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Wii Warm Up: Super Smash Cho Aniki?
A GoNintendo reader was looking very critically at the new Gooey Bomb item in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and discovered what is absolutely the origin of the item. And now that we've seen them together, it's so obvious that the Gooey Bomb is based on the Holy Protein from Cho Aniki Seinaru Protein Densetsu.You know, except it sticks to people and blows up instead of being orbited by two beefy dudes in Speedos, while shooting lasers. Too bad. If we were designing Smash Bros.-- okay, if I were designing Smash Bros. (I don't think I can speak for Wii Fanboy in this case) it would be heavy on Cho Aniki content.Now, something kind of looking like a thing from another game isn't strictly news, but Wii Warm Up is a discussion topic, and we can discuss whatever we feel like. And today we want to talk about the Cho Aniki series. So, if you've played any of the games, tell us why you loved them. If you haven't, go read about the series, then come back and express your shock.
Wii Warm Up: Safe for those with heart conditions
Everyone is expecting a massive flood of Nintendo megatons from the Nintendo Media Summit today (can you have a flood of megatons? Just go with it.) And, while we have a lot of great coverage of upcoming games to show you, there's nothing that could be called a "megaton." No exclusive new Mario Galaxy screens, no surprise game announcements, and no information about whatever the Wii download service is going to be.It wasn't as spanuuuund as we hoped it would be. We don't have an E3-level news day to give you. What we can offer you is a load of gameplay impressions of some highly anticipated new games. And delicious pie. And what's more, we can deliver on one of those offers!On the one hand, we're pleased with everything we have to look at, watch, and talk about. But on the other, no Metroid. No non-Striking Mario. No Smashing. How do you feel about a media event that ignores the biggest games in Nintendo's lineup?
Smash Bros. Brawl site updates with some character profiles
The Smash Bros. Brawl website has updated again, this time giving us character profiles for two of the franchise's, as well as Nintendo's, oldest characters Mario and Link. Aside from that, nothing else appears to have changed from the first update we all saw yesterday. Which, we don't have to tell you, makes us sad.%Gallery-3347%
Smash Bros. website finally updates
After a day of wearing out our F5 key, the Super Smash Bros. Brawl webpage has finally made its promised update. Unfortunately, we have yet to find any huge megaton announcements. In fact, some of the content is a little too non-megaton-- like an explanation of the (unchanged) basic rules of Smash Bros.There is neat stuff to be found, though, most obviously in the form of a few screenshots that, while they still don't show any new or new-to-Brawl characters, do show off a day/night cycle. Also, the list of composers contributing to the game is massive-- a total who's-who of Japanese game music. Some of the composers, we're sure, are only credited for having created the music from Smash characters' original games. But Jun Fukuda and Masafumi Takada from Grasshopper Manufacture are on the list, and that is really exciting.The website promises updates every weekday, so don't let the somewhat underwhelming first day put you off. Keep checking the site for the inevitable character announcements and control scheme explanations!%Gallery-3347%[Thanks, Tigeron Starfire!]
Smash Bros. countdown counts down to ... nothing?
This morning's speculation has come true, as the countdown that counted down to nothing has left the fine folks at Nintendo Power holding the ball and dare not drop it. Turns out, the countdown at the SSBB site counted down to nothing and while our report earlier was made as pure speculation, new pictures of the latest issue by forum user Ben_X_02 confirms that Sakurai will indeed be publishing a blog. Personally, we're kind of disappointed and were hoping for something a bit bigger in the news department.[Via Joystiq]
Brawl countdown reveals nothing, Nintendo Power picks up slack
That countdown at www.smashbros.com just concluded, revealing ... absolutely nothing, and we don't mean absolutely nothing in a GTAIV-trailer-crashed-our-servers way. The page simply reads "starting today (Japan time)."What's starting today? Since they're not saying anything, we'll turn to our friends at Nintendo Power, who happen to be really close friends with Nintendo. The "Don't Miss Calendar" in the latest issue -- #217 (pictures prove it's real) -- trumpets "Sakurai delivers the blow by blow." They continue, "Beginning May 22nd, Super Smash Bros. Brawl director Masahiro Sakurai will post a daily blog on smashbros.com regarding the title's progress and any other topics that tickle his fancy. Rumor has it that he'll be revealing Fabio as the next playable character."IronSword cracks aside (and that is a good one), is Sakurai's blog what all this hubbub was about? Sounds like it to us. Hopefully his first post, which should show up in the next 23 hours, will shed some light on why a title that Kojima described as "very complete" wasn't on this morning's release calendar.[Thanks, hvnlysoldr]
Super Smash Bros. Brawl site countdown
It might not be the final countdown per se, but that hasn't stopped us from dancing around our computer monitors to Europe's epic song, Nintendo's official Super Smash Bros. Brawl website displayed on our screens. The teaser page reveals little, but promises much after seven days time. Who knows what treasures the site will be laden with after its scheduled relaunch? Playable characters like Sonic or Tingle debuted? A new trailer as grandiose as the last?! 32-player online support, no friendcodes, and a free pony?!!!Ever the pessimists, we're not letting ourselves expect too much from the upcoming curtain-raiser. Still, we'd like to hear your predictions on what Nintendo will be showing off at the site a week from now![Via Joystiq]
Readers pick best webcomic: tryouts
For the second week in a row, 2P Start has taken the top spot as the webcomic of the week -- they've come a long way since their start on Valentine's Day. Second place goes to Penny Arcade and Extra Life takes the third place position.Thanks to everyone who voted; be sure to let us know of any game-related webcomics you stumble upon this week!
'The big three' ARE coming in 2007 (to Japan)
In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Nintendo confirmed that they do in fact plan to release Super Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3 Corruption, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl by the end of this year, as well as pretty much every Nintendo game announced for the Wii. This corroborates an IGN report to the same effect, and is also totally, totally rad. Here's the full list of Nintendo's planned 2007 releases. Donkey Kong Taru Jet Race is slated for June 28, and the rest are all "2007": Donkey Kong Taru Jet Race Wii Health Pack Disaster: Day of Crisis Mario Party 8 Project H.A.M.M.E.R. Wii Music Super Mario Galaxy Super Smash Bros. Brawl Battalion Wars II Forever Blue Mario Strikers Charged Metroid Prime 3: Corruption Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games Keep checking with us for news of the inevitable delays of about half of these. Seriously, that's a lot of first-party Nintendo games for just half a year or so. Aw, we just made ourselves sad with our own skepticism. Still, if half of this stuff does get released in Japan this year, it'll be great news and do a pretty good job of ending any drought that may or may not be happening.Update: fixed some italics and formatting.
Super Gumby Bros. Brawl trailer
They haven't yet invented a number that accurately estimates how many times we've watched the Super Smash Bros. Brawl trailer that debuted at last year's E3 event. 15 bazillion? 32 robillion? 299 karmakarmakarmakarmakarma-chamelion? Nay, these numbers do not even begin to scratch the surface! Sgsugar's claymation remake of the trailer is more of a homemade project than a high-value production, but its stop-motion action is no less awesome. The misshapen models, amateurish sets, and inconsistent lighting only serve to increase the video's plasticine charm. Solid Snake's absence is disappointing but easily forgotten when the two-minute clip is filled with scenes like Pit firing an oversized arrow from his malformed bow or Wario's flatulent send-off. Jump past the post break for Sgsugar's clay-animated adaptation and Nintendo's original Super Smash Bros. Brawl trailer.See also: Super Smash Bros. Brawl gets hand-drawn and hilarious
Wii Warm Up: Snake's Revenge
Some slightly disparaging remarks were made recently on this blog about Metal Gear Solid's Solid Snake. While a certain contingent of our staff may doubt the fighting ability of the son of Big Boss, but we know the truth. Snake is hardcore. He may ask a lot of questions ("Metal Gear?" "A Hind-D?") and he may have a habit of hiding in boxes, but he definitely has the combat prowess required for Smash Bros., made evident by the fact that he smashed his own brother.This post is a big "!" for Snake fans. We can hear your thoughts. Come out of hiding and tell us how awesome Solid Snake is!
Wii Warm Up: Sadness, delays, and concerns
We are definitely sad about Sadness. That was really something we had high hopes for, as the gameplay sounded truly revolutionary, and thus perfect for the Revolution Wii. But it's probably easy to talk up something that may or may not even exist. Still, the Frontline/Nibris split, and the delays on Nintendo's most-anticipated first party titles, plus what we've seen so far ... well, frankly, sometimes it makes us a little concerned. While a lot of the added-waggle ports have been surprisingly good so far, we're not seeing a lot of right-here, right-now, pop-'em-in-the-Wii original games for our shiny original system. At some point, we just have to ask ... is developing fresh, new games with sensible motion sensitive controls (like Wii Sports, but bigger) really so difficult? Some of these games have been years in the making, after all. And we're all for the wait, mind you, if it results in a more perfect gaming experience, but we're still a little anxious at times when we see fallout like this.
Wii puzzler drops GCN controller support
Mercury Meltdown Revolution, the only Wii title so far to hint at its former nickname, has dropped support for the GameCube controller as previously planned; however, using the classic controller is still just fine and dandy.Ed Bradley, studio manager for MMR developer Ignition Entertainment, told Eurogamer that "we've had to drop support for the GameCube controller as it's a very much 'at developers own risk' proposition and we're not masochists!" The context is not entirely clear, but our best guess is that, while a library of code for the classic controller may be provided by Nintendo, the burden of programming for GCN ports is on the developer and Bradley didn't feel like expending the resources.Here's our worry: remember when Smash Bros. Brawl producer Masahiro Sakurai revealed that GameCube controllers would be compatible, so as not to alienate those who prefer the traditional -- dare we say classic -- control scheme? What if Nintendo's beat-em-up only supports the classic controller attachment? The cynic in us fears Nintendo would nix GCN controller support in order to sell a few more attachments. Not that it's a bad attachment, mind you, but we already have so many GCN controllers lying around that we don't want them to go to waste.
360 title in Famitsu's most wanted. Wha??
Several sites have been posting Famitsu's latest most wanted list. But wait! What's this? An Xbox 360 exclusive, Blue Dragon -- the RPG being developed by Hironobu Sakaguchi's Mistwalker studio -- is number 8. A prestigious spot indeed for a 360 title. Even more impressive, Blue Dragon tops the Japanese favorites like The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. This is just the sort of thing that Microsoft's new Japanese PR blog should be pimping, and pimping hard. Be warned, the read link points to a Nintendo fan site. Surprisingly, it has nothing to do with the 360 at all. So, just prepare yourselves for that.
