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Family Game Night is fun for the family
Remember when your family used to put one night of the week aside to play board games, so that you'd grow closer to one another amongst bouts of innocent fun and mayhem? Yeah, neither do we. Hasbro does, though, which is why the company is bringing six of its most popular board games to the Wii, in one small package. Called Family Game Night (not to be confused with Wii Fanboy's Game Night), this title includes the following classics: Connect Four Yahtzee (not the one that curses a lot) Battleship Boggle Sorry! Sorry! Sliders (who wants to tell EA and Hasbro that this doesn't count as a "sixth" game?) We know that going digital is the wave of the future, but is anyone else slightly against the entire "board games turned video games" genre? Call us old-fashioned, but when we cheat at Battleship, we want to cheat with style -- not by looking at a TV screen. If you think differently, though, keep an eye out for Family Game Night, which will hit European Wiis this fall. [Via press release]
EA announces Hasbro Family Game Night for Wii, PS2
Electronic Arts has finally revealed the fruits of its recent partnership with board game evangelist Hasbro, announcing Hasbro Family Game Night, a collection of classic board games for the Wii and PlayStation 2. Shipping this fall, the game will include a wide assortment of Hasbro properties -- six in all -- from Battleship, Yahtzee, Boggle, and Connect Four to Sorry! and its more recent incarnation in Sorry! Sliders. Purists will be happy to know that they'll be able to play the classic games as they remember, though EA notes that new versions will also be included as well for those looking for a different way to play. In addition, the collection will let players build and decorate a virtual game room, earn trophies, and play various mini-games once they tire of sinking each other's battleships. However, even with support for between two and four players, we doubt the compilation will have us tossing out our boxed favorites just yet, though at least with this game we know we'll never have to go searching though couch cushions for missing pieces before we can play.
Ultimate Board Game Collection stealthily releases in Europe
You know, it's never an ideal business strategy to not previously announce a release date for your product. Releasing something like a videogame and then yelling surprise on the day of sale itself just makes one question why they even bothered. Apparently, Ultimate Board Game Collection has been out in the UK as of May 2. We've known for awhile the game was going to Europe, but we didn't think it would hit so soon.Well, it is and it can only be bought at the GAME retail shops. The game is also out on the Wii and PS2; however, the PSP is the definitive version with the most number of games in the collection (24 in all) and with some added features only found on the handheld. A cool feature is the ability to use songs stored on your memory stick for BGM selection. You can also make jigsaw puzzles out of your photos.North Americans don't get uppity over this sneakily released game; we've had this title on our store shelves for about one year now. This seems to be an evolving trend: swapping years-old games across the Atlantic. Anyway, if you're interested, check out the official website to see a full list of classic board games.
Eidos goes on a Brain Voyage
The brain training bandwagon has gotten increasingly crowded over the last year, with everyone and their brother seemingly thinking it's their duty to churn out interactive tools to help the cerebrally infirm. The latest company to climb on board is Eidos with Brain Voyage, a new "stylish and challenging" noodle puzzler coming to the Nintendo DS later this year.For board game enthusiasts, the game features "ingenious" puzzles designed by noted German game designer Dr. Reiner Knizia, known for such board games as Amun-Re, Modern Art, and Lord of the Rings. As for what sorts of puzzles we can expect, Eidos notes that the game will feature a sort of globe trotting mechanic, as players ponder 80 different geographically-relevant puzzles "ranging from easy to elaborately ambitious." Details remain cloudy on how exactly these puzzles will work, though that could simply be a side effect of our mental faculties being on increasingly shaky ground.
Joystiq interview: Namco Bandai stacks the deck with Culdcept Saga
By all accounts Omiya Soft's Culdcept franchise has no business being as fun as it is. An admittedly bizarre meshing of board and collectible card game antics, the resulting gameplay potpourri comes across as one big happy accident, but one that has endured since well before the Saturn was pushing up daises. With iterations released in Japan for Sega's final console pair as well as the original PlayStation, North American gamers got their first taste of this unique hybrid in 2003 when NEC released Culdcept for the PlayStation 2 to modest critical acclaim. Since that time, however, the franchise has faded into obscurity, but will soon be given another chance, this time under the banner of Namco Bandai for the Xbox 360. Culdcept Saga, which has been available for some time in Japan, marks a decidedly different sort of experience for Xbox 360 owners, one usually associated with XBLA downloads rather than a full-on retail release, though even trepidatious players may find the $39.99 price difficult to pass up, especially those looking for something different to play during their FPS downtime. In advance of the game's early February release we managed to corner Namco Bandai's Nobu Taguchi, who is spearheading Culdcept Saga's localization here in North America. Taguchi was more than willing to set us straight on a number of topics, from the title's multiplayer gameplay to changes made regarding how DLC will be handled...and more. Check out the full interview after the jump. %Gallery-13956%
Analysts: Board games are the next big thing
Gamasutra got a cadre of analysts together to look into crystal balls, read tea leaves, and guess what the next big breakout genre will be following the rhythm game's ascension with Guitar Hero and Rock Band. The analysts' guess? The board game. Yes, the humble board game put on a TV (or in the case of Scene It?, being tweaked a bit) is what the group thought would be the next über genre.Jesse Divnich of simExchange believes that Scene It?, which released last month, will be a "moderate success" and Ben Bajarian of Creative Strategies uses the term "social gaming" to describe this genre of titles. He says that families are still looking for a "board game" to play together, with the natural evolution being to do so on a console. It probably doesn't hurt their hypothesis that the board games we've seen translated to consoles so far (Scene It?, Carcassonne, Catan) have been very effective. With any luck, European games like Alhambra and Puerto Rico will become digital experiences to be enjoyed by those who missed out on them in America. Oh, and would someone get on Scotland Yard and Café International, please?
EA and Hasbro start casual relationship
Atari got lucky by jumping on Jenga when they did! As part of their new casual games initiative, EA has partnered with Hasbro to create games "based upon a huge array of Hasbro's intellectual properties, including Monopoly, Scrabble, Yahtzee, Nerf, Tonka and Littlest Pet Shop, to name a few."We desperately want to make fun of the idea of Hasbro toys on Wii, but we've already got Nerf stuff, and board games actually seem to work out nicely on Xbox Live. Maybe more board games would be a good idea! The big deal for us would be online play, and we hope EA realizes that. Littlest Pet Shop may not need to make the transition to video games, however. We can do without that one. We got a little creeped out just looking at those droopy-eyed characters.[Via Joystiq]
Off the Grid: Franchises, classics, and homogeny
Every other week Scott Jon Siegel contributes Off the Grid, a column on gaming away from the television screen or monitor. Oh Barnes & Noble, what happened to you? Less than a year ago, your halls were flush with all the greatest board games, in honor of National Games Week. You carried Carcassonne. You sold Settlers of Catan. You retailed Robo Rally. Now, any semblance of that respect for the non-digital medium has gone out the window. Pictured above, witness the horror that is the Barnes & Noble "board game" selection.The larger Barnes and Noble locations have always been more than happy to stock a few shelves with board games. The problem is that they're wary to stray from what will absolutely, positively sell. The result is an odd mix of familiar faces: Monopoly, Sorry!, Scrabble, Life, but also Spiderman, Transformers, Shrek, Friends, Grey's Anatomy. It's the worst kind of franchising: the kind that leads to an utter homogeny. It's clear that Barnes & Noble needs a gaming enema. Let's dig a little deeper to figure out hot to do it.
Off the Grid interviews Cheapass Games' James Ernest
Every other week Scott Jon Siegel contributes Off the Grid, a column on gaming away from the television screen or monitor.We've been paying a lot of attention to James Ernest over the past few weeks. As the founder, president, and lead game designer at Cheapass Games, he's responsible for a slew of analog games, including Diceland, Enemy Chocolatier, Kill Doctor Lucky, and many others. Despite his busy schedule, Ernest was able to answer a few questions for Off the Grid, and allow us to pick his brain on a variety of topics.Let's talk a bit about your history. How did you start doing game design? What brought you into the field?There's probably a fine line between "designing" and "making up" games. I've been making them up forever. In high school I actually designed a chess variant as a key plot element in a fantasy novel. It's not so much a chess variant as a "game you can play with chess pieces," since all the pieces have different moves and different names. I was so interested in making sure the game worked that I spent most of my time testing the game, and not much time working on the novel. I eventually published the game as "Tishai" through Cheapass Games, first as a stand-alone title and later as part of a Chief Herman collection. The novel is, well, pretty much nowhere.From what I understand, you left Magic: The Gathering publisher Wizards of the Coast to start Cheapass Games. What sort of work were you doing at Wizards, and what prompted the change? I did work for Wizards of the Coast in various jobs from 1993-1995, but it was never the job I wanted. There was a round of layoffs in 1995 and I volunteered to be among them. At that point I'd designed one CCG that Wizards had optioned (they never published it), and I was building up a collection of original games that I was pretty sure I'd never sell, either to Wizards or anyone else. So I took some of those games and a couple of new ones, and started Cheapass Games in 1996.
Jenga CONFIRMED
We recently reported that Atari would show a Jenga game at E3. We wondered if it was going to be just Jenga or some kind of expanded game based on the concept of Jenga. It's just Jenga.What does the Wii bring to the table (so to speak) that the original game doesn't have? Well, the ability to play Jenga on top of a castle, or in front of a lighthouse, or in someone's living room-- and the ability to do so as an icon of a snowman.Where Wii Jenga fails and real Jenga exceeds, however, is in the graphics. The original Jenga's wood texture looks absolutely lifelike, while the texture is quite blurry and unrealistic on the Wii.
Off the Grid reviews Enemy Chocolatier
Every other week Scott Jon Siegel contributes Off the Grid, a column on gaming away from the television screen or monitor.I never wanted to be a candyman. Gene Wilder's take on the role of confectionaire extraordinaire gave me the shakes, and Johnny Depp's recent attempt at the part just gave me a migraine. After playing Cheapass Games' Enemy Chocolatier, however, I feel a new sense of respect for the sweetest industry in the world. Just no Oompa-Loompas for me, thanks.Enemy Chocolatier is a strategic board game of urban planning and secret recipes. Two-to-eight players act as rivals to the world's most beloved candy-maker, and take turns buying up property around the boss-man's factory in order to accrue the favor of the town's population, as well as the ingredients necessary to make the next big thing in sweets.The game succeeds in being easy-to-learn, and pretty fun to play, but ultimately falls short due to an extensive list of required materials, and a runaway game mechanic that upends the level playing field in no time.
Guide to Itadaki Street characters
Confession time! We haven't played a Dragon Quest game since the first one. And that was in the ancient times-- we were basically playing it on an oscilloscope. As such, we don't know any of the characters besides slimes (who could forget slimes?).If you're like us (old and anachronistic), you might need a lesson on who all these adorable Dragon Quest characters are in Itadaki Street. That is exactly what Siliconera has done, because we asked for it just now. Oh, there we go with the anachronism again.Finally, we know the names and origins of Guy Who Looks Kinda Like Dante and Spikey-Haired Guy. Now we're ready for the US version of the game, which will probably never exist.
Dragon Quest, Super Mario, Boy and Girl in Itadaki Street DS
Itadaki Street DS apparently didn't have enough characters to choose from-- the entire Mario and Dragon Quest casts are just too limiting, you know? Besides, nobody can relate to wacky characters like a plumber and a plumber's brother, who is also a plumber. Square Enix has nicely included some characters who will do less to draw players' attention away from the serious business of strategic board game play: "Boy" and "Girl." They look just like we would if we were three feet tall and didn't have noses!We've got some screens of Boy and Girl, and of Itadaki Street in general, after the break. And check the link for character art and a few board layouts.
A few more Itadaki Street screens
Any time mascot characters from different game companies converge, it's a big deal. As mascot-converging deals go, it doesn't get much bigger than Itadaki Street DS, which forcefully jams the worlds of Dragon Quest and Mario together onto a game board. There's also the fact that another long-time Square Enix franchise heading to the DS is likely to cause a sales supernova. We enjoy keeping tabs on this game in anticipation of that upcoming cosmic event.While you wait for that June 21st release date, and ponder learning how to read "slime" in Japanese (????????????), why not take a look at some new screenshots?
Powerpuff Girls adapted to anime, anime adapted to minigames
This news manages to be both supremely weird and completely banal at the same time. It's interesting conceptually, but mechanically, it's another licensed minigame set. Demashita! Powerpuff Girls Z is the made-for-Japan adaptation of the Cartoon Network show, which was itself inspired by anime. And just like you would expect for any anime, or, for that matter, anything popular in Japan (see also: food and walking) Powerpuff Girls Z is getting its own DS game. This has to be the most derivative game ever in terms of source material-- just surpassing the game adaptation of Street Fighter: The Movie.
The Game of Life follows Monopoly, goes plastic
In a day and age when children are practically bombarded from birth with ads extolling the virtues of consumerism, we're not sure that it's the best idea to be thrusting credit cards into their impressionable little hands (debit cards, maybe), but that hasn't stopped Hasbro's Parker Brothers from trading in paper for plastic in some of their most classic games. The latest title to get Visa-fied -- and the first to hit US shores, as that special edition of Monopoly was UK only -- is everyone's favorite Game of Life, which as we all know takes players through a thrilling journey from college to career to fabulous riches or abject poverty. As with Monopoly: UK, stacks of cash are replaced by a "personal assistant and electronic banking unit" -- in this case known as the LIFEPod (attention Apple legal!) -- but this time the gameplay itself is also getting a facelift, with the so-called "Twists and Turns" edition dividing the board into four "life paths," ditching the old spinner, and perhaps most significantly, crowning a winner not by wealth alone but by a combination of loot and "life points." Also like the "hipper" version of Monopoly, T and T will sport a higher price tag than the regular game ($35 versus $13) when it goes on sale this summer, although you do get a bonus copy of Visa's "award-winning financial literacy curriculum," Practical Money Skills for Life, which debunks such widely-held myths as the one that "there's no such thing as instant gratification" -- well kids, with a Visa card and a five figure spending limit, there sure as heck is!
In Nintendo Monopoly, Mario is Boardwalk
This one is for all the Nintendorks out there. When you're not playing Nintendo's video games, you're probably doing one of three things: cosplaying as famous Nintendo characters, quilting yourself a blanket featuring your favorite Nintendo characters, or wondering why those same Nintendo characters don't permeate every other facet of your life. Courtesy of Rich Uncle Pennybags and the good folks at USAopoly comes Monopoly: Nintendo Collector's Edition. Yup, we're talking about an actual physical copy of Monopoly, not a video game version. The promotional shots they sent us don't show off the board very well (although we can tell that Mario is Boardwalk, natch), but they do show off all the little pewter figurines. They are: Mario's hat, Koopa shell, NES controller, Donkey Kong barrel, Link's boots (of the iron variety we assume), and Link's shield (of the Hylian variety). Alright, we love Zelda as much as the next cosplaying Link fan, but two Zelda tokens and not a single Metroid one? Samus ain't gonna be happy. Expect to find it in stores in July for an suggested retail price of $35.95. That's like one DS game, right? Plenty o' pics after the break.
WoW Limited Edition Bronze Figures
Fantasy Flight Games, makers of the WoW series of board games, have commissionas a new line of bronze miniature figures, for all you collectors & tabletop gaming lovers. Apparently they make the perfect size pieces for playing the WoW board games, but if you're like me, you'll have your little green army men fighting off the orcs .while defending the kitchen from the Horde. Too bad you can't paint these up all cool like...
Video games meet board games with the Entertaible
While we all love video games, sometimes there are moments when you want to get a little more analogue. Philips are clearly banking on our secret board game urges with a new product called the Entertaible, an electronic tabletop device which will apparently let you enjoy both the interactivity of electronic games and the social aspects of board games. Philips have grand visions for the device: new versions of old board game classics, games that are never the same twice, and games that provide social interaction between players. Whether they're conveniently ignoring all the products that already provide all of this (a common-or-garden PC, for example), or genuinely believe their product is better, we can't say. The important tests will come on its rollout to bars and casinos, though: how long does it last after someone's spilled their drink on it?
