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Game of Life updated spectacularly for Wii
We admit that we haven't gotten out the Game of Life board in a few years-- rarely having a big enough group, and also having lost all of the money-- but we don't remember the impaling-a-guy-in-a-barrel round of the game. Or the mushroom-shaped houses, or the pastel hippos. Or the, uh, shooting at flying UFO butts. Is this an accurate model of life in Japan? The title and the trademark spinner are the only indications that this is the Game of Life at all. The other screenshots make it look like one of the weirder minigame collections on the Wii-- one with Mii integration, though, to its credit. Buying this and expecting The Game of Life would be like that time we bought what we thought was a James Bond tape, but turned out to be #1 Licensed to Love and Kill.
Cooking Mama 2 gets Japanese date and American dessert
Cooking Mama 2 knows how to attract an audience: with virtually delicious fake pie. Who can look at that picture of an apple pie and resist the urge to pretend to want to eat it? Actually, we've never gotten hungry from playing Cooking Mama. The gameplay tasks are so accelerated and the final images so cartoony that we rarely associate our creations with actual food. It's a good thing too, because we wouldn't know how to cook three-quarters of the menu without a touchscreen. Check out the link if you'd like to see the whole pie-making sequence! SPOILER: Apples are inside the apple pie. It'll be coming out November 15 in Japan, and we expect that since the game is more popular in the US, Office Create and Majesco will do their best to make sure it comes out over here as close to that date as possible.
Now she can afford some truffles
Majesco announced that since the September release of Cooking Mama, they've shipped 500,000 units. Quite a surprise for a budget DS game about cooking! It's exactly what Majesco needed after almost being sunk by Advent Rising and Psychonauts. They decided to focus more on budget games for handheld systems, and they got lucky right out of the gate. Given their success with the last game, it's no shock that Majesco has chosen Cooking Mama 2: Dinner with Friends. We've liked Majesco ever since they started making Sega Genesis 3 systems and selling them for $20. Which, by the way, is another example of small and cheap working well for the company.
Majesco picks up Cooking Mama 2 for US
We knew that Europe and Japan were going to be returning to Mama's kitchen (which is apparently enormous if it accommodates the entirety of both Japan and Europe), and we expected similar announcements for the rest of the world. Majesco is, as expected returning to the table to provide US gamers with a second helping of Cooking Mama, and to provide bloggers more excuses to mix cooking metaphors. The new game, Cooking Mama 2: Dinner with Friends, will contain 80 new recipes and 150 different cooking procedures. It's also got single-card multiplayer and the feature that nobody even knew they wanted: the opportunity to decorate your kitchen and give Mama new clothes. Mama will have to share shelf space with Ubisoft's Imagine Master Chef, part of its Imagine line of cheaply licensed, sloppily-packaged games "for girls." Don't pick up the wrong one by mistake! [Via Siliconera]
CVG tries on Wii Fit
Lacking access to our customized equipment, CVG had to settle for testing Wii Fit and Nintendo's version of the Balance Board.They actually had some problems with the soccer-heading game seen in the E3 demo: pushing off with the opposing foot, of course, caused the on-screen avatar to lean in the direction opposite of that intended. In the end, they were advised to lean only slightly in either direction, which "completely ruins the illusion that you're heading the ball," causing them to liken the experience to "standing on a giant D-pad."They enjoyed other minigames much more, like a ski-jumping game and a Monkey Ball-like game in which shifting on the Balance Board tilts an onscreen board, with the goal of rolling balls into holes.Overall, CVG had a very positive experience with Wii Fit, going so far as to say "we're certain this is going to be the next Wii Sports - a fantastic party game and one that will have everyone jumping in for a go." Check out their full post and their video, and decide for yourself if you think standing will be the new waggling.
Lightsabers and light math: The Frogman Show DS
The Frogman Show: Datte, Shoganaijanai is based on a Japanese cartoon made in Flash, which is so popular that it's been adapted into a movie. And now it's being adapted into a DS game!Amazingly, the show seems to be animated by just one guy (called "Frogman") who draws and writes everything. We're pretty sure other people (developer Compile Heart) are working on the game, but we would imagine that, with all those Flash character models just lying around on a computer, his original work is in here somewhere.So how does a series of wacky, cheaply-animated vignettes translate to the DS? A minigame collection with vague training elements, of course! If we hadn't told you that the change-making game seen here had a license, would you be able to tell it apart from any other training game? The other minigames include slide puzzles, searching for items in a dark room, and a racing minigame in which rubbing the stylus back and forth increases the speed of the car.The last screenshot redeems the whole thing: it's a lightsaber dueling game with stylus controls, presented in silhouette. That looks pretty awesome! Search your feelings. You know it to be true.
Chef Mama stirs up some scans on new sequel
To those who were hoping yesterday for something different from Cooking Mama 2, we hate to break it to you: the sequel looks pretty much the same, just with the added bonus of multiplayer and more content. You'll just have to wait for the eventual Cooking Navi localization for help from your DS in your real kitchen. However, if pleasing Mama by putting together tasty creations made you as happy as it made her, then you're in luck. We're just thrilled to see a sequel coming out for both Nintendo systems instead of jumping ships, like certain franchises. For once, we get to shake our fist at you lucky Europeans on this one ... though we're sure Majesco will probably pick it up again for gamers here in the U.S. Slip past the break to see the scan with the latest.
Duck Amuck screens: have you harassed a cartoon duck today?
Gamespot's new screens of Looney Tunes: Duck Amuck highlight the central idea of both the game and the cartoon: messing with Daffy Duck. Immediately previous to the screen seen here, Daffy was presented with a trophy. The minigames revealed in this new set of screens include: whatever kind of game would involve blowing up Daffy with what used to be a trophy (obviously), firing Daffy out of a cannon, and something in which Bugs Bunny exhorts you to "Use your Noodle" in which Daffy is suspended over a hot cauldron as vegetables are added to a broth and a timer goes down. The question is, is the point of the game to help Daffy escape or to cook him?
Mama's cooking up a sequel
505 Games has announced their intentions to bring back the mama, as they get set to publish a sequel to Cooking Mama on both the DS and Wii next year. The new game hopes to satisfy cooks that checked out the first game, offering up new recipes, minigames and more of that adorable mama herself. If you've got a friend that won't shut up about how expensive their kitchen cutlery is (and how great they are at using it), then take them on in a new head-to-head multiplayer mode. Any aspiring cooks looking to take another go at this early next year?
Cooking Mama to bake on the Wii again
If you're one who wants to know how to prepare food, but has no desire to take any sustenance from the real thing after learning how to prepare it, then rejoice as a sequel to Cooking Mama has been announced for the DS and Wii. With lots more recipes, a new multiplayer mode and new minigames, the title looks to provide more of the same. Whether that's a good or bad thing, is up to you. As of right now, the sequel has only been announced for Japan, but we're pretty sure she'll be making the rounds to other regions. [Via Joystiq]
New Cooking Mama out of the oven early next year
If you love slaving over a hot stove, mindlessly chopping things and stirring, stirring, stirring, but hate having any sort of payoff for your labor, have we got great news for you! Cooking Mama is back! Well, it will be back, according to UK publisher 505 Games, at some point early next year. Still only available on Wii and DS, expect the new iteration to have twice as many mini-games and a new multiplayer mode. We don't know that Majesco will once again be bringing the game to America, but the original did a lot of good for the company, so we wouldn't be surprised. Now if you don't mind, we need to stop by Caketown for some supplies.
Promotional Consideration: Reasoning with Rabbids
Promotional Consideration is a weekly feature about the Nintendo DS advertisements you usually flip past, change the channel on, or just tune out.We're cheating a little with this week's ad, as the primary focus of the Rayman Raving Rabbids series has been on the Wii. Keep in mind, though, that Ubisoft promises to make RRR 2 for the DS more like its console counterpart, emphasizing multiplayer party games over platforming, so we're not completely gypping you on this one. Hop past the break to continue.
Coolin' at the EA Playground
Every time we get a glimpse of EA Playground, we can't help but think that it looks like a SimCrossing tie-in. Strangely, we're okay with that; the character designs in MySims are adorable, and these do look more rounded and less immediately omg-kawaii! And while we may be a little over minigames in general, EA really does seem to be trying to get a good handle on the Wii, and it seems likely this'll be worth at least a few minutes of our time. There's always time for dodgeball, after all.%Gallery-5291%
Kids' nutrition camp to use Wii
Kids these days have it so much better. Not only did we have to walk uphill in the snow to school (both ways!), but we also never had shoes. We were forced to eat potatoes, cold, straight from the ground. We were never able to take part in fun summertime camps where we were shown how to create nutritious, fun meals. And, sure enough, one camp in central Pennsylvania is set to do that with the Wii and Cooking Mama. In allowing the children to play the game on the Wii, the camp hopes they will be able to translate in-game information into real-world application, showing the kids how to bring the digital recipes in the game to life as they prepare the dishes with real ingredients.
Budget Brain Academy
Need to figure out your brain's weight, but not prepared to saw your skull open to pull out its spongy mass just yet? Amazon has come up with a cheap way for you to calculate its heftiness, saving you a few bucks and several quarts of blood. For just $12.99, you can purchase a copy of Nintendo's Big Brain Academy from the online shop. The Touch Generations title has a robust Test mode that determines the weight of your brain, as well as Practice and Multiplayer options. This deal ends today, so don't sit around thinking about it for too long![Via CAG]
Poll: The best in motion controls (so far)
For such a popular console that tries to offer something for everyone, the Wii also manages to be somewhat controversial -- and we're not just talking about Manhunt 2 here. The motion-sensing controls have been a bone of contention when it comes to nearly every game, even those people seem to enjoy. Some gamers find them awesome, and others ... not so much. We've selected six games which cover a range of game types (and aren't all first-party, either) as a measuring stick of what you think is best when it comes to Wii controls. We encourage you to vote early (and often!), but feel free to talk about other choices in the comments, as well as the reasons behind your picks. You might have noticed that Wii Sports isn't on this list (and neither are several other well-received games!). We considered including it, because not everyone agrees that it works quite well as a showcase of the Wii control capabilities, but decided at the last minutes to include only non-bundled games. Feel free to voice your support for Wii Sports in the comments, however! Which of these games boasts the best motion-sensing controls? The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Cooking Mama: Cook Off Trauma Center: Second Opinion Madden NFL '07 The Godfather: Blackhand Edition Resident Evil 4 (Wii)
Duck Amuck breaks both screens' fourth walls [update 1]
Duck Amuck is the best concept for a minigame collection we've ever seen. It may also be the best concept for a licensed game we've ever seen. It's based on the classic 1951 Merrie Melodie, in which a malevolent animator (later revealed to be--SPOILER-- Bugs Bunny) jerks Daffy Duck around as the cartoon plays. Locations are changed, Daffy is frequently erased and redrawn, and his attempts to regain control of the cartoon are met with punishment.The concept of "Daffy Duck being dropped into hilariously unfortunate circumstances at the hands of an animator" translates into a DS game well, since gamers are used to manipulating onscreen characters. DS gamers, in particular, are used to doing so with a pen. We watched the trailers and looked at the screenshots, expecting to have our enthusiasm thoroughly dampened. But the screens actually look good, and the trailers are well-animated and funny. What? Humor? In our video games? Even though we're pretty sure it's all concept art and not real gameplay footage, we're already impressed. We're also inclined to support WayForward, our new favorite DS developer (pending playtime with Contra 4.)[Update: A producer at Warner Bros. Games wrote in to confirm that all of the footage is in-game, done with Flash!]%Gallery-4960%[Via NeoGAF]
Joystiq impressions: Mario & Sonic at the Olympics (Wii)
Despite being one of the largest competitive events in the world, the Olympic Games can essentially be broken down into a series of smaller games. If you're so inclined, you may even refer to their relative individual size as "tiny," "diminutive or "mini," with an enthusiastic vocabulary producing an even more effective title in the form of "minigame." Clearly, the Olympics and the Wii are going to get along famously. If you're hoping that the union of once archrivals Sonic and Mario has somehow yielded a profound celebration of human competition and spirit, you'd be mistaken and rather disappointed. The equivalent of gaming chewing gum, Mario & Sonic at the Olympics shows no pretense of being anything other than a collection of miniature games, and beyond the initial burst of flavor upon discovering the Wii motions needed to complete an event, it's likely to degenerate into a bout of repetitive motion. You should know exactly what you're getting into here.%Gallery-4863%%Gallery-4864%
Joystiq hands-on: Carnival Games
Carnival Games is exactly what it says it is. A Wii game that uses the Wiimote to mimic 25 carny games without the need to actually experience the smell of one. The title holds 25 games at the semi-steep $40 for a collection of minigames. The video pretty much tells all you need to know about this title. It's as simple as can be, while attempting to create depth by adding new things to your character as you win carnival tickets.The game itself is perfectly basic fun minigames and is clearly designed for a family with small children. The guys showing the game reminded us that adults can use it as a drinking game, which isn't actually a bad idea and pretty much the only way a reasonable adult would play this. The thing that saves the game is that the minigames work just fine -- nothing more, nothing less. It's nothing special, but it's just not bad either, which you could say about a lot of games out there anyway.
E307: Furu Furu Park minigame list
Say what you will about Majesco's Furu Furu Park, but it's got taste. Taito and 505 Games picked some fantastic games to adapt into minigame versions. If everyone made minigames based on stuff like Cameltry, we would never have a problem with minigames.We thought it would be useful to post the full list of included games, because we hadn't seen it yet. If at least five of these are fun, we'll consider the game a winner. Arkanoid can't possibly be non-fun, so that's one in their favor!In our bleak world of cancelled Pocky & Rocky sequels, we must take what we can get. And at the moment what we can get is a Pocky & Rocky-themed shooting minigame. We can smile a little, thinking that there's still some Pocky & Rocky in the world.[Via press release]
