Posted Jul 29th 2008 12:00PM by Phil Larsen Filed under: News
The chaps at GamesRadar have compiled a list of the most annoying female game characters of all time. It's a standard "Top Whatever" ranking, with seven (not six, not eight?) entries. For the most part, it seems to accurately summarize the worst characters in a few non-Nintendo games, but we're a bit shocked at number one.
Navi, everyone's favorite helpful fairy from Ocarina of Time is deemed as the most annoying. The reasoning behind this is simple -- LISTEN! HEY! HEY! HEY! LISTEN! HEY! LISTEN! LISTEN! LISTEN! LISTEN! HEY! ... sound familiar? Sure, but was it really that bad? Some might call Navi's sweet little voice a siren song, other might want to smack the little insect with a giant flyswatter. What's your take on the pint-size companion?
There is no better way to celebrate your healthy and happy Wii Fit lifestyle than by embracing the power of a mind-altering drug. To cover up your dirty old Balance Board, AMR Racing (creators of the Hoochie Mama) has created a marijuana print, lovingly entitled Weed White.
This isn't exactly the message Nintendo would want to send to the children of the world, but to all the Wii Fit moms out there? Smoking a joint might be totally fair game. You can pick up this cover from Amazon for around $20, which includes a bonus Wiimote skin. Might want to grab a bag of Doritos while you're at it.
Sure, it may be the most neglected continent in the history of video games, but those crazy Australians are going positively mental for Nintendo all the same. According to industry tracker Gfk, the Wii has just passed the 500,000 mark down under, making it the fastest-selling console in history. Well, Australia's history. Does that still count as cool?
The Wii achieved this monumental feat (remember, there's only 20 million people in Australia) in just 84 weeks since launch in December 2006. On top of the "hey, we're awesome!" announcement, a few new release dates for some hot Wii games have been revealed. Wario Land: The Shake Dimension will be hitting consoles on September 25th, and Trauma Center: Second Opinion (yes, that neglected) is coming out August 28th.
Posted Jul 23rd 2008 11:00AM by Phil Larsen Filed under: News
With Chinatown Wars on the way to the DS real soon, it's abundantly clear that Nintendo has no qualms about releasing a Grand Theft Auto game on their hardware. The next question is obvious: will we see GTA on the Wii? Speaking to MTV, Reggie had an answer for that -- maybe. Lay it out straight for us, home boy.
The fact is, it's not really in Nintendo's "power" to simply rock up and demand Take Two and Rockstar get working on waggling with hookers. Reggie simply said a Wii installment "is all based on what Rockstar and Take Two want to do." If they want to go ahead with it, Reggie won;t have a problem, saying "if they build a bottoms-up game that takes advantage of what we do well, I'd love to see it on the platform."
We would love to see it on the platform too. Please?
Simon Jeffrey, known around some parts as the President of Sega, is either very smart or ... not. It's a fairly simple story here -- he casually mentioned Resident Evil 5 in an interview about MadWorld, saying "when that [Resident Evil 5] happens on the Wii, it'll help," referring to attracting more hardcore gamers to the platform.
Later, he referred to the comment as a "slip of the tongue," but that doesn't mean it's not true. If it wasn't true, he would say "mistake". We're not going to hoist the confirmed flag or anything (as some have been awfully quick to do so), but a guy so high up in the industry couldn't possibly pull this rumor out of thin air on the spot, right? We'll keep you updated, so any RE5 hopefuls should stay tuned!
While the first Wii media for the upcoming Sam and Max: Season One wasn't particularly enlightening, it was pretty funny -- a staple of the S&M (wow, bet Telltale didn't think that one through) series. That has all changed with the latest trailer, as the titular characters give us a sneak peek at their entire adventure catalogue.
Many gamers may have missed out on the comedy duo's episodic capers during its run on the PC, so the chance to pick up the entire first season on the adventure-capable Wii is a no-brainer. You'll find noir-style music, wisecrackin' rats and beating up old people in the promising video, so there's no reason it won't be totally awesome. Look out for Reality 2.0 in Q3 2008.
We promised an update, so here we are! That oft-discussed Nintendo Power cover did contain some righteous screens of Sonic and the Black Knight within its papery (Remember paper? The stuff you learned stuff from before the internet?) depths, and we commandeered the above shot for your viewing pleasure.
This new Sonic adventure takes the series in a new direction which, as evidenced by fans continuously lamenting the destruction of the franchise, is sorely needed. The initial reaction hasn't been positive, as fans don't expect this game to be some kind of salvation. Some gameplay details have been revealed, including multiple characters (namely Shadow and Knuckles), different sword maneuvers, and a system which earns knighthood points depending on your good or bad actions during levels. Oh, and his sword is named Calibur, and it talks.
Well, we all wanted Sonic to go really fast, and that turned out to be a big bust, so what now? Do you feel like a passenger on a train bound for Shovelware City? Check out the rest of the scans at Gamekyo and have your say.
If you had a dragon, what would you do? The most amazing creature in existence in under your control, so you'll surely embark on epic adventures across the world, right? You wouldn't make it ... fly through rings, would you?
Apparently, that's the extent of Codemasters' creative efforts thus far on the upcoming Dragonology for the Wii. Based on the popular books chronicling and categorizing everything to do with the mystical world of dragons, Dragonology will let you create a character, hit the skies and undertake many ring-flying, egg-collecting and photo-taking adventures.
The above screen requests the player to fly through a set of rings "more challenging than the first," which implies more than one ring-flying course. Which is more than one too many. You can check out more screens from a promising IP here, but the end results is looking a bit flat already. It's just that .. ring games are usually lousy, sometimes average. Never superb.
Well, we heard the news not too long ago. Cooking Mama: World Kitchen is getting down to serious business, with updated 3D graphics and sophisticated moton controls. Hooray, huzzah -- too often have we wished the Wiimote to be a spatula for flipping burgers. Why enjoy the sight, smell and taste of cooking real burgers when you can do it without all those sensory annoyances?
Yes, it's always fun to laugh at "life" simulation games (even if this life is a cartoon featuring big-head Mamas and cooking scores). The real truth, though, is that Cooking Mama games are usually pretty fun, and the fresh new gallery shows a pretty decent look at the upcoming Wii installment. Bon appetit!
Posted Jul 21st 2008 8:45AM by Phil Larsen Filed under: News
After that sexy Nintendo Power cover (check it out again after the break) and a pretty legit-sounding scenario, Sonic and the Black Knight is now confirmed as a Wii-exclusive title. Some guy on the official SEGA message boards "confirmed" it was real, but offered no details beyond waiting for the official page on sega.com. So, like the genius detectives we are, a short investigation of the official page turned up this information.
The game takes place in a "storybook world of Arthurian legend," with Sonic wielding a sword to do battle with various ne'er-do-wells in medieval times. Not much else is explained beyond that, but we'll keep you posted on any updates to the official page. Stick around and Sonic will thank you.
It seems the glorious baked treat that Peach offered Mario at the end of his arduous Nintendo 64 adventure is long gone. She dumped his podgy butt in the moat and ate it all for herself, and seemingly continued to enjoy royalty snacks for some time afterwards. Peach has plumped up, and now you can buy her!
This eBay auction comes down to a matter of preference. Do you prefer slim, active Peach or hedonistic, pampered royalty Peach? Let you wallet do the talking. The idea of a plus-sized princess is actually pretty interesting. Someone should totally make a game out of it, although we're sure it'll never happen.
We've seen screens, dabbled a bit in gameplay footage -- now it''s time to get a word in edgeways from Glenn Stotz, introduced as a Naruto "product specialist." A paid Naruto fanboy, perhaps? And here we are watching the series for free like suckers, when we should be raking in the cash. Le sigh.
Stotz talks about Clash of Ninja Revolution 2, which is a pretty ambitious product with a deep storyline and a huge range of Wiimote gesture controls. It's a fighting game at heart, but we wouldn't mind a fighter that actually tries to present some semblance of a plot. Watch the interview and you'll see that Naruto is a perfect license for doing exactly that.
The atomic bomb of a few days past has had enough time to send shivers of excitement over the entire Wii community, and now a groin-grabbingly atmospheric website has been delivered by Capcom, adding fuel to the fire of Dead Rising. Details are scant at present, but a number of Wii screens have popped up that look mighty fine.
We were hesitant to report the rumor of an over-the-shoulder, RE4-esque viewpoint being added to the Wii version, as the more "worldy" members of the Fanboy team didn't consider such a camera angle would be effective with Dead Rising's gameplay. However, a couple of screens in the new gallery show exactly that, with an on-screen aiming cursor and everything. Hey, it's a zombie-killing game, what could possibly go wrong?
Another day, another E3 complaint. Yesterday, Alain Corre of Ubisoft commented on the size and location of this year's E3, wanting it bigger and better. Today, Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello joined the party, outright stating "I hate E3 like this." Hate is such an ugly word. Dislike?
Ubisoft's Laurent Detoc also jumped into the fray. Instead of taking a subtle approach, he laid it out straight and said "E3 this year is terrible. The world used to come to E3. Now it's like a pipe-fitters show in the basement." There is a debate on whether E3 should be a show for the world or an exclusive media-only event, and the difference between the two is massive. This year, only 5,000 media representatives attended, where in the past 60,000 eager gamers would cover the show floor.
With EA (and Ubisoft) having the resources to put on a bigger display than pretty much anyone in the world, it's no wonder they want as much room and as big an audience as physically possible. Again, what are your thoughts on this? Are you happy to be bombarded with booth babes explosive gaming news and excitement in May every year, or do you enjoy the lower-key, need-to-know approach of this year's event?
With the Tomb Raider series really delivering the goods in Legend and Anniversary, hopes are at an all-time high for the upcoming Tomb Raider: Underworld. Lara Croft can't seem to stay out of trouble, and all logic suggests she should settle in to a nice teaching job or a part-time psychology course. Of course, the biggest adventuring badass since Indiana Jones can't sit still for long, and Eidos has kindly given us a behind-the-scenes look at the development team's goals for Underworld.
The epic music and snappy camerawork make Creative Director Eric Lindstrom and Lead Artist Eric Neuburger out to be some kind of big time nerds superheroes, and we will support this theory if Underworld turns out to be any good. If past precedent is to be relied upon, it will be.
The chaps at GamesRadar have compiled a list of the most annoying female game characters of all time. It's a standard "Top Whatever" ranking, with seven (not six, not eight?) entries. For the most part, it seems to accurately summarize the worst characters in a few non-Nintendo games, but we're a bit shocked at number one.
