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Presidential race celebrated in mini golf game
Data Design Interactive, the folks responsible for such titles as Ninjabread Man and Anubis II, decided they needed to make a gesture in honor of the election, and what better to do than use their NotMiis to represent a golftastic throwdown between President-Elect Barack Obama and his former opponent, John McCain? Well, there's not much actual golf in the trailer in question, for Crazy Mini Golf, but there is a victory dance, as well as some dudes who somewhat resemble the politicos.
Wii Warm Up: DuYu NuYu?
Finally, Data Design Interactive has gotten the message, and added the single feature to their Wii offerings that audiences have been clamoring for since Ninjabread Man: knockoff Mii creation. And the NuYu system looks pretty okay! It's easily one of the better things this particular company has done.Now that they've finally added support for user-created avatars, which we're certain was the only impediment to a larger audience, have you been convinced to try out Crazy Mini Golf or to keep a closer eye on other upcoming Popcorn Arcade series games?%Gallery-27275%
Target Terror, Anubis II prices slashed to reflect quality
Konami's awful arcade-to-Wii Target :Terror port was a hilarious prank at first, one we were willing to play along with, what with its goofy FMV terrorists and over-the-top 9/11-inspired plot. But the joke immediately stopped being funny when we saw the light-gun game's retail price: $39.99. We crossed our arms, turned our head slightly to the site, gave Target: Terror's box a stern look, and said out loud, "Whatchu talkin' bout, Willis?"Willis must have changed his tune, however, as Amazon has temporarily marked down the game to $15.88, a price more in line with the amount most people would be willing to pay for the 2004 shooter. Grab it before the sale ends! While it won't add enough to your total to make your order eligible for Amazon's Free Super Saver Shipping ($25), you can also pick up Data Design Interactive's Anubis II for a reduced $5.95. Some might feel that's still asking too much the game, however ...[Via CAG]Read - Target: Terror for $15.88Read - Anubis II for $5.95
Don't go mental at the sight of Crazy Mini Golf
We don't care who you are, where you're from, what you did, as long as you love ... mini-golf. It's slow, methodical and sometimes frustrating, but a gamer isn't a gamer until they enjoy a fun-filled round on those crazy putting courses. Real golfers are excused.Naturally, this is why Data Design Interactive decided to go with Crazy Mini Golf as the title for their upcoming putting challenge. The press release is clearly targeting the whole "kidz" segment (golf is too violent for the tots, they need GTA), but it seems to be a pretty full-featured game. You'll be waggling your Wiimote with two control options, 74 "crazy" holes, four courses and multiple gameplay modes.The first screens are fresh from the pro shop to our gallery! They look pretty smooth -- almost as smooth as this guy.%Gallery-25247%[Via press release]
Battle Rage looks fantastic (for the PC)
We immediately cried out, "Bullshots!" when we sighted these screenshots released with Battle Rage: The Robot Wars' Wii press release today, but then we remembered that a PC version of the fighter is also in the works. With a quick comparison comparing the image resolution with other screens for Wii games (and a bit of common sense), we were able to confirm our suspicions that these shots are, indeed, too good to be true. That said, if graphical detail isn't a primary concern for you, jump into the gallery for three new screenshots of the four-player arena combat game. And, while the images might not be for the Wii release, there's no doubt that this European boxart is! The cover actually looks badass, you know, despite Data Design Interactive's out-of-place Popcorn Arcade branding.Details about the actual game: 20 weapons, 10 arenas, 8 robots, special melee/ranged weapons for each robot, customizable robots, arcade mode, team battles, 2036 setting, yadda yadda yadda, convicts trying to earn their freedom by battling mechs for a bored society's entertainment.%Gallery-18871%[Via press release]
Call for Heroes: Pompolic Wars no longer vaporware, possibly shovelware
Did you forget about Call for Heroes: Pompolic Wars? Don't worry, so did we.This PC port was supposed to come out at the end of last year, but disappeared off the face of the earth instead. We know many of you are RPG starved, though, so you may be glad to know that media for the game has finally surfaced.IGN has some screens of Data Design Interactive's upcoming Wii game, but we're not sure when to expect the title. As you can probably deduce from the images, Call for Heroes also fits into the fantasy genre, and involves fighting demonic hordes to save the world -- your usual fantasy fare. Yet, you may find yourselves weary of this game; after all, DDI is the company responsible for traumatic titles such as Ninjabread Man and other shovelware. The PC version (which released last summer) also got an average score of 25% on Metacritic, which is a pretty bad sign.You can judge for yourself whether or not this game looks good, though, by checking out the screens posted after the break.
Shovelware: A cause and effect
Wii owners certainly can't complain about the number of third-party games available for the console. As MTV's Stephen Totilo puts it, where there was once a game drought for Nintendo systems (specifically in the N64 and GameCube eras), there's now a flood. What Wii owners can complain about, however, is that a lot of these Wii games are nothing but shovelware. But, how do these games end up on the popular console? And, is it even ultimately a bad thing that they do?
DDI racing games fall straight to the top of our want list
We don't normally cover individual reviews on Wii Fanboy unless we're, you know, writing them. But there aren't enough reviews online of either of these two games to Metareview either one, and we had to make a mention of IGN's reviews of Data Design Interactive's Mini Desktop Racing and Offroad Extreme! Special Edition. These games managed to score 1.2 and 1.0 respectively. That's from IGN, who frequently gets taken to task for their "8-10 review scale."Check out some quotes from these reviews: Matt C says that "To (Offroad Extreme's) credit, the title features a comprehensive "how to play" tutorial, but unfortunately lacks an accompanying "why to play" one." And Mark Bozon says that "(Mini Desktop Racing's) credits mention no game designer at all though, so that explains a lot," as well as labeling the game "another shovelware title that simply needs to be ignored at all costs." The Wii has some bad games, but these two from the creators of Ninjabread Man sound like they've raised (lowered?) the bar. We are now driven by an uncontrollable compulsion to play these two games.[Via NeoGAF]
UK public hungry for cookie games
We're taking this story with a grain of salt and a tall glass of milk. According to a press release from Data Design Interactive, two of their four budget Wii titles "already sold out within 3 days of release." Which two games sold out was not specified, but the four released were Ninjabread Man, Billy the Wizard, Anubis II, and Rock & Roll Adventure.We're going to assume that Ninjabread Man was one of the sellouts, because we kind of want to buy it. The identity of the other one pretty much doesn't matter. But this development leads to two obvious questions: Why would people who know better (this stuff was already released on PS2) go in for the same kind of punishment again? How many copies of each game were in the shipment? Four? Five? Nice to have evidence that third party games can sell on the Wii, we suppose.[Via NeoGAF]
With success comes the flood
Remember when Data Design Interactive was going to port a "few" titles to the Wii? Apparently, a "few" means "more than thirty." By the end of the year, it looks like we will be rich in clunky, poorly-reviewed budget ports. Thanks, Data Design. And by "thanks," we mean, "gah, why?" Not a single game we've seen announced is new ... and we're not sure we'd want to see a new one if they made it.Don't let the cute look of Ninjabread Man fool you. All signs point to awful.
Wii gets some RPG love
Call for Heroes: Pompolic Wars, the forthcoming PC RPG, will also be heading to the Wii during Q4 of this year. If there's a big hole in your life where Twilight Princess used to be, this might be worth checking out. Publisher Data Design Interactive is mostly involved with budget titles, so don't expect this to be in the same class as Zelda, but it could give us an insight into how the Wii handles the demands of a PC style game. Plus more RPGs have never been a bad thing.The interface doesn't look particularly Wii friendly at present, with lots of small icons and text, but the official website promises the finished product will take full advantage of the Wiimote. We're curious to see how Pompolic Wars shapes up at the end of the year[Via Infendo]
