"I absolutely believe there is a place in the world for the Wii.
When you look at platforms and core competitive game experiences, it's
probably not that,. But as we go through this franchise we will look
at every platform people play on." - Harold Ryan, president of Bungie
Halo on Wii? Not anytime soon, I'm guessing, but Bungie showing interest in the Wii is...interesting. Of all the developers in the world.
For the past three weeks now neither Sony nor Nintendo have had the upper hand on each other in terms of sales, although it's always been Sony pulling ahead by just a little every time. This is the 3rd week in a row which the console wars has been so evenly spread between the two.
And another week has passed! This is the Pokemon box wallpaper you'll all be getting today if you type in the secret sequence!
Looks like a guy posing on the TV with a Pokeball in hand. Doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but hey, it's better than the default ones. Remember to visit http://www.filb.de/games/tools/aikotoba for the password and method to obtaining them!
Next week, it's the final wallpaper reveal! Featuring the revival of Team Rocket! Remember to check back on May 7 for it!
As with every other movie release in Japan comes a shower of soft and cuddly merch. And there's always Pokemon plushies. Always. Even if it's the not-so-cuddly looking Zoroark. I remember the Manaphy plushie that came from the official line in Movie 9...I still have it with me, on my bed...enough of that.
Let's see, there's also a talking Zorua that can say ten different phrases, in line with its ability to use telepathy to communicate(why didn't they do this with Jirachi?). It's always a pain to change the batteries in these things, so I'll pass. Still way cuter than that Zoroark though.
And since Celebi is the poster boy for a movie (again) there's also a plush of him too. It's not just plush toys everyone gets when watching the movie- preordering tickets gets you a special movie Celebi that activates the final promo event tucked away in Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver...
Just looking at them gets me all excited and stuff.
One is already out, the other doesn't have a release date yet. One is
DSiWare, the other is for XBox Live Arcade (thus explaining why I can't
get either one of them). Both are downloadable from online services only, are both puzzle game, andhave characters so cute I just want to
cuddle them XD
First they give out reissued units of Game & Watch Ball to Japanese members. Now they have...this!
Four Nintendo-themed bamboo fans, two of Mario and two of Animal Crossing. They aren't as throwaway as you think- there are people who collect bamboo fans too. These four would look great on any collection, and look very well designed. 150 points for each, none of which are as pricey as the Game & Watch. But of course.
Well, we're all happy with this photo, but apparently GameStop is hopping mad over the leak of the black Wii bundle. Hey, guess I shouldn't post this photo then, since there's controversy over it and such? Meh, like a thousand sites all over the Web haven't done so already. Once something's on the web it spreads like wildfire and you can't stop it. Internet fact!
And the battle begins. E3 this year is scheduled for June 15 to June 17, and Nintendo are going all out when their press conference begins on the first day. Start compiling a wishlist for what you want Nintendo to reveal this year! But not too long, lest you get disappointed (happened in 2008, when Nintendo announced nothing excpet Wii Speak, Animal Crossing and Wii Music)
Or, lovely gameplay videos disguised as outer-space transmissions. Who made these? Anyway, more gameplay footage of Mario Galaxy 2 that you could ever want before you actually touch the game on the 23rd of May. Looks great, doesn't it? I've only watched half of these- don't wanna spoil too much for myself!
Something good I missed? Yeah, something good I missed. Yoshio Sakamoto showing off Tomodachi Collection at GDC and explaining why the game has been received so well in Japan. His copy is rife with crazy Nintendo execs. Iwata wearing a wrestling outfit? Reggie wearing a skirt?
Iwata: Reggie, you suck!
Reggie: Look who's talking!
Not something you'd hear every day. Oh! And Sakamoto getting rejected by Samus, and the whole bunch of other crazy, funny things Tomodachi Collection has been famous for. I know, since I own a copy too *wink* I have around 35 Miis to take care of. No Iwatas or Reggies though.
It's tough to localize even with its popularity. Maybe it's just too Japanese for everyone else to appreciate. I say give it a go. Who would pass up the chance at something as loopy as this?
No Dark Gary this week, it's all about Monster Hunter Tri and little else. Well, there really aren't many games to go by this week anyway. Gary and Alison interviewed the creators and checked out the Classic Controller Pro. Black, it was, and bundled together with the game and Wii Speak was there too. Damn I'd really like to at least take a gander inside Nintendo World for once. I'd kill to go to New York just for that.
Those two should feature DodoGo next week. It's amazing and not enough people know about it.
And Gamespot finally reviews the week-old and highly anticipated Monster Hunter Tri for the Nintendo Wii. Gee, that's a lower score than I'd expected, but hey, this is Gamespot. They have high standards. Not that they have given ANY Wii game anything beyond 8.5 for a year now. Come on, the Wii isn't that bad.
Co-creator of Super Meat Boy, Edmund Mcmillen makes a Meat Boy microgame on Warioware DIY this time! Not to nit pick, but when you've played the game you'll notice some inconsistencies in the AI. Meat Boy, after finishing the game, will keep on running if you tap him a second time.
None of the other Big Name Games were sloppy, so this is quite a minor slip-up on his part. Not to mention the pixel art he made was definitely way behind WayForward Games' offering(the Shantae game). You can literally sense his lack of enthusiasm when making his microgame, as compared to the other big names. Maybe he's just busy, I dunno. Super Meat Boy isn't a Wiiware exclusive anymore, mind. Oh well, another week, another developer game.
Shin'en is either not doing very well financially, is too scroogey or didn't feel the need to make a fancy Flash website for a Wiiware game that probably won't sell despite how awesome-looking it is. I'm guessing it's the latter.
But how they managed to emulate Mario Galaxy's graphics at just a fraction of its production cost is way beyond me. Even if the game is drab, this Wiiware game could sail on aesthetics alone, especially if it isn't 1000 points.
The site is here. Features a collection of the trailers that are currently out on show for Jett Rocket and a few details.
Scans from GoNintendo, and they're looking sweet at the moment! Key of all being Ninokuni, which is what everyone would probably choose if they had a choice of the three games anyway. The new Ninokuni scans showcase a lot of new in-game screenshots that aren't cutscenes, some more new cutscenes(hey, it's a Ghibli game. Why else would the cutscenes be important?) and the world map, the titular 'Another World'. We already know about the doll, Shizuku, which was given to the boy, Oliver, by his mother who died early on. Shizuku is the fairy of tears, and comes to life if tears fall onto it(check the trailer).
I'd never really thought much about the DSiWare, but this game? Makes me want to make use of it finally....How can you not love something so cute? Aw....
Nintendo made a black Wiimote. Nintendo made a black everything else that's used to control your games. The only thing that isn't black now is the console itself. Wrongness. But now we might finally be able to get it in matching colors....yeah~.
Well, in the wake of a complete lack of gaming news....what's a blogger to do? Eat cake, of course. Intricate, shaped-like-a-NES cake or your money back. None of these cakes are actually mine, natch, and I do wonder what they taste like. It's definitely chocolate underneath all that cream. It's the only good flavor in the world(well, according to pikaby's taste buds)
NES cake...heh? Eric? One of our member's names is Eric. Wonder if this cake belongs to him?
With 5th gen looming upon us, which new Pokemon pre-evolutions do you guys wanna see? Corsola is a favorite. It's kinda cute, which makes it perfect to expand on its evolution line. Three pictures from deviantART from three different people depicting how Corsola's pre-evo would look like. Full credits to them!
What, more? Just three days after the Cloud Mario trailer? Relax, guys this isn't an official Nintendo trailer. I saw this on Gametrailers and GoNintendo. Presumably it's Gametrailers having a go at the game, the demo version, I guess. Well at least we get to listen to the game now rather than having montages with the same Gusty Garden theme song over and over again.
Here's the gameplay vid. Can't wait? Neither can we. EAD Tokyo promised more side-scrolling stages. Here's just one of 'em.
From May 10 to June 10, Photo Dojo, the wacky DSiWare game that uses the camera to make fighting poses for yourself and then actually play, will be given out over the DSiWare Shop for absolutely free! Doesn't burn a hole in Nintendo's pocket since the game is only 200 points without the offer.
Photo Dojo (Nintendo DSiWare, May 10): Get ready for some
seriously fun Kung Fu action – starring you! Create your own characters
and record the sound effects using the Nintendo DSi system’s camera and
microphone. Use your imagination to set the stage for a fun-filled fight
to the finish. In a special introductory offer, Photo Dojo will be
available for free download via the Nintendo DSi Shop from May 10 to
June 10. Starting June 11, the game will be available for download for
200 Nintendo DSi Points.
I don't have access to Nintendo Points, so Nintendo did me a huge favor there. Now to film me, my brother, and Leonardo di Caprio duking it out on DSi.
Three more boxes to go! Hang in there, Pokemon HG/SS players!
This week it's the Pokethlon logo Pokemon box. Go get it!
And on April 30, you can look forward to....okay, this seventh box wallpaper isn't really that interesting. I don't really know what's displayed here. A guy holding up a Pokeball in the air, in a TV screen? And why is it called Oniisan? He's not my brother....or my character's brother.
Weird things. But it's still a week from now, so think of something that might fit into this description of this box.
At least the wait out won't be as painful as first anticipated when Metroid Other M went TBD. Now it still has a release date that still isn't too far away.
The new release date for Metroid Other M is August 31st, and Sin & Punishment: Star Successor will be released on June 27.
Nintendo commented on the delays on Kotaku. Go see 'em.
Destiny Guy brought this to light on Nintendo 5-Star just a few months ago, and now it looks like this clever 3D-space tilting game is making its way into the US.
This DSiWare game involves tilting your DSi around a 3D space to find hidden objects. What's so clever about the idea is that the DSi doesn't register tilting motions, but the game improvises by using the camera to register movements. It's a wonderful idea, and even more wonderful now that it's coming over to the US.
On Nintendo's official site, the game is renamed Looksley's Line Up. Sounds pretty British.
Looksley's Line Up (Nintendo DSiWare, May 17): In this unique take on
hidden picture games, Looksley the rabbit needs your help to find
inspiring objects so he can finish the story he's writing. The objects
are hidden in 3-D dioramas made up of cutout layers that shift as you
move the Nintendo DSi system. Unique Nintendo DSi camera-based controls
let you peer deep into the game's scenes and hunt for hidden objects
just by moving the Nintendo DSi.
May 17 for release. If you've got nothing on DSiWare, why not give this a try?
Don't take my word for it. The game's called Jett Rocket, a platformer game created by Shin'en, makers of Iridion 3D (GBA) and Nanostray 1/2 (DS). Their fingerprints are all over this game-even the music reminds me f something from Nanostray.
And it does look surprisingly similar to Mario Galaxy, albeit with a slightly less iconic character. Let's see if the gameplay will stack up as well as the graphics.
No match. Robot pwns. No matter how the guy used the Wiimote to shift the moving platform, the Adept Quattro(that's the robot arm) still manages to do its work effortlessly. No wonder it's the world's fastest.
Interestingly enough a Wiimote was used for this event instead of anything else.
Logged in to Flipnote Hatena these few days(on DSi, not on the PC)? You've probably noticed a few avid flipnote makers' Creator's Room have been spiced up with unique, beautiful looking themes. It's a new feature created by the Hatena team, and finally you have a reason to collect Color Stars for your hard worked on flipnotes.
Found on neogaf. The lucky chap managed to get his hands on the Club Nintendo Japan prize , a Game & Watch Ball, an actual working unit. The only difference between this and the 1980 original is it was made in 2010, but it's completely authentic. Guess how much it'll be worth in a few years time.
Trailer unveiled at Capcom's Captivate 2010 event (which explains the influx of Capcom gaming news, including Okamiden and Marvel vs Capcom 3)
Ghost Trick is essentially a spiritual successor to visual novel game Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney, both literally and figuratively. Instead of being a lawyer, you're a dead person's spirit trying to solve crimes by possessing people, reversing time and so on. Very fluid and stylish graphics for the DS, and might be worth well a purchase when it rolls out by the end of 2010.
But why reverse time to four minutes before someone is killed? There has to be some significance to 'four minutes'. You think?
PS Look carefully in the trailer. You could notice a certain spiky-haired guy in blue (you know who this is *eyebrows raised*)
This is what you're missing out on. See that delicious stat increase? Yeaaaah. This is what it's all about. Don't hate on the system, as it's deep and rewarding, if a tad repetitive to pull off.
For those of you who've tried to 'get' EVs but still don't understand them, I'm making a guide on them soon so watch this space.
Rumor from GoNintendo, which in turn got the info from neogaf forums, where someone allegedly obtained an email from Nintendo stating the delay of the two games.
Just got an official email from work about two of Nintendo's
biggest profile games of the year, Metroid: Other M and Sin &
Punishment 2 being delayed. Metroid: Other M has changed from being
released on 6/27 to TBD. Sin and Punishment 2 has changed from being
released on 6/6 to 6/27.
What? After all that fuss on the Media Summit, they go and delay it now?
Galaxy 2 is getting as many updates and nearly as much hype as when Super Smash Bros. Brawl was in the spotlight. Is....is this a good thing? Will knowing too much about the new stuff ruin our experience with the game?
Thankfully enough, I can say....maybe not. The more I saw of Brawl the less amazed I was, whereas seeing more of Galaxy 2 just makes me want to play it more. It's funny.
This time the trailer shows exactly how Cloud Mario would work, by spinning you create a cloud platform underneath you to step on, to get to those hard-to-reach places. Not necessarily going higher up, which places it as mutually exclusive to things like Bee Mario. Bee Mario would've accomplished the exact same thing too, mind. Wonder if the suit dissolves in water too. Or pour thunder and rain when it turns grey.
The other things that came were helping hands to P1. Co-op play gets some footage, and Baby Chico (that's the name of the little orange Luma, a.k.a Player 2) shows what he can do. Picking up coins, throwing bubbles at Mario when his awkward swimming controls pulls him away from breathing space, that kind of thing. Super Guides are back. Along with Galaxy 2's upped difficulty, more ways are devised to help the player it seems. Is Luigi in the game too? He'd better be.
And again, more thrilling moving videos of Mario careening through the warped galaxies and getting to stars, each time revealing something good, and yet not revealing too much, this is the kind of information-release pacing Brawl never had a chance to perfect. This hypes people up. May 23!
To be blunt, there were some erroneous quotes that went out.
They did come from Sega personnel but they weren't appropriate or
accurate. I did speak to a lot of the European press, saying 'Please
ignore all that.' With Tournament of Legends we've definitely brought
that down to more like a T-rated level. So there's a viable market
there. Is it going to be as big as the Teen or Mature market that exists
on the Xbox 360 or PS3 platforms? Certainly not. Is it viable, because
the cost of development on the Wii is significantly less than those
other platforms? Then, potentially the answer is yes. Our general view
of the Wii is that it's a platform that's done Sega particularly proud;
we've been very supportive of it with the success we've had with the
Mario & Sonic series, success we've had with the Sonic series, and
some of the redesigned IP like House of the Dead. So the Wii remains a
very important part of our mix. So you will see certainly quite a few
more announcements on Wii titles that Sega will be producing and
publishing. Just Dance has been absolutely phenomenal. Most of what
Sega does on the Wii is more in that field, but I still say there's an
opportunity for titles in that more edgy genre. You're right that Wii is
such a phenomenon that it caught many people off guard when it first
came out, and I still think it continues to surprise with the software
numbers it can notch up on appropriate titles. - Sega West
President Mike Hayes
Notice the unharnessed potential. NOTICE IT.
Oh, and stop making sub-par Wii games, Sega. We all know you're capable of much better. Madworld was great though, so thanks, I guess.
Wait a mi....Just Dance has been phenomenal? Urgh.
One terrible game they failed to mention was Let's Tap. Great concept, great foundation, seriously underutilized. Still, guess we should be thankful the Wii still has some decent 3rd-party backing.
2009 might as well be called the year of the Wii-make. Wii has surprisingly been the target of people wishing to remake their games with the new waggle technology, though few Wii-makes ended up actually using any motion controls. Here's the best five of them.
As many fans of the video game series know, a movie based on the adventures of Professer Hershel Layton is planned. Well, the release date has been announced!
And confirms it's coming to US shores. Now all we need is a date.
EDI: Every last trailer I could find for this is completely out of sync....Will edit again if I find a better one.
And Pokemon tat again reaches out to another all-time high.
Lunchboxes, stationary sets, pillows, towels.....BATTERIES? Yep, the Pokemon craze is still alive and well, which can only be a good thing. These go on sale in Japan on May 25. Look at Raikou and Electivire. They worked at the factory all night long charging them up for Poke-freaks to use on their GBAs. If we all still use GBAs. Bet Pikachu helped out with the production line too. Piplup doesn't shoot electricity and is only the executive producer. Wait....what?
It's April 20 in Malaysia, and less than 12 hours before this date hits the US, and a storm of gaming sweeps past it too, as Monster Hunter Tri finally gets launched in full English. It. Will. Rock.
I could've sworn that sounded a lot like Avatar at the beginning. The singing voices, I meant. Best launch trailer this year, and best looking game for the Wii. Lagiacrus(the underwater dragon-like beastie...wait, nearly ALL the monsters look like dragons and dinosaurs) looks to be the key monster to this story, kinda like the legendary Pokemon to their own games.
Written by pikaby
This week's Big Name Game for Warioware D.I.Y comes from Matt Bozons, of WayForward Games. Another superb game developer behind stuff like Boy and his Blob(the Wii-make), LIT (Wiiware), Contra 4, and the upcoming Shantae: Risky's Revenge(DSiWare).
This guy's pixel art is crazy good. Look at all the details! Quite a cool technique of using prototype art before placing the real thing in. Although....about the tiles, he could've used the custom palettes instead of Copy/Paste.
Too bad he never talked about Risky's Revenge during his stint with Warioware. I'm sure we'd all like to hear some info about it, anything.
Remember the gamesTM interview when Miyamoto said he'd wanted a new Starfox? There's an interested developer....Hideki Kamiya, of Platinum Games. Platinum Games? Developer of Madworld......and Bayonetta?! Man, if that dev house was behind the helm....Yes, this could spell success.
I have to admit, that's a really nice sweater. It's got World 1-1 of Super Mario Bros. on it, front and back. If only it wasn't a nerd wearing it and posing to look somewhat 'cool'.
It's advertised as being nerdy, but you could at least make it cool....dontcha know Mario has left the Nerds Club?
Iwata wasn't kidding when he said Monster Hunter Tri's visuals put the Zelda team to shame. It looks more impressive than almost anything else on the Wii bar Metroid Prime 3 and Mario Galaxy.
With the official release date of this game for the US so close now I thought I'd pull a few gameplay videos from Youtube. Remember, online is free in US (pay-to-play in Japan), except for extra content which you buy with Nintendo Points, and does not use the antiquated Friend Code system. You get to keep a roster of friends with your ID name like you do in every other game for X360/PS3. Looks like it isn't just in the visuals department that Nintendo needs to buck up on.
The one problem I can foresee.....loading screen cuts in too frequently and abruptly. Ruins some of the atmosphere. Still hyped, though, it's like Pokemon, but instead of catching them all you find and kill them all. Every monster feels like a boss. Epic.
Along with the partial songlist (22 out of 50 songs revealed) came about ten or so screenshots of the gameplay in Taiko no Tatsujin DS 3. Click 'Read more' to see them.
Is this Pokemon Sunday? Oh wait, it is Sunday. After last week's false alarm this time Pokemon Sunday showed a bit about Black/White, though it's nothing new.
The footage in that video was showing the trainer moving through that circular shaped city seen on one of the early screenshots. It's the same, only this time it's moving. And it's moving.....largely how I expected it to. Still, nice surprise to see a video out so soon.
The other thing was the battle scene, but it's just the same screenshot of Zorua and Zoroark. I guess they can't show any actual battles at all until some of the Pokemon are revealed. Game Freak really orchestrate which piece of Pokemon info has to be released first and last, lol.
Didn't expect Microsoft to shut down the original XBox's online servers so soon. It went offline on April 15th, and there were so many Halo 2 memorials and final online matches I couldn't count them...they're everywhere. I don't own an XBox or go online that often, but I thought I'd pay homage to it anyway.
Microsoft's saying it's for the better- more improvements are coming to the 360's XBox Live service after the shutdown. E3 2010 for details, they're saying.
Wonder when the DS' online servers will go offline- never. Okay, maybe not, but not anytime soon.
So that's where it went. I'd been wondering how well it did for the past few days, and I just remembered I hadn't heard a thing about hardware sales figures for a while now. Just what the doctor ordered. So, how'd the DSi XL do in the wake of the 3DS announcement?
The outfit looks sweet, although a bit too much resemblance to Fire Mario, just look at the color of his clothes. Other than that it's fluffy and awesome. But what's it do? Bee Mario already allows you to step on clouds, maybe you can make your own clouds and step on them to jump higher? Cheat. That'd break the balance of the game.
There should be an explanation to this over the next few days, so stay tuned.
And it pertains to the Celebi event being given out in japanese theatres at the movie premier. Who knew that's where that man was hiding? A rumour to the area to fight him? Can we do it again?
Be warned. This post contains MAJOR spoilers for the event. Click "read more" at your own risk.
See the question mark at the end of the game title? That's me wondering what the hell it was when I stumbled across it by accident on the Japanese Namco website.
It's a stylus/touch pen puzzler originally released on PCs and is now going to both the Wii and the DS in Japan simultaneously on April 22, 2010. When it'll be released on those two consoles in the US, only time will tell. Besides, it's pretty obscure from where I am.
First impression I got was the unique art style. The gameplay didn't jump out at me screaming 'creative', but I'll find out more about 'Ivy the Kiwi?' tomorrow.
