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The untold story of a failed Nintendo game six years in the making
Nintendo has had a number of high-profile flops (Virtual Boy, anyone?). However, one of its biggest failures may have been one you heard almost nothing about -- at least, until now. Unseen64 has published a documentary detailing the largely unknown story of Project H.A.M.M.E.R (aka MachineX), a Wii game from Nintendo Software Technology that died after nearly six years of painful development that began in 2003. The hammer-swinging sci-fi brawler was supposed to be mostly finished by the time it was first acknowledged in 2005, but a culture clash between the Japanese management and American staff all but killed progress. The two sides had differing ideas about what would fix the mediocre gameplay. The top brass thought better environments would improve things, for example, while the rank-and-file wanted to overhaul the core gameplay mechanics.
DS Fanboy Review: Crosswords DS
Puzzle games usually offer more bang for their buck than most other types of software. Since many in the genre are relatively easy to design, they're often budget titles, too. But whether or not they come cheaply, you can expect to invest a lot of time in any good puzzler. Games like Picross DS, Professor Layton, and Tetris DS -- which are all very different, and yet reside in the same genre -- continue to keep me occupied despite the months (or years) that have lapsed since their release.As a crossword lover, I naturally expected Crosswords DS to have the same appeal. Adding anagrams and word searches to the formula made the game seem even more delectable, and I gleefully anticipated being sucked into a puzzle-packed experience. As it turns out, though, this first-party title didn't meet my expectations -- in fact, it didn't even come close. Gallery: Crosswords DS
NMS08: Crosswords DS impressions
One surprising gem of the Nintendo Media Summit was Crosswords DS, Nintendo's most recent puzzle game. Not letting itself get overshadowed by all the other stuff at the convention, Crosswords DS managed to rack up favorable impressions from many a gaming site. IGN found the title to be "awesome," and was very impressed by the diversity in the game. Even though it's called Crosswords DS, there's more to it than crossword puzzles. The game also includes word searches and anagrams. According to the site, the controls are very intuitive, and even easier to understand because of the great interface.Game|Life also enjoyed the software, finding the anagram mode to be even more addictive than the crosswords themselves. From what we can tell by Game|Life's comments, the anagram puzzles look almost identical to those in the online game Text Twist, which this blogger can confirm to be the computer equivalent of crack cocaine.GoNintendo describes this title as a "must-have" if you like crosswords. RMC reported that the puzzles are challenging (although the ones shown in the gallery must be from the "easy" setting), so don't worry about a dumbed-down experience. Also, don't be put off by the game's lame box art -- it seems like this title is definitely something to look forward to!%Gallery-4773% Read: IGN's impressionsRead: Game|Life's impressionsRead: GoNintendo's impressions
WoW Moviewatch: Never Stay Tuned 2
(Warning: Given that this is a movie made by Olibith, there's likely something in it that will offend you.)On the eve of the debut for the much anticipated third movie in the Never Stay Tuned series, I thought I'd prep you with the first two films. NST is about a gnome that can't sleep, so he turns on the TV and channel surfs. We covered the first of the series in July, but I wanted to show off the second part here to refresh your memory.[Via Warcraftmovies.com]If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.Previously on Moviewatch ...
If Project H.A.M.M.E.R. still existed, this would be a preview of it
NeoGAFfer Shiggy has posted some more screenshots from the vaporous apparition that once had the name Project H.A.M.M.E.R., this time focusing on the in-game perspective. It's strange how disparate the action scenes look from the shots of architecture we were given: those screens were crisp, stylized, and made use of heavy, thick shadows, while the "real game" is, well, blurry. But next-gen blurry! It's like they were making two different games. Or, we suppose, it's like they put two different games on "indefinite hold".As of now, it is still "indefinite hold" rather than "dead forever," so you can take these screenshots as a preview of a potential future game. At the very least, some guy is poking through the game getting some screenshots.
The game that almost was: Project H.A.M.M.E.R.
Oh, Project H.A.M.M.E.R. You were a go, then you weren't, then you were, and now? Officially, the last we heard was that the hammer-wielding hero's adventure was on "indefinite hold," but the word in the backchannels is that the game is no more. It is dead. It is an ex-game. And frankly, we are sad ... especially now that, thanks to NeoGAF poster Shiggy, we're seeing a little more from the probably-defunct title.In these screens (and the video after the break) from the devkit, the game looks to have had a very distinctive feel, similar in a sense to No More Heroes (or perhaps more like Killer 7) ... or any number of stylized comic books we've seen over the years. In a word, it could have been gorgeous, and as a bonus, we could have been beating things with a hammer.
Rumor: Project H.A.M.M.E.R. axed
Sources close to NST allege that the studio's first-party Wii game Project H.A.M.M.E.R. has been canceled, IGN reports. The team has apparently moved on to one or more "expanded audience" projects -- more minigames? The ill-fated action romp was previewed during E3 2006 (in playable form), and then dipped below the radar, stamped with a "TBA" date on Nintendo's press site. IGN speculates that a supposed initiative to redesign several "traditional" titles to cater to casual players forced Nintendo to rethink Project H.A.M.M.E.R. Perhaps the Ninty think tank deemed the hack-n-smack unfit for mainstream tastes.Nintendo has yet to issue an official statement or change the "TBA" status of Project H.A.M.M.E.R. on its site. Despite the corny plot -- hammer-wielding cyborg saves U.S. from "killer robots" -- Project H.A.M.M.E.R. was (is?) expected to provide a relatively unique gameplay experience (like, um, some actual violence) for Wii owners.
