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Hudson also planning Bonk and Tetris for 3DS
If you thought Hudson was stopping at Deca Sports, Kororinpa, Bomberman and Omega Five for the 3DS, think again! Siliconera spotted two more planned 3DS titles on Hudson's website, namely Bonk and Tetris. It's worth noting that Hudson already has Bonk: Brink of Extinction (pictured) headed to WiiWare, XBLA and PSN at some point in the future. We're sure the simple 3D visuals would work out just fine on Nintendo's new handheld. And Tetris ... well, Tetris is Tetris.
Lost in Shadow preview: Seeing the light
I've played Lost in Shadow twice so far at preview events, and both times I was moved to ask, "Could this game end up on other platforms -- XBLA and PSN perhaps?" Both times the game's representatives said no. Lost in Shadow is headed to Wii this January as a retail release, and that could be a real shame -- though the game is "aimed at kids, but enjoyable for adults as well," according to a pitchman, history suggests that this unique, beautiful, third-party platformer from Hudson is unlikely to be a sales hit. But for Lost in Shadow's sake, let's hope Wii owners discover this possible gem -- they might just find a very pretty, endearing game with an interesting platforming twist. %Gallery-105078%
Famitsu: XBLA shmup Omega Five coming to 3DS
It's okay if you don't remember Omega Five. The Natsume-developed side-scrolling shump hit XBLA (pictured) in early 2008 and has since shot into obscurity. According to Famitsu, the game is set to appear on Nintendo 3DS in Japan during Spring 2011 -- where it'll probably make a more memorable bow among a launch lineup otherwise devoid of "traditional" shoot-em-ups. Hudson published Omega Five on XBLA. The company hasn't made a peep about the 3DS version, but we'll check in to see what -- if anything -- it has to say about a possible North American release.
Hudson's Planetarium lighting WiiWare's sky
Having triumphed in the looking-at-fish genre, Hudson is turning its attention to the sky. Planetarium for WiiWare, out in Japan tomorrow, is a virtual cosmos, featuring views from different cities, along with information about various constellations and other celestial objects of note.
ESRB: Hudson setting up 'My Aquarium' on PS3
My Aquarium, a $5 WiiWare app that allows players to design and populate a virtual fish tank, is headed to the PlayStation 3, according to an ESRB listing. The content description reveals such scintillating features as the option to "learn facts about a variety of different species," and the ability to "use rocks, plants, and coral formations to customize their tank." But it wasn't a hit on WiiWare for its engaging gameplay. My Aquarium's appeal is in its function as a sort of customizable screensaver, which would only be enhanced by an HD port. Meanwhile, My Aquarium 2 was released on WiiWare today. Kind of weird timing for a reveal of a ported version of the original, which, we suppose, is why we're seeing an ESRB "leak" today and not an official Hudson announcement.
Lost in Shadow lights up retail in January
Hudson is doing its best to make sure that its very pretty Wii platformer Lost in Shadow doesn't get lost in the typically crowded holiday game release season. Unfortunately for those of us who want to play it now now now, the company is accomplishing this by waiting it out. Lost in Shadow, first revealed in August 2009, won't be in stores in North America until January 4, 2011. It's nice, then, that there's still more to learn about the game to keep us occupied. The latest trailer (after the break) and screens reveal mysterious gates that allow the player character, normally just a shadow, to take shape as some kind of light being, and move in 3D space.%Gallery-98407%
Preview: Lost in Shadow
I was incredibly skeptical of Lost in Shadow when I first picked up the controller. Sure, it may look like Ico, but it definitely doesn't play like it. While there's a lot to like about the Wii game -- especially its shadow manipulation gimmick, unique premise, and gorgeous art -- I walked away with some concern that the full experience may become stale. The story of Lost in Shadow is rather grim: a boy finds himself severed from his body, relegated to explore the realm of shadows. As he traverses a massive trap-filled tower, he earns more memories, becoming more whole. It takes 21 grams to make a spirit whole -- and that's your goal in this inventive platformer. To reclaim your soul, you'll have to collect its pieces. Of course, this is easier said than done. You'll find these scattered throughout the world, oftentimes in seemingly impossible places to reach. Being trapped in shadow form means you can only interact with shadows, projected by objects in the foreground. Thankfully you have a few tricks up your sleeve. You have the ability to move light, altering the shadows. By manipulating an on-screen slider vertically (or horizontally), you'll be able to change the shadows, and open new paths. The solutions appear a bit too obvious: simply demanding experimentation with the sliders. According to a Hudson rep, these sliders only appear when shadow manipulation is necessary, making it very clear when you must use your powers. %Gallery-90095%
ESRB: Bomberman Fantasy Race joining PSOne Classics
If you love the Bomberman characters, but you hate the Bomberman gameplay, you might be interested in the latest PS1 game rated by the ESRB for re-release on PSN. Bomberman Fantasy Race takes the familiar helmeted characters out of their explosive comfort zone and into a racing game in which they ride cartoon animals. We presume it'll sell for the standard "PSOne Classic" price of $6, which means it's cheap enough to be worth a purchase if you want a non-standard kart racer -- or if you want to be a pedant and use it to correct people who tell you that "all Bomberman games are the same."
SuperGrafx game to be added to Japanese PSN
In addition to PSOne games and made-for-PSN games, the Japanese PlayStation Store features a modest selection of games from NEC/Hudson's PC Engine system, in its "PC Engine Archives." In a massive update, Sony is adding 1/7 of the games from another NEC console, the SuperGrafx. Okay, so it's just one game. Next week, Hudson's After Burner-style shooter Battle Ace will be available on the PlayStation Store next week, along with Victory Run, a racing game for the original PC Engine. Strangely enough, the Wii Virtual Console is also host to a single SuperGrafx title in Japan, but it's a different one: Capcom's Ghouls & Ghosts. Of course, both the Virtual Console and the PlayStation Store are devoid of SuperGrafx games outside of Japan.
Hudson announces 'Oops!' -- another minigame collection for Wii
Oops! Prank Party may sound like a belated April Fools' joke but, tragically, it most certainly is not. Because the Wii needs another minigame collection, Hudson answers the call this June with Oops!. This cornucopia of cheap to produce content consists of 100 "brain-teasing, puzzle-solving, reflex-testing" challenges. Failure in the game results in your individually designed avatar putting on "embarrassing costumes" or submitting to "pranks." The "light-hearted and hilarious" costumes include a monkey suit and cardboard pants. How charming! We'd actually mock this game, but considering how phenomenal Just Dance sales are, the joke's on us. %Gallery-90098%
Hands-on: Lost in Shadow
Hudson's possibly no-longer-Wii-exclusive action-platformer Lost in Shadow has always struck us as a lovely game -- its use of light and shadow evoking the great ICO -- but until last night there was the chance it could very well hold as little substance as its silhouette hero. Good news: What started out reminding me of the original, side-scrolling Prince of Persia quickly had me grinning, as its lighting went from "a nice effect" to a creating some clever gameplay mechanics. The premise of the game is simple: You play as the shadow of a boy that's been severed from his body. Beginning at the ground floor of a massive tower, you guide his shadow form back to the top, where the two will (hopefully) be reunited. The core gameplay is simple. The shadow boy has a sword and can run, jump, climb obstacles and duel with enemies -- again, shades of classic Prince of Persia. The twist often literally came in the form of moving physical foreground elements in the level I played in order to reach new areas, and even defeat otherwise invulnerable enemies. %Gallery-90095%
Hudson's Lost in Shadow may come to PS3, 360; dev team 'brainstorming' Move, Natal titles
Speaking with Joystiq at yesterday's Konami Gamers Night event, Hudson producer Shinichi Kasahara told us that he hopes his upcoming Wii title Lost in Shadow will someday see release on both PS3 and Xbox 360. When asked whether or not his team has any interest in developing for the HD consoles and their motion controllers, Kasahara said, "In addition to hopefully transferring [Lost in Shadow] to those consoles, we are also actually already brainstorming a couple of different ideas that we're probably going to develop for Natal and Move." Look for our hands-on with the Wii version of Lost in Shadow and our full interview with Kasahara-san coming soon.
'Jam with the Band' headed to Europe after 5-year wait; other Nintendo releases dated
[Daigasso! Band Brothers & Daigasso! Band Brothers DX] Nintendo of Europe released its summer lineup today, featuring dates we mostly know -- Super Mario Galaxy 2 on June 11 -- or aren't terribly concerned with -- Repetto Presents Ballerina in May. Metroid: Other M is still undated, having been slated for Q3, and therefore out of the bounds of the new listing. However, there are a few welcome surprises, most notably: Jam with the Band. Originally released way back in 2004 as Daigasso! Band Bros., this rhythm game disappeared from Nintendo's launch lineup elsewhere, never making it to the West until now. We don't know why Nintendo decided to revive it now -- or if it's the first game or the sequel (both covers pictured above) -- but it's scheduled for release in Europe on May 21! Samurai Warriors 3 for Wii has been dated for May 28, as well. Nintendo has also dated Capcom's Mega Man Zero Collection for June. The release date for this DS compilation of GBA Mega Man games had been up in the air following the announcement of its delay in Japan. Also, a previously unannounced DS title from Hudson, Shooting Watch, is set for release in May. We assume this is based on Hudson's Shooting Watch toy, which measures the number of button presses you can achieve in 10 seconds.
Diner Dash dashing to WiiWare March 29
Attention would-be restaurateurs: Hudson has announced that Diner Dash will arrive on WiiWare March 29. This will mark the first time that the game has been available on WiiWare outside of Japan, where it was released last month. For those unfamiliar with the title, Diner Dash tasks players with running a restaurant. This entails seating customers, taking orders, placing orders, serving food and cleaning tables. You have to manage all of these tasks in real time, so it gets pretty hectic pretty fast. The WiiWare version features new controls and a new multiplayer mode as well. The press release doesn't mention a pricing, though we'd imagine it will share the Japanese price of $10.
VC in Brief: Princess Tomato in Salad Kingdom (NES)
Princess Tomato in Salad Kingdom is your usual text-based adventure game, with a decidedly vegetarian twist. It's tough for us to provide you with a comprehensive look at a genre with so much content -- plus all of the trial-and-error. It wouldn't make for a very comprehensive and enlightening video, however we soldier on. Check out the latest episode of VC in Brief above! Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom (NES, 1 player, 500 Wii Points) Every week, we like to check out what's new on the Virtual Console. We offer these videos as a sort of taste to help you decide whether or not you would want the game in question. We also toss in our own two cents because we're pushy jerks like that.
Take heed of these new Calling screens
Click image to scare up larger screens Hudson's banking that you'll want to sample its brand of "traditional survival-horror" in Calling. Make all of the jokes you want about the game's phoney nature; what we've seen so far is downright creepy. And in the interest of getting your week off on a frightful foot, we've rummaged around in Hudson's creepy old mansion to secure some more screens, which you can find in the gallery below. %Gallery-84947%
Castlevania: Rondo of Blood on Virtual Console 'soon'
[Castlevania Dungeon] After years of waiting, Castlevania: Rondo of Blood has been officially confirmed for a Virtual Console release in North America. A Hudson representative told Siliconera that the game was indeed bound for release on the Wii Shop, over a year after it was released as a download in Japan. Hudson (and/or Konami) must have spent all that time implementing the English translation used in the PSP release, right? Nope! The Hudson rep said that "it will not be released in English, however." You'll just have to do your very best to understand how to whip a Medusa head in Japanese.
Find out about Lost in Shadow with a demo
It's been several months since we've seen anything about Lost in Shadow, and we're quite pleased to be presented with a reminder of Hudson's atmospheric platformer in the form of a new trailer (after the break). Last time we posted about the game, we described the concept of living shadows as "unbelievably creepy." And now we have footage of a shadow being separated from a chained-up body by a sword! In other words, our previous assessment holds. Famitsu has also posted some new screenshots of Lost in Shadow, highlighting two new enemies, which are also creepy. Most exciting of all: Hudson has posted a demo! [Via GoNintendo]
ESRB rates Castlevania: Rondo of Blood for Wii
[Castlevania Dungeon] According to a recent "T for Teen" classification by the ESRB, Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (better known as Dracula X: Rondo of Blood) appears to be heading to the Wii. An OFLC rating of the game back in December already hinted at the possibility of the game arriving on the Wii's Virtual Console (the Japanese version was released in April 2008), but the ESRB rating's description seems to clinch it, citing the "early-90s rendering" of "reddish blood-like bursts." Previously, unless you were a resident of Japan who owned a PC Engine CD in the early '90s (or, more likely, a PSP owner anywhere in the world within the past two years ago), there wasn't an easy way for you to get your hands on "Akumajō Dracula X Chi no Rondo" (Rondo of Blood's Japanese title). But now, it seems that Wii owners outside of Japan will get the chance to check out the game.
European Nintendo downloads: Phoenix Wright, Electroplankton
The Wii port of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney arrives in Europe today, after being panned by US media for being a lazy port. We don't think "lazy port" is a strong enough term for what is essentially a GBA game running in emulation. But, because it's Phoenix Wright running in emulation, and its story is unaltered by the change in presentation, we personally don't care. It's not like anyone expected anything to be changed or added. In other "things that used to be retail DS games" news, on DSiWare, Nintendo offers two more Electroplankton segments this week. Hudson also presents the hardest sudoku puzzles yet. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (WiiWare, 1 player, 1,000 Wii Points) Electroplankton: Beatnes (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points) Electroplankton: Hanenbow (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points) Sudoku Sensei (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)
