Posted by Jake Bellissimo in General News | Comments Off
Nintendo Announces Upcoming Games
The very recognizable Nintendo company logo
There are many games that are coming out this year and next year that are published by Nintendo, and most of them were announced already!
The Wii games that were announced looks like a pretty solid list, bringing you games the whole family can enjoy. These games are:
Japan
Wii Fit Plus, 10/1/2009
Sin and Punishment 2, 10/29/2009
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games™, 11/5/2009
New Super Mario Bros. Wii, 12/3/2009
NHK Kohaku Quiz Gassen, 12/17/2009
Cosmic Walker, 2009
Kensakusu, 2009
Span Smasher, 2009
Dynamic Zan, 2009
100 Go de Start! Eikaiwa, 2009
Hoshi no Kirby, 2009
Line Attack Heroes, 2009
Monado: Beginning of The World, TBA
Metroid: Other M, TBA
Super Mario Galaxy 2, TBA
The United States
Wii Fit Plus, 10/4/2009
New Super Mario Bros. Wii, 11/15/2009
Sin and Punishment 2, Q1 2010
Endless Ocean 2, Q1 2010
Metroid: Other M, 2010
Super Mario Galaxy 2, 2010
Span Smasher, TBA
Line Attack Heroes, TBA
Monado: Beginning of The World, TBA
Europe
Wii Fit Plus, 10/30/2009
New Super Mario Bros. Wii, 11/20/2009
Endless Ocean 2, 2010
Sin and Punishment 2, Spring 2010
Super Mario Galaxy 2, 2010
Metroid: Other M, 2010
Along with the Wii games coming out soon, there are also many DS games coming out, which all look pretty solid, especially the Pokemon titles (which I personally can’t ever get bored of).
Here is the list for the upcoming DS games that were announced:
Japan
Mario & Sonic At the Olympic Winter Games, 11/19/2009
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, 12/23/2009
Famicom Wars DS2, 2009
Golden Sun DS, TBA
The United States
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky, 10/12/2009
Style Savvy, 11/2/2009
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, 12/7/2009
Pokémon HeartGold, Spring 2010
Pokémon SoulSilver, Spring 2010
Glory of Heracles, 2010
Golden Sun DS, 2010
WarioWare D.I.Y., TBA
Picross 3D, TBA
Europe
Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story, 10/9/2009
Nintendo Presents: Style Boutique, 10/23/2009
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky, 11/20/2009
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, 12/11/2009
Pokémon HeartGold, Spring 2010
Pokémon SoulSilver, Spring 2010
WarioWare D.I.Y., TBA
Be sure to pick up some of these games on their release dates, I know I will!
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Posted by Jim Avery in General News | Comments Off
Nintendo Releases Full Q2 Financials
Nintendo of Japan has released their quarterly sales report, and as Chad Fleming expertly noted, profits and Wii sales are seeing a slight decline; check out his article for more information on Nintendo’s position on that. Here’s what else the report had to offer:
- Nintendo’s total sales for the first half of the year were $6.02 billion USD, a 35% decrease from the previous year (which, don’t forget, introduced Wii Fit and Mario Kart Wii).
- Nintendo is currently worth $18.4 billion USD, a 8% decrease.
- Nintendo expects $16.5 billion USD in sales this year, a 18.4% decrease.
- The big-selling DS game in Japan was Pokémon HeartGold and Pokémon SoulSilver, which saw combined sales of over 2 million units. Also popular was Tomodachi Collection ("Friend Collection"), a Sims-style Mii-based game that sold over a million units in this half of the fiscal year. Nothing particularly noteworthy happened over here in North America, it seems.
- For the Wii, the big seller was Wii Sports Resort around the globe, and that’s about it. Even Nintendo knows that really good Wii games can be hard to come by.
- Nintendo sold $14.3 million USD worth of non-video-game items, like playing cards, in the first half of the year. My guess is T-shirts makes up a lot of this.
- Interestingly, Nintendo received $44.7 million USD in refunds on lawsuit penalties paid. Odd way to make money.
- 11.7 million DS units were sold in the past six months, and 7.15 million of those were a DSi; this makes 113.5 million DS’s, and 10.17 million DSi’s, sold to date. Nintendo expects to sell 30 million over the course of the year.
- As far as software goes, the DS sold 71.15 million units so far this fiscal year, and only 5.89 million of them were new releases. This makes 638.1 million software titles sold to date. Nintendo anticipates they’ll sell 150 million software units this fiscal year.
- The Wii sold 76.2 million software units this term to beat out the DS; this makes 429.2 million units sold to date. Expected software sales for the fiscal year are 180 million units.
I would just like to say, once again, that I called it. Momentum is everything in businesses like these, and Nintendo knows how to keep momentum going, such as with the DSi. Also, I’d love to see an analysis on how much of Nintendo’s profit loss was the economic recession and how much of it was loss of consumer interest.
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Posted by Chad Fleming in General News | Comments Off
Nintendo Sees Massive Year Over Year Drop in First Half of Fiscal ’09
For the first time since they released the cultural sensation known as the Wii, Nintendo has reported decreased year-over-year profits for the first half of the fiscal year. In fact, they are down over 50% from last year’s profits for the same period, from $1.1 billion dollars to $772 million over the period of April to September 2009.
Many factors could have contributed to the decline, namely the vast number of Wiis that have all ready been purchased all over the world. While market-saturation was undoubtedly the primary cause, Iwata also noted Nintendo’s lack of quality software, saying, "Wii has stalled. We were unable to continually release strong software, and let the nice mood cool."
Over the first half of fiscal 2008 Nintendo sold 10 million Wii consoles, this year they sold only 5.75 million. Of course the word "only" is used relatively, as its sales have still made it the number one selling home console in all but one of the months so far this fiscal year(sales numbers courtesy of the NPD Group). That month would, of course, be September, where we saw the Playstation 3 ride the combination of a new SKU as well as a price drop to the top of the charts.
Reflecting the first half numbers, Nintendo has modified their projections for fiscal 2009 sales; they are now projecting 20 million consoles sold by the end of March 2010(down from the previously estimated 26 million). Iwata feels they will be able to reach the projection based on the momentum gained from the late-September price drop, from $249.99 to $199.99.
During a season which has seen the Wii dominate sales, and with such quality releases as New Super Mario Bros Wii on the horizon, it’s not a stretch to believe that 15.25 million consoles over the next six months is entirely possible.
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Posted by Jake Bellissimo in General News, Nintendo Wii | Comments Off
GH5 DLC Update: 10/29/09
Guitar hero celebrates Halloween with a nice 3-pack. Boo!
In celebration of Halloween, Activision has released these tracks for Guitar Hero 5. The tracks include Marilyn Manson, The Misfits, and GWAR’s debut on a videogame! Each track costs 200 Wii points per single, and 550 Wii points for the whole pack.
The tracks for 10/29/09 are:
All Hallows’ Eve Track Pack
- GWAR – "Gor Gor"
- Marilyn Manson – "Beautiful People"
- The Misfits – "Astro Zombies"
I will be downloading just the Marilyn Manson song, and being a big fan of him, I can say this will be a great song for vocalists!
Read MorePosted by Jake Bellissimo in General News | Comments Off
New Mario And Zelda Release Dates Revealed
The new advertisement for the game, that reveals the release date
Two of the biggest games on Nintendo’s list for the holiday season have been given release dates. What games are these? Only New Super Mario Bros. Wii and The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks.
New Super Mario Bros. Wii is a wii-version of the 2006 DS game New Super Mario Bros. This game is supposed to be an updated version of the original NES game, but has new 4 player modes, new features, and new maps to make the experience feel new. New Super Mario Bros. Wii comes out in North America on November 15th, 2009, which is when you’ll be stomping goombas with your whole family in 4-player mode!
The latest installment in the Zelda series is taking place on the DS
The other game that has been given a release date is The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks. In this game, you’ll be guiding Link on another great adventure, with new features this time, such as train traveling. Since Link now takes train rides, this offers up some new puzzle aspects of the game, and the visuals look similar to the past DS game, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. The game launches on December 7th, 2009 in North America.
With all of the competition in the videogame market lately, its great to see that Nintendo leaps ahead with these new titles. Be sure to pick them up on their release dates!
Read MorePosted by Chad Fleming in General News, Nintendo Wii | Comments Off
Disney Holds Epic Mickey Unveiling Event in London
Paint Thinner looks to be an important mechanic.
Today, in London, Disney Interactive held an unveiling party for Epic Mickey, a new game exclusively for Wii starring the titular Mickey Mouse. The event was predominantly conducted by Warren Spector, head of Junction Point Studios, who has also taken the lead on the game’s design. The event was live-blogged over at 1up.com by Thierry Nguyen.
Spector discussed many different aspects of the game, from the hero himself, to the game world, enemies, and gameplay style. The game will be, of course, starring Mickey Mouse. One of Spector’s largest worries was that of Mickey’s status in pop culture today, saying, "Mickey is most recognized at an icon on a watch or t-shirt, but not as a character in a narrative". The reinvention of Mickey Mouse was a consistent theme throughout the presentation, with Spector stating that he wanted to to look deeper into the character of Mickey, to discover his "essence". Keeping on the protagonist thread of things, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was announced as joining Mickey on his adventure. Additionally, Goofy, Donald, and Minnie will be in the game in some capacity, though Spector was cryptic as to how.
Gameplay-wise the game will be a platformer with RPG and adventure elements. Another prevalent gameplay mechanic is that of both paint and paint thinner. Paint is used to create, whilst paint thinner is used to destroy. Spector’s example had Mickey erase a bookshelf with paint thinner in order to progress further. The mechanic works because the entire world has the aesthetic of a painting.
The gameworld itself was referred to as the Cartoon Wasteland, and seems to be a sort of purgatory for cartoons that failed to make the cut. Two locations in the Wasteland were also revealed; Gremlin Village and Lonesome Manor.
Finally, Spector touched a little on the general shape the story would take. Through a nefarious plot against him, Mickey ends up in the Cartoon Wasteland, which is full of toons who were thrown away because of Mickey’s runaway success.
It’s very interesting that Spector is so dedicated to crafting a persona for Mickey, and crafting a very intriguing story in the process. Much like he suggested, I personally think of Mickey as just a marketing tool for Disney instead of his own character. While Junction Point Studios have never released a game, Warren Spector has worked on titles such as Thief, Deus Ex, and Systems Shock. So the pedegree is certainly there. For the moment all we can do is look at the new screenshots, as well as the full live-blog at 1up.
Read MorePosted by Chad Fleming in General News, Nintendo DSi | Comments Off
Ghostwire Scares Up a Publisher
A Different Game has announced today that they are partnering with Majesco in order to bring their Augmented Reality game, Ghostwire, to DSi under the name "Ghostwire: Link to the Paranormal".
In Ghostwire the player can search for paranormal beings in their own environment using the DSi camera. The game also incorporates the DSi’s mic, as well as various puzzle elements. Using the tools at your disposal, it seems you must help these spirits find peace. Date, time, and lighting conditions are all said to have an effect on what apparitions can or cannot be found. A short teaser trailer has also been relased.
Says Gui Karyo, Executive Vice President of Operations, Majesco Entertainment: "Ghostwire: Link to the Paranormal integrates cutting-edge technology with a unique augmented reality aesthetic to create a truly exciting piece of software specifically designed for Nintendo DSi."
It certainly seems to be one of the more interesting uses of the DSi’s unique capabilities we’ve seen thus far. Not much else is known about the game at the moment, so stay tuned for more as we approach its tentative release date of Late 2010.
Read MorePosted by Jim Avery in General News, Nintendo Wii | Comments Off
Rock Band DLC Update: 10/27/09
With a new Rob Zombie album on the horizon, and Halloween just a few days away, Harmonix has seen fit to add some more Rob Zombie to Rock Band. Also available today are songs from Wolfmother and Liz Phair, including Wolfmother’s Guitar Hero II offering "Woman", as well as discounted tracks from the new Morningwood album, released today. All songs are downloaded in-game and cost 200 Nintendo Points except where noted.
Rob Zombie "Burn"
Rob Zombie "Dragula"
Rob Zombie "Superbeast"
Wolfmother "New Moon Rising"
Wolfmother "Pilgrim"
Wolfmother "Sundial"
Wolfmother "White Unicorn"
Wolfmother "Woman"
Liz Phair "Rock Me"
Morningwood "Best Of Me"*
Morningwood "Sugarbaby"*
*Track costs 100 Nintendo Points.
I’m always up for more Wolfmother. I hope we get some difficult tracks from them.
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Posted by Jake Bellissimo in General News, Nintendo DSi | 1 Comment
Larger-Screened DSi Headed For Japan
A "Wine Red" model of the new DSi (with larger screens)
It seems as if the rumors were correct, Nintendo is releasing a new DSi with larger screens!
Nintendo can’t seem to make up their mind lately, and this is another fine example. Why couldn’t you have just released the original DSi like this, instead of making another one not even a year after the first release?
Anyway, the new DSi is coming on November 21st, 2009 for Japan for the same price of 20,000 yen (around $220 USD). It also comes in 3 colors (Wine Red, Dark Brown, and Natural White). The new DSi model includes screens that are larger by 3/4 of an inch, and that’s about it.
If you don’t have a DSi yet, you should probably go pick this newly designed one up once it hits your area.
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Posted by Chad Fleming in General News, Nintendo Wii | Comments Off
Goldeneye Sequel Coming To Wii?
Speculation has been running wild about the new James Bond game ever since its 2010 release date was leaked in a conference call in early August. Though the idea of Goldeneye ever coming to Wii in the form of a Virtual Console title has been shot down time and time again, Activision may be willing to do us one better.
It has been discovered, inside the resume of one Craig Peck(a Eurocom Entertainment Software animator), that he has been working on a game conspicuously titled Goldeneye 2010.(via Gamezine.co.uk):
"Eurocom Entertainment Software, Derby, United Kingdom: July 09 – Sept 09 Animator – GoldenEye 2010 (Wii) – Animator on Activision’s James Bond series for the Nintendo Wii."
Given it is his own resume, coupled with the fact that his entire website has since been removed, it seems fairly likely we could be treated to a sequel to one of the most influential games of the N64’s lifespan. It also lines up well with Eurocom’s previous works, namely Quantum of Solace(PS2) and James Bond 007: Nightfire. Still a rumor for now, but don’t be surprised when it turns out to be accurate.
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Posted by Jim Avery in General News | 1 Comment
Nintendo Download: 10/26/09
DSiWare: PictureBook Games: the Royal Bluff, 500 Nintendo Points
This title bills itself as "a game of strategy and deceit". You are shown rows of colored chips on the board, and as you remove and add chips to certain rows, you are also trying to deduce the colors your opponent has assigned to the chips. I’m not really sure how it works either, but you and up to three other players can have fun trying to figure it out.
DSiWare: Sudoku, 200 Nintendo Points
Electronic Arts appears to think you can never have enough Sudoku, and is throwing their hat into the ring. Their Sudoku offers hints, tutorials, timers, a sleek interface, varying background themes, hundreds of puzzles, five difficulty levels ranging from Easy to Insane, error-checking tools, and the ability to add in new puzzles from your local newspaper.
WiiWare: Tales of Monkey Island, Episode 3: Lair of the Leviathan, 1,000 Nintendo Points
While on the lookout for La Esponja Grande, Guybrush Threepwood, Mighty Pirate, and company end up swallowed by a giant manatee. In this third chapter of the five-episode season, you’ll encounter famous explorers, pirate hunters, and a giant demonic skull.
WiiWare: Ghost Mansion Party, 1,000 Nintendo Points
This party game mixes cooperative and competitive play, as you and three others try to drive mean spirits out of a mansion, so the good spirits can reside within once again. Travel across the mansion’s game board, playing mini-games and finding clues that will lead you to the hidden treasure.
SNES: Zombies Ate My Neighbors, 800 Nintendo Points
Zombies ate your neighbors! Now you need to somehow save the day. Zeke and Julie will traverse through 48 levels filled with zombies that need defeating and victims that need saving, collecting new weapons and looking for the seven bonus levels at the same time.
Arcade: Golden Axe, 900 Nintendo Points
The original side-scroller in the series makes its way to the Virtual Console. The Death Adder has kidnapped the king and the princess, and it’s up to you, as one of three powerful warriors, to save the day and beat up a bunch of bad guys. Up to two players can play simultaneously.
A pretty big haul this week. I know a lot of people who swear by Zombies, so hopefully they’ll enjoy this Halloween treat. And I’m sure somebody doesn’t have enough Sudoku yet.
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Posted by Jake Bellissimo in General News, Nintendo Wii | Comments Off
Black Wii Bundle Hits Europe
As you can see, the new Wii color looks great
Times like these make me wish I was European.
A new Black Wii Bundle hits Europe in November. The bundle includes:
- 1 Black Wii Console
- 1 Black Wiimote
- 1 MotionPlus Addon
- 1 Wii Sports Resort (game)
The new bundle will hit shelves in the UK on November 6th, and in the rest of Europe on November 20th.
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Posted by Jake Bellissimo in Nintendo DS, Reviews | Comments Off
Review: Spore Hero Arena
What happens when you take 3 great things; Spore, mini-games, and fighting, mixing them all together? The result is Spore Hero Arena. This game shows you that the Spore series does not just have to be a game about civilization, clearly stated in the title suggesting a more in-depth take on combat. That being said, lets dive in!
A picture of the nice Evolution Chamber, too bad this is the only nice thing in the game.
The game starts out in a laboratory which is later referred to as the "Evolution Chamber". This is where you get to create the first phase of your Spore creature. The range of tools have been slimmed down drastically compared to the original, prompting you to choose a body, mouth, eyes, and so on, so forth. Much like the other games, the placement of the body pieces may affect your experience later on. After you create your creature, the actual story (if you want to call it that) begins.
You wake up to find out that your ship has crash landed on a green planet. This planet has a wide range of exotic ecosystems in which you are stalked by another creature who portrays himself to be your mentor throughout the game, his name is Yeedo. He tells you that back in the day, he made medals for the Heroes, which were the strongest of the strongest fighters. The medals he made for the Heroes act like "The Ring" from Lord of The Rings, as it corrupts the Heroes with greed. Yeedo kept one for himself, and he is corrupted too. He starts to freak out, and then you have to fight him until he calms down. You then find out that you are one of the "chosen ones", because a diamond that you picked up before (at the beginning of the story) makes you immune to the power of the medals. Yeedo then sends you on a mission to fight the heroes of the universe and collect all the medals. Pretty basic storyline, but it somewhat keeps you going, but a storyline like this can only keep you going for so long.
He then tells you to either eat a plant and become mainly a herbivore, eat an animal and mainly become a carnivore, or get the best of both worlds and become an omnivore. After that, Yeedo tells you to get a battery that is hidden in a capsule, and then to bring it back to the ship. After this happens, you are then zapped into the ship, and Yeedo shows you around. The main control deck is used to change planets (which to change you have to draw a line with your stylus from one planet to the next), and you can also access the Spore-pedia from there. The Spore-pedia keeps track of every creature that you come across on your adventures, but doesn’t really offer too much besides keeping track of the creatures.
You then are prompted to go back into the evolution chamber, where you once again am able to edit your creature, but this time have the add-on of Bio Powers. These Bio Powers are like magical powers in FF games, as they require energy, which is basically the equivelant of mana (I will elaborate more on this when we get to fighting). From there on out, there is the main gameplay, which I will add, is not enjoyable.
An example of one of the fights in the game
The main goal of each planet is to meet each creature on your map (which is displayed on the top screen) that gives you a diamond, and play a mini-game for that diamond. The mini-games involve racing, a hybrid of whac-a-mole and shooting range, and then the main mini-game, fighting. The fighting consists of a couple other enemies, which you must beat with your normal fighting moves, or your special Bio-Skills, which require the energy to function. This energy is spawned all over the arena (which is very small to begin with). The fighting system as a whole could have been done a lot better, and you can clearly tell that there is almost no effort shown. After you make it through those not fun, badly controlled mini-games, you then have to go to the final arena, and battle a boss to get the crystal, and then you move onto the next planet. The boss fights are generally easy, and the technique that I used is just hide in a corner, watch the other 3 CPU’s fight to the death, and then come out and defeat the last one standing. Plain, simple, boring.
The music in this game is "ok" at the most, containing a mix of music that sounds a lot like games "Banjo Kazooie", "Pokemon", and "Halo" (if it were a DS game, that is). Also, the sound affects from the creatures that are talking can get really annoying sometimes. Do you remember those dreaded Zubat call from the Pokemon games that hurt your ears? Well, the sounds of some of the creatures talking finishes off the last part of your ears that were still there.
The multiplayer aspect of the game doesn’t stand out at all, besides just having a couple wi-fi functions, but that is always good to get into a game, as many DS games that are good don’t even have that.
The game’s graphics are pretty well done, but not up to par with DS standards of today
The graphics for the game are decent at the most, having 3d textures reminiscent to the original graphics of Super Mario 64 DS, which was when the DS launched, way before they even bothered to tap its potential. I will give that the game had nice 3D models of the creatures in the Evolution Chamber, but outside of that the graphics are just "decent".
The controls for this game are really bad, and not really well thought out. You control your character from the touch screen, and use attacks with the D-pad. This would make it very hard to take the game on the go, and made me sit in some weird positions, and didn’t feel natural at all to play.
Overall, there are many other games that I can think of that are worse than Spore Hero Arena. Was it the worst game I ever played? No, but it certainly wasn’t the best either. This game seems to attract the casual, and leaves it to the hardcore to figure out what to do. There were many times when I got stuck, and not being a casual gamer makes me wonder what kinds of trouble some "average joes" experienced when trying to pick up the game. They could have made the game worse, but I guess the graphics aren’t that bad, so that helps the game look better than it is.
Read MorePosted by Jim Avery in General News | Comments Off
September 2009 NPD Group US Sales Numbers
Hardware
NDS – 524,200
PS3 – 491,800
Wii – 462,800
360 – 352,600
PSP – 190,400
PS2 – 146,000
Software
1. 360 Halo 3: ODST – 1,520,000
2. Wii Wii Sports Resort – 442,900
3. 360 Madden NFL 10 – 289,600
4. NDS Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story – 258,100
5. 360 The Beatles: Rock Band – 254,000*
6. PS3 Madden NFL 10 – 246,500
7. 360 Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 – 236,000
8. PS3 Batman: Arkham Asylum – 212,500*
9. 360 Guitar Hero 5 – 210,800*
10. Wii The Beatles: Rock Band – 208,600*
*Number includes all SKUs except those bundled with game systems.
^The numbers on the right represent units sold.
The Playstation 3 has profited greatly from finally reaching a price that more consumers will find reasonable, overtaking the Wii and selling nearly a half-million units last month. The DS remains on top for now, though, likely due to both the DSi and Mario & Luigi. Will this set a trend going into the holiday season? With the ever-popular Wii at a lower price, it’s hard to say.
Speaking of software, it’s no surprise to see Halo 3: ODST at the top of the list, but I’m quite pleased to see that consumers love the Mario & Luigi series; I need to give that one a try once I’ve satisfied my current Phoenix Wright addiction. I’m also very pleased that consumers have collectively chosen The Beatles: Rock Band over Guitar Hero 5, being the complete Beatlemaniac that I am. If you ignore cross-platform SKUs and focus solely on how well an individual title sold, The Beatles: Rock Band takes the #3 spot this month, with #4 going to Guitar Hero 5 (Halo 3: ODST and Madden NFL 10 take the top two spots).
Lastly, I’m not entirely sure when this happened, but our three old mainstays (Wii Fit, Wii Play and Mario Kart Wii) have all dropped from the list. We’ve found a successor in Wii Sports Resort, it seems; will Wii Fit Plus and New Super Mario Bros. Wii pick up the slack in the coming months?
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Posted by Jake Bellissimo in General News, Nintendo Wii | Comments Off
GH5 DLC Update: 10/22/09
We have 3 great tracks this week for GH5!
Well, for the week of 10/22/09, we are greeted by rock legends such as Peter Frampton and Triumph. Seems like a good, week, October is really kicking in for GH5!
*This weeks tracks can be bought for 200 Wii points per song, or 550 Wii points for "Classic Rock 2 Track Pack"*
October 22 – Classic Rock 2 Track Pack
- The J. Geils Band – "Freeze Frame”
- Peter Frampton – "Show Me The Way (Live)"
- Triumph – "Lay It On The Line"
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Posted by Jake Bellissimo in General News, Nintendo Wii | Comments Off
Arc Rise Fantasia announced for Wii
The box art for the new Wii-exclusive title, Arc Rise Fantasia
A new Wii-exclusive turn based RPG game has been announced by Ignition Entertainment and Marvelous Entertainment. If you haven’t figured out by now, this game’s name is Arc Rise Fantasia. It is good to see that the Wii gets an exclusive that actually looks promising, and from the information we have, it probably will be great.
Winner of "Best Wii RPG" at the E3 expo 09′, Arc Rise Fantasia brings us the story of a mercenary named L’Arc to defend the Meridian Empire from many bad creatures and enemies. There will be many dungeons for you and your party to explore along the way, and you can summon friendly creatures to help you get through the dungeons/bosses.
Read MorePosted by Jake Bellissimo in General News | 2 Comments
The First DSi-Only Game?
The current boxart for the new Storm City Games game, System Flaw
*NOTE* Sorry for my mistake, the actual first DSI-game for North America is System Flaw. If you saw the first rendition of this article, this is the final rendition.
The first DSI-only game to be released in North America is System Flaw, by Storm City Games. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? We can only find out within time, because this might bring many good things for the DSI, but also contain many flaws…
The game is said to be an action game, that uses the DSI camera to integrate your surroundings into the game. Sounds interesting, might have to try this out once I get a DSI.
System Flaw is being released October 27th, 2009, so pre-order your copy now!
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Posted by Jim Avery in General News, Nintendo Wii | Comments Off
Rock Band DLC Update: 10/20/09
There are two DLC packs to take a look at today. The first comes from the almighty Queen for the Rock Band 2 music store, and includes an amazing ten songs from the group. Each one costs 200 Wii Points and is downloaded in-game.
Queen "Another One Bites The Dust"
Queen "Crazy Little Thing Called Love"
Queen "Fat Bottomed Girls"
Queen "I Want It All"
Queen "I Want To Break Free"
Queen "Killer Queen"
Queen "One Vision"
Queen "Somebody To Love"
Queen "Tie Your Mother Down"
Queen and David Bowie "Under Pressure"
Additionally, The Beatles: Rock Band finally has some more music to offer its fans; today the remainder of the Abbey Road album was made available for download. The songs are available at varying price points, as several of the tracks were recorded together, and have not been separated. Unfortunately, it does not appear that Wii owners will be able to play the entire Abbey Road medley as one track as the other two systems can.
"Maxwell’s Silver Hammer", 200 Wii Points
"Oh! Darling", 200 Wii Points
"Because", 200 Wii Points
"You Never Give Me Your Money", 200 Wii Points
"Sun King / Mean Mr. Mustard", 350 Wii Points
"Polythene Pam / She Came In Through The Bathroom Window", 350 Wii Points
"Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight / The End", 350 Wii Points
"Her Majesty", 100 Wii Points
The fact that you can’t play the full medley is immensely frustrating. The Wii’s downloadable content setup is not up to par with the other two consoles’, and I think Nintendo’s internal Wii design is largely to blame for this one.
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Posted by David Craig in Nintendo DSi, Reviews | Comments Off
Review: Pro-Putt Domo
Pro-Putt Domo is one of five Domo-related games that came out on DSiWare today. Who is Domo you ask? Well, if you’re reading this website it’s likely you already know. But in case you don’t, he’s a fuzzy, Japanese, television mascot similar to a muppet. As you may have guessed by the title, the game involves Domo playing a game of mini-golf. It’s short and simple, but it’s about what you’d expect from a two dollar game.
There’s a 9 hole course and an 18 hole course, although they both consist of randomly generated holes. There are coins scattered throughout the levels, and a pseudo-life bar consisting of bowls of stew. The more strokes under par, the more bowls you earn. Similarly, strokes over par remove them. If you lose all your stew, it’s game over. What’s misleading is that it appears to actually be more important to collect coins than to get a good golf score. For example, I finished a game 15 under par, but didn’t technically "beat" the course because I didn’t collect enough coins. This is an odd design choice to be sure. Another confusing aspect of the game is that the "Lessons" mode doesn’t unlock until you’ve beaten the game.
Overall, the game is a decent waste of time, and at two dollars, it’s really not a purchase that you’re going to regret. If you like arcade-style mini-golf, go ahead and check it out.
Read MorePosted by Jim Avery in General News | Comments Off
Nintendo Download: 10/19/09
DSiWare: Crash-Course Domo, 200 Nintendo Points
Domo’s on a bike! Compete against other racers in six different races of increasing difficulty.
DSiWare: Hard-Hat Domo, 200 Nintendo Points
Domo’s on a construction site! To get to the top, he needs to match ladder colors to floor colors, with the help of paint.
DSiWare: Pro-Putt Domo, 200 Nintendo Points
Domo’s on a golf course! Collect coins and earn stew as you compete across either 9 or 18 holes.
DSiWare: Rock-n-Roll Domo, 200 Nintendo Points
Domo’s on stage! Tap the screen, or press buttons, in time with the music to get the crowd jumping.
DSiWare: White-Water Domo, 200 Nintendo Points
Domo’s on a raft! Steer through the treacherous waters, trying for one of the best times to advance.
WiiWare: LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias, 1,000 Nintendo Points
The sequel to the critically-acclaimed LostWinds has finally arrived. Toku’s mother has been captured, and in order to get her back, he’ll have to work with the wind spirit Enril, using powers old and new. Toku will even control the seasons as he quests all over the land to save his mother Magdi.
WiiWare: Shootanto: Evolutionary Mayhem, 500 Nintendo Points
This unique shooter will have you watch your character evolve as the game goes on. You’ll start off lobbing projectiles at various enemy creatures, but as your character evolves, so will his weapons, and you’ll be using more powerful firearms. This game employs IR-sensing aiming, like in the Metroid Prime Trilogy; it also boasts a two-player co-op mode.
Arcade: Rygar, 600 Nintendo Points
You are Rygar, an ancient and powerful warrior resurrected to free the world from the grip of the Beast Lord. You’ll play through 27 stages, jumping about and striking your enemies with your extending Diskarmor. Try to look through the stages for the Powers of Indra to boost your score.
That is an awful lot of Domo. I wonder where all this Domo came from. Also, new LostWinds should get people pretty excited.
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Posted by Jake Bellissimo in General News, Nintendo Wii | Comments Off
GH5 (Late) DLC Update for 10/15/09
Sorry that I’m late on this, weeks to come will be on time. There is one pack that was released on October 15th, 2009, and that is a Wolfmother pack! Yay.
All of these songs can be purchased for 550 Wii points, or as singles for 200 Wii points per song.
The songs included in this pack are:
Wolfmother Track Pack
"Pilgrim"
"California Queen"
"Cosmic Egg"
I just bought the pack, and Pilgrim is some fun on vocals, I’m yet to try out the other two.
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Posted by Jake Bellissimo in Nintendo Wii, Reviews | Comments Off
Review: The Beatles: Rock Band
"The Beatles" in all their glory
"The Beatles". Whenever people hear that name, they can recognize who they are almost instantly. What does it mean for most people? A band that influenced the face of Rock N’ Roll Music. Game creators Harmonix, creators of the game series Frequency, Amplitude, Guitar Hero, and Rock Band decided to pick up The Beatles and take them for a ride, to show the general public that they truly are the "Fab Four". The result is The Beatles: Rock Band. The purpose of this game is to get a couple friends/family together and play through The Beatles career, spanning from their first gig in The Cavern Club, Liverpool, to the epic roof-top concert on top of Abbey Road studios. Harmonix does a good job of replicating this onto a video game, and this is apparent throughout your gameplay.
Now, Rock Band is more of a party-type game, and that stands in The Beatles: Rock Band, but it is still a fabulous game to play through in single-player. Just like in Rock Band 2, you can play the main "story" mode either single, with friends, online, or local, the whole package. Playing through this game, I felt as close as I could to the character I was playing as and had fun while doing it. A little drawback to this story style is that it is a little arcade-like, tracing back to Rock Band 1. I would have preffered for them to make it a little more career based (RB2-esque) instead of the typical "play this song, get to more songs" career. A little treat after you complete each venue is a wonderfully-built cutscene explaining what happened between what you just finished and the next venue, all through picture and song. These cutscenes made me want to finish the songs to see what the next cutscene would be. Now, there were negative things about the career mode, such as the game being too short in terms of songs. I know that people will say that the dreamscapes that are involved in this game really make up for the short 44 song setlist, but that doesnt really cut it for me (with the 60$ pricetag, even on wii). The story did feel too short, but I felt that I got out of it all that I could.
Ok, the multiplayer is basically the same career story as the single-player mode, and the same progression, but it feels as if something is there that isnt in single-player. In single-player, it is just you, your Wii, and your TV. Not too much talking going on (unless you sing), and you just progress through, and when its done you turn it off. This is the best aspect of this game in my opinion, because I’m pretty sure this is what Rock Band/Guitar Hero games were all about in the first place. You sit down with a couple of friends, and work together and really feel the music. This game has done that for me, even with people that I don’t know! I have played this game with people from my school (who only speak Portuguese, and my Portuguese isnt even that good). When we did play, it felt like I could communicate with them through the music, and that was probably the most fun I’ve had playing a video game. Whenever you play multiplayer, no matter who it is with, you can really feel the music and have just as much fun as they are having. Of course, as much as I love the multiplayer aspect of the game, there are still the flaws that occur in single-player mode. The career mode that feels unsteady with the arcade progression is still there, but the fun with friends/family aspect kind of outweighs the bad parts, which is why I rated the multiplayer experience better than the single-player.
When I first played this game, I originally thought that this is how Rock Band should have originally been when it released about 2 years ago. The vocal engine is not as hard as the RB1 engine, but also not as easy as the RB2 engine, and it fits right in the middle, which is a great comfort zone. Two other changes to the vocal engine is that there are no talkies or tambourine sections (taps). I originally thought that these sections in the game were pointless, and am happy to see them taken out, as it offers more of a party-feel to scream the talkies or not even hit them and not be graded on that. Another huge improvement on the vocal front is the "Vocal Trainer". This is a new type of practice mode for vocalists where you can go by specific sections, unlike in previous carnations of RB where you could only play the whole song in practice mode. There were no real improvements to the Guitar/Bass/Drum engines, as it is the same for RB2, except for the change of Hammeron-Chords. These were made way easier in this game, and it clearly shows. I dont know if I should classify this as part of the engine or not, but now when you play on easy it automatically puts on no-fail for the person on easy. I think this was an excellent idea, because whenever I play with people who have never played before, they always go on easy and fail out, and then we have to go and turn no fail on. This does take some time (flipping through the menus) that you could be easily used to actually play the game.
I can’t really say too much about the controls for this game, other than the fact that they are the controls that were perfected in the first Guitar Hero. Just have 5 notes, and strum/hit the drum whenever they line across the line. And the vocals are just standard kareoke controls, and they all fit seamlessly in with the game. Makes you feel like you are actually playing the instrument, well, as realistic as playing a plastic instrument gets.
As you can see from this Sgt. Pepper Picture, the visuals are truly top-notch
I really love the visuals in this game. There are these amazing backgrounds for these songs, that they call "dreamscapes". The songs start out with The Beatles in the recording studio, and then slowly throughout the song they are transported to these "dreamscapes", and these amazing visuals come into play. Of course, in the beginning The Beatles werent a studio-band, so they have live shows to start off the first couple of venues. The first couple of venues are….kind of stiff. The character animations arent the best, and they are kind of like robots. I later looked up some live videos of The Beatles, and found their movements on stage to be stiff too, so that could have been the authenticity that Harmonix was trying to get when they replicated this. Also, the graphics on the Wii specifically are amazing for a Wii game. The only dreamscape that was lacking was Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band/With A Little Help From My Friends, but the Wii’s capabilities do come into play there. Some dreamscapes that are worth looking at are Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, Revolution, and Yellow Submarine. Those truly show what the game has to offer graphicswise.
The soundtrack for this game was all of The Beatles, so I can’t really go into how if the music is good or not, as it is all personal preference. I will say though that being restricted with 44 songs, the choices they made weren’t that bad! The songs that they chose in the soundtrack for this game really span over the career of The Beatles, and are hits, and some lesser known stuff for people who would like to get into The Beatles.
Even though this game is amazing the first time, there are only few people that would keep on playing it after. The people who would play through this twice are either Beatles maniacs or Rock Band Addicts. I can see myself playing this game for a long time, but that is only because of the fact that I like The Beatles a lot. There are the people who are amazing at Rock Band and will play until they get 100% on everything, but The Beatles music isn’t that hard, so I can (and have) seen people doing that fairly quickly and just going back to Rock Band 2/Guitar Hero 5. But the main reason why most people will keep playing is for the Downloadable Content (DLC). DLC is usually what keeps games going far after they are played through, and this is the case here. They will be eventually releasing most of The Beatles’ discography, which sounds like a large task and will be amazing once it is done. The Wii users still have to pay individually (200 points) for each song, instead of the full album discounts that Xbox 360’ers and PS3’ers get. Maybe one day Wii users will be able to do that, GH5 does, so why not RB3, huh?
The Beatles: Rock Band is definetly a wonderful game, and a step in the right direction for Harmonix. Of course, with every good thing comes a bad thing to go along with it, and in this game, that kind of stands true.
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Posted by Jake Bellissimo in General News | Comments Off
R.I.P Mario
You might recognize this man from the WWE Hall of Fame, or acting as Mario on the "Super Mario Bros. Super Show!". He left a stamp on gaming history for his performances in that show, and we thank him for that. Who is this "him" I’m talking about? Only "Captain" Lou. The actor "Captain" Lou Albano recently died due to old age, and let us all send our condolences to his family, friends, and anybody who loved him as an actor, wrestler, and a person. He passed away at age 76.
R.I.P Captain Lou, let there be koopas for you to stomp on wherever you may go.
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Posted by Michael Phillips in Nintendo DS, Reviews | Comments Off
Review: MySims Racing (DS)
Posted by Michael Phillips in Nintendo DS, Reviews | Comments Off
Review: Treasure World (DS)
So you’ve collected all the Pokémon, and your monster rancher collection is maxed out. You have all the collector cards from Yu-Gi-Oh. Then this game will make you happy. Imagine you’re involved in the world’s largest treasure hunt. The scope of the hunt is as big as you can fathom. It is the entire wired world. Welcome to Treasure Word a truly innovative game for Aspyr. I’m going to tell you right up front, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed playing this cart and I’m also going to tell you I played this game in 3 separate countries:
I first need to discuss the game’s gimmick. The Star Sweep, a wise old spaceman, asks you to hunt stardust that is a power source for a starship. You are given an Invader Zim’s G.I.R.-esk robot called a Wishfinder to help you clean and find stars. But since you can’t fly in the sky, it turns out that wi-fi signals are the same as stardust. This is surprisingly addicting. But if you don’t like collections, you will become bored quickly. Collecting can be done with the DS open or closed. When you find a “Star” the DS dings and if you are walking, or have the DS open, you can find the name of the wi-fi spot you just “collected.” This is really great, as long as you live near Wi-Fi spots. If you don’t, the game is a waste of money. Example my travels in the
G.I.R?
This game play falls under the open-ended category. No princess to save, no dragon to slay. It is a collection game. The game gives you goals to achieve through your searches. Some stars are just dust which can be used like money to get items, while others contain keys, and treasures that upgrade your environment and even your robot. Yes you get to play dress up and change the animations of your robot (Including Chun-Li and
I’m Homstar Runner! Longpants get some!
The audio work in this game is different. All the little sound effects work for the game, and the nighttime soothing musical loops also match the visuals nicely. Also you can collect or buy “Songs” from the Star Sweep and play little 4 measure ditties on your DS. Every treasure in the game also has a sound attached, and by adding treasures to the surroundings you can make your own songs. I tried to make a Super Mario song myself.
It’s kind of nice to have a DS cart that actually wants you to get out the chair and move, and rewards you for it. Again, this game won’t be for everyone, if only because it is not story or character driven, and there are many places that don’t utilize wi-fi. However, as original games go, I welcome it in my game "collection."
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