Wario
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Wario shakes up YouTube
Well done, Nintendo. If you hoped this fourth wall-shattering commercial for Wario Land: Shake It! would make the blog rounds, then you succeeded. We don't usually post about media of games that are already on store shelves, but this was just too good to pass on. We can't really say much more for fear of spoiling the surprise involved, so click here and get watching. But come back, please. Gets lonely here, y'know.%Gallery-26293%[Via 4cr, thanks JR!]
Metareview -- Wario Land: Shake It! (Wii)
Mario's evil Twinner, Wario, would have been right at home in the "Me Generation" of the '80s, where, as Charlie Sheen's Gordon Gekko pronounces in Wall Street, "Greed is good!" The rotund, gassy, gold-obsessed anti-hero spends his latest adventure – and first platforming outing on Wii – seeking out riches with the aid of several Wiimote-centric play mechanics, including – you guessed it – shaking the controller. Here's how its mix of novel controls and 2D visuals (which you can see for yourself in these videos) shook reviewers: IGN (84/100): "A really fun experience thanks to excellent control and fantastic level designs, not to mention a beautiful visual presentation." Nintendo Power (80/100): "There's some great puzzle solving and a lot of visual and gameplay variety among the levels, and it has the kind of fun controls that make you want to pick up the controller just to run around. In a gaming season that appears short on epic hardcore games, Wario's latest-and possibly best-treasure hunt is worth its weight in gold." Eurogamer (70/100): "A game which is good, but not great, and certainly not up to the standard of Nintendo's best 2D platformers." Edge (60/100): "Nintendo is famed for sprinkling around mechanics other developers would build entire games on, but here the effect is quite irritating."
Retail and download releases for the week of September 22nd
Click image for more screens Well folks, just as stated, we've got a new Mega Man game to play this week. What's even better is that along with the sure-to-be-awesome Mega Man 9, we've also got some solid retail releases. And there's a surprise or two with this week's Virtual Console releases, as well. Head on past the break for the info. This week is going to be chock full of gaming goodness.%Gallery-30253%
Wario Land: Shake It (at Six Flags)
Unbearably long queues, bawling kids, and exorbitant prices: it takes a lot to make a visit to any theme park bearable. Is a chance to play Wario Land: Shake It and win some neat prizes enough? Let's hope so, because over the coming weeks, the platformer will be appearing on demo kiosks at ten Six Flags theme parks. At two of those locations (Six Flags Magic Mountain near Los Angeles and Six Flags St. Louis) on September 27, the player who completes a specific level in the fastest time will win a holiday to New York and a "Bottomless Coin Sack," containing a Wii, the game itself, a DS, and a gift certificate for Six Flags merchandise ( ... yay?). Hit the break for a full list of participating parks and dates.%Gallery-26293%
Wii Warm Up: The (new) hype machine
57 days divided the announcement and Japanese release of Wario Land: Shake It!. For Captain Rainbow, the gap between unveiling and launch was just 50 days. Disaster: Day of Crisis is a slightly different case. While it was originally revealed at E3 in 2006, it was only late last month that Nintendo acknowledged it still existed, before announcing this week that Disaster would strike ... next month.We don't recall it always being like this. We still remember the agonizing wait for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (period from announcement to store shelf debut: 35 months), and the constant brooding over screenshots and tidbits. This still happens with some Nintendo releases, but increasingly the company is announcing titles close to release. It may sound bizarre to criticize this tactic (because hey, less waiting time is better, right?), but now we barely have a chance to get excited. In fact, we nostalgic old fools sort of miss the days when we'd get hyped up for a game for years. Are we weird?
Nintendo finally admits E3 was a disappointment
During an interview with VGChartz, Nintendo's resident wrist-hurting, Shaun White-introducing marketing lady, Cammie Dunaway, commented that Nintendo's E3 showing was a bit of a disappointment. You don't say?"I would say the message is we were disappointed with our performance at E3," commented Dunaway. "There were titles like Wario which we think will be really fun titles that we should have show cased." Yes, we'd have to agree. It was certainly the best game we played at the show. But what about this Pikmin 3 business? "We were excited that Mr. Miyamoto made the commitment that Pikmin is coming," she said. "It would have been nice if we could have said that on stage. But, we think it was a good recognition for us that we care for our core fans, and not just the new people who are now discovering Nintendo." E3 2008 was a pretty big deal. We had lots of hands-on impressions, as well as new screens and video to talk about. Check out our live impressions from Nintendo's keynote here, as well as some of the big news right here.
Jamming to Wario Land: Shake It!
Click for image that isn't cropped If you're the type of person who is big into the music in games, then we've got a post for you. Combine the visual excellence and tight controls (which don't overuse motion control, by the way) with this audio assault and we're sure Wario Land: Shake It! is going to be the Wii title to top this year. Well, actually, the bar was set way back in January, by a little-known game called No More Heroes. We're sure Wario will give Travis a run for his money, though.Head past the break for the video.%Gallery-26293%
Wario gets his shake on in these latest trailers
It's no secret that we're madly in love with Wario Land: Shake It! and its amazing gameplay. When one of us got to check the game out back at E3, we found it to be the title of our dreams. Seriously, there wasn't a single bad thing we could say about the game. As of right now, we're counting down the days until its August 25th release.After you've watched the new trailer above, head past the break for some more.%Gallery-26293%
Wario Land: Look at screens of it!
A game starring the lumpy, flatulent Wario is an odd candidate for such an appellation (as is any Wii game, for that matter), but Wario Land: Shake It! may be one of the best-looking games ever. It is an absolute delight to look at screens of the beautiful Production I.G.-animated platformer. GamePro has an expansive gallery of screens featuring the man in the yellow hat running, jumping, shoulder tackling, shaking birds, carrying robots, being on fire, and falling on his face -- all done very smoothly and gracefully. Sort of. We hope Wario manages to shake some treasure out of Wii owners soon, because we'd love to keep looking at this kind of thing.[Via OMGNintendo]
Wii Warm Up: Dreaming of WiiWare
You know what the best thing about hanging out with JC is? Hearing him gush about Mega Man 9 and how he got a ton of time to play it. It's kind of the same thing with me and Wario Land: Shake It!, I assume. But, what's important is the question we have to ask.So, in thinking about what other retro dream sequels we could see on WiiWare (Earthworm Jim 3, for example), we'd like to know what you all can come up with. So, let's hear it! What retro dream sequel would you like to see?
E308: Wii Fanboy hands-on with Wario Land: Shake It!
Hands down, Wario Land: Shake It! is the best game I've played so far here at E3. And, thanks to my persistence and rudeness, I was able to enjoy the game a lot longer than most others who've been fortunate enough to play it, not only enjoying some of the game's normal levels, but also taking part in an underwater excursion in Wario's badass sub.So, I started out on the tutorial level, which shows you all of the in-game actions Wario can perform through some handy billboards sprinkled throughout the level. I was dashing through blocks, scurrying down pipes and doing butt stomps with ease, and once I got to the end of the level, I discovered its end creature, the Murpel (odds are, that isn't spelled right).%Gallery-26293%
E308: Wario Land: Watch It
Following on from last night's assault of screens is this U.S. trailer for Wario Land: Shake It. The first half deals with the game's story of marauding pirate Shay King, his capture of the "Bottomless Coin Sack," and the imprisonment Queen Merelda. Wario comes to the rescue, but naturally shows no interest whatsoever until said coin sack is mentioned. 'Atta boy!The second part is the usual lifestyle shots of people enjoying the game from their fashionable sofa, interspersed with actual gameplay footage, which obviously looks fantastic. On a different note, anyone else surprised that this is going to be out in Japan next week? It feels like we only found out about it yesterday.%Gallery-26293%
E308: Hey, disgruntled Nintendo fans -- remember Wario Land?
Though it didn't get so much as a syllable in the Nintendo presser earlier today, Wario Land: Shake It remains very much in our thoughts. It's not slipped Nintendo's mind either, for the company belched out fresh screens and character art for its 2D platformer earlier today. In a nutshell, it's basically more of what we've already seen -- quite gorgeous hand-drawn 2D art that continues to look like the cat's galoshes.Nintendo forgetting the hardcore? This gallery says otherwise.%Gallery-26293%[Via press release]
Twist and shake with Wario Land: Shake It!
The importance of shaking in Wario Land: Shake It! is apparent from the moment you read the title, but there are also moves available to Wario that involve twisting. Spencer of Siliconera spent some time studying videos from Shake It!'s official Japanese site, and listed down the different types of shake and twist that feature in Wario's adventure.He quickly discovered that many moves in the game are context-sensitive. So, shaking the Remote up and down repeatedly allows our dungareed hero to swing from bars, as well as shake the treasure from bags or enemies. Twisting the Wiimote is also multi-functional, and will let players steer minecarts, fire themselves from a cannon at a certain angle, or aim at where they'd like to chuck enemies. A respectable range of moves, all performed with two simple motions -- neat!%Gallery-26293%
New screens and video for Wario Land: Shake It!
Do we even need to say it? Wario Land: Shake It! looks so good. From the wonderful look of Wario (his animations look so clean and smooth), down to the big colorful environments and the fact that it's Wario Land. You have to be as pumped as us, for sure. If you haven't checked out the other videos available, we suggest you do so now.If the trailer above doesn't give you your fix, then hit up Dengeki for a bunch of new screens.%Gallery-26293%Source - Screens at DengekiSource - Trailer
Unique Nintendo coin celebrates a successful DS launch
If you've never laid eyes on ths coin before, then you probably never worked directly for Nintendo. It was given out as a thank you for the successful launch of the DS to Nintendo employees, as you can see the words surrounding the DS-side of the coin clearly state just that. And, with the bid at $31 at the time of this post, it's also a pretty neat collectible for the DS-obsessed that won't break the bank.[Via Gamesniped]
We're all shook up from Wario Land videos
We knew that Wario Land: Shake It! looked really nice, but we simply were not prepared to see it in motion in the gameplay video available on the new Japanese site. The crisp backgrounds and fluid character animation make Shake It one of the best-looking games on Wii or any other console. It's surprisingly beautiful for something that is also so Wario-like -- the gameplay footage is all busting stuff and hoarding treasure.The site also features the animated intro created by Production I.G., which we've embedded after the break. In addition, an animated controller diagram details the game's sideways-Wiimote-based control scheme: the 1 button tackles, the 2 button jumps, and shaking the Wiimote performs various context-sensitive actions, usually shaking stuff.
Wario Land: Shake It! says the box
Nintendo's resident psychopath Wario finally has a face for the shelves outside Japan, and it's a bit of a love-hate boxart. It's classic Wario stomping (well, shaking) his enemies all over the place and acting like a total badass. On the other hand, it seems a little ... brutal. Ostentatious even? This blogger loves any chance to use big words he doesn't even understand, so a debate over the quality of this box is more than welcome.Wario Land: Shake It! has taken clearer form just recently, as we all bask in its beautfulness. It might be the title to return the series to its original pedigree of excellence, and the release date isn't too far away. The no holds barred violence on the case shouldn't discourage parents from buying this one for their tots, because a nice little E for Everyone is sitting right there from the ESRB. They are always right.%Gallery-26293%
Wario Land: Scan It
Is it just us being overly hopeful, or is 2D gaming on home consoles beginning to experience a mini-renaissance? The Virtual Console is pumping old-school 2D goodness down our pipes on a weekly basis, Capcom is making a new 8-bit style Mega Man for WiiWare, and Nintendo is bringing back Mario's mustache-twirling alter-ego for a fully 2D platformer, Wario Land: Shake It (we'll quietly sweep the latest Castlevania rumors under the carpet if that's okay with you).Instead of using the NES-style graphics seen in Mega Man 9, Wario Land: Shake It will feature gorgeous, hand-drawn visuals. These were shown off in the latest edition of Nintendo Dream, and Jeux France has the full, super-large scans. Go forth, and coo at their beauty.%Gallery-26293%
Wario Land, Mario Super Sluggers dated for U.S.
Click to enlarge. Nintendo just sent news that Wario Land: Shake It would be hitting North America this September 29th, three days after Europe (as this is Nintendo's own game, we trust that this information is accurate). Little new information about the gameplay was ensconced in the details we received -- we already know that we'll be using the Wii Remote side-on, and that shaking the controller helps Wario take out enemies, empty bags of treasure, or trigger earthquakes -- but we did get a new, much larger screenshot. We advise clicking the above image to take in all the detail.In less-important-but-still-great news, Mario Super Sluggers will be touching down in the States a month before Wario Land arrives, on August 25th. There's plenty of time to save for both, then!%Gallery-24326%[Via press release]
