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You're not invited: Japan's Monster Hunter party
Capcom is celebrating the uber-success of their PSP Monster Hunter game by throwing a party in Tokyo. The event, which will span two days (February 9-10) will give 1600 lucky registrants of the official Monster Hunter website a chance to mingle with other Monster Hunter fans. In addition, they'll be the first members of the public to try the upcoming 2G game, to continue fueling their addiction.It's great to see Capcom engage their fan community with so much commitment. We may not understand the Japanese fascination with the Monster Hunter franchise, but we certainly are jealous of the perks they receive for their fandom.
Wii Warm Up: Can it possibly be any good?
Even though we found out today that Ninja Reflex is going to be a "party game" of some kind and not an action game or silly ninja-esque training game or whatever we thought it was going to be -- and even though we saw the EA name on it from the start, we're staying positive about the title. Why? Well, because it incorporates one of our favorite themes: tired Internet jokes ninjas. But what do you think? Is it possible for EA to sneak a decent game out under the cover of darkness? Or will it be just another minigame compilation to toss onto the pile?
Wii Warm Up: Has the Wii improved your social life?
The Wii may be the most socially-focused console ever made. Everything about it, from the personal avatars to the physical aspect of play to (especially) the pack-in game seems designed to get people partying. Certainly we've all heard about the rise of the "Wii Party" (not a political organization). Even Evite has gotten in on the Wii phenomenon, offering Wii-focused party invitations.In the past year, have you found yourself hosting and attending more parties? Has the Wii influenced your social life? Has your formerly lonely nerd cave become a hub for Wii Sports parties? Or were you waiting for the Party Station to liven up your party room?
Oh, oh-oh, oh, ohhhh! It's Mario Party DS!
We were pretty skeptical of Mario Party DS, having been nonplussed by the previous portable Party (and most of the console versions, as well). In fact, we had resigned ourselves to just not being Mario Party people. But then we saw this commercial, with its bouncy, nonsensical Kidz Bop song, and ... let's just say we were successfully advertised to. If the song is in the game, we're definitely buying it; if it's not, we're still buying it to show our support of the song. At first we thought this must be some other region's crazy Mario Party commercial with the speech overdubbed into English. It appears on the American Mario Party DS website, though, which means that it must be a U.S. commercial. Is the song even ... language? [Via GoNintendo]
Friday Video: It's-a Mario Party!
Mario Party DS is headed our way next week, so it only seemed fitting that we give the crew a little time in the video spotlight. The opening video makes a nice complement to our positively enormous gallery below. And while we may be disappointed about the lack of Wi-Fi support (really, is there a game that needs it more?), we can settle for download play.%Gallery-4736%
Spooftastic Raving Rabbids art
Some would argue that Far Cry Vengeance was beyond help, though we maintain to this day that the Ubiport would have been vastly improved with added Rabbids. Clearly, some swashbuckling young designer at Ubisoft shares our thoughts on this crucial issue.The image above is one of nine spoofs to appear recently on the game's official site, all of which feature Rabbids invading a variety of Ubi's more well-known games. Sadly, none of them come in wallpaper size, which is precisely what these would be ideal for. Oh well.Hop past the break for images of "Bunny Steel," "Bunnies' Creed," and "Rainbow Six Bunnies."
Mario Party DS trailer and screens arrive fashionably late
Mario Party's last handheld outing did not end well. In fact, Mario Party Advance was an absolutely witless selection of dour, unimaginative minigames, the vast majority of which were way too simplistic/based on luck to be worth our time. Yes, muggins here had to review it; did you sense any bitterness? However, we maintain a degree of optimism for the arrival of Mario Party DS in just over ten days. For starters, we're looking forward to seeing how the DS's touchscreen tech is implemented, while the media you can see in this post and elsewhere shows potential. That, and the game has the bestest boxart EVAR. %Gallery-4736% [Via Games Press]
Wii Warm Up: Hallowii
Happy Halloween to those of you who are into costumes and candy! To the rest of you, have a delightful Wednesday. Halloween is one of our favorite holidays, and the one we'd be most likely to hold a party in honor of (if only the cats would keep their costumes on.) So we thought that today would be (a few days later than) a good time to discuss possible ideas for a Halloween Wii party. How could you add a layer of spookiness to a Wii-centered get-together? We would attach all the Wiimotes (securely, with wrist straps) to some fake disembodied arms and force all our guests to play that way. Or we could sit around and make up spooky alternate plots for Virtual Console games! Uh, or we could play Pac-Man ... and, uh, Samurai Ghost. Those have, you know, ghosts.What kind of ghoulish twists can you think of? And before you admonish us, we realize that people don't need to play games all the time and can have social gatherings without them. It is just a fun thing to talk about.
All the World's a Stage: WTF is IC - OOC? WTB RP! OK THX, CU L8R
All the World's a Stage is brought to you by David Bowers every Sunday evening, investigating the mysterious art of roleplaying in the World of Warcraft.While many online gamers are famous for using "leetspeak," there's a certain portion of the community that places a great deal of importance on complete sentences and good spelling. Roleplayers, as a whole, are friendly and communicative, but nonetheless have special ways of interacting that other gamers may not understand. As a new roleplayer, I remember having to figure a lot of these things out, although I was blessed to befriend many people who kindly explained things to me as well. The first and most important concept I had to get a grasp of was the idea of "in-character" versus "out-of-character" communication (usually abbreviated to IC and OOC), and in what situations the use of either sort would be appropriate.It's fair to say that on an RP server where roleplaying is still the rule rather than the exception, anything in the /say or /yell channels should be "in character." That's to say, it should be phrased with good spelling and proper punctuation, and should only refer to happenings within the WoW universe. In situations where one must say something out-of-character in these channels, it is polite to at least couch your OOC words in double parentheses to clarify your meaning.
77,000 goblins killed? Party time!
We really love these player-run parties (how did that AzerothCross go the other week, anyway?), so here's another one for you this weekend. This time around, your host is Kernhoof on Silver Hand (finally, the US realms get their own event), who wants to celebrate his unthinkable accomplishment-- not only did he grind up Bloodsail rep to Honored, but he then went back and killed tons of Venture Co. goblins to bring his Steamwheedle Cartel rep back to neutral. So now he can wear the Bloodsail hat with pride, and walk around Booty Bay without getting stomped on by the bruisers. Awesome.Sounds like cause for celebration to me. The party kicks off this Sunday, October 28th on Silver Hand at 1pm server in Booty Bay, and since the guards there aren't going to be drunk or anything (like they are on New Year's Eve), it probably won't turn into a bloodbath. Probably. But even if it does, should be a good time no matter what-- sounds like Kernhoof has even invited a few GMs to show up. As always, if you go and check it out, make sure to send us your screenshots!
Wii Warm Up: Party time
Ever since the Wii was released -- and even before -- we've heard a lot of talk about Wii parties. Seems like everyone is whipping it out at social gatherings these days. Our question, however, is ... are you? Do you suggest a little Wii Sports or Wario Ware when you have friends over? Or do your friends suggest it for you? If so, did that happen more after you first got your system, or does it still happen with some regularity? What are some of the most popular party games?
Naked troll throws a party to hit 70
Gutrot, who has earned some acclaim for leveling an entirely naked Troll Warrior (no armor, no weapons, no nothing) has almost finished his quest, and he's throwing a party on his server, EU Aerie Peak, so everyone can watch.He's going to hit level 70 on Saturday night at Sen'jin Beach just outside the Orc and Troll starter area (not sure how he's going to level up there, but I guess he's got plans), and he's inviting everyone on the EU realms to come over, roll a naked troll of their own, and celebrate with him. Sounds like a lot of fun-- I can't make it, as I'm in the US, but it definitely seems like a good time to hang out as a bunch of naked trolls, not to mention that making it all the way to 70 naked and unarmed is quite an achievement.Things are set to kick off at 9:30 pm UK time-- if you head over, take lots of pictures, and send us the galleries. A bunch of naked trolls is something I've got to see.Thanks, Centipede!
Analysts: Halo 3 shipping 4.2 million first week; Xbox may finally show profit
So there's this Halo 3 launch thing going on and it's apparently big, so big that firm Goldman Sachs projects it might actually bring Microsoft's Xbox division into "slight profitability." Analysts for the firm say that Microsoft will ship 4.2 million copies of Halo by the end of September. Even if all those were the normal $60 version that's still $252 million. Microsoft's fiscal quarter ends at the end of the week and the game is expected to bring in $170 million by then, meaning the Xbox division will have its first quarter of profitability since the launch of the original Xbox. It's back to black baby -- for now.The September NPD numbers expected in mid October will be incredibly interesting in terms of the Halo effect. Halo 3 is guaranteed to be the top selling game (only an act of whatever deity you believe in could stop that at this point), but we're more interested to see the Xbox 360 sales figures. Goldman Sachs expects the momentum of the Halo launch to last well into next year. Wait, hold up ... are they saying Microsoft could have two profitable quarters in the Xbox's entertainment and devices division? *faint*[Via GameDaily]
Joystiq hands-on: EA Playground (Wii)
When announced, we were concerned that EA Playground would be another mini-game fiesta for the Wii. While it won't be a Rayman-like game with dozens of scenarios, it comes off like Wii Sports in a schoolyard.After about a half-hour of hands-on time with the game, I have high expectations that nearly all of the playground-based sports will be entertaining. Some will even be excellent, although the family-friendly simplicity occasionally makes them boring.%Gallery-3900%
TGS07: Virtually at Sony's pre-TGS cocktail
Where else would Sony host their pre-TGS cocktail party but at their Corporate Headquarters in Shinagawa? Sony opened their doors to the non-Japanese media today for the first time and we got to see what their lavishly over the top interior designers have done with the place. The room was full of journalists, Sony executives (from both sides of the pond - SCEI were surprisingly absent) and more food and drink than you could shake a stick at. Trust us, we tried. Check out the gallery below to see the huge screens that showed off Sony's multiple first party trailers as well as the smaller screens which allowed us another wee glimpse into those upcoming 2007 games (for the upteenth time). There were people there too, apparently. %Gallery-7591%
Death Knights not welcome at town picnic
It's a problem: here you are, a master of your very own runed blade, a summoner of an army of undead, an immensely powerful tank and damage-dealer -- and yet no one will let you into the lore party over at Starshine Shadowstrider's house! "Yuckie!" they say. "He got his powers from the Lich King! ...Eww!""But I turned against him!" you proclaim in your defense. "I wised up and came back to the Light, sorta. Okay not really but I'm still not completely bad! It's like... fighting..." your voice gradually gets quieter as party-goers stop listening, "... fighting fire with ... fire. Dammit. I'm gonna go kill Onyxia by myself! That'll show 'em."Yes indeed. It's looking like the future's going to be pretty rough for Death Knights. As Nethaera explained, "It's most likely that Death Knights aren't going to find themselves being popular guests at the town picnic."But Death Knights aren't alone in dealing with this sort of thing. "Keep in mind," Nethaera points out, "that Warlocks aren't generally welcomed with open arms either (depending on the culture of the race in question)." Here we have a good role model for plucky summoners of the undead: Warlocks are magic users who use the powers of the Burning Legion against the Burning Legion itself! Have not the Alliance and the Horde not gradually come to accept that just because some people happen to summon demons, cause agony, corruption and ruin, as well as steal people's souls -- that doesn't make them inherently evil, right? So it is with Death Knights. So what if you betrayed all the peoples of Azeroth to go and serve the Lich King for a little while? So what if his taint of undeathiness is still flowing through you while you draw those unholy runes and create zombies? You can now go to Shattrath to have your picture taken with a Naaru! Your reputation should be squeaky clean.While Blizzard may yet find a plausible reason for Death Knights to be fighting against the Lich King rather than with him, keep in mind that even if that doesn't work out, you've got one magic word that will make everything okay. Whenever people won't trust you or play with you just because it would seem that you might possibly be technically evil (on the outside)... Just say: "Lore, lol."
EA asks if you think you're a Smarty Pants
The Wii is the perfect party system, allowing a room full of boring, uninteresting people to have the time of their life. And, that's where EA comes in. Their latest title, Smarty Pants, is very reminiscent of other party games like Scene It!, asking trivia questions and all. But, there are other activities such as dancing to enjoy, should the trivia not be your thing. Anyone thinking this can topple Wii Sports as the go-to party title?
Halo 3 launch events in US and free Xbox Live Gold
The time is almost upon us to finish the fight and today Microsoft announced the official details for their plans around the Halo 3 launch. Microsoft is calling it the "Unite to Fight" events. The most prominent thing that everyone can enjoy is from Sept. 25-27 everyone will automatically have Xbox Live Gold membership sponsored by Best Buy -- meaning you can play online with (or against) friends regardless of their Xbox Live membership.There will be four major Halo 3 launch events in: New York City – Best Buy, 529 5th Ave, New York, NY, 10017 Seattle – Best Buy, 457 120th Ave NE, Bellevue, WA 98005 Los Angeles – Gamestop, 1000 Universal Studios Blvd, Universal City, CA 91608 Miami – Circuit City, 8575 Northwest 13th Terrace, Miami, FL 33126 You can check out more details at X3F. For those who just want their damn copy of the game without all the pomp and circumstance, remember you can just stop by 7-Eleven at midnight for the game and a Slurpee, or the "over 10,000 stores [which] will be open to sell Halo 3 in the biggest entertainment launch in history." Remember, the Halo 3 launch has lofty goals to attain.[Via X3F]
Ask WoW Insider: Instance etiquette
It's time once again for Ask WoW Insider to publish one of your questions for the community to answer. Last week we heard a ton of great ding stories, and this week we examine a possible breach of instance etiquette. Pelia on Greymane writes: Last night I was leading a PUG into DM East and about 10 minutes into the instance our mage says "hey guys, i g2g in 20 minutes..." Since we were just starting the instance, I dropped him and instantly started looking for a replacement that would be able to run the whole instance with us. The mage was surprised and said "I said 20 minutes!" Should I have let him stay in our group until he really needed to go? The group had just formed, so I didn't really feel I owed anything to him. Plus I couldn't use the LFG tool/channel if he stayed since we already had 5 people... I figured I owed it to the rest of the group to find a 5th person that was in it for the long haul... Was I being a good leader, or a jerk... or both? What say you, readers -- did the mage commit an instance faux pas? Most of us have rushed to complete a dungeon whilst an exasperated significant other/parent/child/spouse/friend waited for our tardy asses to show up somewhere, but what's an acceptable limit for a "gtg soon!" announcement? Would you go into a dungeon knowing you had to replace a member part way through?Our kingdom for your questions! Please send us what you'd like to know for next week at ask AT wowinsider DOT com.
Ubisoft bringing Cranium board game to Wii
Between Wii Sports, Raving Rabbids and Wario Ware, the Wii is the perfect system for making a fool of yourself at parties. With challenges that involve impersonating celebrities, sculpting modeling clay and manipulating friends like puppets, Cranium is the perfect board game for making a fool of yourself at parties. Put them together and you have a perfect storm of embarrassment that will set your party ablaze with sudden attacks of modesty.UbiSoft's Cranium Kabookii, revealed at this week's Leipzig Games Convention, will feature Wii-controlled twists on Cranium's usual mix of word puzzles, trivia, performance and artist challenges. Special decoder glasses will allow one player to see super-secret on-screen hints, and the game will come in custom international editions so the pop culture questions will be intelligible to players in France, Canada, Spain, the UK and the US. The game is due out in December.%Gallery-6349%
