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Punch your way to fitness in Shape Boxing Wii de Enjoy Diet

Posted Sep 5th 2008 6:15PM by Chris Greenhough
Filed under: News, Imports, Screens

Despite its toony appearance, Shape Boxing Wii de Enjoy Diet regards itself more seriously than the boxing in Wii Sports. There are no Miis to be found here, more technical details (such as different boxing stances) are taken into consideration across the title's 28 lessons, and the game will dole out nutritional advice in a bid to get/keep you toned. Less seriously, you can punch bears, which we don't recall seeing in Rocky IV. Anyway, the overall vibe seems to be self-improvement.

This releases in Japan on October 30th, and will use the Balance Board in some way. We're betting it could actually improve your fitness, based on the fact that we were wheezing, crimson-faced wrecks after one and a half minutes of Wii Sports boxing.

Gallery: Shape Boxing Wii de Enjoy Diet

[Via Siliconera]

Cashing in on Rygar is harder than it looks

Posted Sep 5th 2008 3:20PM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: News

1UP's James Mielke is, in general, not pleased about the prospect of a Koei-Tecmo merger. He imagines the company's Team Ninja franchises milked incessantly in the manner of Koei's Dynasty Warriors games, with an annual release supported by endless Xtreme Legends and Empires versions and mega-multiplatform ports. Of course, that's taking it to the Xtreme. In the course of complaining about the two companies' venality, he drops an interesting bit of behind-the-scenes info about the development of Rygar: The Battle of Argus.

Apparently, the port was conceived as a cheap-to-develop game (surprise!), but ended up "so disastrous and unportable that Tecmo had to go back to the drawing board with it." That would certainly explain all the delays. Next time you complain about PS2-to-Wii ports, remember this! Companies are working very hard to bring you all those games from 2002.

Sting to shred in Guitar Hero: World Tour

Posted Sep 5th 2008 9:57AM by David Hinkle
Filed under: News

Along with Jimi Hendrix and Ozzy (and other notable classic rockers), Sting will have his likeness featured in the upcoming Guitar Hero: World Tour. The original story over at USAToday.com has since been pulled (all we've got is this image to go on), so we can't find exact details as to what capacity he'll be featured (Will he be playing The Police songs? His own tracks?), but the screen above tells us the man will be rocking the bass.

Any Sting fans out there? Like his old stuff, or his new stuff? Or both?

Gallery: Guitar Hero World Tour

[Via Go Nintendo]

VC Friday: 250

Posted Sep 5th 2008 8:59AM by Chris Greenhough
Filed under: News, Virtual Console

People, say hello to the 250th title on the combined PAL Virtual Consoles: it's ... one of the below. Woohoo! Let's say Ys Book I and II, as that's the one this blogger is most looking forward to trying out. On a sadder note, this is the last week of the current Hanabi Festival; we shall remember it fondly! Mainly because of, you know.

• Ys Book I & II -- Turbografx-16 -- 800 Wii Points
• Spelunker -- NES -- 600 Wii Points
• Chase H.Q. -- Turbografx-16 -- 600 Wii Points
• DoReMi Fantasy: Milon's DokiDoki Adventure -- SNES -- 900 Wii Points

Make the jump for videos of all four.

Continue reading VC Friday: 250

Answer your Call of Duty this November

Posted Sep 4th 2008 10:00PM by Chris Greenhough
Filed under: News

Veterans Day this year will be marked by silences, parades, and a bunch of people buying the latest Call of Duty game. Previous speculation that Call of Duty: World at War would launch in November has now been confirmed -- World at War will appear on November 11th, hopefully giving Wii owners an accomplished shooter to play before The Conduit arrives on the scene.

For some time, Activision has promised us that the (Zapper-compatible) Wii title will be "comparable" to versions on other consoles, based as it is on the Call of Duty 4 engine. We'll see how robustly such claims hold up a couple of months from now.

Square Enix takeover denied, Tecmo goes with Koei

Posted Sep 4th 2008 8:07PM by David Hinkle
Filed under: News

It looks like the proposed takeover by Square Enix didn't take, as Tecmo has revealed they'll be merging with Koei. It turns out that this choice provides Tecmo with "a greater chance of boosting corporate value," whch basically means that merging with Koei wouldn't have the company swallowed whole by the huge Square Enix. They can still maintain some identity this way.

Square Enix isn't willing to call it quits, however. Their original buyout offer was for $206 million and they're planning to further investigate the terms of the Koei and Tecmo merger. We guess we'll be hearing more about this in the future.

[Via Joystiq]

Activision Blizzard still 'reviewing' fate of Ghostbusters

Posted Sep 4th 2008 6:15PM by David Hinkle
Filed under: News

For those of us who enjoyed unprecedented levels of excitement at the announcement of a Ghostbusters game, it's been a rocky ride ever since. First, we heard it was canceled, then the Terminal Reality boss said it would be published. Now, we just don't know what's up.

The recently-merged Activision Blizzard doesn't know what's up, either. That's why they're still considering what to do with the game and "reviewing its options regarding titles that it will not be publishing." This means that should the company decide not to publish the game, it could be sold off to another publisher. Either way, we just want to see it release.

Gallery: Ghostbusters

Animal Crossing boxart warms our cold, cold hearts

Posted Sep 4th 2008 4:22PM by Chris Greenhough
Filed under: News

Just as Animal Crossing: City Folk won't be abandoning the series' trademark graphics, so the boxart is exactly what you'd expect: a bright, bustling village scene featuring fresh fruit, happy animals, KK strumming out a tune beneath a tree, and Tom Nook waiting to rake in your Bells. A lot of those villagers look familiar to! While a lot of traditional elements are on display, there is a hint of the fresh possibilities afforded by the titular city, and a bright yellow bus to transport us there. Ah, we're excited already! Do you approve, dear reader?

Gallery: Animal Crossing: City Folk

[Via Go Nintendo]

KK says: buy Animal Crossing: City Folk to visit the city, reach out to friends, and make Iwata cry!

Disaster: Day of Crisis hits Japanese shelves on Sept. 25

Posted Sep 4th 2008 2:33PM by David Hinkle
Filed under: News

Imagine our surprise when we heard that Nintendo of Japan plans to release Disaster: Day of Crisis on September 25th. After hearing barely anything about the game for months, including a no-show at E3 and PAX, we were incredibly doubtful the game would release this calendar year, yet alone at all. But, sure enough, the official Nintendo of Japan website has it listed. Right here.

So with a Japanese release ironed out and the European release date for October 24th set in stone, when can North America expect the game? We've contacted Nintendo and are awaiting word. As soon as we get it, we'll update the post.

Gallery: Disaster: Day of Crisis

[Via Wiiz]

Analyst: Xbox 360 price drop won't make Nintendo slash Wii's price

Posted Sep 4th 2008 12:42PM by David Hinkle
Filed under: News

With the Xbox 360 dropping in price later this week, many are looking at one of the console's particular SKUs because, well, it's going to be cheaper than the Wii. For almost 2 years, the Wii has been the cheapest option on the market, so how could this lower price affect the Wii's standing as top sales dog? Lazard Capital Markets analyst Colin Sebastian says Microsoft may see stronger sales, but doesn't "anticipate either Nintendo or Sony to match the Xbox 360 price cut."

The Wii is in good standing and really doesn't need to cut its price, so we're not expecting Nintendo to do so, either. But, if Microsoft manages to start taking away some of Nintendo's sales, we wouldn't be surprised to hear about a price cut early next year or, if sales drop that much, this holiday. We're not expecting sales to shift that dramatically, though.

Guitar Hero: World Tour's Australian pricing revealed

Posted Sep 4th 2008 10:50AM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: News, Imports

Australian gamers are, by now, either used to getting treated terribly by game companies, or really depressed. At this point, when a game comes out only a little late or somewhat overpriced compared to other regions, it must be a great relief.

Activision has disclosed the pricing scheme for the Australian release of Guitar Hero: World Tour. The prices differ by platform, with the Wii version consistently just a bit higher than the PS2 version and lower than the other next-gen versions. $79.95 ($66.61 US) pays for just the game, $159.95 ($133.27 US) gets a "Guitar Bundle," and the Super Bundle, containing the game, guitar, drums, and microphone, will cost $319.95. Compared to Rock Band, that seems like -- oh, right.

Gallery: Guitar Hero World Tour

Nintendo to promote Mario Super Sluggers at Safeco

Posted Sep 3rd 2008 8:04PM by David Hinkle
Filed under: News

Seattle residents, Nintendo is going to be promoting Mario Super Sluggers this Friday at Safeco Field, where the Mariners will be taking on the New York Yankees. There, Mario will throw out the opening pitch, as well as kiosks to demo the game.

What's even better, though, is that Nintendo will be randomly giving away a Wii console and copy of Mario Super Sluggers during each inning. For those of you unfamiliar with the sport, that's nine consoles and copies of the game. That is, if the Mariners and Yankees don't go into extra innings.

Gallery: Mario Super Sluggers

Bleach: Shattered Price

Posted Sep 3rd 2008 7:09PM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: News, Sales

Want to try the Wii fighting game that Gamespot rated a 3.5 "bad"? No? What if we told you that it was based on an anime series? Actually, Gamespot's review score for Bleach: Shattered Blade is way on the low end of a fairly equal distribution of scores from 35% all the way up to 80%. What does that mean for us? It means we have no idea whether or not we'd like it, and neither does the reviewing community in general.

If you ever wanted to try Shattered Blade, either due to Bleach fandom or love of fighting, today would be a good day for it. It's Amazon's Deal of the Day for $20.

The Conduit's publisher soon to be announced

Posted Sep 3rd 2008 6:15PM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: News

High Voltage Software said at PAX that they have a publishing deal for The Conduit, which they "may announce in the next two weeks." We completely don't get the use of a publisher's identity as a tease -- although we're talking about it right now on a fairly popular gaming site, so maybe we do.

Chris Kohler spent some time with the demo of the game, declaring the control customizations "excellent," though the default control scheme was more than sufficient for him. Aside from a general lack of enthusiasm about the environments, which look "flat, boring, and basic at this point," Kohler enjoyed the demo, which was mostly focused on shooting some aliens. He left the demo behind after dying to a boss creature -- the game is "definitely a challenge."

Gallery: The Conduit

Book sales are strong with The Force Unleashed

Posted Sep 3rd 2008 4:25PM by David Hinkle
Filed under: News

People are kind of stoked for this The Force Unleashed thing, enough so that the book for the game has managed to score a spot on the NY Times bestseller list. Written by Sean Williams, the piece of fiction managed to top the hardcover list over the weekend, showing that this whole Star Wars thing is pretty popular. Could this be indicative of strong sales for the game that's planned to release on September 18th in North America? We'd tell you, but the Dark Side the future has clouded.

[Via Joystiq]

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