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VC/WiiWare Tuesday: Smorgasbord Gaming
Welcome to Bizarro World! Yesterday, North American Wii owners got two great Japanese games on the Virtual Console, and a WiiWare game. This week, Nintendo stiffs Japan on the VC entirely, and offers two less-than-thrilling WiiWare games. In fact, the most noteworthy release of the week is a shogi game based on a manga.Silver Star, the company behind some of the existing WiiWare board games, brought its board-game simulating expertise to the manga/drama property Hachi-One Diver. The art does not seem to be from the manga -- from the look of it, Silver Star brought its board game expertise to art as well. The other game this week is Major League Eating, which came out in North America back in July. Hachi-One Diver Wii (1 player, 1,000 Wii Points) Major League Eating (1-2 players, 500 Wii Points) %Gallery-20043%
Nintendo Channel video updates for this week
This week brings plenty of videos for you to watch on the Everyone's Nintendo Channel. From a look at how All-Play works in Tiger Woods 09, right down to another video of Alyson with Wii Fit. So, check out the list below, situated in handy bullet-point form: Get Wii Fit with Alyson: Balance Games Major League Eating info video MLB Power Pros 2008 info video Carnival Games info video (DS) Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility info video Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness info video (DS) The Sims 2 Apartment Pets info video (DS) Tiger Woods: PGA Tour 09 All-Play Video 2
Nintendo celebrates E3 by releasing Major League Eating for WiiWare
Distancing itself from Microsoft's strategy of releasing anticipated online content (and, erm, Coffee Time Crosswords) during E3 2008, Nintendo has opted instead to give us Major League Eating: The Game for this week's WiiWare title. We're letting the press release speak for itself: "This isn't just a race to stuff your face-you'll need strategy to master a smorgasbord of digestive attacks, defenses and counters. These include the Mega Burp, Gas Attack, Antacid and more. And don't forget to keep an eye on your Barf-O-Meter, because if the food hits the plate twice, you're out." Fighting through the Barf-O-Meter will set you back $10. Here's hoping for a few surprises coming from the press conference.
VC Monday Madness: Donkey Kong 3, Ninja Commando and Major League Eating
Another week, another slew of Virtual goodies on offer from Nintendo. This week, the streak of one Virtual Console release is broken, as we get 100% more in that department. Also, Mastiff's WiiWare title is finally up for grabs. If you've got some spare coin laying around, then these might be for you.This week's WiiWare release: Major League Eating: The Game (1-2 players, 1,000 Wii Points) This week's Virtual Console releases: Donkey Kong 3 (NES, 1-2 players, 500 Wii Points) Ninja Commando (NeoGeo, 1-2 players, 900 Wii Points) As always, be sure to stop back later for our video wrap-up of this week's Virtual Console games.%Gallery-20043%[Via press release]
Major League Eaters become major gamers
The competitive eaters out there are a true inspiration for the children. Everyone felt sick (except the eaters) after the original press event for Major League Eating: The Game, but this time the food is ditched entirely. It's still a tough competition, but the pros are trying their hand at the game itself, munching the Wiimote as if it were made of sweet, sweet candy.In hindsight, the professionals down their food faster than lighting, so it probably wouldn't make much difference if they were eating hot dogs or Wiimotes. They won't be gorging on Nintendo accessories anytime soon, but it's the funniest display of fake eating since, well, this.%Gallery-20043%
WiiWare developer argues the case for shovelware
One of the biggest criticisms routinely thrown at the Wii is related to the amount of shovelware that has popped up on the system, yet not everybody is convinced that the likes of Pool Party and Rig Racer 2 are a force for evil. Chatting to Next-Gen.biz about his company's forthcoming Major League Eating: The Game, Mastiff chief Bill Swartz seemed to defend the wealth of filler software that appears on Nintendo's machine, arguing that a wider range of games will ultimately yield more gems, and that consumers are perfectly capable of making their own choice.For what it's worth, we agree that bigger libraries generally produce a greater number of top-drawer titles -- the PlayStation 2 is a fine example of this trend -- but we're not so sure about the second part. Are consumers really educated enough about games to make a good choice? Game Party's continued success in the UK suggests not.
Mastiff promotes Major League Eating with record-breaking act of gluttony
At a press event for Mastiff's virtual maw-filler Major League Eating: The Game, professional eater Tim Janus (the guy with the face paint in the screenshots) broke the world record for sushi-eating, devouring 141 pieces of sushi in six minutes. Imagine being a hapless member of the gaming press, walking into a normal game demo and ending up with a ringside seat for a guy cramming sushi into his mouth. We were a little taken aback by simply reading the press release today. If, for some reason, you'd like to see video of the momentous occasion, CNet recorded it.This is easily the most disgusting thing done to promote a game since Acclaim's "Turok" baby-naming promotion. And it's not even that sushi is a disgusting food -- it's just not the kind of thing we'd want to see someone eat a lot of. Speaking of seeing a lot of things, be sure to feast on our newly updated gallery!%Gallery-20043%[Via press release]
U.S. WiiWare not on the same monthly release schedule as Japan
When WiiWare launched in Japan on March 25th, the service offered nine new games. Then, no new releases at all (except, of course, for My Life as a King and Lonpos DLC) until almost a month later, when Minna de Puzzloop showed up.According to a Wired discussion with Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo of America is going to take more of a Virtual Console-like approach, in which everyone complains that each week's new game isn't Earthbound two or three games come out every week. That means that all the games that were previously announced for launch, like Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People, Pop, and Major League Eating will be spread out across the first month or so.
NMS08: Joystiq gets their hands dirty with WiiWare
Besides checking out what retail Wii and DS games Nintendo had available, Joystiq also managed to spend some quality time with WiiWare and a few of its games. The general consensus? It's a mixed bag. Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People seems to capture the Flash toon's look and feel, but is fairly linear (at least in the demo available at NMS08). Stern was also able to pry some more info about the episodic nature of the game from the title's marketing director, who said "Each episode, a different designer [is in charge], which is more like they do on TV. ... It's still the same team. [But] it'll be interesting to see how the episodes feel as a result. With Sam & Max, we've had complaints that they feel too similar. We might find with Strong Bad, that each one feels very different." LostWinds is shaping up nicely, apparently, as Stern commented "Because of game's playful controls, I wish I could have spent the time progressing through the entire game." He says this because LostWinds is actually finished, and the folks behind it hope its in the WiiWare launch lineup. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King is more for the folks that like everything outside of the combat in RPG games. It's very menu-heavy, and you're very much like the manager of the game, sending out your townfolk to find goodies to bring back to you. Pop seems to have some very interesting multiplayer mechanics and, like LostWinds, is totally finished. The single-player games are "casual and a trance-like way to relax," apparently. They hope that it will be in the WiiWare launch lineup and between 500 and 800 Wii Points. Major League Eating is offering up a buffet of features for users to take from, including Wi-Fi gameplay and the complete package of competitive eating. There's going to be gross out techniques, as well as actual attack and defensive maneuvers. We're not all about who can eat a billion hot dogs the fastest ourselves, but it looks like this one is shaping up to be a full meal of fun on WiiWare. World of Goo is something that we've been interested in, surely you all know. And everytime someone checks it out and bothers to write something up on the internet, we're even more convinced this is a must download. Stern's label that this title has the "clever puzzle mechanic" and "irresistible gameplay" we've been hoping may have just cemented its status as a must own for us. Read - Major League EatingRead - World of GooRead - LostWindsRead - Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a KingRead - PopRead - Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People
Joystiq hands-on: Major League Eating: The Game (WiiWare)
Major League Eating: The Game initially seemed to be a weak concept for a licensed title. Is eating actually a game? How do you turn one tenuous "sport" into a tenuous videogame?Mastiff has met that challenge by embellishing on competitive eating, spinning the contests into a fantasy world of power-ups, attacks, and other tested game elements. I'm still doubtful that I'll play Major League Eating: The Game after its release, but I think it'll appeal to other people, especially kids. Any title in which your 3D character loses after 3D vomiting has a built-in audience somewhere.%Gallery-20556%
Do you trust Major League Eating to feed you?
We'd be afraid to accept food from Major League Eating. We'd worry they'd want to time us while we ate it, or televise it. But if your constitution is bold enough to accept the possibility of such a challenge, then check out the official website for the WiiWare Major League Eating game. Each week for the next 12 weeks, Mastiff will give away eight $15 gift certificates good for a "Food of the Week" as selected by the publisher. This week: pizza!The website doesn't just appeal to your gluttony, either: it appeals to your e-gluttony as well, with new screens (in our gallery!), video and information about the sustenance simulator. Yes, Takeru Kobayashi, the single star of Major League Eating, is in it.Warning: one screenshot contains simulated vomit.%Gallery-20043%[Via press release]
Wii Warm Up: Wii Ware Warm Up
Wii Ware's coming! And it's bringing games -- which is kind of the whole point of the thing. As we approach the launch of the service, new game announcements are coming at an increasing rate. There's already a ton of stuff to look forward to.What's your most anticipated purchase? Besides Major League Eating, of course. Perhaps one of the multiplayer puzzle games, like Tetris, Dr. Mario and Bacillus Extermination (likely to be called Virus Buster as it is in Brain Age 2)? A vaguely strategic game like Defend Your Castle or Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King? The bubble wrap game? Whatever the Pokemans thing is?
Major League Eating to take a bite out of Wii Ware
Well, not so much a "bite" in the traditional sense. To be accurate to the source material, we should say that Major League Eating will dip Wii Ware in a cup of water, and cram it directly into its mouth, two-fisted. Mastiff announced that their Major League Eating: The Game will be released as a Wii Ware launch title on May 12th. Score one for Wii Ware. The game uses a series of Wiimote motions to simulate, uh, "a variety of eating techniques including the cram, toss, and 'typewriter.'"We were ready to write this game off completely (and we still kind of are) but then we saw that this game supports online play. It also has leaderboards, though it remains to be seen whether outstanding performance in the field of fake gorging constitutes leadership.[Via press release]
Major League Eating crammed into WiiWare
Shovelware has graduated to the next level: irony. Turns out Mastiff plans to debut its coveted Major League Eating license on WiiWare, when the service launches May 12. Players will literally simulate the shoveling of food into their mouths using Nintendo's patented Waggletech®. You thought busted TVs were bad? Wait till someone swallows a Wiimote.Major League Eating: The Game features two-player offline play, plus an online mode and leaderboards. Players will be taught to use various techniques -- like the cram, toss and typewriter -- while engaging opponents with an arsenal of 'gurgitatory' weaponry, including bites, burps, belches, mustard gas and jalapeño flames. Burp-offs and hot potato challenges are also con-firmed. This can't be ... Oh yes, it's real.
Mastiff digests Major League Eating game license
It's difficult to decide if we're more intrigued or disgusted with publisher Mastiff's announcement that it has gobbled up the license to release games based on "gurgitory" competition organization Major League Eating. While we still have no idea what platforms, or frankly what audiences Mastiff is targeting, the publisher says that Major League Eating: The Game will play "like a fighting game," as players "show brilliant on-screen eating; a mastery of offensive and defensive weapons including burps, belches, and mustard gas; and of course the technical mastery necessary to avoid emptying one's stomach in a vividly colored reversal of fortune." Honestly, we can't make this stuff up.Truth be told, it's difficult to imagine exactly how these games will pan out, though Mastiff has not yet responded to our inquiry as to whether or not the stomach-centric gameplay will be easier to swallow when soaked in water.
