Nintendo DS

Steve Harris talks about the return of EGM

Glenn M. — 2009-07-05T17:08:13-07:00

When EGM founder Steve Harris reacquired the rights to his gaming mag, one thing was clear - Electronic Gaming Monthly will rise from the grave. And through an interview with Publishing Executive, more things are made clear as Harris talks about his vision for the relaunch of the iconic magazine.

Pointing out that EGM still had more than half a million readers when it was shut down back in February, Harris believes that there's still a strong reader base waiting for EGM's return, even amidst access to information over the internet. "I believe there still exists an audience that enjoys print ," he said. "A Web site is less effective at providing information and insight that the reader may not have known they had an interest in before turning the page."

As for a revitalized relaunch, Steve Harris is planning to integrate digital content within the magazine. "This includes professionally-produced video, audio and other types of content," he said. " The new Electronic Gaming Monthly will let you take your magazine and its content from print to computer to wireless devices - even to your television - as well as enable subscribers and single-copy purchasers to enhance that experience every step of the way."

Harris elaborates:

The digital content will be accessible by some directly from the pages of the magazine while other content will be delivered via a digital device included with each issue (that, as I said before, could be used with computers, televisions, etc.). I wouldn't want to over-hype the methods that will be used -- no individual element of what we'll be offering is unique on its own -- but the way in which each delivery mechanism will interact with the other, as well as the programming we have to identify our end-reader and their interests, is new.

Harris didn't specify or give examples as to how the digital content will accompany the magazine, although it really doesn't take much imagination to guess how that's gonna be, but here's to hoping for Harry Potter-style moving pictures on print.

When EGM shut down:

EGM ceases publication; February issue to be available online

The Nintendo Weekend Warrior - a busy week well-deserved

Glenn M. — 2009-07-04T23:07:08-07:00

Warning: The following recap may take a few minutes of your time, so reader is advised to walk over to the fridge, get a few snacks and a can of rootbeer, with which the news will taste so much better. That actually depends if you're gonna read everything, but if you really want to keep yourself up to speed in all things Nintendo, you gotta have a few snacks close by to enjoy your trip across the news.

Games

Once a rumor, once again trailerized. Pokemon Heart Gold and Soul Silver just got a new trailer, and with the comes some pre-order goodies to those who are itching to go and catch'em all for the nth time around. Link
If Pokemon isn't your cup of tea, then maybe you might want to take a look at two Dragon Ball titles from Namco Bandai. There's some new screens for Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans for the DS, Link, while Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo for the Wii is looking mighty sharp in its new trailer. Link
Naruto isn't falling behind Pokemon and Dragon Ball, no sir. The ambitious Genin from Konoha is still pursuing his dream of being Hokage and to do that, he and his formidable friends will be taking on the super ninjas of the Akatsuki. Naruto: Ninja Destiny 2 just got its US debut trailer and it's waiting for your click. Link
This one made the news over and over this week. Starting with an innocent little sketch of a small landscape, Link, Square Enix's new teaser site was soon joined by a flying Dragon, a boy, then a girl. Link. Then it was finally revealed to be a new Final Fantasy title for the Nintendo DS. Link
Who could forget John Travolta's and Olivia Newton-John's slick performances in Grease? Nintendo and 505 Games sure haven't. That's why their characters Danny Zucko and Sandy Olsson are putting their dance shoes on once again and they're starring in their movie's video game adaptation for the Wii and DS. Link
When talking Kingdom Hearts, there's probably no one better to ask than its lead designer, Tetsuya Nomura. That's exactly what Ultimania did, so now we've got a few updates on the upcoming Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days as well as the other KH games in other platforms, including the elusive Kingdom Hearts III. Link
The blue bomber is one of the oldest gaming mainstays in the scene today, but he's still coughing up games to add to his impressive number of titles. The latest additions, Mega Man Star Force 3 Black Ace and Red Joker have shipped for North American retail this week. Link
Monster Hunter 3 just got trailerized for a third time, and one look at it will definitely get you interested even if you're no MH fan. Karl could not have put it better - "It's an overused term, but I'd say "awesome" is a good word to describe it." Link
Boring or reassuring? My money is on the latter. Shigeru Miyamoto has revealed that the new Zelda Wii will not be "radically different" from previous installments so what you came to love about past Zelda games will still be around for the show. Link
Despite being slated only for PC and Xbox 360 digital download, doors are not yet closed for Secret of Monkey Island to have PSN and WiiWare releases as well. Link

Nintendo

They never seem to run out of cute and seemingly shy cuties in Japan. We've got another one in this TV spot, holding in her hands the whole point of the commercial - a pink Nintendo DSi. She looks cute, so does the pink DSi. Winner? Link
Nothing says "gamer inside" on your front door like having a NES controller for a doorbell. In this unrevealed gamer home, a NES Controller was modded into a wireless doorbell, giving visitors an added treat when coming over. Check out the vid. Link
Wii Fit and Wii Play game designer Motoi Okayama has gone from making Nintendo's healthy motion games and has moved on to pursue his true calling. He's gonna start his own website dedicated to a gallery of action figure images. Link
It's cool that this mom is supportive of her kid's endeavors, but she has definitely overdone it. Her kid, along with his friends, nicked a Wii from their neighbor, and she helped them pawn the console even when she knew it was stolen. Naturally, she's on her way to the slammer. Link
Leave it to Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter to make yet another bold claim. His latest prediction: Wii will still be on top of the console wars by 2015, while the PS3 will find its way in second place. Link. Nevertheless, if a Wii HD ever comes along, Wedbush Morgan indicates that it could damage the PS3's comeback. Link

Homebrew

Lino returns to the scene this week with another update for iDeaS, the DS emulator for Windows and Linux. New features and bigfixes for this update, so users must check this one out. Link
Wiibrewmaster Tantric gets some help from Carl Kennera as they release a new update for DOSBox Wii. The latest version of of the DOSBox port now sports an upgraded DOSBox engine to the latest SVN, including the usual fixes, of course. Link
More emulator updates from Tantric. There's one for FCE Ultra GX, Link, one for Snes9x GX, Link, and one for his Visual Boy Advance GX, Link, so be sure to update yourself accordingly in case you missed the posts.

Junior cosplay: kid dressed up as Mega Man

Glenn M. — 2009-07-04T15:39:33-07:00

Nothing like a cute kid in a Mega Man costume to make your day. I wanted to be Mega Man when I was little too. Lucky for him, his dad's a gamer. Not only does he come with a left-handed buster, he also dons the oversized Mega Man boots to complete the look. Awww.

The costume took about 40-50 hours of daddy's hard work and cost about US 70. Daddy is a proud geek with a passion for gaming Halloween costumes, and his three-year-old son is the lucky recipient of this adorable Mega Man look. The dad also put together a Captain N costume for himself and a Pit costume for his one-year-old.

Maybe when he's a bit older, Mega Kid here may want to step into a capsule and upgrade to a shiny new Ultimate Armor.

News is slow today so bear with me. The source is also old, but that doesn't make this kid any less adorable.

This is cool too:

Megaman 2.5D now has a multiplayer video - MegaMan and ProtoMan

LucasArts teasing big announcement for old schools fans on Monday

Karl B. — 2009-07-04T11:19:50-07:00

We've seen a lot of announcements and teasers being released via Twitter this year. Here's another one from LucasArts. Recent entries in the LucasArts Twitter account are teasing "awesome news" for their old school fans early on Monday. Here are the pertinent Tweets:

Entry 1: Amazing news coming Monday! Super excited! You have no idea how tough it is not to start yelling about it! But it's secret! Until Monday!
Entry 2: Okay, we will do hints. It is awesome news for our old school fans. (anything more direct might get me in trouble)
Entry 3: It doesn't have to do with any specific intellectual property...

Craig Derrick, the producer of The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition, recently intimated that they have "another platform announcement to make very, very soon", but that last entry kinda hints that it's not all about a PSN or WiiWare release of Monkey island SE. Still, I think it's safe to say that point-and-click adventure fans are in for a treat this Monday. I certainly wouldn't mind having a go at a revamped Full Throttle.

New Pokemon Heart Gold & Soul Silver trailer, pre-order goodies

Karl B. — 2009-07-04T09:26:35-07:00

Nintendo has released a new trailer for the upcoming Pok mon remakes, Heart Gold and Soul Silver. It's pretty cool seeing your main Pok mon, which follows you around on screen, break rocks and stuff in the game world. Check it out below.

We've already seen the pedometer that'll come with copies of the two games, but there are more goodies for the die-hard Pok fans out there. Kotaku reports that those who pre-order Heart Gold will get and exclusive Ho-Oh figure while those who opt for Soul Silver will get a Lugia figure. Pre-ordering both games will also net you an Arceus figure (that's the one in the middle).

Nintendo to bundle pedometer with Pokemon Heart Gold and Soul Silver

Chunsoft likes numbers, announces two new games for the PSP and PS3, and DS

Mabie A. — 2009-07-03T21:19:10-07:00

The latest issue of Weekly Famitsu Magazine discloses Chunsoft's revelation of their new games for the PS3, PSP and DS. The first game is a PS3 and PSP port of 428: In the Blocked City Shibuya, while the other one - for the DS - is 9 Hours, 9 People, 9 Doors. Sounds exciting.

428: In the Blocked City Shibuya was actually a Wii original It was inconspicuous enough, until Famitsu gave it a perfect review score which totally stunned everyone. A staggering 40/40 score to a game that's barely been given media mileage, at least in this part of the town.

Still not familiar with it? It's actually a "sound novel", a sort of Choose Your Own Adventure type that follows the story of several characters (unrelated, take note) through the streets of Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Basically, you play God over these characters' lives, as every decision you make has some outcome, good or bad, on their characters. Simple in context, but apparently enough substance to wow the hard-to-please Famitsu reviewers. And now it's coming to the PS3 and PSP.

This game is brought to you by the number 9.

Meanwhile, the other title is not just any other title. 9 Hours, 9 People, 9 Doors has got some heavy-hitting casts supporting its development. Kinu Nishimura of the Street Fighter series is taking care of character designs for one, and Ever17: The Out of Infinity writer, Kotaro Uchikoshi is also handling directorial and screenplay duties.

The plot: Ryohei is a normal college student. One morning, he wakes up to find himself in a locked room with the number 5 painted in bright red on the wall. Think Saw, but in Nihonggo. Now get this, he has to play the "Nonary Game" with eight other victims. So in all, there's 9 of them. And you're right, they're labeled from 1 to 9.

Keeping in theme, there are nine doors to open, with puzzles to solve inside. If they get to door number 9 and complete the puzzle goes free.

But, and this is where the simple math confounds me:

the numerical doors can only be opened by groups of three to five people, and the digital root of their assigned numbers must match the number on the door -- forcing the cast to work and compete with each other at the same time for any chance at survival.

I'll just probably dig through a tunnel and look for sunlight.

These games are said to come out in Japan this Winter. Cross your fingers, these do sound like interesting stuff. I would like for us to get it too.

Visual novels Ever 17, Never 7 getting PSP ports next year

Screenshots: Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyan

Mabie A. — 2009-07-03T20:13:39-07:00

We'e seen the TV ads, now it's time to take a look at the screenshots for Namco Bandai's Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyan title on the Nintendo DS. It's definitely not cel-shaded but somehow, it does give off that TV cartoon vibe, don't you think?

Only announced back in May, Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyan is expected to hit retail store shelves in Europe and PAL territories by Autumn of this year.

Grease musical headed to Wii and DS

Mabie A. — 2009-07-03T18:00:30-07:00

John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John are coming to the Nintendo consoles! Or at least their Grease characters Danny Zucko and Sandy Olsson are. 505 Games has announced that it is now the rightful owner of the publishing rights for a video game adaptation of the classic musical, "Grease".

Soon, you'll all be dancing like this.

The publisher will reportedly work with Paramount Digital Entertainment to deliver the goods for both the Wii and the DS fans. No further details were revealed apart from that, but it's fairly easy to imagine that there will be a whole lot of dance-offs in this game. Maybe the Wii balance board will be used, even. Though I can't quite imagine how that would be sufficient for all the dance moves. A DDR dance mat would probably better, don't you think?

Paramount did say that the Grease game will "take full advantage of Nintendo Wii's motion-sensing controls (don't they all? -Ed) and microphone and DS's touch screen."

More on Movies to Videogames adaptations (and vice-versa):

Rune Factory 3 revealed by Marvelous Entertainment

Mabie A. — 2009-07-03T17:09:15-07:00

Marvelous Entertainment announced the third iteration in the fame/love/fight-'em-up series from Neverland Company, Rune Factory 3. So far, the only release window given out is for Japan later this year, 2009.

Rune Factory 3 offers the new feature to players such as the hero being able to use a magical belt to actually transform into the monsters you collect. Doing so unlocks for you a variety of new attacks and battle moves. If you choose to talk to people while in animal form, you will also find that the way they respond to you changes as well.

Will it come to North American shores? No word yet on that, but we'll keep you posted on more news on this.

Marvelous publishing a Grasshopper Manufacture PS3 game

Called it: Capcom announces new Basara game

Karl B. — 2009-07-03T10:43:33-07:00

While a lot of people were hoping that the Capcom teaser site was for a new Onimusha game, the fact that it was accessible from the Sengoku Basara portal kinda weighed the odds in favor of a new Basara game. And so it turned out to be just that.

Capcom has revealed that the next entry in the popular (more so in Japan than anywhere else) action series is Sengoku Basara 3. Actually, that's pretty much all they've revealed aside from a 2010 date and the two character silhouettes below.

Never really got into this series but it's interesting that the last date shown on the teaser site was 1600, the year when Tokugawa Ieyasu won in the Battle of Sekigahara. Maybe Ieyasu's the main protagonist in this one?

Capcom teaser site launched; new Basara game coming?

Namco Bandai snaps up Dragon Ball rights from Atari

Karl B. — 2009-07-03T08:54:57-07:00

Image from DeviantArt

There were already a few signs hinting that Atari was having some trouble holding on to the Dragon Ball franchise. A couple of years ago, the publisher clashed with FUNimation over the game license. Namco Bandai announced last month that it had secured publishing rights to three new entries in the franchise.

Today, Namco Bandai has announced that it's finishing what it started. Starting in January 2010, they will be publishing Dragon Ball games on all major consoles and handhelds in North America. The publishing deal made with rights-holders Toei and FUNimation will run for five years.

This is a pretty big blow for Atari and a big coup for Namco Bandai. In fiscal 2008, about half of Atari's sales came from Dragon Ball games. You know, if you consider the earlier acquisition or Atari Europe, it kinda feels like Namco Bandai is taking over Atari piece by piece.

Square Enix sues French retailer for selling pirated IP merchandise

Mabie A. — 2009-07-02T23:28:41-07:00

Square Enix is reportedly taking legal action against a lone French retailer for allegedly selling pirated Square merchandise. la soci t SAKURA, the retail store, operates in Paris and online, specializing in Anime/Manga/Japanese gaming merch.

Square Enix' suit's basis is that: [Square] "denounces SAKURA for the commercialization of products counterfeiting Square Enix's FINAL FANTASY and FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST trademarks and copyrights to the FINAL FANTASY series".

Anybody else selling pirated Squeenix stuff out there? You might want to close shop now.

Bankruptcy judge okays Warner Bros. buyout of Midway

Mabie A. — 2009-07-02T20:38:30-07:00

The buyout of Warner Bros. of publisher Midway has been OK'd by a bankruptcy judge, making the US 33 million acquisition a sure go. The deal is expected to finally close within 10 days, this according to the reports by the Chicago Tribune.

But despite this new ownership, a couple more Midway studios are left to fend for themselves, such as Midway San Diego and Midway Newcastle. They have 60 days to find new owners, or else face the consequence of being shut down. Sports franchises like Blitz and NBA Ballers are also up for grabs for any parties that may be interested.

Midway sued by movie producer over Mortal Kombat IP rights

24 million installed base for UK consoles recorded

Mabie A. — 2009-07-02T19:52:59-07:00

This is intriguing math. Gfk-ChartTrack of UK has released the data for console sales in the region up to June 27, 2009 and it shows that there is a stellar 24 million installed base in the UK to date, with 8.4 million contributing to that number in the past 12 months.

Who reigns supreme? No question to it, the Nintendo's DS is still the king of the handhelds with 9.1 million install base. That's 2.7 million more users in the past year. It is also reported that since its launch in April of this year, the DSi has already sold 300,000 units.

Coming in second place is Nintendo's home console, Wii, with 5.4 million gamers secured in its lawn, with 2.3 million additional installed base coming in June 2008. Meanwhile, the Xbox 360 is also quite enjoying attention from the UK gamers - 3.9 million installed base thus far, with 1.7 million joining in the club the past 12 months.

As for the PS3, it sits at 2.2 million, with 900,000 units up from the same period last year. Sony's handheld, the PSP, has sold 3.3 million units, experiencing an increase in sales with 500,000 units sold the past year.

In total, that would amount to 24 million units gaming consoles sold. Despite what your leanings may be, or which console you prefer to be on top, the good news here is that the gaming industry in UK is apparently thriving, with all platforms getting positive movement in sales for 2008.

Media Create charts for 06/08 to 06/14: Japan warming up to Xbox 360, Infinite Space is top software

Japanese TV spot featuring the pink DSi

Glenn M. — 2009-07-01T22:02:23-07:00

They never seem to run out of cute and seemingly shy cuties in Japan. We've got another one in this TV spot, holding in her hands the whole point of the commercial - a pink Nintendo DSi. She looks cute, so does the pink DSi. Winner?

Because everything is in Japanese and we can't understand what the TV spot is all about, we'll just have to content ourselves with watching our DSi-playing sweetie through the 30-second vid. For all we know, that might be all there is to the commercial - a pink DS for girls, as previously revealed way back in February. But hey, whoever said pink was just for girls?

On pink, girls, and handhelds:

Green light back on: Jack Thompson Debate to go on at SGC09

Mabie A. — 2009-07-01T21:19:23-07:00

The July 4th SGC09 debate between anti-gamer, former Miami lawyer Jack Thompson and gamer/ attorney Mark Methenitis is all set and raring to go, despite the hump on the road yesterday morning, nearly resulting into Thompson's cancellation from the event. Reportedly, Thompson had several complaints to event host Screw Attack outlined below:

he objected to a one- or two-line introduction ("I have never been introduced with 1 or 2 sentences. Nobody can be introduced in that fashion...")
he objected to a user-created parody video posted (and since removed) on the Screw Attack site; Thompson may have believed the video, "Questions Not to Ask Jack Thompson" at SGC," was official Screw Attack content

But that's not all, so it seems. GamePolitics was unwittingly made witness to the preparations chaos that the committee is going through because of the back and forth of demands from Mr. Thompson. Recounts GP:

As recently as this morning, however, Thompson demanded that a post by a Screw Attack user be removed. While it was not taken down, the author, who was also behind the parody video that Thompson found offensive, e-mailed the disbarred attorney a lengthy apology; that seemed to satisfy Thompson.

Next, Thompson e-mailed Skistimas a "proposed text" to be used as his introduction at the debate. The 12-sentence intro mentioned his 2008 lifetime disbarment very briefly, referring to it as "illegal" and blaming the loss of his law license on "lawyers for Take-Two, the makers of the Grand Theft Auto games."

GP asked Skistimas whether the introduction would actually be used at SGC09. Skistimas told us, "I have yet to review his intro but Jack and I will work together to find an intro that fits both his needs and the time format of the debate at SGC."

A conference call between Thompson and the Screw Attack team planned for noon today was canceled when the parties decided in late morning that the debate was back on and Thompson was satisified.

This debate should be entertaining, at the very least.

More Jack Thompson News:

US debut trailer for Naruto: Ninja Destiny 2

Glenn M. — 2009-07-01T21:11:59-07:00

The Naruto games have gotten a bit quiet as of late, so here's a little something for the fans of the Shadow-Cloning ninja - it's the US debut trailer for the Shippuden game, Naruto: Ninja Destiny for the Nintendo DS.

Get to play 30 characters from the manga-turned-anime-turned-video game, including some of the cloaked shinobi of the Akatsuki, like Kisame and Deidara. There's also an all-new quest mode as well for a little versatility in case you get bored with going head-to-head.

Tomy is releasing Naruto: Ninja Destiny 2 for the Nintendo DS fall 2009.

Other Naruto games:

Megan Fox talks Transformers

Glenn M. — 2009-07-01T20:45:57-07:00

We've already heard Shia LaBeouf talk Transformers, and he ended up dissing the Wii. But what about his co-star and leading lady, Megan Fox? She too has a few words to share about their latest project and you can catch them in this video.

People can go on and on about her acting. Uhh..whoever said she was known for acting? Besides, you gotta give her points for not overhyping the movie more than it already has been. People came to see the Transformers, not some Oscar-winning acting, and she makes sense of that somewhat.

The video game, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is out in stores now for the PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PSP, DS, PS2, and PC.

More on Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen:

Bruckheimer remains positive: video game-movie adaptations may still work, tasked to lure women to gaming

Mabie A. — 2009-07-01T18:29:20-07:00

Despite the lackluster appeal of movie adaptations of video games, super Hollywood producer Jerry Bruckheimer remains positive that one day, they just might get it right. And it won't suck the living daylights out of us anymore.

Asked why the adaptations haven't been working thus far, he answered:

I couldn't tell you that. They just haven't quite captured the imagination of the audience yet, but they will. I think it will definitely happen, whether we do it or other people do it.

What I could tell, though, is that there is a lot of high expectations yet again for his adaptation of Prince of Persia. Come to think of it, we ourselves continue to hope that one day these adaptations will work. No matter how much these films fail in the box office, we still wait for the next adaptation anyway.

Anyhow, Van Toffler, president of MTV Networks is also hopeful that Bruckheimer can work his magic and take MTV "out of its comfort zone of rhythmic gaming like The Beatles: Rock Band (PS3, Xbox 360, Wii) and attract more females," following their deal back in 2007.

Story-driven.

Said Toffler:

I see more of a connection to women coming to gaming as being a spark for Jerry Bruckheimer's style of storytelling coming to gaming. Gaming is really starting to explode with women, particularly story-driven games like The Sims. I think Jerry has managed to bring both men and women into his storytelling from Pirates of the Carribean to National Treasure. He does a great blend of action in storytelling and moving narrative forward.

Not too lofty considering how data does support the statement that women are more inclined to gaming now than before. Although I would have to ask: The Sims is story-driven?

Triple threat - WWE, THQ, Jakks Pacific over license issues

Glenn M. — 2009-07-01T17:16:57-07:00

When license agreements turn sour, you know what's coming next. For World Wrestling Entertainment, THQ, and Jakks Pacific, the result is a Triple Threat matchup between the three companies, jockeying for position over the WWE Smackdown vs. Raw franchise.

WWE has sued the THQ-Jakks joint venture twice, looking to have their licensing agreements terminated, while the game and toy companies locking horns and duking it out over WWE-branded games' royalties.

The current game licensing deal is set to expire on December 31st later this year, but Jakks has said that they will be exercising their right to renew their contract for five years more. That's all the way to December 31, 2014. THQ, on the other hand, responds with a lawsuit of its own, claiming that it had not yet decided whether it would renew ties with WWE or not.

As it is, THQ is seeking declaratory judgment on three issues:

THQ wants to determine if Jakks can or cannot unilaterally renew the WWE license as part of the terms of its joint venture with the toy maker.
THQ claims it is not obligated to consent to a renewal of the WWE license.
The restriction prohibiting THQ from publishing any wrestling-based game without Jakks for at least a year after the termination of the WWE agreement can not be enforced under California law, the publisher claims.

Jakks also says that they've entered arbitration proceedings with THQ with regard to this and other issues pertaining to the WWE license. THQ has not given any comment on the matter at this time.

We'll keep watch over the developments of this Triple Threat matchup, and you can bet these guys can't knock their ref out with a light nudge.