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DS releases for the week of July 21st
It's a tough week. Not only are we coming off the excitement of E3, but we're faced with several great releases this week, too. Will you be shelling out for more than one game? At least in Australia, the choice this week is much, much simpler. Final Fantasy IV Izuna 2: The Unemployed Ninja Returns The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor Nancy Drew: The Mystery of the Clue Bender Society New International Track & Field Check out the rest of the major markets after the break.
Nancy Drew finds clues on the Wii
The fact that three PC-to-Wii adventure games were announced in one week is nothing short of crazy, but as adventure game junkies, we won't complain. The more that come along, the more likely at least one will be good and sate our thirst for point-and-click, right? Right? This time Nancy Drew will be sleuthing her way onto the Wii in a port of The White Wolf of Icicle Creek. The same developer that handled the PC version (Her Interactive) will be porting this one, unlike the DS games which were made by Gorilla Systems. While the original didn't blow anyone's socks off their feet, it did get respectable reviews. Let's just hope for some refined point-and-click goodness with the Wiimote, and we should be all set.[Via GoNintendo]
Warner pops extras into digital edition of Nancy Drew: Drew's Clues
One of the criticisms leveled at digital distribution over old fashioned discs is a lack of extras, but Warner Bros. has something for that with its latest release, Nancy Drew: Drew's Clues. Available digitally (VOD, Amazon Unbox, iTunes, Xbox Marketplace) from the same day as the DVD release, viewers can either get the regular movie, or the Drew's Clues edition with "Movies that Pop" pop ups for trivia facts, quizzes and behind the scenes info. This is aimed primarily at the teen-girl sleepover crowd, and while the regular flick is out in HD on all services, Drew's Clues is SD only, plus, to watch it both ways, you would have to rent (and pay for) both versions separately. Key advance that increases the appeal of downloads, or one more reason to take the remote when you leave your tween home alone, we can't decide. [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family][Via Variety]
Majesco announces new Nancy Drew for the DS
Following up previous title Nancy Drew: The Deadly Secret of Olde World Park, Majesco has announced a new game called Nancy Drew: The Mystery of the Clue Bender Society is in the works. Developed by Gorilla Systems, the game will feature nine different chapters of play, tasking players with following suspects and other things, such as taking fingerprints, The majority of the game will be played through the touch-screen, as you might imagine.As of now, the game is currently slated for a summer release. And, while we'd like to present you with some screens, there isn't anything other than the announcement at this time. You can't imagine how bad we feel about that. We like visual aids!To make it up to you, we've embedded a little something-something past the break. And, per our usual method of tucking things past the break, you will not be able to predict how awesome it is.
DS releases for the week of September 17th
No rest for weary wallets this week -- but is that really a bad thing? Our sources say no, though it can certainly be hard to find fundage for all the DS games that catch our eye. Good thing they're cheap! 7 Wonders of the Ancient World AniMates Backyard Basketball Digimon World: Dawn Digimon World: Dusk Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights Master Jin Jin's IQ Challenge MySims Namco Museum DS Nancy Drew: Deadly Secret of Olde World Park Sonic Rush Adventure Anything catch your eye this week, or are you saving up for later releases, or still hurting from previous weeks?
The anomaly of Nancy Drew games
Some of you out there may not even know the Nancy Drew adventure series exists, but like High School Musical, a lot of other people do. So much so that the latest Nancy Drew game -- there have actually been 16 so far -- is currently at the #13 spot on Amazon.com's Top Seller list for video games. A bunch of hardware is higher on the list, but the only software beating Nancy Drew: The White Wolf of Icicle Creek is Resident Wii-vil 4, Mario Party 8 and Pokémon Diamond. The latest Nancy Drew is even beating recently released titles which don't even make it into the Top 25. Poor Pokémon Pearl is at #24, is it the name? Should they have called it something more masculine?Yes, it is Amazon.com, so it isn't the greatest tracker of what's really selling out there, but it is interesting to note. And, for all we know, gamers are too embarrassed to buy the game at retail so they shop online. The Nancy Drew series is on its 16th episode, somebody has obviously got to be buying it, and the games actually are good old-fashioned adventure titles. Anybody out there who plays this series consistently care to explain the appeal? These Nancy Drew games feel like they have a lot in common with the casual games market. We hear there's a whole independent games movement out there too. There's a lot of money being made in software beyond the $15 - $25 million dollar projects we talk about every day.
Best of the rest: Kevin's picks
Saint's Row (Xbox 360)Sure it's a ripoff of Grand Theft Auto, but the graphics, gameplay, and plotlines are loads better. Plus you get to throw Mila Kunis out a window. What other game offers you that? It wasn't a feature in the recent Family Guy game.
