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Super Smash Bros. Wii U update opens 15 more 8-player levels [Update]
Nintendo updated Super Smash Bros. for Wii U today, adding new levels to the game upon which fans can kick the crap out of their loved ones. The update gives players 15 new levels for free, each one for the game's eight-player Smash mode. Nintendo of Japan listed the new stages on its site: Normal: Mario Circuit (X) Luigi's Mansion Pyrosphere Norfair Lylat Cruise Pokemon Stadium 2 Animal Crossing: Town and City Animal Crossing: Smashville Wii Fit studio Omega: Mario Galaxy Mario Circuit (X) Kirby: The Great Cave Offensive Lylat Cruise Pokemon Stadium 2 Town and City The publisher revealed its latest sales numbers this week, noting that the Wii U's lifetime sales reached 9.2 million consoles. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U sold 3.39 million copies by the end of 2014, topped only by Mario Kart 8's 4.77 million units as the system's best seller last year. Update: Thanks to a translation error on Nintendo of Japan's page, some of the stages were incorrectly named. We've updated the list. [Image: Nintendo]
Massively Interview: Burning Dog on Origin of Malu's do-over
When last we heard of the the indie sandbox Origins of Malu, Burning Dog Media had gone back to the drawing board for a do-over. The studio switched game engines, effectively starting the development process over again (again). But despite what some fans may fear, that isn't nearly as bad as it sounds! In fact, it's rather good news because players will be getting a far better game, and they won't have to wait very long to get it. I sat down with Producer Michael Dunham to talk about the changes and get a look at the progress the team has made.
Yoshi's Island Zone is one of two Sonic: Lost World DLC stages, out now
Sonic: Lost World will receive two pieces of downloadable content on Wii U, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata announced during today's Nintendo Direct livestream. The DLC stages will be based on Nintendo properties, the first being a level pulling inspiration and elements from Yoshi's New Island, Nintendo's 3DS entry in the series due out in spring 2014. Called Yoshi's Island Zone, the first piece of DLC is available now for free, and has Sonic "speeding through areas filled with pipes, coins, Shy Guys and Piranha Plants." A brief look at the level can be found in the archived Nintendo Direct presentation.
Pikmin 3 trailer tours new mission mode DLC levels
Nintendo issued a new trailer to show off the latest set of downloadable content for Pikmin 3, which launched this week. Announced during a Nintendo Direct livestream in November, the DLC offers players the opportunity to play as the protagonist of the first two games in the series, Captain Olimar, for one level. The three extra content packs amount to four battle and four treasure remixed stages for $1.99 each, as well as a mission mode map pack with eight brand new environments for $4.99. The downloadable levels include Clockwork Chasm, which has an abundance of gears and conveyor belts, as well as the holiday-themed Fortress of Festivity. Those that update Pikmin 3 will receive four of the mission mode stages for free.
Daily iPhone App: Follow the Rabbit makes for blocky fun
Armor Games, famous for its Flash titles, landed a huge hit on iOS with the great Kingdom Rush. Now the company is back for more with a new game called Follow the Rabbit. This one's very different from that tower defense title -- it's more of a puzzler in the vein of Cut the Rope, with the main mechanic being pushing a blocky guy around while chasing a rabbit instead of slicing cables. The gameplay is related to the old Sokoban games, though there's some innovation. The levels are all 2D from the sides rather than the top, and you can "jump" your guy up a higher level. There are three coins to collect in each level, and the eventual goal is to get your guy to a door while chasing a rabbit who drops coins. As with all of these "stage-based" games, the difficulty eventually ramps up, though this one's pretty easy throughout. Follow the Rabbit isn't bad at all. I wouldn't say it's as good or deep as Kingdom Rush, but it's obviously a very different type of game. If you've rolled through all of Cut the Rope and want another casual puzzler to play through, Follow the Rabbit is a universal app on sale right now for 99 cents. #next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; }
AT&T Plus now in trial stages, lets loyal users in on special deals and more
Looks like racking up those loyal points may just pay off in the near future, as Ma Bell's rolling out a new loyalty program dubbed AT&T Plus. The free service -- which is only available in Houston, Colorado and Minneapolis at the moment -- will let customers get tidbits such as a "personalized customer experience," with access to a special 1-855-ATTPLUS customer service line. Additionally, AT&T Plus users get a 25 percent discount on accessories (sorry, no iPhone or iPad add-ons) as well as waived activation and upgrade fees. AT&T's yet to say what you'll need to get a Plus party invite, but we'd imagine that staying away from any warning is the first step...
Super Street Fighter IV takes (final) fight to Metro City
Click to vote Haggar ... and enter the galleryCapcom has revealed even more Final Fight fanservice in Super Street Fighter IV, in the form of a new Metro City stage. Yes, that's Street Fighter III's Hugo in the background. Yes, that's a giant statue of Mayor Mike Haggar holding the city's name aloft. Yes, that is awesome. Other new stages introduced include a busy Korean street, a neighborhood in Dhalsim's native India, a wrecked Shadaloo headquarters, and a watering hole somewhere in Africa occupied by terrifyingly enormous hippos. One thing the stages have in common: a million things going on in the background, while you try to get the joystick motion right for Zangief's spinning piledriver. %Gallery-80512%
Peggle: WoW Edition released as a standalone download
There's Peggle the original PC game, Peggle the XBLA game, Peggle the iPhone game, Peggle: Steam edition, and Peggle the WoW addon, and so when I heard rumblings of "Peggle: WoW edition," I just figured people were talking about one of the many, many already-released versions of PopCap's popular Plinko-inspired pasttime. But no -- the folks at PopCap have released another version of Peggle: Peggle World of Warcraft edition is a standalone, free (PC-only) download that allows you to play a WoW-related version completely outside of World of Warcraft.All that make sense? It sounds like PopCap realized that there was a call for a brand new version of Peggle (including new stages, WoW-related backgrounds, and even a secret easter egg between Arthas and Bjorn the unicorn) that was different enough to stand as its own PC game, so they worked their coding magic and put it all together into a downloadable standalone. And much to the lament of Mac gamers everywhere, it's PC-only.But then again, it's free, it's Peggle, and so if you haven't gotten your Peggle fix through any of the aforementioned channels yet, here's the hit you've been waiting for. If you do the math (and chart the number of Peggle versions over time), we're pretty sure that, soon, all games will be Peggle. And strangely enough, we're kind of OK with that. Peggle is really fun.
Eliss releases version 1.1
Unfortunately, I missed Eliss the first time around, but I won't make the same mistake this time. It's a game designed by a French and Portugese graphic designer named Steph Thirion, and it's sort of an abstract multitouch puzzler -- you can pull and push together differently colored planets all floating around in a sort of space-like environment, with some groovy synth sound effects and music cuts to back up the gameplay. The game got nominated for an IGF award, and for anyone interested in fun puzzlers (not to mention the possibilities of multitouch in gaming), it's a must-see.I say "the first time around," because it's been on the App Store for a while now, but the game just got updated to version 1.1, and the main tweak is in the difficulty -- there are now 25 levels instead of 20, and the curve has been adjusted to make moving through the stages a little smoother. And the game got a price drop, too -- you can pick it up for a mere $3.00. As I said, definitely worth it to get a little multitouch practice in for what might be the future of gaming.
Brawl Stage of the Week: The Web
Welcome to Nintendo Wii Fanboy's Brawl Stage of the Week feature, in which we showcase some of our favorite Smash Bros. Brawl stages. We'll have some themed weeks, some contest weeks, and some "whatever we damn well please" weeks to help you keep your Brawl experience fresh. This week we're featuring a completely original stage, made by SoshiKitai. Called "The Web," Soshi considers this one his masterpiece -- and we can see why. The picture doesn't really translate how fun and crazy this stage actually is. In fact, "The Web" is so massive that not even the warp star trick can fully capture it. Luckily, you can experience it for yourself by downloading it here, but check on after the break for some more details on the stage and instructions on how to play it.
Another set of Bangai-O Spirits stages to save
We've been talking about Bangai-O Spirits stages a lot lately, but, well, we don't want to miss out on any stages just because the U.S. game isn't out yet -- and we don't want any other future Bangai-O players (you are out there, right?) to miss out either. The fan community, while small, seems to be enjoying the feature and sharing. The media is also taking advantage of the fact that they can easily host Bangai-O content on their own sites.Dengeki made some stages of their own that are absolutely worth a look -- they decided to use the stage components to make playable art pieces. No idea how the image to the right will be to play, but it sure is cool-looking! In addition, two more stages and replays have been added to the official Bangai-O Spirits website.We're hoping that the American media will get into the act when the game comes out over here. Oh, wait -- that's us. Well, then, we can confirm that they will.%Gallery-16997%
Web services allow for easy Brawl stage sharing
Sure, the Super Smash Bros. Brawl stage editor is a great way to extend the value of the game, but it's only really valuable if you and your friend-code friends have the creativity to come up with interesting stages. Those of us with no creative talent and/or no friends are out of luck! Enter the web, which has already filled in some of the stage-sharing holes Nintendo left in the game. IGN's recently launched Smash Bros. supersite already has a selection of over 100 user-created stages that players can download to their SD cards, while the Smash World forums Stage Browser currently has 85 or so stages available. Each site offers picture previews, easy instructions for uploading and a rating system to separate the wheat from the chaff. Now if someone could just hack a way to play these user-created stages in online matches we'd really be in business!Visit - IGN's stage sharing clearinghouseVisit - Smash World Forums stage browser
More Secret Rings impressions
Our excitement for Sonic and the Secret Rings grows daily, and these hands-on impression by some folks in London aren't making the wait any easier. The game is looking scary good, as the players (who strongly disliked Sonic the Hedgehog for the PS3 and 360) rave about the graphics, voice acting, control, level design, and difficulty. For the love of God, Sonic moonwalks when you tilt backward on the Wiimote. Moonwalks. That's sweet.Some tidbits: there isn't a standard "lives" system; if you die, you simply restart at the last checkpoint. Each level contains around twelve missions, and somewhere around six need to be cleared before advancing. Earning bronze, silver, and gold medals will earn you access to a huge catalog of unlockables, including BGM and artwork from the game as well as previous entries in the series.The impressions are certainly worth a read; check it out![via GoNintendo]
Smash Bros. fandom to the fullest
We're fans to the point where some might question our sanity, however we've never taken our intense want for [insert game and or gaming system here] to the levels of composing long fan fictions and/or drawing up ideas for characters and levels. We could never do that. It'd be a tell beyond our insane ability to include gaming quotes into casual conversation (I feel asleep). The cost of being caught is just too high for us to pay.We'll gladly give up others, however. Like these fine folk who decided they'd compose their own fantasy roster, complete with arsenal of moves for each proposed character. Not only that, they've come up with their own stages. So whomever is in charge of busting perps like these, have at it![Thanks Nushio!]
