Cheeseheads, on their big win last night!

Questions:
     Did any of you watch the Super Bowl last night, and if so, were you going for the Packers or the Steelers?  If neither team was "your" team, who do you hope wins it next year(as I'm hoping the Titans will finally win the big game next year).
    Also, if any of you own any of these Madden NFL Wii games, or even Madden NFL 11, are they games you would recommend to other Wii owners that may want to give a football game a try?

If you are interested in any of the Madden NFL Wii reported, or the newest one, you can see them priced on Amazon.com linked below...you can also see see a Cheesehead hat linked below as well!
        

FPS Friday - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reflex Report

Coffee Beans:
     Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reflex(CoD:MWR) was released on the Nintendo Wii on November 10, 2009 with a MSRP of $49.99.  The game was developed by Treyarch, and published by Activision; it was a port of the original Call of Duty: Modern Warfare from the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 that released in 2007 and was originally developed by Infinity Ward.
     Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reflex received a "Mature" rating from the ESRB for content such as, "Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language".

     A brief description for the game reads, "The best selling shooter of all time, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, winner of 50 combined Editor's Choice and Game of the Year awards, if finally available for Wii players eager to join the fight.  Ported to the Wii by game developer Treyarch, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Reflex brings to Nintendo fans the renowned intense and cinematic experience of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, complete with unparalleled multiplayer options, including 10-player online coop and coop play through Squadmate Mode.  The game also features more than 70 weapons and gear items, as well as Wii Zapper support.

     How many hours have Wii owners reported playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reflex with 448 days of reported game-play?  Let's take a look!

Hours shown are for the United States of America only, not world-wide.

Approx. Number of Players Reporting Data:
     Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reflex has 126,863 Wii owners reporting their game-play hours through the Wii's Nintendo Channel.

Player Increase Since Last Reported:
     I last showed the play-time data for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reflex back in September 2010.  Since that report, Modern Warfare Reflex has seen an increase of about 35,412 more Wii owners reporting data through the Nintendo Channel.

Average & Total Game-Play Hours Reported:
     Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reflex has 7,860,108 Total Hours of game-play reported, with an average play-time of 61 Hours 58 Minutes "Per person" reporting data.
     CoD:MWR has seen an increase of 2,614,333 Total Hours reported since September, and an increased its average play-time "Per person" by 4 Hours 36 Minutes.
     Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reflex's average play-time per session is just over 2 Hours 17 Minutes.

Sales Rank & Advertised Price:
     Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reflex's Amazon.com sale rank is #1,467, and its current advertised price is $43.99.
     (Sale rank and advertised price recorded around 12:45AM on 2-5-11)

Review Scores:
     Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reflex's "professional" review score average is 78.50%, based on 34 reviews on GameRankings.com.

     CoD:MWR has a 4 out of 5 Stars rating on Amazon.com, based on 80 customer reviews.
     Modern Warfare Reflex's customer review score average is 82.25%, when converted to a 100% review scale.  You can see the customer review scores breakdown in the image below:

Both review score averages were recorded around 12:45AM, on 2-5-11

Filtered Thoughts:
     First, sorry this was posted up about an hour past my normal "FPS Friday" time, I had issues with the Nintendo Channel not wanting to stream the trailer for the game correctly, so it took me longer than I thought it was to get it downloaded...then uploaded to YouTube.

     I remember thinking it was crazy that Activision was getting Treyarch to port a 2 year old game to the Wii, and I really thought it wasn't going to be received well.  I still haven't played Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reflex, or any of the "Modern Warfare" games that were originally developed by Infinity Ward for that matter; but I was surprised to see how quickly the game-play data for Modern Warfare Reflex debuted, and then how it steadily increased on a weekly basis after its debut.
     If you haven't seen anything on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reflex for the Wii, here's a trailer that has nothing but Wii footage to show you what the game looks like as a port:


     I think the game-play data reported clearly shows Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reflex has a very good fan-base on the Wii, and it's still being played regularly.  The increase of more than 2.5 million game-play hours since just September of last year, is more than most third party FPS games will ever see on the Wii.
     I also found it interesting that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reflex has a list price on Amazon.com of $49.99, but is selling for $43.99; while Call of Duty: Black Ops which was just released in November 2010 also has a list price of $49.99, but is currently selling for $39.99.

Questions:
     If any of you own Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reflex, do you find yourself still playing it on a regular basis?  Or, did you move on and purchase Black Ops when it was released in November?

If anybody is interested in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reflex you can see prices for it on Amazon.com linked below:
   

January Brewed, February Brewing - New Bean Roasting!

It seems like I was just writing my "Happy New Year" post, but January is done!

You may be wondering, "What's up with your 'Coffee Bean Family' banner, and what's this 'New Bean Roasting'"?  Drum roll...

Well, I'm happy to announce that my wife and I are expecting our second child!  Mrs. Coffee is doing well, and she's actually about 19-weeks along in the pregnancy.

We just had an ultra-sound last Friday, and found out we are having another little boy coffee bean, so I'll be adding another "Little Boy Bean #2", in a few months to the banner.  While we have known for a few months, I decided to wait until the ultra-sound to see if it was pink or blue...before making the announcement here.  The ultra-sound results were normal, and the baby bean was reported to be doing well.

In other not so big of news, school started back for me in January, so I'm doing my best to keep up and stay on schedule with my schoolwork...which is why my posting has slowed down some.
  
So, with the big news out, what video games and coffees did I play/consume during January?  Let's take a look!

Coffees Consumed in January:

• Caribou Coffee Reindeer Blend(Medium Dark Roast) -  You may recall this was some coffee that showed up Christmas morning, a gift from my wife.  I'm still enjoying it, but being that it's a whole bean coffee, and with my crazy school schedule starting back in January, I didn't find myself grinding it up very often, and would do it only about once, maybe twice, a week.
• Maxwell House Custom Roasted Dark Roast Ground Coffee - We finished off the container from December, and Mrs. Coffee purchased us another 270 cup container of it, toward the end of January. The new one will probably last us until the middle of February, or the end.

Video Games Played in January:

• Borderlands -  Keith and I played Borderlands a decent amount in January, but we still have a long way to go to finish the game.  I'm having a lot of fun with it, and it seems like the game has a wide range of weapons, and we haven't even seen them all yet.
• Donkey Kong Country Returns - This game is a blast!  Mrs. Coffee and I played through the game, and completed it 100% according to the game's data.  We are now going back through, and collecting all the puzzle pieces in each level, and we should finish that within the next week or so.  Donkey Kong Country Returns was the first game from my list for my New Year's resolution, that I completed.
• GoldenEye 007 - I'm still working my way back through GoldenEye 007's single-player campaign, on the "Agent" difficulty setting; and played through a few more missions in January.  I also played a the Golden Gun multi-player mode in January, though only a few matches of it.  It was fun, and I think once I figured out where the gun is in each map initially, I would do better.
• Greg Hastings Paintball 2 -  I am still working my way through the single-player campaign in Greg Hastings Paintball 2.  The game has a lot of levels, and I plan to do a more in-depth video "preview" when I finish the campaign.  I think I'm about 50% through the single-player campaign, and I did finally unlock the game's paintball rocket launcher, but I haven't purchased it yet.
• Monster Hunter Tri - I started playing this again in January, as part of my New Year's video game resolution, and I'm still enjoying the game.  I even played the game's online multi-player some, even though that isn't part of my New Year's resolution.  I'm almost finished with the quests in the single-player campaign, enough so that I believe my "final" quest has already been opened up for my picking.
• New Super Mario Bros. Wii - New Super Mario Bros. Wii was the first game I think we played in the New Year.  We had friends over, and after rocking out last year with music games from the Guitar Hero and Rock Band series, we ended up bringing in the New Year with New Super Mario Bros. Wii, with four-players, and having a lot of fun.

Thoughts/Questions:

So far, I have completed one of the twelve video games on my New Year's resolution list, and I played a few more, as listed above, during the month of January.  While I didn't drink as many coffees as I have in past months, I probably consumed about the same amount though.

If anybody has any questions about the coffees I consumed, or the video games I played, during January; please leave the question in the comments section, or email me if you prefer.

Also, you may have noticed the new banner at the top of the site, it was made by reader ArakniD, who also made the other banner I had been using.  I'll be switching the banners back and forth, so thank you ArakniD for taking the time to design me a new banner for the site!  I really appreciate it!

So, what video games and beverages did you find yourself playing/consuming during January?