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New Club Nintendo goodies: Ultrahand, Game and Watch Collection 2
The best part of buying Nintendo games is playing the actual Nintendo games you just bought collecting coins for Club Nintendo! At yesterday's Nintendo Media Summit, the publisher announced two new items: the DS Game and Watch Collection 2 and Grill-Off with Ultrahand for Wii. Game and Watch Collection 2 is a cartridge with classic and updated versions of Parachute and Octopus, released to Japan's Club Nintendo in 2008. Ultrahand is a WiiWare game about using a classic Nintendo toy to grill meat (really), released for just 50 points in Japan late last year. No information about release dates or cost have been released here yet.
Hands-on: FlingSmash
click to enlarge After playing a few levels of Span Smasher FlingSmash, I had finally answered an important question -- "What the heck is it?" -- but was left with another unanswered. It's true: This is a game of tossing a ball (well, a ball-like character) against blocks in side-scrolling stages, using the power of Wii MotionPlus to ... more accurately toss the ball-thing. (It actually comes in pretty handy for hitting small targets, such as gems and coins.) Playing it felt like tossing a ball against a brick wall, only sideways, which I assure you is as strange as it sounds. It was good enough fun; a very simple arcade game that is a nice change from the typical paddle-based block-breaker. I couldn't help but wonder, though, why it's destined to be a retail release and not a WiiWare title. %Gallery-86431%
Joystiq goes hands-on with Nintendo's Media Summit line-up
The embargo on play sessions has lifted and Joystiq has let loose some write-ups for games that were present at Nintendo's big Media Summit last week. They've spent quality time with The Conduit, Animal Crossing: City Folk and even Call of Duty: World at War, to name a few. So we suggest you hit up this link and get to reading!
DS Fanboy's Media Summit screen round-up
The worst bit about big industry events for impatient bloggers and readers? The game assets. Oh Lordy, the assets. An absolute landslide of screens, usually scattered about across, ooh, dozens of pages. But not at DS Fanboy! Not on our watch! Because we wub you, readers, we've collected a big old stack of new screens for your viewing pleasure and placed them all after the break of just one post. This post, in fact. From the well-known to the obscure, we'd be amazed if there's not at least one game that appeals to everyone past that line of blue text. Mario & Luigi 3, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time (right), Professor Layton and the Last Time Travel, Shining Force Feather, and Picross 3D is only scratching the surface, so make the jump!
Brain Age getting retooled for DSi launch
Rejigged versions of both Brain Age games will be available for the Nintendo DSi when the upgraded handheld launches. Brain Age 1 and 2 will be the first titles available from the DSi shop, according to Nintendo name-taker Reggie Fils-Aime, who also revealed that each will feature DSi functionality of some kind.In truth, Nintendo couldn't have settled on a safer two titles to launch the DSi store, with both games having sold a quite obscene number of copies in all regions (particularly Europe). The lack of risk-taking involved on Nintendo's part is disappointing to us, though there's plenty of time for innovative games to follow. Bet they don't fix the voice recognition, though.%Gallery-3436%
Sin & Punishment 2 and other third-party gems confirmed [update]
Update: Screen grab from Nintendo's media page, which has video of all these new games! Check it out right here.Nintendo just unleashed a demo reel of upcoming third-party Wii games, including Taiko no Tatsujin Wii, a new Tsumi to Batsu/Sin & Punishment game from Treasure, a Wii version ofAnother Code (otherwise known as Trace Memory, the DS adventure game), Let's Tap (Yuji Naka's latest project, a.k.a. the game that even penguins can play), Sengoku Musou 3 (Samurai Warriors 3) and a new "mothership" title in the Tales Of series.Will the internet regard this as the press conference that E3 should have been? We suspect so!
Wii Points officially being renamed to 'Nintendo Points'
With the new DSi just being announced, it'll allow people to download titles direct to their handheld, kind of like Apple's little doodad, the iPhone. So, in order to share the Point system between the Wii and the handheld, Nintendo will go ahead and rename "Wii Points" to "Nintendo Points," said Satoru Iwata at the Japanese fall press conference.Will you be able to transfer Points purchased through your Wii to your DSi? We would assume so. We'll update you all as soon as more information is provided.
Nintendo announces Nintendo DSi
Click image to enter our DSi gallery! Nintendo's Media Summit has just thrown us its first juicy bone of the night, and it's a big one. As was previously rumored, Satoru Iwata has revealed the Nintendo DSi, the direct successor to the DS Lite which comes absolutely jam-packed with new features and trinkets, including two cameras, music playback functions, expanded screens, an SD card slot, and a whole new, DS-specific download service. Hit the break for the full list of improvements and adjustments, as well as the Japanese launch date and price!%Gallery-33263%
Analyst doubts Wii price cut, recommends more peripherals
Mito Securities analyst Yoichiro Watanabe has weighed in on the buzz surrounding tomorrow's Nintendo Media Summit, suggesting that a Wii price cut is unlikely. Frankly, it's hard to disagree with the man. As Watanabe points out, demand is still through the roof, and the Holiday season is only going to ramp up Wii fever to ridiculous, hair-pulling levels.More controversially, Watanabe thinks Nintendo should force us all to add to our growing collection of plastic doohickeys and controller shells, on the basis that adding new peripherals to the Wii has worked well for the company. That's not exactly a move we're in favor of (our living rooms are now mostly plastic), and Iwata has already stated that new add-ons are unlikely.[Via Gamasutra]
DS Daily: What has Nintendo got planned?
Folks, it's time to whip out your crystal ball and join us in a bit of pointless (but hopefully fun) speculating about what MEGATONS will be announced tomorrow at Nintendo's Media Summit. We know there's compelling evidence that we'll see a DS redesign, and while that does seem very plausible, it's far from the only possibility.A quick poll of the DS Fanboy team revealed quite diverse expectations. I'm banking on Professor Layton dates for not-Japan, JC reckons there'll be a bunch of stuff about Cooking Guide, while Dave thinks there could be an iPhone-style apps store for downloading titles directly to the handheld, and/or a new Channel to go along with the new DS (or a revision to the Nintendo Channel to support it).Oh, and we all predicted a DS redesign. But to heck with what we think: what bombs do you expect to drop in the next 24 hours?
Wii Warm Up: Get your prediction on
This time tomorrow, we'll know whether the much-discussed Nintendo Media Summit was worth all the excitement. In the meantime, we've a simple question: what do you all expect and/or hope to be announced at the event?The Wii Fanboy staff tend to be divided on the matter. Dave is predicting a Wii Fit add-on pack or new Channel update that uses the leaked pedometer peripheral, Wesley suspects this rumor could mean the unveiling of Kid Icarus or Punch-Out!! (though says his "money would be on Kid Icarus"), JC forecasts dates for Disaster: Day of Crisis and Fatal Frame IV, while Mike and Dave both think we could see a solution to our ongoing storage woes (as do I, actually).Over to you, reader. What has Nintendo got up its sleeve?
Rumor: Old Nintendo franchise getting revived on Wii
For most people who aren't high-ranking Nintendo executives, the air is presently thick with speculation over what Nintendo will be revealing at its forthcoming Media Summit. Not if you're Gamekyo.com, though. The French site knows for certain what is coming: a new Wii game based an old Nintendo franchise that "everyone is waiting for."The Gamekyo story certainly sounds very sure of itself ("We can announce today that Nintendo will reveal a new game for the Wii during this event," reads the closing line), even though the article is entirely unsourced. While we're advising you take this rumor with a barrel -- nay, a truckload -- of salt, the prospect of an old Nintendo series being resurrected was too much for us to ignore. For its part, Nintendo issued a by-now-standard "We do not comment on rumor or speculation" to CVG, but that's not a denial, right?Source: Nintendo making new game based on old franchise.Source: Nintendo refuses to play ball.[Thanks, Chris!] Know what should be on the Wii? These games.
Confirmed: Nintendo Media Summit in early October
Didn't we already have a Nintendo Media Summit this year? By golly, we did! But, still, it turns out that rumor is true, as Nintendo will be holding an event on October 2nd and 3rd, showcasing games for both the Wii and DS in San Francisco. We know because we just got our invite.So what should we expect? Well, something on Disaster: Day of Crisis we imagine, but anything outside of that is anyone's guess. What do you all think?%Gallery-30942%
NMS08: Sonic Chronicles likes to talk
Most seasoned gamers will be familiar with the practice of wearing out their A button as they skip through mountains of dialog in a game. It's a harsh truth that the majority of titles don't do dialog well to start with, and when there's enough wordage to fill a few phone books, playing can feel more and more like a chore.Hopefully, Sonic Chronicles will prove the exception to the rule. Patrick Klepek of the MTV Multiplayer blog went hands-on with the title at the recent Nintendo Media Summit, and reported that the game -- as well as being "surprisingly dark" -- was packed with words: more than 50,000 of the buggers, in fact.That's almost double the number of words you'd find in George Orwell's allegorical classic Animal Farm (30,210), and while we'd normally approach such a wordy game with caution (see: first paragraph), it's worth remembering that Sonic Chronicles is being crafted by BioWare, a studio that's fashioned some of the finest scripts in the business. Not only that, but Klepek assures us there'll be plenty of the branching dialog trees that are a BioWare staple. If it's engaging enough, maybe we will love Big the Cat! Now there's a sentence we never expected to write.%Gallery-16398%
First Rock Band Wii shots arrive, fail to cheer us up
Rock Band's taken its fair share of flak recently -- some would say it's been perfectly justifed -- but perhaps these first screens of the Wii version in action will help slow the barrage of complaints about the game.To the surprise of nobody, they're pretty much identical to the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of Harmonix's multi-instrumental extravaganza (minus the super-sharp HD look, obviously), and, y'know, that means it's quite a pretty game, at least. Convinced, yet? No? You're still dwelling on that missing DLC and online play, aren't you? Can't blame you. So are we. Sigh.%Gallery-19119%
NMS08: Joystiq hands-on with the future of Wii
Big-brother blog Joystiq's own Zack Stern got a little face time with some of the biggest games of your fanboy future at last week's Nintendo Media Summit, and mostly, the verdict is good, even in some surprising places. We've linked all of the hands-on impressions below, but will offer a quick recap here: Rock Band for Wii is not quite a complete travesty; improvements made to the original Rock Bands are present here, and apparently, there is at least discussion of how to handle the online play/DLC problem, but whether or not that will be managed as a later add-on or reserved for a sequel was not said. But it's not all sunshine and rainbows .... Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is the opposite of Rock Band, however, in that it sounds even better than we expected. Zack spent some time in the Wii-specific multiplayer duel mode, and it sounds as though the level of depth (and sheer fun!) to be found there will make Wii owners and Star Wars fans very happy. We're looking forward to it! BOOM BLOX may seem like a simple game, but while we're on the subject of depth, this is another title with a lot to explore and discover, and we know a lot of you are excited about it -- so much so that you'll challenge the bloggers to steel cage matches and all. It's cool. We like to know you care. Samba de Amigo both is and ain't the original. It looks and feels like the Dreamcast game, but Wii remotes just aren't maracas. We did get our wish, though you can use two Wiimotes instead of a Wiimote and a nunchuk if you want, to get your samba on. Wii Fit is fun, with a lot of enjoyable mini-games, but Zack felt they might get repetitive after a while. Then again, what exercise routine doesn't? That's why they call it a routine, amirite? Read: Joystiq hands-on with BOOM BLOX Read: Joystiq hands-on with Rock Band Wii Read: Joystiq hands-on with Samba de Amigo Read: Joystiq hands-on with Star Wars: The Force UnleashedRead: Joystiq hands-on with Wii Fit
NMS08: Rock Band 'bonus' simply PS3/360 dregs
The mystery of our Rock Band's "bonus" tracks has been solved -- and the songs are nothing you haven't seen before, especially if you've been following the available DLC for the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the title. Here's your extra content, Wii owners. Merry freakin' Christmas. "Dirty Little Secret" - The All American Rejects "Roam" - The B-52's "Don't Look Back in Anger" - Oasis "Roxanne" - The Police "Rockaway Beach" - The Ramones %Gallery-19119%
Nintendo Media Summit: Planet Puzzle league hands-on (DS)
One of the DS games on display at this week's Nintendo Media Summit was Planet Puzzle League, the newest title from the developers of Tetris Attacks and Super Paper Mario. The game is a block-based puzzler along the lines of Bejeweled and Tetris and offers easy, accessible touch controls. You use the stylus to grab blocks and pull them left or right to line up three blocks of the same color to make them disappear. Like many games of its ilk, the goal is to create chains and combos by lining up multiple sets of blocks at once. All the while as you do this, the game is constantly shoving more blocks up from the screen, forcing you to react quickly.While playing the game, you hold the DS like a book, something thats always felt a little awkward to me. The controls are entirely touchscreen based, and the top screen (or left screen in this situation) gives you level detail and your score. The levels themselves look nice, with lots of bright flashing lights and pleasing music and the gameplay was entertaining, if not particularly original. The game also offers online play with full voice chat for two players and supports up to four players over ad-hoc wireless. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get any versus play in while I was at the event, but I heard from some other writers that the game really started to shine when in a heated battle over WiFi.Planet Puzzle League comes out next month, and it should definitely make puzzle game fans happy, as long as they're not too burnt out on moving blocks around for points. And really, who ever could get tired of that? %Gallery-3414%
The low-key swag of the Nintendo Media Summit
Free stuff is one of the many reasons we wish we had gotten to go to the Nintendo Media Summit. Like most industry events, those in the press who were lucky enough to attend also walked out with swag. Game|Life's Chris Kohler took this picture of his bounty: not an epic E3-sized haul by any means, but it includes some exclusive items, like the giant Wii bottle (he already covered the joke) and the light-up Wiimote keychain. Attendees also got a free Wii Points card and a Wendy's giftcard, so they can download Blazing Lazers and live Burgertime. By which we mean "eat burgers," not "assemble giant burgers by walking on them while avoiding animated food."
Reggie extols the wonders of the DS
Just in case you didn't know, the DS owns the Japanese market. At today's Nintendo Media Summit, Reggie Fils-Aime dropped a major bomb: so far in 2007, half of all games sold in Japan have been for the DS. Yes, that was half. It may be time to move beyond the "it prints money" joke. We're not sure that really communicates this level of success. Also, the numbers of people over the age of 30 who are buying the DS are up -- if you look at DS adopters over 35, the statistics are huge: the numbers are up 212%. Looking at that, it's easy to guess why we're seeing more and more of what we jokingly refer to as "non-games" rolling out for the DS. A lot of these new gamers aren't as interested in traditional fare, and as the market expands, the type of games has to expand as well. Satoru Iwata had good reason to come down hard on NoA for not getting the U.S. market on the Brain Age train; everywhere else, the game continues to walk off shelves at alarming rates. Reggie said they're seeing "significant market change" in the U.S., and we can only hope that means that, as the gaming market expands, so will gaming advertising. It's time DS commercials broke out of their Saturday morning slots and started marketing to the new gaming class: adults who like shooting zombies just as much as they like studying languages.
