philip larsen
Articles by philip larsen
Active Life screens for the whole family except Dad
Hey, don't feel too bad. Just because you haven't heard of Active Life: Outdoor Challenge is no reason to shed those tears. Wii Fit is great and all, but you need something more. Something to do with a big island of fun, apparently. With a bunch of games and a new mat, it's pretty obvious that peripheral-crazy Wii gamers will dig this latest installment into no holds barred gaming fun. It's your fun-loving responsibility to check out the new official gallery with the latest and greatest in Active Life images. Hit the link below for river-rafting, see-saws, and a traditional mine cart ride. Despite the notable lack of Short Round on this ride, the characters are stumpy enough to be somewhat passable. %Gallery-26977%[Via press release]
Inazuma Eleven on TV tells you to buy, buy, buy!
It's true -- Inazuma Eleven looks great, and each piece of media has been drooled upon by RPG, anime and even general soccer fans alike. With the imminent Japanese release on August 22nd, Level-5 has begun advertising on television, and this commercial is a perfect place for gamers in the dark about Inazuma to take a first look and become ultra-interested.Inazuma Eleven is incredibly original, featuring real-time strategy gameplay on the field, as players draw on the touch screen to direct positions of team members. Hopefully the gameplay is easy enough to understand for keen importers, because the chances of localization are not that great. Well, anything less than 100 percent won't be good enough!
Nintendo Power teases DS owners with a faux redesign [update]
Some are awful, some are amazing. Yes, the DS has precisely one gazillion "concept" models floating around the place, from fans who want their own particular quirks included with the inevitable possible redesign of the handheld. Nintendo Power has featured this image with an advertisement for Disgaea DS and Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure, and although it looks pretty cool, it's extraordinarily doubtful that one of the most talked-about rumors in the history of the DS has just awkwardly been confirmed via this image. Bogus, but neat! It's pretty much the same thing as the DS Lite now, only with bigger screens. Which is more or less exactly what the DS needs -- the rest is spot on. The fact that the bottom screen is misaligned with the top screen lends evidence to some guy taking one too many coffee breaks during his Photoshop training. Looks rad, not official -- redesign will probably come soon anyway. Watch this space for all E3 Nintendo revelations! Update: Just as we thought, Nintendo denied that this widescreen DS is a representation of a new unit, stating this is "purely rumor and speculation." %Gallery-20355% [Via Aeropause]
First footage of Mega Man 9
Here's a little confidence-builder for all those developers out there wanting to go in the opposite direction of technological progress. Huzzah, the entirely new Mega Man 9 for WiiWare is essentially an 8-bit game, with terrible graphics, sound and animation. And it's awesome. Evidence is right there in front of you -- the first "man, we totally want it" footage.It's an uber-short video, and there's a giant Rockman 9 logo in the way, but we still get the gist of what's going on. Mega Man himself is jumping around, shooting stuff and just being generally mega. Sit back, relax, and let the blips and bloops of the soundtrack put you into a dream-like state until the game's Japanese release in September -- though we have high hopes for a short North American waiting list.[Via Siliconera]
Smuggling new Steal Princess screens
Our comedic rapacity knows no satiety. With every new batch of Steal Princess screens, we have to chuckle about some kind of petty theft. The video content and official website are showing off what promises to be a stealingly good game. Stealingly isn't even a word, and it's still funny.Just a few new images today, but they do provide some insight into various features like the "Gimmick Setting" and "Land Parts Shop." Now, the recent announcement of Wi-Fi level sharing is associated with the shop -- you actually buy parts to create your own custom environments. No slave labor here, construction costs money! You can check out some more of the inventory systems and map screens over at Famitsu.
Spyborgs not sneaking in to E3 this year
When it was first announced, we promised to keep an eye on the doin's and transpirin's of Spyborgs. The trailer is hilarious, the dev team is experienced, and Capcom is talking it up like it's going to be some kind of surprise hit. The sad truth -- everyone needs to wait a little longer before hearing more news about this silly sci-fi title.Spyborgs won't be shown at E3, the biggest marketing and promotions event of the year. After being questioned about the game in the Capcom forums, the all-knowing Christian Svensson mentioned that there were limited details at Captivate 08 (yeah, we know), but it's still going to "lie low for a bit until we're ready for a bigger reveal." It makes sense in a way -- with the onslaught of overhyped bigger games coming up at E3, it might be best to sneak this smaller, hopefully good game under the radar, and bust out the details when we least expect it.%Gallery-24237%[Via Nintendo Everything]
No Nintendo for GAME -- sales are up, but shortages suck
Those purple folk at the GAME Group (a prominent games retailer) have released European sales details for the first half of 2008, and it's looking pretty good. Group sales are up 54 percent, with like-for-like sales up 28.4 percent. Like-for-like is such a dumb term. Reminds us of these things.Anyway, despite the strong performance of the group as a whole, the constant shortage of Nintendo products has left a gap in the big fat bricks of cash they're raking in. Well, the UK and Ireland are doing okay, but international performance isn't as high -- "particularly in Spain." Those wacky Spaniards and their neverending lust for technology! Total international sales were up 43.9 percent, with like-for-like (arrgh!) sales on the low end of the scale at 16.9 percent. GAME will be opening 60 new stores before the end of the year, so if you aren't familiar with that big, neon purple logo, you soon will be.
Mushroom Men multiply with new screens
Mushrooms are tasty. In fact, Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars should end with some random guy coming in and cooking up a nice mushroom sauce to have with a tender ribeye steak. Will that guy be Les Claypool? Perhaps. Perhaps not. Perhaps we have some new screens for the upcoming platformer, where mushrooms are the heroes rather than delicious enemies.It's no surprise that we are pretty excited about Mushroom Men, the potential of which is enough to break down the doors of Red Fly and take a peek inside. If you dig the new screens in the gallery, then you're an official member of an exclusive fungi appreciation club. Hey, it's an upstart organization. Seeking sponsorship opportunities.%Gallery-18243%[Via press release]
Bleach: The Third Phantom poisons everyone with new trailers
Bleach is cool. It's like the cool kid in a playground of anime, and the fansubbers go mental at the slightest hint of a burnt DVD collection. Hey, nothing wrong with that, it's just some bloggers feel left out, having not caught a single episode in their life. So, it's no surprise that the latest trailers for Bleach: The Third Phantom have already been downloaded thousands of times.The above video is the opening cinematic, which is pretty low-budget and lame. It's a DS game, but maybe the tiniest bit of animation wouldn't go astray. Either way, the trailer after the break shows the real meat-and-potatoes of Bleach, and you can check out the unexpected strategy gameplay in action. Fighting game, schmighting game -- this has evil flying clown things.%Gallery-20014%
Sadness website does nothing to dispel vaporware rumors
Hold on, what's all this? A Sadness rumor that actually came true? This can't be right -- and it sort of isn't. The website is there, and it's got stuff on it, but the stuff is old and it's a pretty amateur attempt at a website. It's just, you would think that the creators of the most talked-about Wii game pretty much ever would make the effort to put together a good show, but it looks somewhat awful.The screens are old and tiny, the text is formatted all wrong (and translated poorly), and there is no trailer, although it will be "Coming soon (this vacation maybe)." Maybe? Maybe? Whatever.To top it off, the release is scheduled for Fall 2009. That is, over a year from now. On the plus side, Nibris representatives will be attending the Leipzig Game Convention this year, so if nothing turns up at E3 we might find something there.%Gallery-12425%[Via GoNintendo]
The Mummy unwrapped
Who doesn't have dreams of Brendan Fraser looking all cool as the swarthy hero Rick O'Connell? Honestly, The Mummy movies are pretty fun, and the upcoming movie The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor should be equally righteous. Since the movie will be tops, there's no reason the associated game of the same name won't be just as good, right?Well, swashbuckling journeys have a certain special place in the DS library, but we're not sure if TM:TOFTDE will be quite the same. It's an action-adventure spanning many locations around the world, culminating in a battle with a DS-ified Jet Li -- after all, he's the bad guy in the movies. Provided the control is smooth and combat responsive (not unlike the reasonably okay Pirates of the Caribbean game), we might just have an epic journey worthy of taking along on another epic journey of bus and train-like proportions.%Gallery-26666%[Via press release]
Rummikub: tile-based technology
The Germans like it, and that's the most important thing. Rummikub has been around for decades, and won the 1990 Spiel des Jahres award. That's enough for a sale right here! The classic tile-based number game is coming to the DS from Engine Software. Plenty of traditional table and board games have made it to the DS, so there should be room for just one more little title! Rummikub is vaguely scheduled for a Q4 2008 release date, but we're expecting screens and updated information to surface very shortly.In the meantime, you can probably pick up an original set and give it a try with friends in RL. This experience will feature a durable cardboard box to prevent scattering of pieces, a table surface made of genuine wood or water-resistant plastic, and real-time wireless conversation with up to three friends. You don't want to provide the snacks for more than that amount of people.[Via press release]
FIFA 09 screens are goal-eriffic
Remember that whole thing about Mii versions of your favorite soccer stars? Lo and behold, we've come across the first images for FIFA 09, and it's looking pretty fast-kickingly good. Ronaldhino (the guy who clearly uses special effects and isn't really that good) and Wayne Rooney head up the cast of for Footii Match mode. The graphics look great, to be completely honest. FIFA 09 on the Wii will never be the best-looking version, but it includes the full simulation of regular FIFA gameplay along with the arcade-style modes. Since Wii owners are very accustomed to Mii characters by now, there's every reason to add light-hearted gameplay into the mix. If it's as good as Mario Strikers: Charged, then we're looking at a winner. %Gallery-26660%
Rock Band 2 leaking songs all over the place
Rock Band 2 has been confirmed as not absent for the Wii, so the uber-popular music game will be seeing a sequel shortly. It takes time to manufacture all those instruments and get the "musical genius" process down pat, but once it's done the first time, it's easy to bang out sequels. G4's X-Play leaked a screenshot of the upcoming track list for RB2, and the new songs are: "Panic Attack" - Dream Theater (or Finger Eleven) "Chop Suey" - System of a Down "Give It Away" - Red Hot Chili Peppers "Everlong" - Foo Fighters "Kids in America" - Kim Wilde "Ace of Spades" - Motorhead "Hello There" - Cheap Trick "Any Way You Want It" - Journey "Pinball Wizard" - The Who If there aren't any songs there that tickle your fancy, then you're insane -- or Harmonix isn't doing it's job properly. Naturally the full list will be many times this amount, and the leakage may prompt further information to lurch forth very shortly. Rock Band 2 will be coming out for the Wii later this year.[Via Joystiq]
A hearty addition to the Tales series
Not one, but two amazing RPG announcements have been made for the DS this morning. First up, a timeless masterpiece of epic proportions -- second, a brand-new addition to the acclaimed Tales series. We could go on about what we prefer, but it really doesn't matter. Life is good.Tales of Hearts has been scanned from Shonen Jump and shipped over the intertrons for your viewing enjoyment. The image is skint on details, but two characters make an apperance in anime and real ... human form. The release is scheduled near the end of the year -- just hope it makes it to America, unlike another awesome game.[Thanks, Shawn!]
CustomPlay Golf is customarily customized for its customers
If there's anything you can hit with a stick, someone will make a game out of it. Some will even customize it. On a completely unrelated topic to customization, a new golf game has been announced, called CustomPlay Golf. What? Since the Wii works pretty well for golf, CustomPlay Games will release the latest installment of their series on Nintendo turf, along with the usual PC version. It's shaping up to be a pretty comprehensive golf title, with fifteen complete 18 hole courses (270 holes), along with Crazy Golf and Mini-Golf modes. Let's see ... Pitch and Putt, Driving Range, Matchplay, Strokeplay, Stableford ... the list of content goes on. The release appears to detail PC content -- namely, online play for up to seven players -- but hopefully it'll all be included with the Wii version.CustomPlay are good at what they do, and what they do is create golf simulations. The above screenshot is for the PC version, but we're hoping the Wii won't fall too far behind in the graphics department. This should actually be a serious title to watch when it's released in Q1 2009, so don't let Tiger be your only outlet of fairway fun.[Via press release]
Bob the Builder trains young ones in the art of construction
Well, not really. But it is refreshing to see a game teach infants about the weight of things and angles of stuff, to prepare them for future careers in today's modern mills and processing facilities. Training the brain isn't necessary, so long as they can lift cats and cut wood!It's probably best to elaborate. Bob the Builder (or, Bob and HATARAKU BUBUZU) has been commandeered for use in a Japanese children's learning game. It's not all heavy construction -- three modes of training are available. These include weight and maths training, 2D and 3D shape recognition, and vocabulary building. Bob the Builder is a universally respected genius in the world of engineering and, well, building. He's also an affable English chap, and it's always handy to have one of those around. Check out the screens in the gallery for more learning fun -- but don't hope for a local release. We're sure Bob will show up when he is needed the most.%Gallery-26584%
Eternity's Child will spend an eternity in America
Yeah, well, contrary to what we were saying earlier, it appears Eternity's Child will indeed be coming to the North American WiiWare service. Why? Well, it's hard to explain, but Alten8's CEO Paul Andrews spoke to WiiWare World and droned on about Luc Bernard, concepts, formats and the like.The moral of the story is -- it's coming to America. After ratings are complete it will "go out as closely as possible in Europe and NA regions." That's about as far as details go, because it's being ported right now from the original PC version.Is Luc Bernard the man? An army of now-happy WiiWare gamers will be the judge of that when the game finally hits the downloadable intertrons.%Gallery-15162%
FIFA 09 wants to score so badly
EA knows that football soccer is a somewhat popular sport. Maybe not as popular as curling, but it does its best to fit in. On account of the FIFA series being super popular, EA has revealed just how hard they worked to create each version of FIFA 09. Instead of just a simple Wii port with waggle additions, Andrew Wilson of EA says they "have innovated features, created new modes and designed controls that are tailored to each specific platform." FIFA 09 is part of the recently revealed All-Play series, used to market EA's line of Wii sports games. It will feature a standard 11 vs. 11 simulation mode (with "refined motion and point-and-play controls"), and the 8 vs. 8 Footii Match mode. Footii Match is an arcade-style mode featuring Mii versions of various soccer stars (like Ariaga, Ariaga 2, Bariaga, Aruglia and Pizzoza) and the gameplay will be fast and furious -- similar to the recent Madden trailers. The All-Play series has really put the Wii where it needs to be when it comes to sports games. After a little bit more research, we discovered soccer is a little more popular than originally thought (somewhere in the vicinity of Most. Popular. Game. Ever), so EA is on the right track by giving it the specialized attention it needs. [Via press release]
There's only one way to Feel Great Britain
If British accents annoy you, do not click this link. This one. Right here. It will take you to the Feel Great Britain website, where group after group of chortling, crumpet-eating British lads and lasses have a go at Wii Fit. The site is designed to complement to upcoming Feel Great Britain tour, running through July and August.Nintendo aren't just sitting back and letting Wii Fit sell itself (which it does quite nicely, thanks). It's good to see they understand that exercising is an ongoing activity, and they are willing to actively support the product during the months ahead. If you happen to be British and haven't balanced your way to fitness yet, check out the website for official tour dates.%Gallery-4745%