Friday, September 25, 2009

Modern Warfare: Reflex Getting Voice Chat


Activision has confirmed that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Reflex will be getting Wii Speak support.  It's hard to read on the picture, but the line that is two spots below the bold lined sentence reads: Wii Speak Compatible.

This means that for all you CoD players out there who wanted voice chat you'll now have it.  World at War was not compatible with Wii Speak, but Treyarch has upped the number of reasons to get this game.  If you haven't played it yet, you owe it to yourself to get this when it comes out this November.

Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo Goes Gold

NAMCO BANDAI GAMES’ DRAGON BALL: REVENGE OF KING PICCOLO FOR Wii™ BLASTS ITS WAY TO GOLD


Action-Packed Side Scrolling Dragon Ball Adventure Coming Exclusively for WiiTM

SANTA CLARA, Calif., (September 25, 2009) – Leading video games publisher and developer NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc., today announced that Dragon Ball®: Revenge of King Piccolo has gone gold exclusively for Wii™. Relive the vibrant and exciting world that spawned the epic multi-generational Dragon Ball odyssey with this latest action-packed game. Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo will be available in North America on October 20, 2009.

In Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo, players assume the role of Goku® as he explores the world, befriends life long companions, and races against the diabolical Red Ribbon Army in search of the seven mystical Dragon Balls which, when collected, grant a single ultimate wish. Fans of the series will delight in reliving the crucial moments in Goku’s adventures which take place between the Red Ribbon encounters to the pivotal King Piccolo™ conflict.

With a simple move of the Wii Remote™ and Nunchuk™, players can have Goku fire off intricate combos, fly across the screen to connect jump kick attacks, and execute his signature Kamehameha ultimate attack against enemies with ease. In addition to the Adventure Mode, Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo also incorporates a Tournament Mode which will allow players to take their favorite Dragon Ball heroes and villains into the ring to duke it out. Featuring in-game collectables, a host of unlockable characters and modes, Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo will provide a thoroughly engaging and accurate portrayal of Kid Goku's early formidable martial arts years.

Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo for Wii is rated “E10+” by the ESRB and has a MSRP of $29.99. For more information on Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo, please visit: http://www.dragonball.namco.com/.




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EA Ships Dead Space Extraction

EA SHIPS AWARD-WINNING Dead Space Extraction
Players Experience the Panic Before the Terror in Visceral Games’ Critically-Acclaimed Wii-Exclusive Action Horror Prequel

Redwood City, CA – September 25, 2009 – Visceral Games™, an award-winning studio of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) announced today that Dead Space™ Extraction has shipped to retail in Europe and will be shipping in North America on September 29th. Designed exclusively for the Wii™, Dead Space Extraction is the first title to ship under Visceral Games’ new studio name. Dead Space Extraction is the prequel to last year’s critical darling Dead Space, winner of over 70 international critics awards and widely recognized for evolving the action horror genre. Dead Space Extraction is already following in its predecessor’s footsteps, earning a perfect “5-out-of-5” stars from GamePro, whose review said that “Extraction is one hell of a ride… well paced and directed; the story is strong and the gun fights are satisfying.”
Dead Space Extraction has been such a rewarding project for many different reasons,” said Steve Papoutsis, Executive Producer on Dead Space Extraction. “We have successfully brought Dead Space’s trademark action horror experience to a new platform while maintaining our studio’s high standards for quality and polish. Dead Space Extraction will be one of the defining action horror games for the Wii.”

Telling the story of four space colonists trying to escape a mysterious infection, Dead Space Extraction explores the origins of the necromorph invasion that threatens humanity and the universe. At the center of this group is Lexine, an important new heroine being introduced for the first time to the Dead Space storyline. As the crew continues to fight for their lives, it becomes clear that protecting her is their only hope for survival. Luckily, players are armed with an arsenal of weaponry, an easy-to-use control system built from the ground up for the Wii, and can even recruit a friend to play co-operatively, a first for the Dead Space franchise.

Developed at Visceral Games, Dead Space Extraction is rated M for Mature by the ESRB with descriptors of Blood and Gore, Intense Violence and Strong Language and 18+ for PEGI. Dead Space Extraction will be available for MSRP $49.99 on the Wii. For more information about the game, go to the website at http://www.deadspacegame.com/ .

New Ace Attorney Website Launches

Attention Sleuths!

Today we have launched the full site for Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth, the newest title in the Ace Attorney series for the Nintendo DS coming in February 2010.

Fans of the Ace Attorney series can check out new character bios, screen shots, trailers, developer’s diary with the first blog by producer, Eshiro-san and more. Fans can also download wallpapers for their desktops of this upcoming title featuring Phoenix Wright’s famed rival, Miles Edgworth.

Head on over to http://ace-attorney.com/ and begin investigating the site today.

Happy investigating and have a great weekend!

WiiNintendo Mario Kart Tournament


Our friends over at WiiNintendo.net  are hosting a Mario Kart Tournament this Sunday, September 27th at 9:00pm CST.  In order to participate you must be a member of their forums and sign up for the tournament there.  All the details for this event are below. 

The following is copied information from the tournament thread in the forums, posted by member/mod SirWetBiscuitJr. Whenever “me” or “I” is stated, it is referring to him.

Tracks:

1. DK Summit (selected by WiiFanatic)
2. N64 Mario Raceway (selected by JumpingGirraffe)
3. GCN DK Mountain (selected by GameWinRAR)
4. (Random)

Time Zones:

Hawaii: 4pm
Alaska: 5pm
Pacific: 6pm
Mountain: 7pm
Central: 8pm
Eastern: 9pm

Rules: (New: #VII)

I. In order to compete, you MUST submit your friend code in this thread! (Saying that it’s in your profile will suffice) You also MUST add my friend code (3566-4515-0225), otherwise it’s impossible to race you. This is important.
NOTE: You do NOT have to add the friend codes of the other racers. But you can if you want.
NOTE: If you have already been in a tournament before, you do not have to submit your friend code in the thread again.

II. If I already have your code added, please post your friend code here again anyway. Not only is it better to be official, but other people may want to add you. If you want your code to be hidden, PM it to me instead.

III. Please choose tracks IN THE ORDER SHOWN. If I find out you intentionally pick the wrong track, I’ll suspend or ban you from the tournaments.

IV. If someone accidentally chooses a track out of order (and it’s picked to race on), choose the track that was supposed to have been chosen. (Ex: Let’s say that the 2nd track is Mario Circuit and the 3rd is Wario’s Gold Mine. Someone might accidentally pick Wario’s Gold Mine second, and it’s chosen to race on. After that race, everyone should choose Mario Circuit as the third track to even things out.)

V. We will be practicing about an hour to an hour and a half before the actual tournament race. Please try not to get confused and believe that those are the real tournament races. I’ll try to make it obvious when the REAL race is coming up. (I’ll probably say “Last one coming up!”)

NOTE: We’ll probably do some more races for fun afterwards as well.

VI. You may have guests during the practice races. You may NOT have a guest during the final tournament race.

NOTE: You may have a guest IF they are a member of WiiFuse and can earn sparks. (Ex: I could bring FuggyG along as a guest, but not my neighbor who has no account here.)

VII. There will be no race unless there are 4 racers, including the host.

If you're interested, head on over to their forums and sign up.  Chances are I will be there as well.  I will post my Mario Kart Friend Code here in this post and if nothing else, we can play together at the same time.  I'm all for more chances to play Mario Kart any chance I can get.

Retro Redux: Super Mario Bros.


With the recent passing of Nintendo’s 120th birthday I thought it only appropriate to discuss the game that is credited with giving them the most success. Mario had been around for a few years before this game, but it wasn’t until he switched professions from carpenter to plumber, and Bowser decided to kidnap a princess that he got his biggest claim to fame. Super Mario Bros. released in 1985 was probably the biggest title of that decade and arguably the most popular title of all-time. The game introduced the Mushroom Kingdom onto an unsuspecting world and those characters have been with us ever since.

This game was definitely a product of its time and has created the most iconic character ever to grace a home console or handheld. Mario was created the way he was because of the limitations of the system. He wears a hat because his creator, Shigeru Miyamoto didn’t know how to animate hair very well. He has a moustache because without it, it would have been hard to recognize his facial features and he wears overalls because without it his arms would have blended in with the rest of his body. They may have been unique and unintended design choices, but without them Mario might not have been the character he is today.


In Super Mario Bros. our hero sets out on a quest to rescue Princess Toadstool, who is also known as Princess Peach, from the clutches of the evil Koopa King Bowser. He must journey through eight different parts of the Mushroom Kingdom, only to find at the end of each world that the Princess is “in another castle”. Along the way he must defeat the minions of Bowser; the Koopa Troopas, Goomba, Piranha Plants and more. The world of the Mushroom Kingdom is littered with platforms, huge chasms, vines and more. It brought us the genre known as the platformer and set the stage for hundreds of games that would follow. There were coins to collect, secret items hidden in a number of different places. It even featured multiple paths through some of the levels if you found a hidden vine.
The actual gameplay mechanic of running and jumping has been tried in many games since Super Mario Bros. and many of those games will be compared to it, even today. The jumping mechanic was about as perfect as it could have been. You were able to control the length of Mario’s jump by how long you pressed the A button on the NES controller. He always seemed to jump just right. It didn’t feel too floaty and out of control, but it wasn’t as tight as Mega Man. The designers created what could be the sweet spot of the video game jump. Even years later it’s very easy to load up Mario and speed through the levels because you know just exactly how the game controls.

Visually it brought games into an era that, at least in my opinion, is one of the best in the history of video games. For the first time, at home, players were able to without having to stretch their imaginations see what was on screen and recognize it instantly. The blocks that made up the characters were so good you could distinguish features in a way that wasn’t possible on the home consoles from Atari and others. Super Mario Bros. has some of the most iconic characters ever created and their designs haven’t changed much since that time because they were so good. Koopa Troopas and Goombas look today exactly like what you would expect if they had depth to them. The 2-D worlds created by Nintendo back then were some of the best and continue to develop as the years go by.


Super Mario Bros. was, for a long time, the best selling console game ever. It was only recently surpassed by another Nintendo franchise, Wii Sports.Throughout its many different iterations, Super Mario Bros. has sold over 40 million copies world wide and it’s quite possible to walk into any gamers house and find multiple copies of the game on a number of different platforms. There hasn’t been a Nintendo console or handheld released that doesn’t have some version of Super Mario Bros. and I think it’s simply because people enjoy playing the game. I know even today there’s probably not a week goes by that I don’t play through it at least once. It takes about 15 minutes on a casual play through if you’ve played it as often as many of us have.

This is just a quick look back at a game millions of gamers have played, probably billions of times. There’s not much about Super Mario Bros. to say that hasn’t been said before. It’s simply one of the greatest games ever created and holds up wonderfully to this day. New generations of gamers are experiencing this classic every day and it’s well worth playing, even now.


Thursday, September 24, 2009

Nintendo Offers New Wii Sports Resort Bundle

If you don't own Wii Sports Resort yet now's the perfect time to get in on the fun. Nintendo is offering, for a limited time, a bundle of the game including not one, but two Wii Motion Plus accessories. The new add on for the Wii Remote gives players never before felt precision in the Wii Remote's motion sensing capabilities. You can check out our review of the game here.

Wii Sports Resort retails normally for $49.99 and includes one Wii Motion Plus accessory the Wii Motion Plus accessory retails for $19.99. The new bundle will retail for $59.99 so you're saving $10 over the regular retail pricing. The game is even more fun with two players so you're really not hurting yourself by taking advantage of this offer.

Namco Bandai Announces Three New Executives

Namco Bandai Games Announces Three New Executive Appointments for Their North American Headquarters

Industry Veterans Expand Management Team with Key Roles in Marketing and Development


SANTA CLARA, Calif., (September 24, 2009) – Leading video games publisher and developer NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc., today announced a number of key executive appointments. Catherine Fowler has joined the senior management team as senior vice president of marketing, Robert Stevenson as vice president of online development, and Graeme Bayless comes to the organization as studio general manager. The addition of Fowler, Stevenson and Bayless only enhances the company’s integrated and strategic efforts for continued growth in marketing and development.

“We are very excited to have these three talented game industry veterans have joined our executive staff,” said Genichi Ito, president and chief executive officer of NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc. “Each of these individuals brings with them a proven track record of success and leadership in publishing, business development, and studio management, respectively, and will augment NAMCO BANDAI Games’ effort to grow our North American operations.”

Bringing 15 years of leadership experience, Fowler will assume the responsibility of overseeing NAMCO BANDAI Game’s North American marketing strategies, corporate branding and communication initiatives for its hit franchises, licensed properties and original products. Most recently, Fowler served as senior vice president of publishing at Codemasters Inc. where she oversaw all of the company’s business units which resulted in record revenue growth. Prior to Codemasters, she was the senior vice president of sales and marketing at Konami Digital Entertainment. During her eight year tenure, Fowler was responsible for all the sales and marketing strategies of their interactive entertainment properties. Previously, Fowler was director of sales at Mattel, Inc., where she generated record sales and increased revenue for their interactive division of children entertainment products.

With an extensive business and product development background, Stevenson will be responsible for growing the company’s online offerings in areas such as MMOGs, direct to digital titles, platforms, community services and premium downloadable content. Prior to NAMCO BANDAI Games, Stevenson was the vice president of business development and worldwide publishing at Atari/Infogrames where he built out the group product portfolio including the company’s top licenses and franchises as well as driving the company’s digital-channel efforts. Before Atari/Infogrames, he held executive positions for product development and acquisitions at Dreamcatcher Games and iRock Games under Virtus Entertainment. In his early career, Stevenson held key production and development roles with several studios and technology companies.

In his role as studio general manager, Bayless will oversee the production of NAMCO BANDAI Games America’s internally and externally developed titles including Splatterhouse® and Dead to Rights®: Retribution. Bayless, who has more than two decades of video game development experience, joins NAMCO BANDAI Games from 2K Games where he was the vice president of special projects and was instrumental in the analysis of business development assignments. Bayless also served as president and general manager of their Los Angeles studio where he oversaw all product development as well as studio operations. Prior to 2K Games, Bayless was the director of production at Crystal Dynamics as well as development director and supervising producer at Electronic Arts, Tiburon.

Dr. Mario Online Rx Review

Mario has been everything at one point in his career. There aren’t many jobs he can say he hasn’t done. Probably his most famous, though, after being a plumber is his role as a doctor. Mind you, he’s not a doctor that I would ever want to go to, at least not to get cured from any disease.

Dr. Mario Online Rx is the newest game in the Dr. Mario franchise and doesn’t change much up. The formula, no pun intended, has not changed since the beginning. You’re given a playfield with a number of viruses that need to be busted. The way to do this is by throwing pills into the bottle they inhabit. These pills are the same color as the viruses and by matching three parts of pills with the virus you eliminate it. The pills are split into two pieces, which will be one solid color or made up of multiple colors. That’s basically it, and like Tetris if the pills reach the top of the bottle it’s lights out.

The game can be played with the Wii Remote on its side, a GameCube controller, classic controller or with the Nunchuk by itself. The D-pad controls the direction of the virus and the buttons flip it 90 degrees in one direction. The simplicity of the controls mixed with the complexity of the later levels is what has given this game the appeal it’s had for so long. The early levels start out with just a handful of viruses, but as you go further into the game more and more are added until eventually most of the bottle is filled up and it becomes very hard to move the pills around.

There are a number of different options for playing the game, though. You can choose from one of three different speeds as well as the level that you want to start from. In that sense you can make the game as easy or as difficult as you like, but by playing more the game becomes more and more challenging. You also have multiplayer options against either the computer or a human opponent. You can play a simple game where you just clear the board as fast as you can, or you can play a mode where a specific virus is flashing and the goal of the game is to be the first to remove that virus. These options can be set for each player so experienced players can add more viruses to their battle while less experienced players can play with fewer. This levels the playing field enough to make the game fun for everyone involved.

The newest mode of the game is called “Virus Buster” and takes advantage of the Wii Remote’s pointer functionality. In this game you play in a zoomed in version of the bottle and you’ll have fewer viruses to deal with. To move the viruses you point at them and can then move them in any direction. This will allow you to place them where you want more quickly and you will sometimes have multiple viruses falling at once. Once they lock into place if part of the virus does not have anything under it, that will begin to fall and you can then take that partial piece and move it around, adding another layer of strategy to an already immensely fun game. You can have up to four people playing together on one play field in this mode and co-operation will be the key to successfully healing your “patient”. For those who are fans of Nintendo’s Mii’s you now have the option to “play” as your Mii rather than Mario.

The music is as catchy as ever. The same tunes you’ve been listening to since the beginning are back and are slightly enhanced to take advantage of the new platform. There are two new songs that have been created for this game, but they aren’t as good as the classics and you’ll probably find yourself sticking with the ones you already know.

All of the modes in the game can be played locally or online using Nintendo’s Wi-Fi Connection and your game’s friend code. You can play with people already on your friend’s list or randomly against people around the world. The process is simple and doesn’t take very long to find people if they are out there looking for a game as well. There are some pre-set phrases that you can use to communicate with each other, but they’re pretty basic and you won’t be having any kind of conversation with them. If you have a friend who doesn’t have the game, but you want to play with them there is a “demo” mode that you can gift to people that will allow them to play online with you without having the full version of the game. This gives you the ability to share the game with people on your friends list, giving you that many more options for people to play against. They will not have access to the single player portion of the game, but will be able to play against people online, as they get their own friend code that can then be given out.

Dr. Mario has been around for a very long time. He hasn’t changed much, but as mama always said, “When something ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” If you’re a fan of Dr. Mario and you’re looking for another platform to get your viral fix, this is definitely worth picking up and if you have friends in other cities that you’ve been dieing to play against, now is the chance as you can give them a “copy” of the game as well. The gameplay is as solid as ever. You may find you enjoy the Virus Buster version of the game even more than the traditional one, so that might be another reason to pick it up. For puzzle games there are very few that match up to the quality of Dr. Mario and it’s the perfect prescription for fun.

Final Score: 4/5

New Scene It! Will Suck the Life Out of You

Scene It? is a hugely popular board game that covers a number of different subjects. It has even been seen on home consoles with its own special controller on the 360. Nintendo is now getting their own version of the game with, Scene It? Twilight by Konami. The game is due out this fall in conjuction with the DVD version of the game and features more than 500 questions based on the popular movie franchise. Scene It? Twilight features clips and images from the movie, new gameplay modes, and a new user interface.

Konami is always looking to engage people in new means of interactive gaming experiences. The TWILIGHT film has an incredibly popular following who crave content and new media well after the movies are no longer in theaters," said Kazumi Kitaue, Chairman and President of Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. "With extensive content from the film, Scene It? Twilight will bring life to the excitement and energy surrounding the popular film in an all-new way."

There has been no word yet if this will just include the first movie or if they will incorporate parts of the upcoming "New Moon" as well. Stay tuned here for more information in the future.

Want A Chance to Win Spaceball Revolution?

Virtual Toys sent along a copy of Spaceball Revolution today and I will be getting the review for the game up on Monday. That's not the important part of this, though. In addition they sent along an additional copy of the game that I will be giving away to one lucky person on the site.

All you have to do is comment on this post, or watch for the review on Monday and make a comment there. Everyone who has commented will be entered for a chance to be given the game. If you comment on both posts you will receive a chance for both comments.

On Friday, October 2nd I will announce the winner. You have until 12:00 CST on that day to enter the contest. The winner will be contacted and once we have exchanged Friend Codes I will gift the game to you. It's that simple. Just read the site and post a comment.

Note: This contest is open to North American Wii owners due to not being able to gift to other regions.

UPDATE!!!: The contest is now closed.  We'll be announcing the winner at 1:00 pm CST.  That's in just under an hour now.  Good luck to everyone! 





Top 20 WiiWare Titles: Week of September 21st



This week’s Top 20 WiiWare titles are based on the information from the week of September 21st, 2009 (parentheses indicate the previous week’s rank).

1 Contra Rebirth (1)
2 Reel Fishing Challenge (2)
3 My Aquarium (3)
4 World of Goo (5)
5 Tetris Party (4)
6 Final Fantasy IV: The After Years (6)
7 Texas Hold'Em Poker (N/A)
8 My Pokémon Ranch (7)
9 Dr Mario Online Rx (11)
10 Texas Hold'em Tournament (9)
11 Sexy Poker (10)
12 Tales of Monkey Island: Chapter 1 (12)
13 Tales of Monkey Island: Chapter 2 (8)
14 Family Slot Car Racing (13)
15 Defend Your Castle (15)
16 Family Mini Golf (14)
17 Brain Challenge (17)
18 Water Warfare (19)
19 BUST-A-MOVE Plus! (16)
20 Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My life as a Darklord (18)

Well, this week shows us some interesting stuff. There is no change at the top three spots. Those titles have firmly planted their hooks and aren't going anywhere. Now that summer is over let's see how the fishing titles do. Will they drop because fishing season is closing or will they rise because people still want to be outside?

There are now three different versions of Texas Hold'em near the top 10. Two of them maybe deserve to be there, but I don't know why Sexy Poker continues to sell. The game is not that good and you can see more things for free on the internet.

We have one new entry this week with Texas Hold'em Poker and NyxQuest has fallen out of the Top 20. That is a good game, maybe it will see a resurgence like World of Goo did. The biggest fall of the week was Tales of Monkey Island: Chapter 2 which fell below the previous chapter of the game. Chapter 3 will be out soon. It could be possible to see three different parts of the same game on this list.

That's it for this week, check back next week and see how things have shaken out.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Introducing Frank West

Capcom has unveiled the next new character to be featured in the upcoming Tatsukono vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars. During their Press Conference at TGS today, series producer Ryota Niitsuma unveiled Dead Rising's Frank West will be a playable character. Capcom has also released a video showing Frank in action.

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars will be available in North America on January 26th, 2010.

It's Officially Official, Wii Now $199, New Super Mario Bros. and Wii Fit Dated

Nintendo has announced, at last, through a press release that beginning on September 27 the Wii will be sold at retail for $199. This will include the console, Wii Remote, Nunchuk and Wii Sports.

“Wii has reached more video game players than any game system before because it attracts everyone—both men and women, and people of all ages,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “Our research shows there are 50 million Americans thinking about becoming gamers, and this more affordable price point and our vast array of new software mean many of them can now make the leap and find experiences that appeal to them, whatever their tastes or level of gaming experience.”

Also in the press release we have official release dates for both Wii Fit Plus and New Super Mario Bros. Wii, which will launch of October 4th and November 15th respectively.

Now all of the speculation is finally over and Nintendo can quit denying that they will be dropping the price. I'm most excited about the official announcement of New Super Mario Bros. Wii as this game is sitting on top of my most wanted list.

So let everyone know, if they don't have a Wii, they've just gotten 50 more reasons to go out right now and pick one up.

Source: Nintendo Press Release

Capcom Unveils Two New Titles at TGS

Sengoku BASARA Samurai Heroes, Ghost Trick Coming to North America and Europe in 2010


TOKYO, JAPAN — September 24, 2009 —
Capcom®, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games, announced today that two titles on display at the 2009 Tokyo Game Show will be coming to North America and Europe in 2010. New Capcom titles Sengoku BASARA™ Samurai Heroes and Ghost Trick (working title for North America and Europe), displayed to the Japanese gaming public for the first time in Tokyo, will be making the transition to western gamers next year.

Sengoku BASARA Samurai Heroes, the latest in Capcom’s popular samurai action series, makes it first appearance on both the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and Wii™. Set during a tumultuous period of Japanese history, Sengoku BASARA Samurai Heroes allows players to take up the swords of more than a dozen fierce samurai warriors in huge battles against hundreds of opponents. Players will be able to unlock playable characters, as well as supporting generals who will make it easier to command and lead armies with the ultimate goal of re-writing history to rule all of 16th century Japan. The action is fast-paced and stylish, taking combat cues from producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi’s other big series, Devil May Cry®. The game’s main campaign will be the same on both gaming platforms, with the addition of online co-op for the PlayStation 3.



Ghost Trick combines mystery, logic puzzles and the supernatural into a new experience on Nintendo DS. Part adventure game, part puzzle game, Ghost Trick’s gameplay will challenge player’s brains while its distinctive art style and character designs courtesy of members of Capcom’s Ace Attorney® series, will please the eye. In Ghost Trick, players become Sissel, an amnesiac ghost who must use his ghostly powers to protect the lives of several people while attempting to uncover the secrets behind his own untimely demise. Sissel can “possess” items within the world, such as flicking a switch to shock an unwary assassin or floating a bike through the air to scare mortals and even rewind time by four minutes to prevent further deaths.



Source: Capcom Press Release

Best Buy Memo Confirms Wii Price Drop?

Here is piece of evidence #5 that the Wii will be dropping to $199, though this is still not official until Nintendo makes its announcement on Friday. Best Buy is circulating a memo inside the company telling employees to keep quiet until Friday and not talk to customers about this.

If you don't have a Wii, you're probably not visiting a site like this. If you are you already have a Wii and aren't affected at all. I know it's good to be at the lowest price point for all consoles and Nintendo doesn't really need to drop the price to remain on top. People are still buying Wii's but this could allow some games to get a jump in price if people go into the store expecting to pay $250 for the system.

We'll see in the next couple of months how this affects sales of the Wii, but it won't really be evident until after the holiday sales. People are getting ready to be in holiday shopping mode so sales were going to go up anyway.

Netflix CEO Says He Wants to Be On All Consoles

When it comes to Netflix and home consoles, right now Microsoft has them all locked up. But Netflix' CEO, Reed Hastings, says that eventually he wants to be on all the consoles. During an interview with Reuter's he had the following to say:
Eventually we want to be on all the game consoles, all the Blu-ray players, all the Internet TVs. So we are working in parallel with all of those efforts. Currently our Xbox deal is exclusive and we haven’t characterized it more than that.

You can currently access your Netflix accounts on Wii by going through the Play On service, which is itself a very nice way to get streaming video on your Wii. We reported on it a few weeks ago and gave our impressions of the service, though it would be handy to be able to select a Netflix channel on the Wii's Menu.

He went on to say:

There will be people doing DVD-by-mail in 15 or 20 years, so I think DVD will last a long time. Our best guess is that DVD will peak for us in 5 or so years. But it is continuing to grow. And the streaming is exploding. So we are getting nice growth in the DVD side and huge growth on the streaming side.

Even they know eventually everyone will be streaming all of their media content, even if that is still a few years away. I keep saying I want to get rid of all my physical media. I like the convenience of being able to open up a menu, see the boxes of all my movies and just pick one. I like to collect things, but movies and games take up a lot of space if you are into collecting.

What about you guys? Do you want to see Netflix coming to Wii. I use Play On to watch content from Hulu and Netflix already on my Wii so I can wait a bit longer. We've got a good temporary solution right now. Do you look forward to the day when you'll be able to turn on your system of choice and watch movies or play games from the same place? Or do you like your game machine to be a game machine?

Food Network: Cook or Be Cooked Gameplay Video

Something’s cooking in the kitchen as namco bandai games releases new food Network: Cook or be cooked video

NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc. today released new gameplay footage for Food Network: Cook or Be Cooked, an exciting new way of experiencing the world of cooking for Wii™. The video offers a sampling of cooking techniques and delicious recipes that will tantalize a player’s skills and taste buds.

With inviting introductory lessons for the novice cook or for “foodies” who want to put their gastronomic skills to the test, Food Network: Cook or Be Cooked will provide everyone with the proper instructions to become a star chef no matter the experience level. Designed in collaboration with the executive chefs of the Food Network Kitchens to ensure authenticity, Food Network: Cook or Be Cooked is a fun and entertaining game that can improve a player's cooking skills. Utilizing the Wii™ motion control capabilities, players will learn as they play through fun and delicious recipe challenges that range from breakfast to family dinners.

Players looking to stir up the pot can grab a few friends and have a cook off – or work together to perfect their meals. Food Network experts Susie Fogelson and Mory Thomas will also help players hone their cooking skills by offering tips, instruction and feedback.

Developed by Red Fly Studio, Food Network: Cook or Be Cooked is slated for release on Wii this November. For more information on the game, please visit www.namcobandaigames.com.

Samurai Warriors 3 Character Art

Koei has released some character renders from Samurai Warriors 3





Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Tales of Monkey Island: Chapter 2: The Siege of Spinner Cay Review


Tales of Monkey Island: The Siege of Spinner Cay is the second installment in Telltale games newest episodic adventure. If you played the first chapter of Tales Of Monkey Island then you know exactly what to expect when starting up this game. When we last left our plucky hero, Guybrush Threepwood, he was being held at the point of a sword by a mysterious pirate. That pirate turned out to be Morgan leFlay, who is a beautiful young bounty hunter that also happens to idolize Guybrush. She’s been hired by the French doctor who wants Guybrush to conduct experiments on him and during their brief confrontation she cuts off Guybrush’s hand and escapes off of the Narwhal.

The Narwhal’s mast breaks during the fight and from there Guybrush and Mr. Winslow head off to the Jerkbait Islands, home to a race of Merpeople. As soon as he gets to the island he runs into Elaine who is arguing with another pirate and the leader of the Merfolk. The pirate and his crew have been infected by the Pox and are attempting to “acquire” the summoning artifacts used to summon La Esponja Grande, the only thing that can rid the world of said pox. Guybrush is also looking for the artifacts and this is the main focus of The Siege of Spinner Cay.

Guybrush spends his time covering ground across three main islands uncovering clues and combining items in an attempt to recover the artifacts so he can save the world. The puzzles in this installment are much harder than the previous game as there is little to no clues as to how you are supposed to go about your tasks. The first game seemed to drop more hints and help you along a little better than this chapter did. That’s not to say the puzzles are completely incomprehensible, you just have to think a bit more than you did during Launch of the Screaming Narwhal. The main island in this game has the same style of winding jungle as before, but you are not required to decipher clues to walk around the correct path. There are set paths to walkthrough and it’s much easier to navigate this time around. There is no quick travel option, though so you will have to walk or sail to all your destinations and that takes a bit of time.

Siege of Spinner Cay does suffer a bit from being one of the middle chapters in a multiple chapter story. There is no real beginning, which means you are thrust straight into the action. That was definitely evident as this chapter seemed a bit more action oriented than before. It also suffers from having no real end. There is, as expected, a huge cliffhanger that will continue into the next chapter. By itself it feels a bit odd, but knowing that it is part of a larger story arc helps quite a bit. You will be left wanting to continue the story when the credits roll.

Overall it’s a quality addition to the story and has all the strengths of the previous chapter. The humor is still there, the characters are developing at a nice pace and the visuals are just as stunning as before. There are some issues on the Wii of the frame rate dipping just before and right after the game auto saves, but those were the only times it ever came up. If you picked up the first chapter and want to know what happens it would be well worth spending the 1,000 Nintendo Points. If you complete this chapter you’ll probably want to end up buying the entire series, because at this point you’re well wrapped up in the story.

Final Score: 4/5

Review copy of the game provided by TellTale Games.

MySims Agents Ships


REDWOOD CITY, Calif., September 22, 2009 – Grab your crime busting gadgets, follow the clues and solve the case! The EA Play Label of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) today announced MySims™ Agents for the Wii™ and Nintendo DS™ shipped to store shelves this week and will be on sale September 29, 2009. An original IP, MySims Agents is a mystery-solving adventure game where players are heroic agents who must stop a sinister plot that threatens the fate of an entire city.

“We are thrilled to bring a new take on the original MySims franchise to players with MySims Agents,” said Tim LeTourneau, General Manager of MySims. “MySims Agents appeals to gamers of all ages—whether you enjoy a good adventure or a challenging mystery to solve—the game lends itself to an experience the whole family can enjoy whether they hold the Wii-mote or are there to help.”

MySims Agents for Wii

In MySims Agents players take on the role of a special agent hired to foil the sinister plans of Morcubus, CEO of the corrupt MorcuCorp. By recruiting different MySims, each with their own special skills, players can build up their very own crime-busting dream team. From tracking footprints and using forensics to picking locks, hacking into computers, following leads, and collecting clues, players must rely on their wits, skills, and trusty gadgets to piece together the clues to solve mysteries. Jump aboard a private jet to reach an ancient temple, a spooky mansion, a seedy industrial section of the city, a sunshine filled beach boardwalk, or an icy mountaintop chalet. Each clue you uncover will lead you closer to the sinister Morcubus. Return from their adventures with cool treasures that can be used to construct and customize your five story headquarters.

MySims Agents for Nintendo DS

In MySims Agents on Nintendo DS, players are agents assigned by their agency to help the mayor stop a notorious thief from stealing an ancient treasure. By searching for clues, solving intricate puzzles, and matching wits with the thief, gamers can protect the treasure and the town. Along the way players talk to their favorite MySims characters, sharpen their agent skills with 10 different mini-games, and search through underground caverns for clues to the thief’s undoing!

Capcom Celebrates Mega Man 9's First Birthday



One year ago today, as you could see in our recent This Week in Nintendo History article, Mega Man 9 was released. Capcom has decided they're going to celebrate the event by giving stuff away.

The Grand Prize as you can see above is one of the way awesome Press Kits they were sending out when the game launched. 15 Runners-Up will win a code to download the game on the platform of their choice (Wii, Xbox 360, PS3). All you have to do to enter the contest is head over to the Capcom Unity Contest Page and enter. They want you to submit something to show how passionate you are about Mega Man: baked goods, home-made models, music, videos, art, costumes, etc. They want it to be something new and unique or something that improves on things they've already seen. Your goal should be to warm their cold, jaded hearts on the panel because at Unity, they've seen tons of fan made Mega Man stuff. If you're not sure if something has been done or not, do a quick search on their site.

Good Luck and if any of you enter, send us the pic as well and we'll post it here on the site.

Spyborgs Ships Today


WiiTM-Exclusive Brawler Brings Old-School Style Together With Stunning Visuals, Epic Bosses and Dynamic Co-Op


SAN MATEO, CA September 22, 2009 -
Capcom®, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games, today announced that Spyborgs has shipped to retail exclusively for Wii. Spyborgs, Capcom's hottest new thrill ride, combines an extraordinary sci-fi world with action-packed 2-player co-op, epic multi-stage bosses, and the old-school beat em' up feel that will satisfy fans of the genre and fans of robot destruction alike.

Weekly Poll Results


We had fewer people turn out this week for the poll than we did last week, but we're getting new people all the time. This week's poll asked which Mushroom Kingdom princess was your favorite. The results are in and here they are:

33% of you (1 vote) said that Peach was their favorite.
66% of you (2 votes) said that Rosalina was their favorite.
The other two options (Daisy, Pauline) didn't receive a vote.

Rosalina is the winner. Is that just because she's the new girl on the block? Or could it be that she seems to be a bit more of a stronger woman than Peach? I don't know. You guys tell me what you think down in the comments section.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Max and the Magic Marker Hands On

I recently had a chance to sit down with Max and the Magic Marker and get some hands on time with the game. I played through a version of the game that featured five levels that highlighting some of the action early on in the game.

The first thing that I saw when I booted up the game was the overall colorfulness of the presentation and the theme song that would be stuck in my head, even now a few days after playing it. The world is presented through the imagination of the main character Max, and his drawings. Because of that you get a feel very quickly that you might be in for a very interesting journey through the imagination of a child. Each level begins with a very quick drawing of the level in magic marker before being presented with the very beautiful rendering of Max’s world.

The basic premise of the game is that Max’s drawings come to life and one drawing in particular, that of a purple egg plant type monster with a vacuum cleaner is causing havoc. It’s up to Max to use his orange magic marker to traverse the different levels of the game and stop his nemesis. The magic marker can be used to create platforms to reach high places, or draw bridges to get across large gaps. You also have to use this magic marker to create objects that will remove the enemy gobos from the world. If you feel like you are getting rushed you can pause the action draw the object you want and then resume play. This gives you the chance to think things out a little bit without being in danger of dieing.

The platforming in the game is very solid and I found it very easy to get from one place to another. The jumps all feel very natural. There wasn’t much Mega Man level difficulty, at least not in the playthrough I had. If there are gaps that are too high to reach simply draw a set of stairs, or make a see saw that can be used to fling Max high in the air. There was no limit to the creativity I could have other than the amount of ink in the marker. Each level started me out with little to no ink, but there were orange orbs scattered throughout the level that could be used to refill Max’s ink supply. Each drawing would use a small amount of ink, but could be erased and used to refill the marker once that obstacle was passed. The more ink that was used the heaver the object would be. There were some puzzles that took this into account and if it was solved I was awarded a black orb. The black orbs, I’m told are scattered in various places throughout the levels and if you find them all they will unlock a secret. Some of them are out in the open, but some will be achieved by solving different puzzles in the game. Along with the black secret orbs, and the orange ink orbs there are gold orbs that can be collected that I can only imagine are used to unlock even more things, though I don’t know for sure yet what they do.

The fun came not so much in the platforming itself, but finding different ways to solve the various puzzles in the game. The ink drawings can all be interacted with, both by Max and the gobos. There were times I found I would create an obstacle to keep a gobo from getting to me and they would shove the drawing back at me. I spent a lot of time with the game just trying to find different ways to dispatch the baddies. Some of the different things I tried were drawing a box around them and then pushing the box into a lake or creating a platform above them and when they pushed one of the supports out of the way the platform would fall of them and squash them. I imagine there is no limit to the different ways that can be created to eliminate them, other than your imagination.

Another thing the developer says they’ve witnessed is that bystanders can’t help but get involved as well. They’ve seen numerous times where someone watching would offer a suggestion on how to defeat an enemy or reach a platform. They also have seen that the game could be good for what has been referred to as “father-daughter” mode where one player controls Max and the other player handles the drawing.

Max and the Magic Marker is another in what is shaping up to be a long line of player created interactive games, but it could be the most memorable one that comes out this year. The bright visuals, insanely catchy music done by Analogik and simply engaging creative aspects of the game are coming together for a very unique experience that everyone will be able to enjoy later this year. Take notice, people, Press Play, is looking to make a splash with their first WiiWare title.




 

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