http://www.digitalbattle.com Game News For the Masses Sun, 08 Nov 2009 05:10:06 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 Wii Fit has been one of the few original and innovative games on the Wii, something new and refreshing in the hail of never ending Mario games. The Wii Fit training game, coupled with the Wii balance Board, has sold in excess of 20 million units worldwide, so it's no surprise that Nintendo is looking to offer a bit more on that side. Enter Wii Fit Plus, which retails for only $20 if you already own Wii Fit with a Balance Board, but if you don't, the whole package will cost you $100, which is $10 more than the original Wii Fit. Wii Fit Plus isn't really a sequel -- it's sold separately without the Balance Board for those that already own it -- it's actually an expansion pack which includes the original games and workouts, and even transfers your data from the old game. This is pretty slick, meaning that you won't have to swap the new and old Wii Fit disc. Wii Fit Plus features 15 new work out mini games and six strength training and Yoga workouts, and this time, you can mix and match your workouts as you see fit. If you're familiar with Wii Fit, you'll feel right at home, the same slick, colorful user interface is present in Plus, and the "gameplay" is virtually the same, meaning it also includes some of the few drawbacks that the original had, most noticeably, sluggish response from the Balance Board. But this doesn't happen too often, it it won't affect your game too much. Multiplayer wise, there's the same offline, turn based multiplayer where you compete on who can do the exercise the fastest way or get the best score. However, there is no online multiplayer, which again, is disappointing from Nintendo. Someone needs to go to Kyoto and check if those guys know about this thing called "The Internet". Wii Fit with online multiplayer and leaderboards would make the game so much better, but again, as noted, Nintendo disappoints on that level. The 15 new balance games and six new exercises are very well put together and will make sure you end up using your entire body after going through them. From Kung-Fu, where you have to sync your movements to a group of fighters on the screen, to Skateboarding, where you turn the Balance Board sideways and steer a skateboarder through an arena. But the best mini game by far is Golf, which not only uses the Balance Board, but also the Wiimote, and gives some of the most accurate golfing experiences ever -- you'll definitely improve your swing here. Wii Fit Plus will satisfy fans of Wii Fit, with the new mini games and exercises will bring enough to do for a while, and the expanded abilities to manage and plan your workouts are quite detailed and pretty deep for a "casual" game. However, there is still no online multiplayer, which is a shame. The Good: Plenty of new games Cheap More depth than before Includes the original Wii Fit games The Bad: Balance Board can get sluggish No online multiplayer or leaderboards Overall score: 8/10 http://www.digitalbattle.com/2009/11/07/wii-fit-plus-review/ Nintendo has never been known for fully embracing online gaming, and the Wii trails a distant third behind the PS3 and Xbox 360 when it comes to playing online -- despite being the top selling console. Nintendo's Satoru Iwata has revealed [1] numbers on online connectivity, saying that 35% of Wii consoles are online and only 20% of Nintendo DS consoles. Furthermore, Iwata said that those numbers will decline if the company doesn't "take aggressive action" on the online front -- which it of course plans to do. All we can say is; it's about damn time! [1] http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=25975 http://www.digitalbattle.com/2009/11/07/iwata-only-35-of-wiis-are-online-20-of-ds/ It seems that Activision can't get enough PR for the release of Modern Warfare 2, as the game is now in the spotlight after 18 year old Christian Del Amo was arrested [1] by Miami Police for trying to sell pirated versions of the game. This comes after Activision had hired an online investigation firm to look into suspicious posts on Craigslist advertising Modern Warfare 2 Xbox 360 bundles for sale. With the age of high-speed internet, where anyone can download the pirated version, why would you even try and sell the pirated version on a burned disc? That kind of "business" seems so 1999. [1] http://www.actiontrip.com/rei/comments_news.phtml?id=110709_3 http://www.digitalbattle.com/2009/11/07/miami-police-arrests-modern-warfare-2-pirate/ Cliff Beszinski, better known as Cliffy B, showed [1] his love for Borderlands by tweeting [2] "Borderlands, I adore you. You’re Diablo for a generation raised on first person shooters. I want a Claptrap." He's quite right, Borderlands might just be the Diablo of FPS games, considering that you'll be spending a lot of time looting and managing your inventory. For more on the game, read our Borderlands review [3]. [1] http://www.destructoid.com/cliffy-b-borderlands-is-the-diablo-of-the-fps-generation-154387.phtml [2] http://twitter.com/therealcliffyb/status/5456393060 [3] http://www.digitalbattle.com/2009/10/29/borderlands-review/ http://www.digitalbattle.com/2009/11/07/cliffy-b-borderlands-is-the-diablo-of-fps/ Korean publisher NCsoft announced [1] in their latest financial results that the company made revenues of $142 million in the third quarter, with profits of $40 million. This is an increase of a staggering 835% compared to last year, mainly fueled by MMO Aion -- one of the few big MMO releases this yea -- which was pre-ordered over 400,000 times, the publisher revealed, and proudly added that sales numbers top 500,000 copies in North America, and 470,000 copies in Europe. [1] http://www.gamespot.com/news/6239338.html?part=rss&tag=gs_news&subj=6239338 http://www.digitalbattle.com/2009/11/07/ncsoft-reports-profits-of-40-million-in-q3/ Hot off the heels on the whole Modern Warfare 2 PC dedicated server debacle, Id Software, long time PC developers and enthusiasts, have revealed [1] that it's unlikely that Rage, their new IP slated for 2010 release, will support dedicated servers on the PC, and this comes from Id head honcho himself, John Carmack, who revealed the news in an interview with Variety. We'll see if this news is met with the same controversy and revolt as Modern Warfare 2 was. [1] http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/61168 http://www.digitalbattle.com/2009/11/07/id-softwares-rage-unlikely-to-use-dedicated-servers/ Mythic Entertainment has changed the way the demo works for their MMO RPG Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. Instead of limiting players to a 10 day trial, the limit is now gone, where players can play as long as they want, except for one thing: the level limit is set at Level 10. This is a good idea in theory, as it gives plenty of time for players to explore the world instead of just going XP hunting. We'll see if it pays off with increased subscriber count. http://www.digitalbattle.com/2009/11/07/warhammer-online-free-trial-loses-limit-capped-at-level-10/ The second and final episode of Grand Theft Auto 4, The Ballad of Gay Tony, has been released, and with it, Rockstar closes the curtain for GTA 4 with a bang. The episode is being released exclusive on the Xbox 360, either as a standalone download, or as a part of the "Episodes of Liberty City" retail expansion pack, which also includes the previous episode, The Lost and Damned. In The Ballad Of Gay Tony, you play as Luis Lopez, a nightclub manager and Tony Prince's -- aka. Gay Tony -- business partner. Gay Tony, who's gay in the most extravagant fashion, owns a few nightclubs and the biggest gay club in town, and when a deal goes bad, he sends you to recover some stolen diamonds -- the same diamonds that were mentioned in GTA 4 and Lost and Damned -- making you progress through mission by mission, GTA 4 style, on a hunt. The missions in The Ballad Of Gay Tony are far more over the top than in GTA 4 and the previous episode, you'll be shooting down helicopters from moving trains, blowing up a group of crooked cops and even helicopter dog fights -- where your helicopter is made of gold. Yep, quite over the top. You'll actually be blowing up plenty of stuff in the game, there's far more action and large set pieces than in previous games, you'll even get to drive an armored personnel carrier this time, with a sweet 20mm chain gun that obliterates everything in your path. On top of that, you gotta do your regular job, which is to manage clubs, and there's even a mini-game where you can shake it on the dance floor, which, as you might expect, is pretty darn boring compared to the real missions. However, there seems to be a lack of consistency with the missions, you'll go from a few awesome high-octane missions to some that can be categorized as the most boring of both episodes. There are some good additions to the gameplay though, for instance, every time you complete a mission, you get a score, and when you've completed the game, you can go back and try to beat that score, which adds some replayability to the game -- more than the previous editions. It's also worth mentioning that the game includes a ton of content, missions and side missions, far more than one might expect from a DLC. Technically, the game is up to par with the other GTA 4 games, and that means the visuals are beginning to showing their age. The character animations look dated and the visuals still feature low res textures and some popping here and there. The music and voice acting are top notch, GTA 4 quality as you might expect, and the game runs pretty smooth throughout. On the multiplayer side, there isn't much addition, unfortunately, as this looks to be a very single-player focused episode. In conclusion, GTA 4: The Ballad of Gay Tony will most definitely satisfy GTA 4 fans, and you won't be disappointed with the last installment in the series. Also, we finally get to know what happened to those darn diamonds. The Good: Lots of content Great gameplay Lots of action Top notch voice acting and characters The Bad: Visuals are beginning to look dated Some missions are very bad Overall score: 8/10 http://www.digitalbattle.com/2009/11/06/gta-4-the-ballad-of-gay-tony-review/ What better way to prove your Halo [1] fanboyism than the cruise down the street on a motorcycle wearing an ODST [2] helmet? What may have seemed like a dream to you Halo feins may soon be a realty as what you see above is the X-Lite X-802 concept motorcycle helmet. Now, the chances of this helmet ever being made available are currently unknown but we'll keep an eye on it and let you know. via [3] kotaku [1] http://digitalbattle.com/tag/halo [2] http://digitalbattle.com/tag/odst [3] http://kotaku.com/5398969/halo-3-odst-motorcyle-helmet-perfect-for-headshot-protection http://www.digitalbattle.com/2009/11/06/halo-3-odst-motorcycle-helmet/ It's always an honor when a great athlete gets inducted in a Hall of Fame -- earlier this year for instance, Micheal Jordan was inducted into the NBA hall of fame, and now, more importantly to us gamers, Nintendo's original Game Boy has been inducted into the Toy Hall of Fame, specifically, the Strong National Museum of Play's Toy Hall of Fame. The original 8-bit Game Boy was released in 1989, and its subsequent variations, have sold over 120 million units world wide since then, with the best game being Tetris, selling a whopping 33 million copies. Congratulations, Nintendo! http://www.digitalbattle.com/2009/11/06/game-boy-inducted-into-toy-hall-of-fame/ Despite falling behind in both sales and technology to arch rival AMD, Nvidia managed [1] to turn a solid $107 million profit in Q3, on revenues of $903.2 million, mostly fueled by the mobile and laptop sector. Compared to last year, that's an increase of 16%, and from the previous year by 18%. The company said that it expects revenues in Q4 to be up 2% from previous year. The company is set to release their brand new graphics card and technology [2] later this year, called Fermi. [1] http://www.firingsquad.com/news/newsarticle.asp?searchid=22287 [2] http://www.digitalbattle.com/2009/10/01/nvidia-reveals-next-gen-graphics-chip/ http://www.digitalbattle.com/2009/11/06/nvidia-posts-107m-profit-in-q3/ It appears that some European gamers have already [1] received their copy of Modern Warfare 2, a few days ahead of the official launch, as retailers LoveFilm and The Hut have already shipped them, in in hopes that they wouldn't get delayed in the postal systems. They haven't, in fact they're early. UK retailer HMV (among others, including GAME) said that they won't send the game out early, meaning those who pre-ordered will get theirs possible a day later than the release. Modern Warfare 2 will be released world wide on November 10. [1] http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/early-copies-of-mw2-break-street-date http://www.digitalbattle.com/2009/11/06/early-copies-of-modern-warfare-2-out-in-europe/ The newly merged mega-publisher Activision Blizzard just posted [1] their Q3 financial results, where they revealed profits of just $15 million on a whopping $703 million in sales, which as any businessman and wall street analyst will tell, isn't the best profit margin. The revenue increased almost $100 million compared to the same time last year, but that year, the company lost $108 million. Now $15 million doesn't seem like a bad thing at all. Activision Blizzard still expects sales to top $4 billion this year. [1] http://www.gamespot.com/news/6239235.html?part=rss&tag=gs_news&subj=6239235 http://www.digitalbattle.com/2009/11/06/activision-blizzard-posts-15m-profits-in-q3/ Star Trek Online has finally received a release date: February 2, 2010. The Star Trek based MMO is currently in closed beta to subscribers of Champions Online, and will receive an open beta in the upcoming months. The game allows you to join either the Federation or the Klingons as the commander of your own starship, go on missions and engage in combat with other ships. http://www.digitalbattle.com/2009/11/06/star-trek-online-shipping-on-february-2/ Publisher/developer Namco Bandai has posted [1] some rather dim results for the first half of 2009. The company lost $66 million, while it posted a profit of $14 million during the same period last year, so it's quite a decline, mostly attributed to lack of decent titles during the period. The company still expects sales to reach $94 million this year, fueled by Tekken 6, of which 2.5 million copies have already been shipped. [1] http://www.joystiq.com/2009/11/06/namco-bandai-posts-66-7-million-loss-for-first-half-of-year/ http://www.digitalbattle.com/2009/11/06/namco-bandai-posts-66m-loss-in-1h-2009/ Mario & Luigi have offered a little diversity (very little, by some accounts) to the never ending Mario based platform games. Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story is the third time Mario and his green dressed bro Luigi play as a team on the DS, this time, the story is weirder than ever, as the arch nemesis Bowser swallows the mushroom kingdom, including Mario, Luigi and all their buddies. Actually, the story is a bit more complicated, but we won't ruin it for you here. The gameplay is very similar to the last Mario & Luigi DS game, where you basically control both characters at the same time, with one button for Mario and another for Luigi. This time however, you control Bowser as well, and actually, you'll spend more time in the game playing as Bowser than Mario & Luigi, which might seem odd at first, but it feel quite natural. Yes, quite natural, controlling the antagonist. If you like the humor of the previous game, you'll be glad to know that it's back, and everything from Mario & Luigi's Italian murmur to the writing is just hilarious at times, even if you're a bit older than the age group this game was intended for. The visuals of the game are strictly 2D, with the old-school pixelated style, but it's very colorful and the use of the dual screen on the DS is take to its full advantage. The main levels are comprised like this: you stride through the levels until you meet an enemy, and then you duel it out, old school, turn based style. You then pick which attack to use, and hope for the best. Well, not really, each attack does require some skill and finesse, but once you've gotten a hold of it, it's very easy to do the simple attacks, while the more elaborate ones will require delicate timing to pull off. The game also includes a series of mini-games as well, which help break the main gameplay into larger chunks -- always a good idea with a lengthy campaign. For instance, there's a Space Invader-type game that helps boost Bowse's adrenaline, and there is a notable RPG element with badges that you can collect an equip Mario & Luigi, giving them added bonus to their abilities. Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story is a wonderful game that should satisfy a wide spectrum of DS owners, from kids to adults. The campaign lasts a good 20 hours, a solid chunk even for a Mario game, but the game has a tendency to repeat itself, especially during the end. Technically, it looks great, the sounds and music are top notch as well -- the whole game screams of great production value, which is hard to achieve, since it's still a "little" DS game. The Good: Great humor Wonderful gameplay Great story Top notch quality and polish The Bad: Not much innovation Can get repetitive Overall score: 9/10 http://www.digitalbattle.com/2009/11/05/mario-luigi-bowsers-inside-story-review/ One of the most disappointing things I encountered with Street Fighter IV [1] was the fact that it didn't feature the beloved car smashing bonus level. Well, with the announcement of Super Street Fighter IV [2] gamers yet again had some car bashing fun to look foward to, if the game was to include it, that is. Today we have confirmation that the bonus level will infact be included in the new title with the above screen shot showing it off. Super Street Fighter IV will be out for the Xbox 360 and PS3 on March 23rd, 2010. via [3] joystiq [1] http://digitalbattle.com/tag/street-fighter-iv [2] http://www.digitalbattle.com/2009/09/28/super-street-fighter-iv-announced/ [3] http://www.joystiq.com/2009/11/05/car-bashing-bonus-stage-in-super-street-fighter-iv/ http://www.digitalbattle.com/2009/11/05/super-street-fighter-iv-to-feature-car-smashing-bonus-level/ Up until now, we've heard almost nothing about Halo: Reach [1] other than the fact that Halo 3: ODST [2] owners would get access to the game's multiplayer beta. However, today we bring you screen shots of the game taken from, well, a screen. They aren't exactly high quality but they definitely give us a glimpse of what the graphics are to look like in the new title and I must say they definitely look on par with recent titles. When exactly will Halo: Reach hit store shelves? Your guess is as good as ours. Of course, I don't think Bungie [3] would appreciate us hosting the images so you're going to have to head here [4] to check them out. [1] http://digitalbattle.com/tag/halo-reach [2] http://digitalbattle.com/tag/odst [3] http://digitalbattle.com/tag/bungie [4] http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=378966 http://www.digitalbattle.com/2009/11/05/off-screen-screenshots-of-halo-reach/ It seems that Valve [1]'s soon to be released Left 4 Dead 2 [2] is gearing up for a successful launch as the developers have recently announced some interesting statistics. In a statement to CVG [3], Chet Faliszek said that Left 4 Dead 2 was pre-ordered 4 times as many as the original game. He comments further: “As we get closer to launch we see the reaction to the demo, people’s excitement, the boycott itself and how it’s changed… I think people are just excited now.” Yes, people are certainly excited, especially with the recent launch of the demo [4] and the game's quickly approaching November 17th release date. [1] http://digitalbattle.com/tag/valve [2] http://digitalbattle.com/tag/left-4-dead-2 [3] http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=226704 [4] http://www.digitalbattle.com/2009/11/03/left-4-dead-2-demo-hits-xbox-live/ http://www.digitalbattle.com/2009/11/05/left-4-dead-2-gets-pre-ordered-4x-as-much-as-original/ If you're looking to pick up Modern Warfare 2 [1] via Steam [2] on November 10th, you may want to consider altenative options. The game's Steam listing [3] was updated with a release date of November 13th, 2009 as you can see above. While there is a chance that this could be an error, there is also a chance that this may be true so you'll have to be careful which method you use to purchsae the game if you want to get it on release. As for the rest of us, we'll still be able to get Modern Warfare 2 on November 10th. [1] http://digitalbattle.com/tag/modern-warfare-2 [2] http://digitalbattle.com/tag/steam [3] http://store.steampowered.com/app/10180/ http://www.digitalbattle.com/2009/11/05/modern-warfare-2-delayed-on-steam/