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Nanostray 2 means more boss fights
Sequel Nanostray 2 is going to be jam-packed with boss encounters, doubling the 8 boss fights of the first game into 16 for the sequel. The bosses this time around aren't confined to being just robotic, either. They're organic and offer up more complex attack patterns than before. If there's anything we want besides more boss fights, it's for those boss fights to be more complex.Nanostray 2 is currently slated for a January 15th release in North America.%Gallery-4607%[Via Go Nintendo]
Anniversary aftermath: Next year's awesome games that you forgot about
We spent yesterday going through the big releases that've been announced for next year so far -- Smash Bros. Brawl and/or Wii Fit likely topping your personal "must get" list -- but what about the second-tier games that don't usually receive much press or attention? Though we haven't forgotten about the low-key releases, we've collected a selection of games and media to ensure that these titles stay on your mind too! Read on for our top ten list of awesome 2008 games that you totally forgot about!
Pet Pals boxart designer unfamiliar with humans
The boxart for Pet Pals: Animal Doctor clearly shows where the artists' (and developers') priorities lie. The animals are all presented using what appear to be real photographs, looking totally realistic and even cute. The humans, on the other hand, are awkward 3D models hastily Photoshopped into position. The troubling thing about this is that it probably would have been cheaper just to take pictures of whoever happened to be around instead of going to the trouble to render these subhumanoids, and the game is already full of 3D renders of animals. So they unnecessarily modeled humans, and also unnecessarily photographed animals.
Operation: Buy this cheap game
Despite receiving favorable previews as a solid title, Operation: Vietnam's release last August went largely ignored by gamers. As a reward for your apathy, Amazon is further discounting the already budget title, knocking three dollars off its listing to bring the price down to $16.99. The least you can do to thank them is help empty out their inventory!It's likely that you know next-to-nothing about the squad-based, top-down shooter, so we've embedded its trailer above for you to preview the bullet-filled action. As you can see in the clip, there are dozens of enemies just waiting around for you to buy the game and shoot them in the face.[Via CAG]
Nanostray 2 trailer and dev diary
The trailer above for Nanostray 2 features a lot of aspects of the game that interested parties would want to see. There is some boss fighting and co-op action, not to mention the requisite amounts of blowing everything on the screen up.If that isn't enough for you, be sure to check out the recently created developer diary for the game over at IGN.%Gallery-4607%[Thanks, Jason!]
Don't stray away from these Nanostray 2 screens
The fine folks over at 1UP have dished out a bundle (what's a good term for more than a small amount, but less than a lot?) of new screens for Nanostray 2, which, we might say, looks like the hotness. We loves us some Raiden and Ikaruga, so this game is currently living in a house on the corner of Right up avenue and Our alley street.Any of you gamers dying to shoot down uncountable hordes of enemy ships with us?%Gallery-4607%
A new peek at the Eco Creatures
Our favorite environmental RTS is on display once again, this time with some English-language screens. Looks like the localization is coming along swimmingly, and it's only matter of time before we'll be ordering squirrels en masse across the forest. Eco Creatures: Save the Forest doesn't yet have a U.S. date, but you can be sure we'll be keeping our eyes peeled for the debut of Dorian on this side of the ocean. In the meantime, check out the new screens in the gallery below. %Gallery-4106%
Taito takes Cooking Mama too far
You know, sometimes we just don't get Japanese marketing. Probably most times.The latest one to leave us baffled is this Cooking Mama flyer, put out by Taito to promote the next game in the series. For some unknown reason, the Japanese publisher felt that Cooking Mama 2 would sell more copies with a scary cosplayer representing the game.We hope that Majesco, the game's North American publisher, won't resort to such unsettling tactics here in the States. There's only a 0.01% chance that they would, but we still might have a nightmare or two about it. We think we even prefer "Cheerleader Mama" over this.Go beyond the jump to see another flyer of Mama in her cosplay glory.
Blast Works lets you build all kinds of stuff
For a while, all we've known about Blast Works's editor mode is that it was feature-rich and awesome. Gametap's Jared Rea (formerly of Joystiq!) got to mess with the editor during a hands-on preview, and found not only an edit mode, but an incredibly versatile shooter creation engine. Apparently, ships made of "over 100 pieces" are possible, and feature user-defined hitboxes and gun placements. Levels feature custom backgrounds, which can be layered for parallax effects, and populated with enemies designed and placed by the user, which shoot bullets that are also user-drawn. Any drawn element can be used for any other, so enemies can be placed in the background, or used as the protagonist's ship, or anything else.We really hope to see a community built up around trading custom ships and levels online, through which we could be shooting forever.
Majesco hops on 'brain training' bandwagon
If there's one thing we need more of, it's brain training games. Thankfully this holiday season Majesco will fill this niche void with Left Brain Right Brain for the Nintendo DS, a platform that seems like such a natural fit for this sort of game that it's simply amazing someone didn't think of it sooner. And then come out with a sequel.According to Majesco, the game will not only exercise your noodle, but also help improve manual dexterity while testing the neurological settlements on both sides of the brain's Mason-Dixon line through 15 games of speed, accuracy, association, recognition, memory and strategy. Left Brain Right Brain will also be played 'book-style,' as it forces players to 'rotate the DS' to exercise both their dominate and non-dominate hands, though this sounds to us like a better way to test how often the handheld can be dropped without breaking.[Via press release]
Furu Furu Park's Love Challenge
We haven't heard anything from Majesco's Furu Furu Park in a while, leading us to wonder if it had been cancelled. Apparently it continues to live, since Games Radar has posted a quick preview of the game. The gist is that even if you think minigames are passé, you may find something to love in the pure weirdness of the game.One of the weirdest parts of the game is the "Love Challenge" mode. We have been curious about this since we saw it in Japanese screenshots (as pictured above), and Games Radar was kind enough to detail it in their preview. Basically, it's a two-player mode in which the goal is to perform at a similar level. Your similarity-- and thus, your compatibility, is then judged by the game's love expert, Afro Love. We look forward to the stories of true love being discovered after short Arkanoid games. If Afro Love tells you it's for real after Arkanoid, you know it's for real.
Majesco picks up Nanostray sequel for 2008
Despite what you might have heard, Shin'en's Nanostray 2 is alive and well, as Majesco announced that it will publish the sequel to the portable shooter, or shmup as the kids say, next year for the Nintendo DS. Despite this announcement, however, a firm release date has not yet been confirmed for Nanostray 2 beyond the rather nebulous 'early 2008.'Majesco also handled publishing for the original Nanostray in 2005, which itself was a spiritual successor to Iridion 3D and Iridion II for the Game Boy Advance, both of which Majesco published as well, so as shockers go, this one hardly registers a blip. Players looking forward to picking up Nanostray 2 can expect half a dozen game modes, as well as more than 30 different missions (both horizontal and vertical) for both single and two-player gaming. Most interesting, however, is that Nanostray 2 will also finally include internet ranking, a feature announced and later dropped from the original Nanostray, thanks to Nintendo's Wi-Fi Connection.
Nanostray 2 meanders under Majesco's wing
As expected, Majesco has announced its plans to publish Nanostray 2, developer Shin'en's sequel to the 2005 shoot-em-up, in North America and Europe. Though the original game was widely regarded as a somewhat mediocre shmup with janky touchscreen controls, its initial limited availability sent collectors scrambling for copies before Majesco eventually restocked shelves with bulkier shipments; hopefully, those troubles will be avoided this time around.Addressing the complaints many had with tacked-on touchscreen features, Nanostray 2 will have three control schemes -- classic control, left-handed touch control, and right-handed touch control. Multiplayer cooperative (multi-card) and duel modes, both played locally, will also be incorporated, as well as online leaderboards. Expect Nanostray 2 to traipse into stores early 2008.%Gallery-4607%
Cooking Mama wasn't enough as Majesco profits show loss
Majesco may be bringing forth a sequel to their smash hit Cooking Mama, but apparently it wasn't enough to bring them into the black. Hopefully, that'll change with the upcoming release of Cooking Mama 2, but the Q3 financial results show the company's profits are down to $10 million from $12.4 million last year. The DS is an important platform for the company, as 66% of their total sales come from games on the handheld. And with the first Cooking Mama game selling over 500,000 units, the company has high hopes for its sequel, as well.
Blast Works delayed, for a decent reason
At one time, we dreamed of filling the period between now and the big holiday releases with lots of shooting, courtesy of Majesco's Blast Works. We most recently found it scheduled for an October 16 release, which was acceptable to us. But Majesco announced yesterday that Blast Works has been delayed until the first quarter of 2008. Our hopes for playing it this year have been exploded into blocks and caught to add firepower to the junk-composed spaceship of our disappointment. The good news is that, with the extra time, developer Budcat Creations will be adding the capability to share custom ships and levels, as well as high scores, over WiiConnect24. The bad news is that -- oh, right, the rest of the post was the bad news.[Via Game|Life]
Majesco bringing Ecoris to the states
Regular readers will recognize Majesco's latest game announced for the US, Eco Creatures: Save the Forest, as Ecoris, the FernGully-esque RTS that came out in Japan just last month. We thought for sure that this niche title would never make it stateside, but we're happy to see Majesco prove us wrong. Billed as "the first eco-conscious game for the Nintendo DS," Eco Creatures has you leading a woodland army against the pollution and industrialization taking over your Mana Woods. In addition to battling your friends locally (single-card download play and multi-card) and online, you'll also be able to create your own maps to play. Look for Eco Creatures: Save the Forest to plant itself in North America early 2008.%Gallery-4106%
Blast Works' price gets built up
We've been eyeing Majesco's Blast Works as a potential purchase for some time, and now that potential purchase is going to set us back some more potential cash. The shooter's Gamestop listing, which once had the game priced at $19.99, now shows a price of $39.99.Since the game isn't out until the 16th of October, we're hoping that Majesco has time to further revise the price before release. Our unsolicited opinion: we prefer the old price. We love the freeware PC version, and we really want a good new shmup on the Wii, but we, in general, like it better when things cost less money.
Operation: Vietnam missing in action?
Has anyone actually picked up a copy of Operation: Vietnam, Coyote Console's squad-based action title? Publisher Majesco shipped the title to stores last week with a budget price of $19.99, but all the reviews and impressions for it seem to have been lost in the jungle. Sending the game out on the same day as Rune Factory, Heroes of Mana, and Luminous Arc's release probably wasn't a good idea.Though we weren't impressed with the screenshots we've seen, hearing previews describe Operation: Vietnam as a mix of Cannon Fodder and Metal Slug was enough to keep us at least a little bit interested. Majesco unceremoniously put out a trailer for the game a couple weeks ago, to little fanfare; you can check it out past the post break.
Blast Works developer seems to care about the game
We must admit that we're very impressed with Budcat Creations so far. We assumed that they were just some guys to whom Majesco farmed out the development of Blast Works (to replace the one guy responsible for the PC version), but an interview with Siliconera paints a different picture-- or assembles a different ship from discarded blocks, to use a more thematically appropriate metaphor.It seems that Budcat was the catalyst for the remake: they originally pitched the idea as an Xbox Live Arcade game, and then hooked up with Majesco for a PSP release, which became a Wii release instead. In addition, they approached Kenta Cho independently for his blessing before Majesco did so. It's very comforting to have a team of real fans of the game working on the remake. Despite its apparent budget status, there is the possibility of real thought going into it, rather than just hasty porting.
Blast Works almost as cheap as the PC version
If Gamestop's listing is to be believed, Blast Works is scheduled for an October 10th release at a lovely $19.99. While that's still roughly infinity times more expensive than the original PC TUMIKI Fighters (which was cheap as free), it's quite cheap for a Wii game. Some people may have a problem with Majesco charging anything for even an updated version of freeware, but we'll admit it-- we were expecting Majesco to go for the $50 price tag with this one.A shooter creation system plus a load of awesome shovelware for $20? We think we can do that.
