Bomberman
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Wii releases for the week of January 28th
Just as is the case on the Virtual Console, this week's retail release list is extremely short. In fact, it's so short as to not be a list at all, easily being summed up by one video game title. It's one that has some minigames within, as well as the benefit of having a nice price point. This week's retail release is: Bomberman Land So, are you going to get it?%Gallery-7628%
New games this week: Turok edition [Updated]
Maybe we've taken one too many cerebral bores to the head, but we've decided to feature Touchstone's Turok relaunch as our game of the week. Since we didn't get the demo here in the states, (Ed: The demo is available, but only on PSN). We have no idea if it's a solid title or more of the dreck that the series devolved into. But we hate dinosaurs so much we want it to be awesome. Nay, we need it to be. Check the full list after the jump.[Update: Though GameStop has the game set to launch this week, Turok's official site says Feb. 5. So don't go looking for it this week.]
Minigamerman Land
We make fun of minigames, especially when they're tacked on to Bomberman, which is already the gold standard for multiplayer party gaming. But we hesitantly admit that a well-done minigame collection can be great for group play.At worst, then, Bomberman Land is a Bomberman game with some minigames on the disc that you can ignore. At best, it's a Bomberman game with some other diversions for between games of Bomberman. Without too much information about how to play these minigames (are you shooting at the goal? Bouncing the ball repeatedly? How do the controls work?) we can't tell you if these are the good kind of minigames or the Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz kind. All we can do is point you at the new screens and say that they might work out. And, as always, our gallery has more Bomberman Land content to gawk at.%Gallery-7628%
DS Daily: Bombermania
Everybody loves Bomberman. It's a fact. Don't be fooled by the liars who will inevitably come into the comments and register their snarky distaste. Those liars are, in fact, liars. There have been about a million Bomberman releases, all differing in various ways: some are 2D, some are 3D, some have single-player story modes, or minigames, or extra multiplayer modes, or dinosaur helpers. Some are racing games. What do you look for in a Bomberman game? What is your ideal feature set? What makes you see a new Bomberman release and decide "I should buy this one, instead of those other ones!"
The Flash of bombs going off
The official North American Bomberman Land site is now available for perusal, and features more than a few screenshots and exhortations to buy the game. There's actual stuff! To do! The site offers Flash demo versions of three of the DS Bomberman Land Touch! 2 minigames. We can only assume that they are confident that you know how to play the regular Bomberman part by now. Grid Riddle is a series of extremely simplistic jigsaw puzzles with maddeningly shrinking time limits. Bomb Factory is a game in which you rotate arrows to direct bombs into conveyors of the same color. Shoot 'em Up is a basic can-shooting game in which you shoot at bombs (by tapping them) to keep them up in the air. All of the games are pretty simple, but diverting; Bomb Factory in particular can get hectic, after fooling you with a slow start. Also they're free.[Via GamesPress]
Hudson defuses future sales bomb, lowers Bomberman Land price
Bomberman Land just became a better deal (in the future) than it was going to be. Gamestop's preorder listing for the game once had it priced at $49.99, but dropped it this week to $29.99. We love when this happens -- by dropping the price before the January 29th release, we're spared the trouble of waiting for the price drop. Pricing Bomberman Land at a near-budget price point is smart, because at that price, it'll attract people just interested in a nice multiplayer Bomberman game as well as those after the full experience. Of course, Bomberman Land on the Wii faces tough competition -- from its own predecessor, the excellent, cheap, downloadable Bomberman '93.
Hudson making big plans for Bomberman in '08
With years of planting and kicking bombs, exploding walls, and collecting power ups under his belt, it's easy to think that Hudson's iconic Bomberman's particular shtick has been throughly explored. Not so, says Hudson big cheese John Greiner, who notes that the company has "lots more planned" for the Bomberman franchise in the coming year. This is on top of the already announced Bomberman Land titles coming in January, as well as a newly kicked off New Year's contest over XBLA's Bomberman Live. While Hudson has not shed light on its plans for the portly pyromaniac, we assume that the company will not endeavor to reinvent the wheel, as such a move would be unheard of in Hudson's history.
Bomberman gets new content Dec. 26
The afterglow of Christmas can be kind of a downer, but at least this year you'll have one slightly belated gift to look forward to: A fresh dose of content for Bomberman Live. (It should be noted that by "gift," we mean it costs 250 points [$3.13]. Sorry for any confusion.)The "Bomb Up Pack 3" will add a new mode called Friendly Fire, that gives players a power bomb and puts them on a holey map and 10 new characters (including soon-to-be-favorite "Bomb2-D2"). Your $3.13 will also net you two new levels called "Cavity Land" and "Robot Factory" (which we hope is a nod to "Monkey Vs. Robot," even though we know it's not). Look for the pack to go live on Dec. 26.
Bomberman Land Touch! 2 trailer explodes onto the net
Hudson hit us up with this new trailer for Bomberman Land Touch! 2 and upon checking it out, we're excited. Hell, of course we're excited, it's frickin' Bomberman here. It's got lots of minigames (including one where Bomberman dances, for some reason) and some multiplayer stuff, but, more importantly, it's got the original Bomberman experience included. Bomberman Land Touch! 2 is slated for a January 2008 release.
Two new Mac games: Bomberman and Peggle
Boy, it seems like everyone was waiting for me to write up my gift guide before releasing some interesting Mac games this year. First Horde of Orcs comes out, then Sonic of all things appears on the iPod, and now here's two more fun gaming experiences appearing on the Mac.First, our sister gaming blog Joystiq reports that PopCap's crack casual game Peggle has appeared for OS X, and just like most of PopCap's games, it's so addictive it should probably be regulated by pharmacologists. It's a universal binary, too, and right now it's only $10 (50% off from a sale on PopCap's site). Be prepared to disappear from your relatives for long stretches of time over the holidays, though-- anyone who can only play one round of this at a time is either not human or just in serious trouble with their spouse.And MacNN reports that Bomberman has now appeared on iTunes as well. Hudson Software has produced an official port that features an "intuitive control scheme" (that I'd be interested to see), an exclusive boss stage for the iPod, and the option to play the game's music or your own during gameplay. Wild. That game is $5 and available as a download from iTunes.It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas for Mac gamers-- turns out there may be more underneath the tree than we hoped earlier in the year.
Hudson developing games for iPhone and iPod Touch
The good news: Bomberman developer Hudson Entertainment is working on a series of games compatible with the iPhone and iPod Touch. The bad news: rather than being native to Apple's mobile OS X platform, Hudson's games will be web-based, and will be distributed via a portal with new games promised every week. Starting tomorrow, iPhone and iPod Touch users will be able to surf to the "Do the Hudson!!" website using the Safari web browser, where they will be able to play such thrilling titles as a tile-flipping game (featuring Bomberman!!), a "Where Waldo"-style game, and a "spot the different" game.These casual game offerings will be made available for free, although premium, paid content is a possibility for the web portal later down the line. The "Do the Hudson!!" website will also allow users to listen to classic Hudson tunes, read Hudson blogs, and watch Hudson videos. Whoopee.
Bomberman Land contains Bomberman
Don't worry! The latest round of Bomberman Land screens contains plenty of pictures of those minigames we all love. Bomberman is skiing! Bomberman is dancing, apparently! Bomberman is ... sorting things, apparently!But in addition to those wacky tasks, Bomberman Land has an extra multiplayer mode called the Battle Pack Mode, in which players face off in arenas and try to blow each other up -- with bombs. We think it's an interesting direction for the Bomberman series, and we really think it could catch on as a party game. Maybe between minigames and after getting through some of the story, we could try some of this novel multiplayer!%Gallery-7628%[Via press release]
Bomberman Land Touch! 2 screens explode in our face
Hudson has fired off some new screens for the upcoming Bomberman Land Touch! 2 and we're chompin' at the bit to get our horribly misshapen mitts on it. We've gone ahead and done the responsible thing, plucking the screens from the press release and situating them neatly into the gallery you see below.And, for those who haven't kept up with bombing technology (they've made particularly impressive advancements in the realm of fuses), the game is going to have some sweet Wi-Fi Connect compatibility, all but cementing its place as a future theme game for Game Night.%Gallery-11087%
Bomberman Land Story screens explode into our eyeballs
It's been too long since we were able to put our goggles on and prepare for a full facial assault from new screens for Bomberman Land Story. Because, that's what we're getting right now, as we all get to check out some new shots depicting the title screen, world navigation (we assume) and a few menu screens.Also, it looks the official site for the game has received an update, complete with loads of new content.
More Bomberman Land mini-game madness
After most of our more outspoken readers were pretty disappointed with Bomberman Land's maniacal math mini-game, we present you with the latest multiplayer offering from Hudson Soft. In Free Throw, players shoot basketballs while attempting to pop balloons to maximize points. What do you say, loyal readers? Does this mini-game seem more interesting?
Become a math genius in Bomberman Land
If simple math isn't your strong suit, you may have a hard time playing at least one of Bomberman Land's more than 50 mini-games. Taking a page out of the recent "brain training" craze, this mini-game will have you trying to beat out your opponents by looking at the problem and answer and choosing if addition or subtraction needs to be used to reach finish the problem. What makes this even more fun? You'll be able to match wits against your friends via the game's Game Sharing feature.
Wii Warm Up: Let's talk Wii Ware
We'll come right out and say it: we love the Virtual Console, but Nintendo has lagged behind a little when it comes to the next-gen online marketplace. Don't mistake us -- we love the chance to replay classic games, because we love classic games, but some of the features found, say, on XBLA, would make nice additions. We've also been waiting for original content ... and when it comes to that, it certainly appears that Nintendo is about to deliver. Fifteen bucks seems pretty reasonable for a full-fledged Square Enix title (we just hope it's more than five minutes long), and then we've got karaoke and Bomberman to look forward to. But what's best is the idea of a Dr. Mario with online multiplayer. Now we're starting to feel like we are about to get a full-fledged online marketplace of our own, and we like it. With all of this, plus Iwata's statement about the sheer volume of titles proposed for Wii Ware, we're pretty deeply enthused. You?
Slew of new titles announced for Wii Ware
Though its potential can't be denied, Nintendo's Wii Ware channel, an upcoming download service for new Wii games, didn't impress us much with the seemingly low-budget titles announced for it so far. Nintendo amended that worriment today at its Tokyo conference by revealing a lineup of impressive projects in progress, turning our "Excitement Level" knob to eleven, one measure greater than what we previously thought the mechanism allowed. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Little King and the Promised Land (1500 Wii Points, March), a "country-building sim," stands out from the bunch, promising an exclusive side story which takes place after the original GameCube game. This marks the fourth entry to the series and the second Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles title announced for the Wii. Square Enix has already made a teaser site for you to load up and immediately close once you've realized that there's almost nothing there yet. Hudson, having kept things on and poppin' on the Virtual Console side for some time now, demonstrated its commitment to the new service by announcing new games like Bomberman, Star Soldier R, and Joysound, the last of which will be a karaoke title. Namco Bandai also chimed in with Mojipittan, a Japanese word puzzle game. As for Nintendo's contributions to the Wii Ware channel, the company announced Dr. Mario (!!!), Pokemon Farm, Puzzloop for Everyone, and Maruboushikaku, all of which appearing to have some form of Mii integration. You can preview screenshots for those titles at the Famitsu links below. Read - FFCC: The Little King and the Promised Land teaser site Read - FFCC: The Little King and the Promised Land screenshots Read - Star Soldier R screenshots Read - Mojipittan screenshots Read - Dr. Mario, Pokemon Farm, Puzzloop for Everyone, and Maruboushikaku screenshots
Bomberman Land to detonate on Wii, DS, PSP
Forgetting the travesty that was Bomberman Act Zero, there certainly hasn't been a lack of love lately for Hudson's bomb-obsessed icon, with the earlier released XBLA title Bomberman Live getting one expansion pack already, while another is planned for release later this month. Additionally, Hudson has also now confirmed a trio of new titles in the Bomberman Land series in development fot the Wii, DS, and PSP, with all three planned for release in January 2008. Offering a collection of 50 mini-games, Bomberman Land seems right at home on the Wii, though with a catalog as saturated with similar experiences as Nintendo's latest console is, we're having a hard time mustering excitement for the prospect. Likewise, Bomberman Land for the PSP will feature 50 mini-games, while the DS variant – branded Bomberman Land Touch 2 – will include just 40 such games, with most designed to take advantage of the handheld's touchable screen. Beyond these bite-sized diversions, quests, puzzles, and both single- and multiplayer antics are guaranteed, with each game featuring a multiplayer battle pack mode, complete with new maps, items, and in the case of the PSP and DS versions, UMD/single cart gameplay.
Hudson lighting fuse, kicking Bomberman Land Touch 2 to DS
Hudson announced a sequel to Bomberman Land Touch! along with new Bomberman Land games for the PSP and Wii. Whoa, catch your breath. A Bomberman sequel? We know it seems impossible, but it's true. Hudson finally figured out that they can make money by selling Bomberman games. This time, the publishing will be handled by Hudson's parent company, Konami, rather than Atlus.The new game features an RPG-style Story Mode, otherwise known as "stuff that gets ignored in favor of regular multiplayer Bomberman," and over 40 new minigames, known as "oh, it has minigames? I didn't notice because I just play Bomberman."What can't be ignored is the 4-player online Battle Mode, which the first Bomberman Land Touch had as well. It's another opportunity for us to lose over and over again to the Game Night community! Check out the link for the first screens, and blow up the post break for a look at the press release.
