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Nintendo Direct Japan: New Rhythm Heaven, Style Savvy games announced
Nintendo fans in Japan saw a slightly different Nintendo Direct presentation earlier this week than their compatriots in North America and Europe, as the company revealed a handful of upcoming Japanese games that are unlikely to see release elsewhere in the world. First up is a 3DS Rhythm Heaven compilation that collects a large number of music-driven minigames featured in previous series entries. The collection will feature 30 new minigames in addition to 70 graphically updated stages previously seen in Rhythm Heaven, Rhythm Heaven Fever, and the Japan-only Game Boy Advance series debut Rhythm Tengoku. A new Style Savvy sequel is also in the works, following up on predecessor games released stateside on the DS and 3DS. Girls Mode 3, as it's called in Japan, will offer fashion-focused gameplay that challenges players to manage their own boutique and create ensemble outfits for picky customers. Other games featured exclusively in Japan's Nintendo Direct presentation include the HAL Labs-developed 3DS puzzle-platformer Hako Boy (Box Boy), 3DS RPG The Legend of Legacy, cross-platform online mahjong sim Yakuman Houou, and Rodea: The Sky Soldier, a 3DS and Wii U aerial action game created by Yuji Naka's studio Prope. Games omitted from the North American and European Nintendo Direct presentations are not currently scheduled for release in either region. [Video: Nintendo / NintenDaan]
Rhythm Heaven Fever review: Crazy into you
I hold Rhythm Heaven games to a high standard. The DS game became such a fixture in my life that it permanently wired rhythms into my brain. Months after the last time I picked it up, I'll still randomly "scratch-o, hey" or hit imaginary taiko drums in my head. I'm predisposed to seek music games with original music anyway (Parappa, Gitaroo-Man) as it is, and Rhythm Heaven is among the most replayable and content-rich of the genre.So when I say Rhythm Heaven Fever doesn't quite measure up to its predecessor, please understand that's not a condemnation. I just mean it's merely wonderful instead of the most wonderful.
Rhythm Heaven Fever spreads to North America in February
Open the latest issue of Nintendo Power and you'll find yourself looking at four pages of heaven. Rhythm Heaven, specifically. The magazine drops the news we've been waiting for: an official release window for the Wii iteration of Nintendo and Tsunku's musical minigame series, titled Rhythm Heaven Fever. It's set for February 2012. The article introduces several of the vibrantly cartoonish, inexplicable activities in which you'll engage, including seesaw inspection, tambourine practice with a monkey instructor, and protecting your date from an onslaught of soccer balls. [Thanks, Aileen!]
Monstrous Rhythm Heaven soundtrack announced for Japan
While the rest of the world has to wait indefinitely for the Wii Rhythm Heaven (it has a TBA release date in the West), it's out in Japan as of last month. And now that Japanese version is being joined by an enormous soundtrack collection ... that will almost certainly never be released outside of Japan. The ¥4,800 ($62) soundtrack comprises an impressive four discs and 177 tracks, including all the music from Minna no Rhythm Tengoku ("Everybody's Rhythm Heaven," the Japanese title for the game) and the two previous games. It'll be out -- in Japan -- on August 24.
Nintendo's Comic-Con lounge stocked with Mario, Zelda, Rhythm Heaven, and more
To keep you from ever having to look at an actual comic at Comic-Con, another game company has announced its lineup of playable demos. You'll be able to play a great deal of Nintendo's recent and upcoming 3DS lineup, most of its Wii lineup ... and Dragon Quest Monsters Joker 2 on DS. Nintendo will have both a normal booth at Comic-Con, #5135, and a "Nintendo Gaming Lounge" at the adjacent Marriott Marquis & Marina hotel. This "Gaming Lounge" will feature playable demos of Super Mario, Kid Icarus Uprising, Mario Kart, Metal Gear Solid Snake Eater 3D, Shinobi, and more 3DS games. In addition, you'll be able to try The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Rhythm Heaven, Fortune Street, and more on Wii. Bring your DS and/or 3DS when you go. From 4-6 pm on July 21, Nintendo will host a Pokémon Black/White meetup. The Lounge will also have a giant Pokédex 3D AR marker of Reshiram for you to take commemorative pictures with, and a "gallery" of oversized AR Cards. There will even be downloadable maps for Dragon Quest IX!
Rhythm Heaven preview: For your ears only
The Wii Rhythm Heaven game was, without a doubt, one of the most delightful experiences I've had in the last week, in exactly the ways I knew it would be as soon as I saw the first screenshots. It turns out there is a formula for Rhythm Heaven games, and as long as the Rhythm Heaven team makes a Rhythm Heaven game using that Rhythm Heaven formula, the result will be something wonderful. Rhythm Heaven.%Gallery-125900%
Nintendo teases new Rhythm Heaven, Mario Party 9, Kirby titles
Though Nintendo didn't do its traditional "Here are a bunch of logos of games we're making," it couldn't resist a little info dump at the end of the company's press conference. Shown on a screen as attendees exited were logos for [deep breath] The Rolling Western, Paper Mario, Super Fossil Fighters, Rhythm Heaven, Fortune Street, Kirby Mash Attack, Kirby Wii and Mario Party 9. What systems are these games for? Who's making them? We have no idea. Have a nice day!
Footage of Nintendo's 3DS, DS and Wii lineups
Nintendo produced a few slick videos of its various console lineups for its conference, now embedded after the break. In addition to footage of known 3DS games, including Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition and Professor Layton and the Mask of Miracle, the 3DS video reveals a second Resident Evil game, Biohazard: The Mercenaries 3D. The Wii video offers the first look at the new Fatal Frame and Rhythm Heaven games, among many other first- and third-party titles. And though you have to wait until the end, you will see clips of the new Kirby game and Battle & Get! Pokemon Typing DS in the DS video.
New Rhythm Heaven, Fatal Frame games announced for Wii
Nintendo's conference today wasn't all about the 3DS. The publisher has also announced new DS and Wii titles. Mistwalker's The Last Story was given a January 27 release date, but more excitingly, two new Wii sequels were announced -- one for the GBA/DS Rhythm Heaven series, and one for Zero, known here as Fatal Frame. Both games are scheduled for 2011 releases, and screens of both are available in our galleries.%Gallery-103585%%Gallery-103584%
Best of the Rest: JC's picks of 2009
Muramasa: The Demon Blade Muramasa appealed to me in a way that Odin Sphere didn't, thanks to an emphasis on combo-heavy sword action instead of planting and whatever. And the RPG elements that are left, like the sword upgrades and cooking, are not only fun, but simple enough that I can get right back into the game after a long break and still know what is going on. Also, I don't mean to be shallow, but the fact that Muramasa is the most beautiful game of 2009 helps me be positive about it.
EEDAR predicts slower April sales, success for Rhythm Heaven
EEDAR's Jesse Divnich released a Retail Sales Preview for April, containing predictions for hardware and software sales results for last month. It starts on a down note, unfortunately, with a projected decline in software sales of 17%. "We believe the weak retail environment is to blame for the year-over-year decrease in [average selling prices]."Music and rhythm games got somewhat of a boost in April, according to Divnich, but only because of heavy discounts. "The biggest sales occurred at Wal-Mart.com with certain Guitar Hero World Tour SKUs being discounted by as much as $90 and Best Buy with a sale that gave away Guitar Hero: Aerosmith for free with the purchase of Guitar Hero: Metallica."The two success stories this month are both DS-related. Hardware sales went up over last year, but only because of a new DS launch -- The DS is predicted to be up 129% year-over-year thanks to the DSi. "Without the DSi, hardware sales would have likely been down by over 27%."In software, Rhythm Heaven's "sales performance has been nothing short of amazing," according to Divnich, with sales of around 154,000 copies. The reason? "Nintendo's ability to leverage an effective marketing campaign using a celebrity (Beyonce)." Hopefully some of the people who bought it because they saw Beyonce playing it will then play it themselves. They might like it!
Life-to-date sales of the biggest Nintendo games
We know that Nintendo is doing very well financially as of the end of fiscal 2008. And, of course, we know that hardware sales play a major role in that windfall. But how is Nintendo doing in terms of software sales? Very well, thank you! The company released a list of every million-selling first-party title on the Wii and DS as a supplement (PDF link) to its financial report, with no real surprises other than, perhaps, the monolithic bigness of some of the numbers. The best-selling Wii title, of course, is Wii Sports, which sold 45.7 million copies across North American and European bundle sales and standalone Japanese sales.The best-selling DS game: Nintendogs, at 22.3 million copies! We're just happy to see the wonderful Rhythm Heaven on the list, though there is something odd about it: according to the data, Rhythm Heaven sold 140,000 copies outside of Japan -- but the game didn't even come out in the West until April 5, after the end of the fiscal year.The full list is after the break. Spoiler alert: if you are the type of person who gets angry about Nintendo's success in the expanded market, this will anger you.[Via Kotaku]
We're in love with this Rhythm Heaven song cover
Rhythm Heaven's "Love Lab" game has just about everything: a sweet melody, romantic sunsets, vague science, ominous bear-suited guys ... everything but lyrics. Dale North decided that the vocalizations in the existing song didn't do enough to tell the story of two researchers who spend their days shaking up love potions and pouring the resulting mixture into a bag, and so he recorded his own lyrics."I hope she likes my safety goggles," the super-literal lyrics to North's version read, "because the chemistry between us two is made by throwing little bottles." You can hear the song, and see the adorable animated video made to go along with it, after the break. [Via That VideoGame Blog]
Joyswag: Nintendo DSi, Rhythm Heaven & accessories [update]
Update: The contest is closed and we have selected our winners. Keep an eye on your email inbox!In honor of yesterday's DSi launch -- and you wise readers who did not brave the frenzied mobs of Nintendo's sprawling demographic -- Joystiq is giving away three Nintendo DSi systems (matte black); and two with a copy of Rhythm Heaven. Additionally, one grand prize winner will also receive a Power A Sleeve Kit, including hardware and game cases, styli, and screen protectors (just like this, but red). Excited? Simply follow the rules below for your chance to win: Leave a comment telling us who you'd show off your DSi to first You must be 18 years or older and a resident of the US or Canada (excluding Quebec) Limit 1 entry per person per calendar day This entry period ends at 2:59 pm ET on Friday, April 10 At that time, we'll randomly select one grand prize winner to receive a Nintendo DSi ($169.99), Rhythm Heaven ($34.99) and BDA Power A Sleeve Kit (ARV: $14.99); one first place runner-up to receive a Nintendo DSi ($169.99) and Rhythm Heaven ($34.99); and one second place runner-up to receive a Nintendo DSi ($169.99) For a list of complete rules, click here Got DSi on the brain? Check out our in-depth unboxing feature that shows off the handheld's features, and be sure to stay up to date on DSi-related info through our Nintendo DSi tag!
This Week in the Nintendo Channel: A new demo blooms
After last week's super-megatons, we half expected to find some more crazy surprises on the Nintendo Channel today. Unfortunately, nothing available qualifies as a crazy surprise, unless you missed the addition of the Rhythm Heaven demo to the lineup last week. It looks like a permanent fixture, like the Brain Age and Flash Focus demos!We were pleasantly surprised to find that the one debut demo today is something in which we have genuine interest: Gardening Mama. The list of demos and new videos is available after the break.%Gallery-35422%
Iwata Asks, Rhythm Heaven team charms
Nintendo's latest Iwata Asks interview puts the surprisingly small Rhythm Heaven team in the universally awkward position of being interviewed by their employer. The five-person team turns out to be every bit as quirky as the game. Project lead Kazuyoshi Osawa, for example, said he "agonized" over the DS control scheme for about six months. Apparently, he wasn't exaggerating -- other team members noticed. "Yeah, he was in grueling agony for quite some time," said Kou Takeuchi. Osawa said that Masami Yone helps him cheer up by sending him pictures of kittens (an unauthorized use of company e-mail for which the two were semi-jokingly admonished by Iwata).Oh, and there's also a lot of discussion of the Game Boy Advance, arcade, and DS games and their development, including details of producer Tsunku's involvement. But the adorable interaction between the team is the real draw here.%Gallery-27707%
GDC09 Joyswag: Rhythm Heaven (DS)
Update: The entry period has closed. Congratulations to our winners Gene and T.J.!Even if you weren't actually there, you can say you sat front and center at Nintendo's GDC keynote by showing off one of these: the one-of-a-kind, Extra Special Edition of Rhythm Heaven -- bestowed unto Joystiq after the event! ... Um, okay, technically it's not exactly "one-of-a-kind" -- actually, we have two copies -- since every attendee was handed the game upon exiting the theater. As for being the "Extra Special" edition? Well, on further inspection, these are exactly the same as the standard retail edition (in stories April 5). Oh well. At least these specific copies are blessed with the spirit of this momentous day in Nintendo history ... well, maybe not "momentous," but -- okay, you're right. Let's just get on with it!
Joystiq Review: Rhythm Heaven
These days, it's impossible to talk about rhythm games without bringing up Guitar Hero and/or Rock Band. Nintendo's Rhythm Heaven, to use the nomenclature, could be described as Soccer Ball Bounce Hero, Love Potion Mixing Hero, Race Car Photography Hero, Lizard Mating Dance Hero (that's right) and about 50 other things. But it's not really about any of those things. By making you do all kinds of different stuff rhythmically, it becomes a game less about simulating any one thing and more about pure rhythm. The fact that it's incredibly adorable doesn't hurt. %Gallery-27707%
Beyonce is in Rhythm Heaven (ads), loves Guitar Hero
How do you market a very cute, but weird, musical microgame collection to the DS's "expanded" audience? For Rhythm Heaven's ad campaign, Nintendo has resorted immediately to plan B ... yonce. The singer is starring in a new TV commercial for the WarioWare team's upcoming game, and spoke to Entertainment Weekly's The Music Mix blog about the game, although the interview got away from Rhythm Heaven and into general gaming fairly quickly. "I have been having a great time," she said about playing Rhythm Heaven on-set. "I've been rehearsing for my [upcoming] tour in stilettos and uncomfortable corsets, learning all these arrangements. Today I was playing the game with my socks on, on the couch, and it was very relaxing!" Beyonce told EW that she likes "all the Wii games," and that Rhythm Heaven reminds her of a portable Guitar Hero, "which is great, because I don't want to carry around a big guitar!" Perhaps somebody handed her Guitar Hero: On Tour instead of Rhythm Heaven? %Gallery-27707%
Nintendo performs live demonstration of Rhythm Heaven
It's not every day Nintendo decides to stop by Joystiq's office in New York. It's a rare treat that was made all the more memorable through a musical performance that we were (unfortunately) dragged into. Rhythm Heaven is an upcoming DS game that features a series of simple music-based rhythm games. This real life demonstration of one of the mini-games was meant to highlight the quirky charm of the game, while highlighting its elegant simplicity. It was a fun experiment, to be sure -- but we'll stick with playing on our DS systems from now on. Expect an early review of the game on Joystiq in the coming weeks.
