Archive for March, 2007:
Kingdom Hearts III Trailer
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This is actually a secret ending for Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix, but it definitely looks like an actual trailer for the third installment of the series. You never know…
Mayor Bloomberg not Happy with GTA IV
Politicians over at New York City are not too pleased with the latest Grand Theft Auto IV trailer which was debuted not too long ago. The trailer revealed to fans that the title would be held in New York City. The representatives of Mayor Bloomberg, as well as the cops, are saying that the setting of the game is farfetched since the city is the safest in America.
“It’s despicable to glamorize violence in games like these, regardless of how far-fetched the setting may be,”
The entertainment industry has conceived NYC as one of the most crime filled cities in America. If the mayor isn’t saying anything about Spiderman, why should he be given a right to say anything about the game? First it’s from Thompson, and now it’s from the politicians. And we already know we’ll be hearing from the parents, the retailers, and the ignorant. Take Two needs a break.
In previous incarnations, players advanced through the game by killing cops, selling pornography to children and killing prostitutes.
Selling pornography to children? I’m going to go load up my old GTA games and see what the heck that is all about.
Read (NYDailyNews)
More Games to use Lego
The makers of the popular Lego Star Wars series and upcoming Lego Batman, are anticipating stretching the franchise as far as it can go in the future. Jonathan Smith who is the head of production has hinted to GameIndustry.biz where they are heading next. “We have genuinely exciting plans for future Lego titles,” says Jonathan Smith, which could one of many exciting opportunities. I’d love to see some sort of nautical or pirate themed game for their next big license. But for the moment, they are setting their sights high for Batman; “We’ve been delighted with the positive response we’ve had from so many people about Lego Star Wars. We’re working hard to ensure that Lego Batman exceeds expectations once again, to achieve similar success.”
NiGHTS Wii Scans
This is what we’ve all been waiting for; scans for the upcoming Wii NiGHTS game from Sega. The magazine is completely in Portugese, so most of our readers won’t be able to figure what is going on, but there are lots of in game shots, and pictures do say a thousand words. View the scans by clicking the thumbnails below.
Update: Added a fourth page and translated interview with Takeshi Iizuka from a NeoGAF post. View after the jump. More »
New Halo 2 Maps Revealed
Bungie has unveiled two new Halo 2 maps, Tombstone and Desolation. The creators say it’s a “thank you” to all of their dedicated fans. They are to be released on April 17th, $4 for both of them. In order to buy them with Microsoft Points, you have to have Xbox Live Gold account, since the backwards compatibility mode cannot detect the difference between silver and gold. You can always use a credit card to buy them on the 360, though. Press release after the jump. More »
Ships Get Wii
Proving that their platform does appeal to everyone, Nintendo sent word that the Norwegian Cruise Line is the first cruise line to offers it guests a chance to experience the Wii on board its ships. Wii consoles are currently on NCL’s newest ship – Norwegian Pearl – and all NCL America ships; rest of the fleet will be covered by next month. These systems have been equipped with Wii Sports, Wii Play, Warioware: Smooth Moves and Excite Truck.
The Wii setup will be located in the atrium and other public rooms, allowing guests to gather and play against each other on large video screens. Each ships’ Kid’s Crew facility will also feature two Wii kiosks providing kids-only fun. The ships will also host tournaments and other activities based around the games.
Sonic Spinball and More on Virtual Console
Sega has released three titles from its Genesis library for Nintendo Wii’s Virtual Console service. They are Sword of Vermillion, Sonic Spinball and Beyond Oasis. These games can be purchased for 800 Wii points each.
Sword of Vermilion – When the evil wizard-king, Tsarkon, invaded Excalabria, King Erik V had no choice but to turn his infant son over to his most trusted warrior, Blade. As his castle burned, King Erik hurriedly gave Blade an ancient family heirloom, the Ring of Wisdom, and asked him to leave at once in the hopes that the young heir to the throne would survive. Blade raised Erik VI as his own, knowing one day the prince would fulfill the prophecy of the Malaga fortune tellers. Now, eighteen years later, Erik VI returns to Excalabria to avenge his father’s death and reclaim the kingdom.Sonic Spinball – With his Veg-O-Fortress built high up on an active volcano, Dr. Eggman is turning all the cute, furry creatures of Planet Mobius into robot slaves! Sonic and Tails rush to save the animals and quickly discover the only way to stop the mechanizing madness is to trigger a volcanic eruption. Sonic knows this can be done by removing the Chaos Emeralds that keep the volcano stable. However, Dr. Eggman is also aware of the fragile relationship that exists between the Emeralds and the mountain, and he’s set up an elaborate Pinball Defense System to make sure the precious jewels don’t go anywhere.
Beyond Oasis – You are the young Prince Ali in a desperate fight to defeat the evil that has returned to threaten your island empire, Oasis. Long ago, a war raged between a wicked sorcerer who used a silver “armlet” to unleash destruction on the island and a wizard who defied him with a gold armlet that could summon four powerful spirits. Both armlets had been lost until recently when someone unearthed the silver band and began using it for their evil gain. Just when you think all is lost, you discover the precious gold armlet and finally have the power to combat the wearer of the silver band…but can you stop them in time?
Bullet Witch DLC Hits Xbox Live
It’s surprising that Atari is supporting a critically-maligned game such as Bullet Witch with downloadable content… and lots of it, too.
The first set of new content, which includes a free brand new White Witch costume and a Bullet Witch Xbox 360 theme pack, is now available. Additionally, for 20 points each, gamers can download one new mission “Dynamite Beauty” and two enhanced versions of the “Clad in Streaming Black” mission featuring ‘Great Spells’ unlocked and a heightened difficulty level.
Gamers can also look forward to seeing more free costumes over the coming weeks – Mummy, Schoolgirl, Secretary and Pixie. New missions ‘Caterpillar City’, ‘Endless’, ‘One Shot Kill’ and ‘Geist Search and Destroy’, and enhanced editions of missions ‘City of Screams’, ‘Up in Flames at 10,000ft’, ‘Down in the Valley’, ‘The Bound Soul’ and ‘The End of Chaos’, will be available for 20 points each.
Nintendo “Flagships” E For All
Nintendo has announced that it will be the headlining company for the Entertainment for All Expo (E for All), scheduled for October 18-21, 2007, at the Los Angeles Convention Center. The convention which was announced several months ago is being run by some of the people responsible for E3, and was having troubles gaining legitamacy until Sony and Nintendo both hopped on the bandwagon. The expo isn’t so much a media event as it is a public event featuring playable demos. Since Nintendo is leading the way it goes without saying that some sort of announcement will follow suite.
Read (Nintendo)
FEAR Gripping PS3 Next Month
Though it was intended to be a Euro PS3 launch title, Sierra had delayed F.E.A.R. for the console to make it more optimized for the console. The company has announced that the game will hit stores on April 24 in North America.
A PS3 port of the critically praised horror-FPS, F.E.A.R. will feature multiplayer support for up to 16 players via the PlayStation Network; an Instant Action mode – a new arcade style mode where player progress can be tracked via leader boards; and an exclusive level and weapon for the console.
F.E.A.R. is also available on PC and Xbox 360.
Elite Freebies
Everyone likes free things. Sometimes it is arguable when something is free, or you are just paying a high price point and they use “free” things to justify the purchase. Either way, the 360 Elite feature a bigger Hard Drive and a whole lot more freebies thrown into the bunch. For those new to the Xbox scene, the amount of content packs a punch, while those merely updating consoles may not be as impressed. Make the jump to see the free content!
Japan’s Hardware & Software Sales 3/19 – 3/25
22 or 73% is the number of titles in the top 30 list that are on the Nintendo DS. If anyone is questioning Square’s decision to put Dragon Quest on the DS, take a gander at how the systems are stacking up in Japan and it’s not quite a mystery.
1. NDS - 130,684
2. WII - 75,571
3. PSP - 41,546
4. PS3 - 20,459
5. PS2 - 16,961
6. 360 - 3,492
7. GBA - 1,394
8. NGC - 270
01. Musou Orochi (PS2) – 406,247 / New
02. Yoshi’s Island DS (DS) – 100,812 / 535,770
03. Dragon Ball Z: Harukanaru Goku Legend (DS) – 65,203 / New
04. Word Puzzle Mojipittan DS (DS) – 64,005 / 135,706
05. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd (PSP) – 51,952 / 1,052,550
06. Wii Sports (Wii) – 46,362 / 1,250,596
07. Crayon Shin-Chan DS: Arashi wo Yobu Nutte Crayoon Daisakusen! (DS) – 38,413 / New
08. Professor Layton and the Mysterious Village (DS) – 37,912 / 335,300
09. Wii Play (Wii) – 37,289 / 1,070,334
10. New Super Mario Bros. (DS) – 25,184 / 4,257,646
GTA IV Trailer
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The new GTA IV trailer has just gone live. You can find a HD version right here and the Gametrailer version. Both were plauged earlier today when the trailer went live, but a version has already made its way to YouTube so hopefully something is still working for you! GTA has never looked so good.
Resident Evil on Wii
Depending on who you ask, Resident Evil four was the shining achievement from the Gamecube, and easily the best mature rated title to debut on the system. It was, for similar reasons, also one of the best looking titles on the system as well. Resident Evil games are notoriously good looking, so we’ll take whatever scraps of information we can get.
IGN has confirmed that Resident Evil on the Wii will be both 16:9 and support 480p. Neither of which is truly shocking, but for the moment we at least can hope Capcom won’t completely adopt Nintendo’s mantra, and dumbing down the visuals. If RE4 on the cube was any indication, imagine how RE4 could look on the Wii? I’d wager twice as good considering it is just two gamecubes duct taped together after all!
BioShock Petition for Collector’s Edition: Success!
Fans of the Xbox 360 RPG BioShock have created an online petiton asking for a collector’s edition of the game. 2K Games said that if the petition reaches over 5,000 signatures, they will agree to the terms and release one. But now, the signature total is over 15,000 and counting. That would mean that you’ll be seeing a collector’s edition pretty soon.
Read (Tavdogg)