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'Knockout City' is going free-to-play in June
The popular dodgeball game will be self-published by Velan Studios
Dragon*Con 2009 in pictures
Oh, Dragon*Con, I missed you before I even left. Though I'm not entirely certain if you can really enjoy the MMO track's annual World of Warcraft party -- which included Gnome punting and Horde vs. Alliance dodgeball -- vicariously, I tried to catch the experience in photographic form nevertheless. (Note: if you want to really experience the meaning of the "war" in Warcraft, you need to do so in a room filled with hundreds of WoW fans cheering for their faction of choice.) Of course, Dragon*Con is more than parties (after all, some of the parties had Tesla coils), there was some great MMO programming and we had a chance to talk addons with the infamous ckknight. With twelve long months to wait until Dragon*Con 2010, we'll all have to live on memories until then. So, until 2010, I leave you with photo galleries.%Gallery-72666% Gallery: Dragon*Con 2009: General convention gallery
Pirates vs. Ninjas (vs. Mushroom Men) Dodgeball coming May 12
SouthPeak just announced a release date for the retail Wii version of its XBLA sports/fighting/party game, Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball. Obviously the game didn't make its winter release, but finally, on May 12, Wii owners will be able to pit internet memes against each other, in order to determine, once and for all, who can take a hit to the face better. With the Wii version, naturally, you'll be able to use motion control to deliver those hits to faces. According to the game's official site, the Wii version allows you to pick between the following teams: Pirates, Ninjas (of course!), Zombies, Robots, Aliens, Monsters ... and Mushroom Men. We missed those guys! %Gallery-30671%
Foursquare tries the Dodgeball concept again on the iPhone
We're right in the middle of convention season and as I noted last night on the Talkcast, I'm here in Chicago (at least the weather's nice) instead of down in Austin with the rest of the gang. But there is a little consolation: I've had a chance to try out SXSW's newest software darling, Foursquare. It's an app (and a social networking site, and a service, and a game) from the guys who made Dodgeball, that social network that just recently got shut down by Google, who bought it out a while ago.The basic premise is very close to Dodgeball, in that the system basically revolves around "checking in" -- whenever you go out to a bar, you hit a button in the app that says something like "Hey, I'm at Tin Lizzie," and then everyone in your friends list (and your Twitter followers, if you have that option set) sees where you are. In addition, however, they've added some new features into the mix: you get "scored" on how many times you go out and when you go out to different places. And there are even "achievements" you can earn (eventually user created) for trying a hot dog at everyone's favorite stand, or drinking x number of beers at a popular bar. In fact, there's even awards for going to bars where less-than-fashionable people appear, so watch where you decide to spend your Saturday night, lest you pick up the d-bag award.
Blu-ray releases on December 9th 2008
This is finally the week that we've all be waiting for. It is the week that the biggest release in the history of Blu-ray hits the shelves. Now if you think this is just yet another PS3 demographic comic book movie, think again. The Dark Knight has an IMDB score of 9.1 with over 300,000 votes. This puts it at number four all time which means it has a much wider appeal than most other movies out there. But even in the off chance that you have no interest in the latest Batman flick, there are still a few others worth a look. Fox has a few catalog comedies including the hilarious Super Troopers and Dodgeball. Disney has the latest complete season of the hottest show on TV, Lost -- although we're still waiting for the first two seasons on Blu-ray. And finally, Universal has a action packed Je Li movie, Fearless. The Dark Knight (Warner) The Dark Knight Batpod Edition (Warner) Dumb & Dumber (Warner) I Am Legend Ultimate Collector's Edition (Warner) Lost: The Complete Fourth Season (Disney) The Mask (Warner) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (Fox) Super Troopers (Fox) Horton Hears a Who! (Fox) Jet Li's Fearless (Universal)
Virtually Overlooked: Super Dodge Ball
We're ridiculously crazy about Technos and their Kunio games. Normally, the release of any Kunio series game -- save Renegade -- on the Virtual Console would be cause for a weeklong celebration here on Wii Fanboy. We'd break out our special Kunio-shaped cake pans and observe the traditional Kunio Week rituals (playing games). We'd be pushing the game on you in unrelated posts, even.Unfortunately for Super Dodge Ball, Mega Man 9 had to happen this week and distract everybody. In fact, we are also freaking out about Dodge Ball -- we just delayed our reaction a bit. We'll have our little nerdfest now, in the most counterintuitive way we can think of -- celebrating the NES Super Dodge Ball by talking about another version.
Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball Wii: it's official
Gamecock pseudo-unofficially confirmed the existence of a Wii version of the Xbox Live Arcade Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball during E3. Today, they sent out an official press release announcing their intent to release the Wii Dodgeball this winter. Aside from the obvious difference in which box you turn on to play it, the Wii version of the meme-off will feature new teams (we're hoping for bloggers), new game types including story and challenge modes, and multiple control schemes. Included in the press release are the first three screens, which look, unsurprisingly, like the Xbox game in lower resolution. Which, for the simple, cartoony environments and character models, is just fine. %Gallery-30671%
E308: Gamecock sort of confirms Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball
Note: Wii version this is not Today, Gamecock's XBLA game Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball, which is a dodgeball game about pirates competing with ninjas, showed up out of nowhere on Nintendo's upcoming Wii release list. As it turns out, immediately after this discovery, I had an appointment with Gamecock.I asked Gamecock CEO Mike Wilson if it was in fact on the way, and he didn't deny it. In fact, not only did he not deny it, he said "If it's on Nintendo's list, and I'm not denying it ..." and then he sort of shrugged. But he totally didn't not deny it, either.
E308: A whole lotta list -- upcoming Wii games and release dates
Wii got game. Oh, and games, too. Nintendo posted a list with a metric ton of games and release dates, including ones from third parties. You can check out the list for yourselves in our gallery below; you might be pleasantly surprised (or sorely disappointed). One thing we noticed: The Conduit was nowhere to be found (perhaps because High Voltage has yet to reveal a publisher for the title). Goosebumps: HorrorLand seems like a strange edition to the Wii's lineup (since the book series was in its prime over a decade ago), and GameCock added Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball to the company's Wii repertoire. Other than that, we didn't notice too many surprises. Is there any other software on the list that you think deserves an honorable mention? %Gallery-27711% [Via press kit]
Aksys Q&A: Dodgeballs and Detectives
It seems like only a few days ago when publisher Aksys Games announced that it would be localizing Super Dodgeball Brawlers and Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles (Tantei Jinguji Saburo), much to our delight. Though both titles have been met with mixed reviews, we can't help but be thankful that someone took the risk to bring over these titles that likely would have stayed in Japan otherwise.With both Super Dodgeball Brawlers and Jake Hunter now on store shelves, we chatted with the studio's localization crew -- associate producer Mike Manzanares, assistant associate producer Frank deWindt, and marketing director Gail Salamanca -- about the two titles and Aksys's future. Jump past the break for details on Super Dodgeball Brawlers' unlockables and Jake Hunter's abridged case load!
River City Dodge Ball All Stars!!: The other new Kunio Dodge Ball game
If you neglected to pick up Super Dodge Ball Brawlers two weeks ago -- and we suspect you did, considering how few people are talking about the game -- you can still terrorize playgrounds with River City Dodge Ball All Stars!!Developed by doujin groups Miracle Kidz and Downtown7 (along with Famicom Kunio series creators Yoshimitsu Yoshida and Mokeke Sekimoto), this PC title was actually released several months ago in Japan, but the demo is still worth downloading and playing. Plus, there's an English version of the trial!The game doesn't suffer from the slow pace many have complained about with the DS release, and it even offers two speeds -- Normal and Retro. River City Dodge Ball All Stars!! doesn't, however, include some of the cool features introduced in Super Dodge Ball Brawlers, like the equipment shop, throwable items on the field, and the 8-player local wireless brawl mode. As its title suggests, the PC game comes with the added bonus of a roster filled with recognizable names from the River City Ransom cast! Smack people in the face as end-boss Slick! Dodge super shots as Zombies gang member Turk! Wear panties on your head as, uh, Panty!%Gallery-25040%[Via Insert Credit, Nico Nico Douga]
Metareview: Super Dodgeball Brawlers
With Super Dodgeball Brawlers releasing late last week, we've finally got enough reviews in that we felt comfortable putting up a Metareview for the game. Also, you all have likely had enough time with it to form your own opinions. So, without further ado, let's get to it: Play Magazine (85/100) grades it as good, but thinks the characters are a bit too slow: "This is damn near as good a version of Dodgeball as I could ask for...if only overall character speed could be tweaked." [May 2008, p.66] Nintendo Power (65/100) says "Dodgeball fans won't be disappointed with Brawlers, but if you've been waiting for something new to bring you back on the court, the wait continues." [June 2008, p.89] 1UP (58/100) thinks that it's not as good as the first game: "It's certainly entertaining enough, and it offers plenty of detail for dedicated gamers to sink their teeth into. But will fans still be playing it two decades from now? Probably not. It's an acceptable rendition of a time-tested classic -- a little too complex to stand beside its classic inspiration, a little too primitive to stand up to contemporary releases, but still decent." Any of you with the game want to chime in? Is it as good as the original NES title?%Gallery-14440% With our Metareview feature, we comb the internet for reviews on popular games and conveniently place them into one post. But, we also like to review things ourselves, when time permits. So, be sure to check those out!
WRUP: Take a ball to the face edition
Are you sitting there and reading this? May we ask why? You have a game that you should be out getting right now! Okay, you ordered it online? Fine, you may read the rest of this then.Seriously, only one game is on our mind right now: Super Dodgeball Brawlers. We've been waiting on this sucker for what seems like forever now and we're finally going to be able to play it. How many of you out there are doing the same this weekend? If not Brawlers, then what will you be playing?%Gallery-14440%
Undodgeable SDB screens from U.S., Korean releases
North American publisher Aksys has accompanied Super Dodgeball Brawlers' stateside release this week with an image bonanza of (Japanese) screenshots, character art, and other promotional assets, all of which we've conveniently collected for you in the gallery below.Apparently, lots of people are having trouble finding the game in stores, so here's an opportunity for you to flip past the screenshots quickly to approximate an animated match, imagining that you're really playing the game. We had no problem finding Super Dodgeball Brawlers ourselves, as most of the GameStops around our area kept two copies on their shelves.In related news, Fujitsu also plans to ship Super Dodgeball Brawlers to stores in Korea next week and has released a huge, 80-image-strong batch of Korean-translated screens, which, for some reason, includes shots from the staff credits and celebration scene that appears after a completed tournament. Perhaps they were accidentally released in Fujitsu's rush to get the word out -- the word(s) being "Kunio in Korea!"%Gallery-14440%
Super Dodge Ball gets super remix
Before we go into fits induced by the awesome fact that Super Dodgeball Brawlers is releasing in a mere two weeks, we figured that the least we could do is spread some love for an aspect of the original game that's often ignored -- its music.Of course, the best thing to do with great video game music is remix it, and The Bad Dudes have done just that. Taking Kazuo Sawa's score from the original Super Dodge Ball (NES) and arranging it with some ethnic flavor (based on the different teams' countries of origin) makes for a great combination. Don't just take out word for it, though -- give it a listen or download the zip file over at No Balls, No Glory.Aksys also plans to use this EP to promote the upcoming DS remake, which is set to hit American stores on May 27th.[Via Destructoid]
Promotional Consideration: Moons, Zombies, Dodgeballs, and Tactics
Aside from its preview page tease and Time Hollow's localization, there wasn't much in the way of exclusive DS news in this month's Nintendo Power, at least compared to what we've seen in recent issues.Paging through the magazine, however, we spotted at least two advertisements that we wanted to share with you. As we were tearing them out to throw into our scanner, we thought, "Why not post all of the other DS ads (and the cover)?" Join us past the break for the scanned pages!
Super Dodgeball Brawlers sped up for American release
The only complaint we've heard about the Japanese version of Super Dodgeball Brawlers is that it is very slow compared to previous games, though you gain the ability to speed your characters up over time. Aksys Games, publisher of the American version, apparently paid attention to this criticism: according to IGN, who totally got to play the game already, Brawlers has been sped up, and this timing has had a positive effect on their ability to catch the ball.The items have also been rebalanced since the Japanese version, which now makes us glad we've waited. Just like Bangai-O Spirits, which will come with many new Treasure-created stages not found in the Japanese release, the American version will be the definitive Super Dodgeball Brawlers.%Gallery-14440%
DS Daily: Super Bangai-O Brawlers
There's a considerable number of DS games out there that we cherish, but Super Dodgeball Brawlers and Bangai-O Spirits must rank amongst our greatest obsessions.By a happy coincidence, both titles recently released within days of one another in Japan, so the next question is obvious: as the U.S. still has a couple of months to wait for these gems, did you buckle under the pressure and import either? If so, we'll be happy to place our extreme envy to one side for the time being, and listen to your impressions! We're nice like that, see.%Gallery-16997%%Gallery-14440%
Super Dodgeball Brawlers plays dirty
Hands-on impressions of Super Dodgeball Brawlers have been coming in since the game's release in Japan earlier this week, and while previews indicate that the game's "pacing" seems slow in comparison to the NES original, we're happy to hear that this design decision is in favor of a much deeper experience with stat-tweaking and buyable upgrades. Even without an online component, Brawlers already sounds like a title with a lot of replayability! All the special throws and jumping skills won't save you, however, when your opponent can pick up and toss a bomb at you, literally (0:50). As you can see in these two in-game videos -- complete with face-smashing sound effects -- a mess of potential weapons litter the arena, enticing you to abandon the gym pastime's dated rules. According to 1UP's preview, the Canadian team, in particular, has no problem relying on under-the-belt strategies rather than its own abilities.Why bother waiting to get beaned when you can just run across the chalked line and mollywhop whoever has the dodgeball? Head past the post break for another foul-play-filled Super Dodgeball Brawlers clip. %Gallery-14440%
Super Dodgeball Stats: the strategy behind the face-smacking
NeoGAF's Sp0rsk has provided us with new information about Million's Super Dodgeball Brawlers -- after buying it. At least those of us waiting for the English version can benefit from his gameplay sessions (even as we cry).The "Create a Dream Team" mode gives you 150 stat points to distribute among your team. There seem to be some light RPG elements involved as well, as you can shop at one of the stores from River City Ransom, which probably ups some of those stats. You can also change the appearance of your team members.In addition, the special team attacks actually temporarily change the team's stats rather than executing a large attack. You can boost your team's catching ability, speed, and such. Now we just need someone to change Brawlers' "American release date" stat.
