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VC Friday: Tetris Party drops in PAL regions
A port of casual PC title Home Sweet Home (succumb to your IKEA nesting instinct) and The Incredible Maze (succumb to possibly the worst game on WiiWare) would struggle to get noticed in most weeks, but on the day Tetris Party finally lands in Europe and Australia? Poor things don't stand a chance, cos' there ain't no party like a Tetris Party! Tetris Party -- WiiWare -- 1200 Nintendo Points Home Sweet Home -- WiiWare -- 1000 Nintendo Points The Incredible Maze -- WiiWare -- 500 Nintendo Points %Gallery-18122%
VC Monday Madness: Digital Champ Battle Boxing and Gradius II Gofer No Yabou
We've got two new imports to play on the Virtual Console this week. We love it when the service hooks us up with imports because they're so fresh and new. We like that. Too bad one of this week's games isn't very good. Which one is it? Hit up the video above to find out. And if you're looking for more, head past the break.
Tetris Party tournaments commence December 1st [update]
Tetris Party only reaches the North American WiiWare service today, but already Hudson has started building hype by asking us to bring it in a bunch of tournaments based on the game.Things kick off on December 1st, when the first of four separate contests will begin, but don't just think being nimble at classic Tetris is good enough -- any of Tetris Party's 18 modes could feature in these, which could be bad news for those not equipped with a Balance Board. No word on prizes yet, though something rare and very limited edition-esque would be lovely thanks, Hudson.Update 1: A Hudson press release just revealed Tetris Party would drop in Europe and Australia this Friday!%Gallery-18122%[Via WiiWare World]
Anthony the Ant's Marble Saga
Marble Saga: Kororinpa wouldn't be much of a saga without characters. The latest screens feature the game's unlikely (in that he's not a marble) protagonist, Anthony the Ant. The whole game is an effort to gather junk for the purpose of building more structures to reach the Golden Sunflower. If this game has to have a story, we appreciate the fact that Hudson has made it about such a cute little character in a beautiful forest. Don't worry; over at Famitsu, there are more screens of actual gameplay, with, like, marbles rolling around and stuff.%Gallery-30046%
Rumor: Footage for new horror title from Hudson [update 2]
Update 2: Hudson has requested we take down the videos.Update: Looks like the original videos were pulled by YouTube (new videos have already made their way back up). Be warned: these also could disappear at any moment. Incidentally, Hudson has contacted us, explaining that a hacker stole these videos from internal files on their server and posted them without their permission.Leak ahoy! A mysterious trio of videos have been discovered on the open servers of a PR company representing Hudson, apparently showing off a brand new Wii horror game from the publisher. Judging by the name of the directory address, the title will be known simply as Calling (though we'd wager on The Calling), and it looks like an extremely creepy slice of J-Horror. That doll! Eeee!It's played from a first-person perspective (a technique which has always boosted the scare factor for us), and might be an on-rails adventure, unless the person playing this has incredibly steady hands. That's difficult to believe -- cowards that we are, just watching this makes us tremble a little. If you dare, go past the break for a second gameplay video.
Aussie classification reveals new Hudson WiiWare title
A classification for Australia has popped up, showing that Hudson is working on a new game for WiiWare. The new game, called Snowboard Riot, will have the player fighting dragons, saving damsels in distress and will feature Bomberman in a medieval setting. We kid, it's a snowboard game!Sadly, all we have to go on right now is a name, other than it looks like the game will also be hitting Xbox Live and PSN. Stay tuned to Wii Fanboy for more info on the game as it's made available.[Via GamerBytes]
VC Tuesday: Party time! Excellent!
How can the Wii have been in stores for two years without a Tetris game? At least Hudson is compensating for the lack of the staple video game with one that is both awesome-looking and cheap. It's being joined on WiiWare by a cheapo darts game and Brain Challenge -- which was actually pretty good on the DS. On the Virtual Console, a super old sidescroller from Sunsoft that looks like a slowed-down, more awkward Legend of Kage, and a totally cute Taito classic!Virtual Console releases: Kanshakudama Nage Kantarou no Toukaidou Gojuusan Tsugi (Famicom, 1-2 players, 500 Wii Points) The New Zealand Story (PC Engine, 1 player, 600 Wii Points) WiiWare releases: Darts Wii (1-4 players, 500 Wii Points) Brain Challenge (1-4 players, 1,000 Wii Points) Tetris Party (1-6 players, 1,200 Wii Points) %Gallery-18122%
Karaoke Joysound Wii leaving Japan?
We're fascinated by Karaoke Joysound Wii, Hudson's karaoke program that allows players to turn their Wiis into karaoke machines and download selections from a massive library of songs for a 300 yen fee (for one day of unlimited downloading). But we believed that it was going to stay in Japan, for various reasons including the greater popularity of private karaoke in Japan, the reliance on a massive licensing deal that Hudson USA doesn't have, and the fact that Hudson said so.But 4cr's Keito reported in her hands-on preview of the game that "The game is going to be released in Japan on December 18th, and then in both the USA and Europe in 2009." Could Hudson be working on a deal with an American music publisher? If so, we may have $3 karaoke parties soon.%Gallery-33426%
Tetris Party gets physical
Tetris Party is out soon, which means we get to dust off our Balance Boards and play Tetris the way Tetris was always supposed to be played: by leaning and squatting. Tetris Party producer and cool hat-wearer Tony Tran has generously demoed the Balance Board mode, which looks straightforward enough: you lean to steer your tetrominoes across the screen, and squat to rotate them. The playing field is drastically reduced to allow for the imprecision of balance-based controls. It looks quite fun, though this video did miss one thing: footage of Tony playing this mother on level 20. We suspect our own knees, weakened by a lack of exercise due to a life spent blogging, would struggle to get beyond level 5 with all that squatting.%Gallery-18122%
Joystiq hands-on: Tetris Party (WiiWare)
We've soaked up Tetris on countless platforms. There's a balance to strike between versions that retain enough of the core game to be authentically Tetris, and adding new puzzle elements. Tetris Party for WiiWare nails this demand, providing about a dozen game modes, many of which, are all-new. Call it "yet another Tetris?" Maybe. But this is a Tetris on which we'll gladly spend 1,200 Wii points with its release sometime this month.Nintendo claims there are 18 modes, 10 of which are new, but we only agree technically; the company counts some modes twice as single- and multi-player games. (Most modes support up to four players on one system, and a few work with up to six online.) We tore into as many as we could before overloading like a kid on a Halloween sugar-high. Here's how they stand up.%Gallery-33744%
Tetris Party: October, 1200 Wii Points, 'Squat Mode'
Nintendo has kicked off the second day of its fall media summit with a close look at Tetris Party, a robust addition of the evergreen puzzler for WiiWare. The game's producer has confirmed an October release, priced at 1,200 Wii Points ($12) -- or roughly 67¢ per mode (there are 18 of them!). Included in the bunch is a Balance Board mode exercise that requires squatting to rotate the pieces. Betcha can't beat 10 lines! Gallery: Tetris Party
Gradius II, Digital Champ on VC this Monday
We knew that Hudson planned to release the import Gradius II GOFER no Yabou and Digital Champ Battle Boxing (that's Battle Boxing, instead of all those non-battle boxing games) in October, but it turns out they've picked the earliest possible time in October to do it, which happens to be next Monday. Along with the announcement, the info pages for both Gradius II and Digital Champ are available. This is the second set of imports in a row for Hudson, as well as the second set of imports to be released as a pair.Keeping in mind the obligatory disclaimer that Nintendo may decide at any moment to apply their veto power and just put up MaBoShi or something, we're tentatively excited. We aren't sure if this is a good time or a bad time to put out a boxing game, though.
Bomberman Ultra coming to PSN this Winter
What's your favorite type of man? If you answered "Bomberman," then you're in for a treat. Hudson Entertainment has announced that it will be bringing Bomberman to the PSN this Winter. Dubbed Bomberman Ultra, the game will feature 8-player online play and character customization. Not to mention "gorgeous high-definition graphics," but that goes without saying nowadays. The game will also have 4-player local multiplayer and 14 different battle arenas. Trophies? We're hoping so.Bomberman Ultra will be available worldwide this Winter, though there's no price or release info beyond that. Check out our gallery for a bunch of screenshots and look for more info in the coming months.%Gallery-33192%
PSN Bomberman is simply 'Ultra'
We suppose one more Bomberman won't hurt anything. Then again, can it do any good? Seriously, Hudson today admitted that there have been "over 60 iterations" in this series on nearly all major platforms -- one obvious exception: PlayStation 3. You can guess where this post is headed ...Announcing Bomberman Ultra, arriving worldwide this winter on PSN! Featuring 8-person online multiplayer (4-player local), 14 arenas and more than 150,000 possible outfit combinations. Sound familiar? Our thoughts exactly. %Gallery-33161%
Hudson dates Kororinpa sequel for North America
Click image for new screens Hudson just sent us a press release stating that Marble Saga: Kororinpa will be making its way to North America in the spring of 2009. The sequel to Marble Mania: Kororinpa, the game will feature Balance Board support (which we already knew about), Wi-Fi compatibility and lots of new levels to explore. On top of that, there's also 4-player local multiplayer to enjoy, as well as "customization features."Hit up our gallery below for some new screens and if you want to see the game in motion, check out the GC 2008 trailer here.%Gallery-33098%[Via press release]
Import Gradius II coming to US Virtual Console in October
Hudson has been responsible for more import games on the US Virtual Console than anyone, and they've announced an October release that's exciting for a couple of reasons. The first, and most obvious, reason is that it's Gradius II: GOFER no Yabou, the PC Engine CD-ROM port of a Gradius game that has never been available in the US (except on the PSP). Sure, the VC is saturated with shmups, but not nearly enough of them are Gradius.The second, more speculative reason we're excited is that this is an import PC Engine CD-ROM game from Konami. The game we want more than any other on the Virtual Console is also a Konami game, and also on that system. Hudson is also releasing the import Digital Champ Battle Boxing in October. It's ... not very good!
Bomberman blows up Art Style: ORBIENT on WiiWare
God, this just keeps getting better. We thought that last week was the best example of a known quantity trying to sneak its creepy friend past the bouncer and into Club WiiWare, but it's been absolutely topped.On the one hand, you have Bomberman Blast (Hudson Entertainment, 1-8 players, 1,000 Wii Points) all decked out in his finest suit. He's making eyes at the ladies and he just bought Cristal for everyone in the club. He's the superstar and he knows it.Then we have Art Style: ORBIENT (Nintendo, 1 player, Rated E for Everyone, 600 Wii Points) which we can find practically nothing on. Seriously. GoNintendo has a single screen shot and Silicon Era thinks it's a Bit Generations game. And that's it. To continue the above analogy, Art Style: ORBIENT is the equivalent of the Little Rascals standing on each others shoulders in a trench coat, and insisting to the bouncer that they're "a real grownup who just wants to drink all the beer and kiss pretty ladies."How do they make it inside? It's a mystery.
Retail and download releases for the week of September 29th
Sorry, folks. Compared to last week's releases (well, maybe just the one release), this week is going to disappoint. We've got some WiiWare releases, one new Virtual Console game and some retail releases, as well. So, head past the break and catch the details.%Gallery-20743%
Japan's new Virtual Console is a retro rarity
Wii in Japan is getting a new Virtual Console in October, and it's a rare one. The NEC SuperGrafx, a beefed-up PC-Engine (TurboGrafx-16 here in the States), saw a whopping five games released for it before NEC cut its losses.You can still get your hands on one via eBay or by scouring Tokyo's second-hand game market (we found this one, new-in-box, for about $250 at the Akihabara Super Potato). Thankfully, Wii owners won't have to embark on a treasure hunt for a SuperGrafx or its games, the first of which to appear on VC is the console's launch title, a superb port of Capcom's Daimakaimura (Ghouls n' Ghosts). Nintendo hasn't announced when (or if) this rare treat will reach US Wiis, but, given the fact that we're already seeing NEC console imports on the Shop Channel, it should only be a matter of time.
New Bomberman screens are, predictably, a blast
While Europe gleefully blasts Bombermen at home and online, we must be content to stare at screenshots and artwork of the game, while we sit by and eagerly await our millionth chance to play Bomberman. Hudson has obligingly sent along new screens and art for us to direct our sighs toward. We wouldn't be surprised to see it here soon, though, now that it's out elsewhere.As excited as we are about the 8-player online play, in our minds the 8-player home play is the real star here. We imagine a hypothetical situation in which we could gather enough Bomberman-friendly people in one place, with enough controllers, to make for an awesome party. Game Night seems like a much more ... possible venue for Bombermannery. %Gallery-18349%[Via press release]
