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JoWood preparing a Wii Yoga workout
European publisher JoWood has announced that, along with new development partner Tivola (publisher of the great-looking Music Monstars on the DS), they're creating a yoga game for the Wii. The name: Wii Yoga. There are no specific details about the game yet (except those evident from the title), but it is planned for a "second quarter 2009" release in Europe, and it uses the Balance Board.No information has been released about a possible American release, but a Wii Yoga game was among the titles revealed in the massive Intellisponse leak a few weeks back, which suggests that Activision or Disney may be releasing the game. Or that another game called Wii Yoga is planned, which isn't that unlikely given the completely, plainly obvious nature of the title.
Cracking safes, taking names
Just watch any old thief movie to be infused with a great sense of power. Laugh heartily as a sexy babe or handsome badass steals millions right from under some chump's nose, then boldly exclaim "Ha! I could do that!". Well, probably not, so Safecracker is for those who dream big but don't particularly want to go to prison.You play the role of some safe expert who is hired by a family to search the mansion of their dear old (dead) dad, Duncan Adams. There are 35 safes to crack in total, so you'll need to explore the mansion to find Adams' last will and testament -- then fork it over to the spoiled brats in his family. Fat chance!Safecracker was originally a PC adventure game, much like this, that, And Then There Were None. The Wiimote works perfectly for pointage and clickage, so any puzzle aficianodos can look out for this one in Q3 2008.%Gallery-26007%[Via press release]
Nintendo has a vacancy for Hotel Giant
The trend of PC porting continues with Hotel Giant, a simulation title heading to the DS in Q4 2008. Instead of getting stuck with the same boring people every single day, you'll be able to build some luxury hotel and routinely get new guests to roll in, drop you some cash and get out.It's a six-year-old game, but that pretty much makes it perfect for the DS. You'll be designing rooms and adding various hotel-y items, all the while ensuring John Q Guest is satisfied enough to pay the upgrade fee for the ultra-chump room. All joking aside, the original PC title was a big hit and it should be very well-suited to the stylus and touch screen when it comes out in Europe and -- pending iron-clad confirmation -- North America. Bellboy![Via press release]
Music Monstars rocks Europe
Music Monstars is a new music game developed by Novarama and published by JoWood Ibérica and Tivola, which combines the gameplay styles of Ouendan with instrument-simulating music games like Jam Sessions and Band Brothers in an interesting way. Notes are played by tapping shrinking circles on the screen as in Ouendan, but those circles correspond to keyboard keys, drums, or guitar strings in such a way that players play the song in the game by tapping. Eventually, then, it could be possible to play the song without the "assistance" of the circles.But to really see why Music Monstars is awesome, watch the above video. Then have a look at the two after the break. We really, really hope it gets released outside of Europe (but with the band Europe intact).
Sam and Max in motion
While some of you are still enjoying the beauty of those rad Sam and Max screens from yesterday, the more cunning fans have happened upon a new technology, where pictures actually move! Yeah, it's something else! We're thinking of caling it "Non-Stationary Speedy Image Rearrangement."The first trailer for the Wii release of Sam and Max: Season One has just hit the web, and it's looking mighty fine. We look forward to sinking our teeth into another adventure game for the Wii (after a certain, ah, resounding success), and August can't come quickly enough. Perhaps some kind of Non-Stationary Time Manipulation Device is in order ...%Gallery-23759%[Via GoNintendo]
New Sam & Max screens require no puzzle-solving to view
Click for larger image Unless you consider clicking on one of the thumbnails at the bottom of this post a puzzle, consider these new screens from the upcoming Wii adaptation of the episodic PC title on the house. All we ask is that you give them a good home and care for them as much as we have. It took quite a bit of effort to get Sam & Max Season One onto the Wii, so don't go wasting that effort by ignoring delicious new screens.So, hit up the gallery below and then tell us how you're handling the wait for the game!%Gallery-23759%
JoWooD seeking developer to make action RPG
Gothic publisher JoWood wants to make a new action RPG. There's just one problem: Who's going to make it? The Austria-based company is currently seeking an indie developer to grind out code for a new action RPG based on one of its existing brands for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.Next to nothing has been revealed about the project-to-be save for the publisher's belief that the franchise is "renowned for an epic background story as well as exceptional graphics and polish." JoWood says that it will continue to look for dev until May 16, and in taking a look over the company's back catalog of established brands we can't help but hope that this means we'll soon be hunting killers and solving mysteries in an action RPG based on an Agatha Christie page turner.
Sam & Max coming to Wii after all
Remember when Telltale said they had a WiiWare game on the way that wasn't Sam & Max? The part that they didn't say was that this was in addition to a game that was Sam & Max. Telltale has announced that they'll release the collected first season of the episodic Sam & Max game on Wii, published by Dreamcatcher in the U.S. and JoWood in Europe. Sam & Max: Season One comprises six episodes, originally released in 2006-2007. A similar collection on the PC retails for $29.99. Will the Wii pricing be in line with the PC box? No idea! We'll find out as the fall release approaches.[Via NeoGAF]
Telltale won't tell about Sam & Max
A German press release recently revealed a Sam & Max game for the Wii, but Telltale isn't ready to confirm anything yet. The Sam & Max developer was tight-lipped on the supposed game, stating, "While it's no secret that we want to bring Sam & Max to the Wii - and it is something we're actively pursuing - we don't have any official news right now ... When we're in a position to confirm that we'll be porting Sam & Max to the Wii, we'll make an announcement about it."While those of you looking forward to some dog and rabbit sleuthing on your Wiis shouldn't be doing cartwheels yet (or ever, if you're over ten), Telltale's statement makes the game sound more likely than not. We're up for some more point-and-click adventuring, though, so hopefully Telltale will confirm something soon.
Rumor: Sam & Max coming to the Wii according to German press release
It's been almost a year now since the rumor of a Wii version of the Sam & Max series surfaced after Telltale Games began searching for a Wii programmer to add to their staff. Now, a German press release for JoWooD Productions' latest creation, a Wii adaptation of the PC adventure title Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None, has all but confirmed a Sam & Max adventure on Nintendo's console, which JoWooD is apparently porting.A translation of the press release specifically mentions that "Sam & Max will soon be hunting criminals on the Nintendo Wii," though Telltale Games, the developers of the PC adventure, have not yet confirmed their intent to port the game to consoles. However, the press release seems on the level, and based on earlier evidence, we're fairly certain that we'll be seeing everyone's favorite revolver-toting, anthropomorphic dog and hyperkinetic rabbity thing on the Wii in the near future.[via Evil Avatar]
Sam & Max Germanly confirmed for Wii
A press release on publisher JoWood's website reveals that some kind of Sam & Max game is planned for release on the Wii. According to (the Google translation of) the release, as an upcoming project, "Sam & Max will soon also for Nintendo Wii to hunt criminals." The press release describes the company's future plans as "adapting" their successful licenses; we don't know if this is going to be a port of Telltale Games' excellent episodic Sam & Max adventure game series, which JoWood publishes as a retail collection, or a new game. Our guess is on existing content, just because that's easier. Also, Telltale has hired Wii-knowledgable staff for something or other.Wii Ware seems like an obvious choice due to the fact that it fits the existing Sam & Max distribution model (and, again, Telltale's own actions). Being total skeptics, we expect this, if it exists, to be on a disc, because each installment on the PC clocks in at about 250mb, which would eat up the Wii's storage space. We've embedded the part of the press release containing Sam & Max info, in both German and Google-English versions, after the break.
Dungeon Lords expansion, sequel announced, world asks why?
2005's Dungeon Lords was a mess of a game. Despite being helmed by PC role-playing vet David Bradley, best known for three titles in Sir-Tech's venerable Wizardry series including the timeless Wizardry VII: Crusaders of the Dark Savant, Dungeon Lords was a shell of a finished product, riddled with glitches, bugs, and incomplete features. So, sequel anyone?Publisher JoWooD has announced plans for not only a "stand alone" expansion to the role-playing disaster, due in the third quarter of 2008, but a sequel as well, which is planned for the PC and an unspecified "next-gen" console a full year later in 2009. This sure seems like a lot of effort to thrown behind a game that was collectively panned by gaming critics, despite being "well-received commercially," according to JoWooD. There is an old saying of being once bitten, twice shy, though perhaps the distant release dates are pinned on hopes that players will forget about the first game altogether. It's possible, though our trusty Magic 8-Balls says "outlook not so good."
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LifeSigns resurfaces at GC
It's easy to forget about LifeSigns, since it seems to keep coming and going, but the medical sim showed a few signs of life in Leipzig, and the good folks at IGN got in a little hands-on time. All signs point to good, with heavy realism in the surgery department, and the same sort of ass-kickery we've come to expect from surgery games. Thank you, Trauma Center. At least in LifeSigns, players don't have to choose their own tools -- it's done automatically -- so that's one less step for us to screw up while we're sweating over someone's heart operation.The most recent word is that the game is for-really-real scheduled for October ... but since we've seen dates both in June and this very week slip past, we're not holding our breath. We just hope it comes out eventually.
Gothic 4 announced for PS3, sans developer Pluto 13
The long-running action-RPG series has recently undergone some serious negotiations with new developers, says Australian publisher JoWood. The series used to be handled by Pluto 13 (or Pirahna Bytes), but they've gone bye-bye. The new developer hasn't been named yet, so we don't know much about if the gameplay will change at all, graphical direction, quality, whatever.Usually, this wouldn't matter to console owners at all since the Gothic franchise has historically been a PC exclusive. However, this latest iteration is scheduled for consoles as well as PC. Since most console owners probably haven't played it, the game is fairly nonlinear. Free-roam, do what you want, make allies with whoever and kill whatever. It's sort of like Fable, we guess. Or Elder Scrolls. Gothic titles generally have a lot of bugs that simply don't get fixed -- we hope they take better care of the game when they put it on consoles. Anyone played the other games? Think this'll translate well onto consoles?
Genius DS wants to train your brain
With all this brain training going on, one wonders just how long before DS aficionados start racking up the patents and the Nobel Prizes. Maybe we're just not quite there yet. We need to train further. Well, don't despair, future genius inventors, there's yet another edutainment title on the horizon, and it's coming to stretch your gray matter. Genius DS - Equal Cards is slated for this summer, and seems to be primarily a math-influenced title, and the math puzzles use cards that must be sorted. Sounds riveting.
Metareview - Gothic 3
Piranha Bytes is frequently credited as the originator of the vast, living worlds showcased in their RPG series Gothic. Unfortunately, this German developer's roleplaying adventures also carry the stigma of non-intuitive interface design, a flawed combat system, and production values that are inconsistent at best. Having just been released in the States, Gothic 3 once again finds the series lost in translation with poor (and sometimes nonexistent) voice acting, and a host of bugs that make it difficult to recommend. Still, those willing to struggle with the controls and wait for patches will find a well-implemented faction influence system that hints at Gothic's still unrealized potential. EuroGamer (80/100) was willing to overlook many of Gothic 3's shortcomings: "This time, however, by concentrating on evolving in its own niche, number three succeeds on its own terms: an interface that actually works, a modern lick of paint, and an (albeit misfiring) attempt to revise its fighting system; now's as good an opportunity as ever to step onto that carousel of orc-bashing familiarity." Pro-G (60/10) suggests waiting for updates, but was fascinated nonetheless: "So, what have I listed up so far for Gothic 3? Terrible graphics, dialogue and narration, and a needlessly resource-hungry engine that renders a large amount of the game unplayable? Yep, check all those. But, ludicrous as it sounds, Gothic 3 has some strangely addictive and compelling qualities that I really have no explanation for." GameSpy (30/100) drew many comparisons to Oblivion: "The difference is that while the basic design of the Gothic games is equal (and occasionally even superior) to Bethesda's offerings, they've also labored under terrible coding, a god-awful number of bugs and weird design decisions that make the releases (including Gothic 3) fail to even come close to fulfilling their potential." See also: Metareview - Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Gothic 3 demo available tomorrow
Gothic 3 won't be released until Monday, but you can give it a test drive this weekend, courtesy of Aspyr Media and JoWood Productions. According to a post at Blue's News, the North American demo will include the entire beginning area of the game, with all available quests, weapons, spells and NPCs (and no time limits imposed on players). For more details, visit Aspyr's Gothic 3 site, and stay tuned for a metareview next week.See also: Free Gothic 3 soundtrack clips available
Gothic 3 contest, expansion pack announced
Aspyr Media and Nvidia are co-sponsoring a contest to promote Gothic 3, and the top prize is a "high end" AMD-powered gaming rig that features a GeForce 7800 GTX graphics card. The game itself isn't due until November, but German developer JoWood is already planning an expansion for their third entry in the cult favorite RPG series. According to CEO Albert Seidl, "We are already working on add-on packages of SpellForce 2 and Gothic 3 series, which will partially be launched in 2007." The SpellForce 2 expansion, Dragon Storm, was announced earlier this summer, and is scheduled to ship in Europe right around the time Gothic 3 launches.[via RPGDot]
SpellForce 2 expansion announced
JoWood Productions (publisher of Arx Fatalis and Gothic 3) and developer Phenomic have announced Dragon Storm, the first expansion to the recently released SpellForce 2: Shadow Wars. Scheduled for a late 2006 release in Europe, Dragon Storm combines the well-received, RPG-strategy gameplay of its predecessor with intense dragon battles. SpellForce 2's North American distributor Aspyr Media has not confirmed a stateside release for the expansion pack at this time.
