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This Week on the Nintendo Channel: Sin & Punishment tips
The Nintendo Channel doesn't have much for us this week. There is a new episode of Nintendo Week and some Sin & Punishment: Star Successor tips, but you've seen the latter already. Head past the break for the list of this week's content.
How to play Sin & Punishment: Star Successor
Nintendo presents this video as gameplay tips for Sin & Punishment: Star Successor players, but we think those who have yet to get into Treasure's latest explosive shooter stand to benefit more. For one thing, "get lots of coins and medals" is a gameplay tip we could probably all have intuited on our own. For another, this video works really well as an introduction to the various moves available in game: the different charge shots (Isa's, which sets off one massive explosion, and Kachi's, which can target multiple enemies), the dodge move, the melee attack. If you've been playing the game, you know this stuff, but if you have yet to experience it, this video will give you a pretty decent idea of how it works -- with a lot of boss fight footage as a nice bonus.
Review: Sin & Punishment: Star Successor
Here's the first draft of my review for Sin & Punishment: Star Successor in its entirety: "YEAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" While I think that pretty well encapsulates the feeling of playing Star Successor, I realize there might be value to explaining what the game is and why I enjoyed it so much. But even though there are more words to follow, they are all written in the same spirit as the above all-caps exclamation. Even thinking back about playing Treasure's latest game is kind of exciting. This is not a game to relax with after a long day at work. This is a game to play if you want to get so amped up you start typing in CAPITAL LETTERS. %Gallery-86427%
Watch an expert play Sin & Punishment: Star Successor
Have you been going through your day, feeling like an adequate member of the human race? That's silly -- at this time of day, you really should be feeling down in the dumps, like you can't do anything right. So, in the interest of your mental health, we offer the latest trailer for Sin & Punishment: Star Successor past the break. To tell you the truth, it's less an actual trailer than it is a collection of segments where somebody is kicking so much ass. Seriously, we're pretty sure the "person" playing is actually a robot. A robot we envy with all of our being.
This Week on the Nintendo Channel: Sin & Punishment - Developer's Voice
Treasure knows its shmups, and this week's Nintendo Channel content you just have to see is none other than a Developer's Voice for Sin & Punishment: Star Successor. It's full of interesting behind-the-scenes stuff, like weighing the pros and cons of different control schemes and highlighting some multiplayer stuff. Seriously, if you're going to watch one thing, boot up your Wii and watch this. For the rest of this week's content, head past the break.
Iwata Asks Treasure about Sin & Punishment: Star Successor
In case you missed Siliconera's translation of the Iwata Asks interview with Treasure about Sin & Punishment: Star Successor, Nintendo of America has posted its own translation. And if you have read it, you'll appreciate Nintendo's updated translation of Iwata's statement that the N64 "was a machine that was hard to create things for and didn't work at all." Now that semi-infamous line -- probably more accurately -- states that "If you didn't do it well, it wouldn't work at all." Later in the interview, Nintendo producer Hitoshi Yamigami described the difficulty of working with Treasure on the first Sin & Punishment, given, well, the difficulty of Treasure games. "When I said, 'It's too difficult. I can't do it," they responded, 'Then you're not good enough to be in charge of this project.'" It took about a year for the team to finally determine that Sin & Punishment was, in fact, too difficult. For Star Successor, Nintendo's Yurie Hattori joined the project and initially found it too difficult as well, pushing to make the game more accessible. While she did prevail upon Treasure to streamline the experience with a tutorial, she eventually discovered the Treasure fan within her and ended up recommending that the difficulty be increased.
Hands-on: Sin and Punishment: Star Successor (co-op)
Click and Enlarge: Gallery Experience For some, Sin & Punishment 2 is of known quality. Released last year in Japan for the Wii, hardcore gamers have already experienced Treasure's latest. Thankfully, for the rest of us, we don't have to rely on imports -- Nintendo of America is finally (and slowly) bringing the franchise Stateside. Although its N64 predecessor found release on the Virtual Console, it's likely that the Wii audience is completely unfamiliar to the franchise. Certainly, the Wii doesn't feel like it should be home to such a niche game from a "hardcore" developer like Treasure. Featuring an onslaught of endless enemies, and a relentless torrent of bullets filling the screen, Star Successor doesn't even attempt to console casual gamers. In fact, moving to the Wii has allowed Treasure to expand the gameplay to the point where Star Successor feels like the game Sin & Punishment was always meant to be. %Gallery-86427%
Nintendo explains Metroid: Other M, Sin & Punishment 2 delays
Nintendo delayed two of its big summer titles for Wii today: Metroid: Other M (to August 31) and Sin & Punishment: Star Successor (to June 27). When the company made the announcement, it provided no reasons. As it turns out, there is a decent reason for each delay. "As you may know, this game is the product of a unique partnership between longtime Metroid producer Yoshio Sakamoto, Team Ninja and many other individuals and groups, all of whom have set very high standards for this latest installment in the series," a Nintendo rep told IGN regarding Metroid: Other M. "Although it's taking slightly longer than expected to complete the project, we're confident that fans will find it to be well worth the wait." We can understand the game not being finished as a reason not to release it -- although if it were in that precarious of a position, maybe Nintendo shouldn't have been so optimistic with the date in the first place. As for Sin & Punishment, "A June 27 launch allows gamers to enjoy Sin & Punishment: Star Successor without having to rush through Super Mario Galaxy 2 (May 23)." Honestly, as Treasure boosters, we appreciate any effort made not to bury the developer's work -- although, again, we have to wonder why Nintendo set the original release date so close to Galaxy. %Gallery-86427%
Metroid: Other M, Sin & Punishment: Star Successor delayed
If you're a fan of Nintendo-published games about shooting aliens, prepare for disappointment. Nintendo just announced delays for the North American releases of both Sin & Punishment: Star Successor and Metroid: Other M. Sin & Punishment has been pushed back from June 7 to June 27 -- a brief delay. The Team Ninja/Nintendo Metroid sequel, however, has been bumped more substantially, from June 27 to August 31. We should have known the June date was too good to be true when all Europe got was a vague "Q3" announcement. %Gallery-86429%
Hands-on: Sin and Punishment: Star Successor
Treasure can do no wrong in my book. (It's self-published and titled Treasure Only Makes Awesome Games.) Its successor to the great N64 import Sin and Punishment finally has a release date and apt subtitle for the States, Star Successor, and I can safely say that my playthrough of the game's first level today was nothing compared to this guy's. Buy hey, I'm not complaining. I got to play Sin and Punishment: Star Successor -- and it's sharp-looking, smooth-moving and brimming with bullets (both incoming and outgoing). My experience was much like the one JC had at E3 last year, only I suspect he wasn't playing with an extremely bright LED camera light channeling the intensity of the sun into his eyes. I still managed to build up a respectable multiplier and not botch the timing of sending missiles back to their sender using my melee attack. That's worth something, right? %Gallery-86427%
Sin & Punishment: Star Successor trailer is suitably insane
When we last saw Sin & Punishment: Star Successor (formerly Sin & Punishment 2) in action, it was little more than an impressive video of an expert player charging through the game's first stage. Today, alongside the renaming and release date announcement, Nintendo unveiled the latest trailer for Treasure's insane shooter, as well as a whole mess of new screens. As you might expect, Treasure once again delivers with its signature brand of brazenly Japanese game design stereotypes, mashed with pounding music and quick video cuts. Check out the whole thing above, and don't feel too bad if you watch it a few times (we did too). It's gonna be a long wait until June, folks. %Gallery-86427%
Sin & Punishment: Star Successor descends on June 7
Treasure's unhinged third-person shooter, Sin & Punishment 2, is finally set to arrive on June 7 in North America, several months after its October debut in Japan. The date was announced today at the Nintendo Media Summit, which also re-dubbed the game "Sin & Punishment: Star Successor." It's been a long and often uncertain wait, but at least Star Successor should manage to escape Japan (on a crazy techno-surfboard) with more rapidity than its N64 predecessor.
Sin & Punishment 2 in the hands of an expert
We suspect that even if we started playing Sin & Punishment 2 now and kept playing until the North American release in spring of next year, we wouldn't be able to play with the kind of skill and confidence on display in this video of Stage 1. The player in this demonstration on Nintendo's site builds up a 16x multiplier immediately and hangs on to it throughout the level. In more S&P2 news, Siliconera has been translating an Iwata Asks interview with Treasure, mostly about the development of the first game for Nintendo 64, a system that "didn't work at all."
Sin and Punishment 2 trailers from the Japanese Nintendo Channel
Two exclusive trailers for Treasure's Sin and Punishment 2 have made it to Japan's Nintendo Channel in anticipation of the game's October 29 release. It's pretty much the opposite of the North American Nintendo Channel's most notable exclusive offering, the Nintendo Week show. At least, thanks to YouTube user Nintendaan's efforts, we can see the gorgeous gameplay footage.The first trailer is all gameplay, demonstrating the ability to shoot from the ground or fly at any time, and also revealing a Bangai-O Spirits-like ability to knock back large missiles. The second trailer is an unexpectedly somber (and incomprehensibly Japanese) overview of the story. Warning: don't get too excited about the story in any Treasure game.
Lock on to new Sin and Punishment 2 screens
We may die of an acute case of jealousy. Treasure's Sin and Punishment 2 is still on track to be released in Japan on October 29, and it still has that amazing box art. Dengeki has posted a nice selection of screens showing the spectacular visuals you'll be flying around, and shooting at. FYI, for the giant chicken monster-phobic: the giant chicken monster is only in one of the screens.We're looking forward to trying out the multiple control schemes available: both with pointing, in the form of Wiimote/Nunchuk and Zapper, and pointer-free with the GameCube Controller, Classic Controller, or Classic Controller Pro.
Sin and Punishment 2 flying into Japan October 29
The Japanese box art for Sin and Punishment 2, which appears to have been cropped out of a Famitsu scan by NeoGAFfer neo2046, is awesome. We're all thinking it: it's far too awesome to survive the trip overseas. This amazing art is doomed to be replaced with 3D character art upon its release in North America. But we can appreciate it now!We can also appreciate the tiny text at the bottom, which reveals a release date of October 29 in Japan. Nintendo of America has yet to update the "Q1 2010" date for North America -- a date that must have seemed like a good idea at the time, but now places this niche game, which we want to protect like a little baby, in the middle of a very dangerous game environment.
XBL 'Deal of the Week' has Ikaruga at a flipping nice $5
Xbox Live's "Deal of the Week" has been pretty solid lately as evidenced by its latest offering: Ikaruga for a paltry 400 ($5)!The polarity flipping shmup is considered to be the thinking man's entry into the "blast everything" genre. This is about as good as an arcade deal gets, and with the prices of this year's "Summer of Arcade," we'll take all the savings we're granted.[Add Ikaruga to your download queue]%Gallery-17189%
Hands-on: Sin and Punishment 2
Nintendo's E3 booth is full of "Everybody's Games," games designed to be accessible to anyone and enjoyable without being frustrating. Well, it's full of "Everybody's Games" ... and a Treasure shooter. Sin and Punishment 2 doesn't seem to make any concessions to the Wii audience, with the usual frantic pace fans of Bangai-O, Ikaruga, and, well, Sin and Punishment expect, as well as some patently bizarre imagery and language at work. Refer to the giant chicken monster in the trailer above, called the, uh, Cock Keeper. Treasure's English has always been a bit awkward.
Nintendo reveals Q1 2010 release for Sin & Punishment 2
Nintendo opened up its assets site at the conclusion of its E3 keynote, and while digging around for juicy bits of media to unload on you, dear reader, at rock-bottom prices, we found something interesting regarding Treasure's upcoming Wii title Sin & Punishment 2. The game is listed for a Q1 2010 release, according to Nintendo, which comes as a pleasant surprise to us. Sure, the game was always expected to arrive in 2009, but without hearing or seeing anything on it in around a year, we're comforted simply by the fact that Nintendo still knows it exists.
Pirates of the Burning Sea introduces skirmish system and treasure hunts
By the time this post goes live, Pirates of the Burning Sea should be updated to build 1.15: "Black Bart's Gold", across the North American, European, and Australian servers. Black Bart's Gold (which introduces treasure hunting to the game) is a continuation of the Black Flags and Dread Saints story arc, which will also bring both new and altered game mechanics to PotBS. We've mentioned a few of the changes that are coming to Pirates of the Burning Sea, namely skirmish warfare and a sweeping change to loot drops. These are only a few highlights of what Black Bart's Gold will introduce to the game. The full patch notes give a much more complete picture of what build 1.15 brings, including two new ships -- the Poseidon (level 50) and the Alymer (level 1). Pirates of the Burning Sea community manager Rhaegar gives a timetable for the expected server downtime: "We will be upgrading our North American, European & Australian SOE live servers to build 1.15: Black Bart's Gold during the usual maintenance window (1:30am - 5:00am Pacific / 9:30am - 1:00 pm British Summer Time) on Wednesday, May 27th."Update: Rhaegar writes -- "We have unfortunately had to delay the patch until tomorrow. It will happen during the normal outage window of 1.30am-5.00am Pacific (9.30am-1.00pm BST). We apologize for any inconvenience caused."%Gallery-12977%
