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Visual overload: Nintendo's E3 Wii lineup
Nintendo brought most of its franchises back into active duty this year (sorry, Clu Clu Land!), flooding its upcoming Wii lineup with new games starring familiar characters. We've collected all the screenshots and trailers we had yet to post from Nintendo's crowded slate of Wii releases, along with ones you may have missed during our E3 coverage earlier this week. Clear your cache in anticipation of some serious video streaming, and join us after the break to see footage and screens of Donkey Kong Country Returns, Kirby's Epic Yarn, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, and more.
Nintendo publishing Samurai Warriors 3 with Tecmo Koei
Following the recent announcement that Dragon Quest IX will be published by Nintendo in North America, the company has revealed another publishing partnership for an exclusive game from a big Japanese publisher: Nintendo will co-publish Koei's Samurai Warriors 3 in North America this fall. It makes sense that Nintendo would take the stewardship role for this game, as it contains a mode featuring characters and locations from Nintendo's Nazo no Murasame-jou ("The Mysterious Murasame Castle"), a Famicom Disk System game designed by none other than Shigeru Miyamoto. In any case, this is one way for Nintendo to ensure ongoing releases of third-party core games on its systems: by plucking existing ones from Japan and publishing them in North America itself. %Gallery-74703%
Koei throwing a gigantic Samurai Festival
Koei has decided that assembling giant crowds of fictionalized historical armies isn't enough! The publisher is now turning its attention toward assembling giant crowds of real people with its Sengoku Bushou Matsuri (Warring States Commander Festival), to be held March 6-7 in Saitama, Japan. The event is intended to celebrate not only samurai culture, but (of course) Koei's own recent Wii release, Samurai Warriors 3. The event is packed with Japanese celebrities, including singer and suspected vampire Gackt, and the entire Samurai Warriors 3 voice cast will attend. We believe all the attending celebrities will be participating in some kind of war drama. Which means that if you want to see TV stars pantomiming samurai warfare in outrageous, game-inspired costumes, this is probably where you want to go. Here's the really crazy part: Koei expects 80,000 to attend. [Via GameGrep; thanks, Peter]
Nintendo announces new Pokemon spinoff, new Wiimote colors, hardware bundles at retailer event
Nintendo of Japan held a retailer conference during which it announced some new products and dated important releases for the Japanese market. The biggest new game announcement is Pokepark Wii: Pikachu's Big Adventure, coming out in Japan on December 5. This action game features your Pokemans performing in events at a theme park. Examples include a Sky Race and Marine Slider event, which offer advantages to Pokemon of flying and water types. Other announcements for Japan include hardware bundles for Tales of Graces and Samurai Warriors 3. The Graces bundle will be out on December 10, and includes a white Wii, Classic Controller Pro, and the game for ¥27,800. Samurai Warriors 3 will be sold with a black Wii, Classic Controller Pro, and post card set for ¥27,300, or with just the controller for ¥8,715, or alone for ¥7,140. Don't need a Wii but still want to drop a bunch of money? Pick up the Treasure Box edition, with the game, the controller, a figurine, a soundtrack, and an artbook for ¥11,865.Also announced: new blue and pink Wiimotes, to be released on December 3, just in time for the newly-announced Japanese release of New Super Mario Bros. Wii. The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks will be released on December 23.
Hands-on: Dynasty Warriors Strikeforce (360/PS3), Samurai Warriors 3 (Wii)
I played two games in Koei's prolific Warriors series at TGS: the Wii-exclusive Samurai Warriors 3, and the PS3/360 port of the PSP's Dynasty Warriors Strikeforce. The two games were as different from one another as two Warriors games could be, though, of course, both games stuck to the Warriors foundation of controlling a historical war hero as he or she beats several thousand enemy soldiers on a crowded battlefield. Both seem like high-quality entries, each offering compelling reasons for lapsed combatants to return to the fight.%Gallery-74703%%Gallery-74696%
Koei reveals first screens of Samurai Warriors 3
Having had our attention turned sharply toward Samurai Warriors 3 by Shigeru Miyamoto, we were eager to learn more about the game itself. And ... well, it looks like any other Warriors/Musou game. But it does look pretty nice! There are a couple of incremental gameplay changes in this one, including "Shadow Techniques," special combos which expend energy from a blue gauge at the bottom of the screen. Triggering one of these with a full gauge will unleash an even bigger attack -- like, in new character Kuroda Kanbei's case, a giant blue fist from the sky. By the way, this game will have over 35 characters, including characters from previous Samurai Warrior games, as well as new ones like Kuroda.Check out more screens at GAME Watch.
Shigeru Miyamoto unexpectedly promotes Samurai Warriors 3
Why should we care about yet another Dynasty/Samurai Warriors game from Koei? Because Shigeru Miyamoto does, that's why. Nintendo's Senior Managing Director surprised press by appearing at Koei Tecmo's press conference for the Wii-exclusive Samurai Warriors 3, and announcing a new gameplay mode based on Nazo no Murasamejou, a samurai-themed Zelda-like game released only on Famicom Disk System.Samurai Warriors 3 will support the Classic Controller, and will be sold in a Classic Controller Pro bundle like Monster Hunter 3. It is due in November, with a playable demo presented at Tokyo Game Show. These things still sell in Japan, so we expect this to move some Wii hardware, as long as it isn't in first person or anything like that.[Via GameSetWatch; original Japanese report via Inside-Games; image via Famitsu]
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!
