A tasty trio of sci-fi delights has been released on Europe's Virtual Console this morning.
Metal Slug 2 (Neo Geo)Forgotten Worlds (Genesis)Space Invaders: The Original Game (SNES)Check back on Monday for the US releases. Have a weekend.
Developers Over The Top have revealed a new WiiWare game called Icarian: Kindred Spirits.
Set in the times of ancient Greece, you play as Nyx, a winged girl who has descended from the heavens in search of her missing pal Icarus.
Partly similar to LostWinds, the Gods gift you with powers to control elements of nature, like the wind and sun rays. Hazards include blazing sands and harpies (that's a bird/woman mutant, not a disease). Early screenshots are now up.
This is the cover art for Professor Heinz Wolff's Gravity, a fun looking puzzle title. Please note however, that gravity wasn't discovered by this guy.
To celebrate Black Friday (the day after thanksgiving), Nintendo are bringing out two limited edition DS Lite bundles.
The first one is red, with a Mario logo imprinted on the front. It comes with a copy of New Super Mario Bros.
The other is ice blue, it's boxed in with Brain Age and seemingly some kind of wallet thing.
If you're an European Nintendo fan and you haven't already turned your stars into Wii Points, the rewards catalog has something to offer you: The official Super Mario Galaxy soundtrack on CD. It comes in two different flavors:
Publishers Eidos have come up with two potential workarounds for the missing lever glitch found in the Wii version of Tomb Raider Underworld.
Solution 1: Revert back to a previous save and play through again.
Solution 2: If you use an SD card you can download a save file from Eidos' website.
Download the save file.Unzip "20081124 TRU Wii NTSC save.rar".Place the contents of the zip onto your SD card.While the Wii is powered off, insert the SD card.Power on the Wii, without the game disc in.Choose Wii Options -> Select Save Data -> Select Wii -> Select SD Card.Select the TR:Underworld file and then the option copy to Wii memory.After the save is copied, remove the SD card and reboot the Wii console.Start your game normally and load the save file.Note that if you use this save file, any treasures you've collected will unfortunately be lost.
The day after Thanksgiving might be known to holiday shoppers as "Black Friday," but this year Nintendo is rewarding eager consumers with two brilliant splashes of color. On Nov. 28, Nintendo will release a duo of limited-edition Nintendo DS bundles, each pairing a Nintendo DS game title with a hand-held system in a bold new color. The Mario Red Nintendo DS bundle includes a red system emblazoned with a familiar M for Mario, and a copy of New Super Mario Bros. The Ice Blue Nintendo DS comes with a custom carrying case and the popular Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day. Each bundle sells at an MSRP of $149.99.
Expected to rank high on holiday wish lists among first-time gamers and veteran players alike, the Mario Red and Ice Blue systems are the latest additions to Nintendo's rich palette of distinctive Nintendo DS colors. As people across the nation make their way to malls and retailers for pre-holiday sales and events, shoppers are encouraged to act fast if they want to get their hands on these limited-edition bundles.
"Nintendo DS is both the most affordable and the most popular video game system in this generation," said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. "These limited-edition bundles make great gifts for first-time Nintendo DS players and collectors alike."
The Mario Red and Ice Blue DS bundles won't be the only stocking stuffers this season. Nintendo also aims to brighten the season for core and new gamers with its growing selection of Nintendo DS games. Pokmon Ranger: Shadows of Almia and Kirby Super Star Ultra are already in demand among casual gamers and younger players. The new Personal Trainer: Cooking helps people become masterful chefs. And Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir keeps friends and families enthralled with a series of unique seek-and-solve puzzles.
For more information about Nintendo DS, visit www.NintendoDS.com.
According to reports going around, the Wii version of Tomb Raider Underworld has a game breaking glitch which crops up in some cases, making it impossible to continue further.
The problem arises near the end of the Coastal Thailand area, where an important lever sometimes fails to appear.
A number of users on the game's official forum have run into the same issue, but so far Eidos has neglected to comment on a solution.
Last month, Sega teamed up with VE Studio to create this animation short called The Night of the Werehog, which has now been released onto the web.
It might have made more sense for this to come out on Halloween, but that's life.
If you want people to know what gifts you want for the holidays, you need to speak up. And who better to help you speak up about your love for Nintendo DS games than iconic Nintendo video game character Mario himself?
Starting today, people can visit http://mariowishlist.varitalk.com and check off the Nintendo DS items they hope to receive for the holidays. After users provide some other fun information, your friend, relative or special someone will receive a voice mail or e-mail with a personalized message from Mario about what Nintendo DS gifts you hope to receive.
To provide even more shopping support, Nintendo's holiday Web site is there to help both gift-givers and gift-getters streamline their shopping lists, by offering information about Nintendo DS systems and games. To check it out, go to http://giftcenter.nintendo.com. If you're the one doing the shopping, you can browse through the holiday Web site based on the type of gifts enjoyed by the person you're shopping for, such as the Mario fan, the music groupie or the puzzle fanatic.
But let's say you're the one doing the receiving. The holiday Web site will help you build a wish list and send it as a hint to your loved ones in an e-card with special holiday designs. This feature will be available through the end of December.
For more information about Nintendo, please visit www.Nintendo.com.
A new software title for Nintendo DS turns the world's best-selling portable video game system into an interactive cooking coach, complete with tasty recipes and video demos. Personal Trainer: Cooking for Nintendo DS contains more than 240 dishes from dozens of countries around the world. The DS Chef, a friendly electronic cooking instructor, walks users through each step to make sure every dish comes out perfect and delicious.
Personal Trainer: Cooking even includes videos of various cooking techniques, such as how to properly julienne vegetables. The touch screen interface helps budding chefs check ingredients on an electronic shopping list they can take to the grocery store. It also lets them search recipes based on ingredients, number of calories or cooking time. When a user's hands are too covered in the business of cooking to use the touch screen, the voice-recognition feature comes in handy: Just tell the DS Chef to move on to the next step or repeat the last one.
"Personal Trainer: Cooking is the first in a new line of Personal Trainer titles from Nintendo designed to help users enrich their lives and learn new skills in fun and interesting ways," said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. "Whether you're cooking for yourself, your family or your friends, everyone in the household benefits from these tasty recipes for months and years to come."
Personal Trainer: Cooking also builds on the social aspect of food as well. Roommates can try out recipes together, or parents can involve their children in preparing dishes for the family. With a tap, users can even scale the quantity of their recipes based on the number of guests they expect.
Users can customize their favorite recipes. For instance, if a user thinks a recipe tastes better with a pinch of oregano, he or she can jot that note directly onto the recipe using the Nintendo DS stylus and touch screen, and it'll be saved for the next time the dish is prepared.
In 2009, Nintendo will build on its Personal Trainer series with Personal Trainer: Math and Personal Trainer: Walking. For more information about Personal Trainer: Cooking, visit www.PersonalTrainerCooking.com.
In a recent interview, Gabe Newell the co-founder of Valve Software expressed a keen interest in researching brain data of players while they're gaming.
"One of the areas we're really interested in is testing biometrics on player state. There are new technologies where we can wire players up with EEGs and actually have direct exposure to their physical reactions to the games".
Good thinking, or science gone bad?
Three more downloadable titles for Wii have been released, two of them are WiiWare games and one disgusting Virtual Console classic.
Boingz (WiiWare)Sudoku Challenge (WiiWare)Boogerman: A Pick and Flick Adventure (Genesis)Probably the most exciting game there is Boingz from RealArcade. It's a puzzle-platformer with 30 levels, based in an alien world. Check out the game's page for some screens.
A whopping four WiiWare games have hit Europe and Australia this morning:
Strong Bad Episode 3: Baddest of the Bands (WiiWare)Pool Revolution: Cue Sports (WiiWare)Art Style: CUBELLO (WiiWare)Yummy Yummy Cooking Jam (WiiWare)In other news, I finished Mega Man 9 last night. High 5. See you Monday and have a good weekend.
In a press release earlier today, Yuke's revealed Evasive Space for WiiWare.
It's an action adventure title set in space. You take control of a ship and pilot it through a variety of mazes and environments. The game comprises of four distinct acts, the first two being "Crystal World" and "Fire World".
Evasive Space will be selling for 1,000 Points. No release date has been set, but some screenshots are now up.
An article on Variety has revealed that EA is working on a Boom Blox sequel.
The original game conceived by Steven Spielberg was a critical success and has been enjoying steady sales, so it's not too surprising that "Boom Blox 2" (working title) is in development.
Good news.. right?
This is the European box art for Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop from Capcom.
Burger King restaurants across the US are stocking a range of kids meals which include Nintendo themed toys. The characters featured are:
MarioYoshiPrincess PeachDonkey KongDiddy KongBooChain ChompLumaSamus
Animal rights organization PETA has taken objection to the Cooking Mama series of games available on Nintendo platforms. They feel that more vegetarian recipes should be included, or even an entire game could be dedicated to the cause.
This has resulted in PETA creating a spoof mini-game based in Flash. It can be 'played' on their website.
Poor mama, does she deserve to be portrayed in such a negative light?
Tecmo has released a trailer for their latest Wii game SPRay. You play as Ray, a young prince determined to overthrow the evil queen and take back the kingdom.
To do this Ray has the assistance of spirits. These spirits have spraying ability, and they know how to use it. Think Super Mario Sunshine but with more varieties of liquid. Unfortunately Nintendo Power magazine rated SPRay a 3/10, so it's probably not a winner.
Club Nintendo over in Japan has some more interesting gifts available to platinum members.
Wii and Nintendo DS topped the U.S. sales charts and combined to sell more than 1.29 million units in October. Nintendo sold 803,210 Wii consoles and 491,176 Nintendo DS systems in October, according to the independent NPD Group, which tracks video game sales in the United States. These figures bring the lifetime U.S. sales for Wii to more than 13.35 million and Nintendo DS to more than 23.02 million, extending their leads as the best-selling hardware of this generation.
Nintendo's total hardware unit sales represent a 25.7 percent increase over October 2007. They also account for 59.3 percent of the industry's total hardware unit sales.
Wii Fit, the game that combines fun and fitness, sold nearly half a million copies in the United States in October, six months after it launched. The lifetime U.S. sales for Wii Fit now total more than 2.83 million.
"Nintendo provides consumers with the best value not only among video games, but also among most entertainment options," said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. "Nintendo also provides an incomparable range of experiences that everyone can enjoy, whether you've been playing for years or are just getting into video games."
Three games made for Nintendo systems placed in the top five best-selling games of the month, including Wii Fit at No. 2 with 487,234 copies sold, Mario Kart Wii at No. 4 with 289,869 copies sold and Wii Play at No. 5 with 281,844 copies sold.
For more information about Nintendo, please visit www.Nintendo.com.
Live musical performances have always been a fun part of the holidays. This year, Nintendo will be making spirits bright at family destinations and retail locations across the country with bands of street performers demonstrating Wii Music.
Now through the end of the month, the family trio of music-makers will entertain shoppers by turning the Wii console into a musical instrument with Wii Music, the new music game from Nintendo. Wii Music contains more than 50 songs and lets players use more than 60 different instruments to make their music, from melodic steel drums to soaring trumpets. To play, players simply use the Wii Remote and Nunchuk controllers to make the same motions they would with a real instrument: Strum a guitar or pound the keys of a piano. The game challenges players to transform improvised notes into great music, while enabling the freedom to customize your song, instrument, genre, tempo and stage.
To find out where the street performers will be each weekend in November, please visit www.WiiMusic.com. This weekend's lineup is as follows:
Nov. 15-16
Atlanta: Perimeter Mall Toys "R" Us
Boston: Natick Collection
Chicago: Water Tower Place
Dallas: West Village
Los Angeles: The Commons (Calabasas, Calif.)
New York: South Street Seaport
San Francisco: Stonestown Galleria
Washington, D.C.: The Market Common Clarendon (Arlington, Va.)
Some footage from Sonic Unleashed by Sega. This video is specific to the Wii version. Apparently this level is called "Holoska".
The penultimate episode of the Strong Bad series hits WiiWare today in the US, along with some other gubbins.
Strong Bad Episode 4: Dangeresque 3 (WiiWare)Target Toss Pro: Bags (WiiWare)Space Invaders: The Original Game (SNES)Forgotten Worlds (Genesis)Euro/Australian Virtual Console and WiiWare updates are on Friday.
In some press releases earlier tonight, Hudson announced three new games coming to WiiWare.
Snowboard Riot is a snowboarding game with a twist, you can use weapons to take out other players. These include homing bullets, mines and invisibility. Online play is supported for up to four people. The Wii Balance Board can also be used to control the game.
Pit Crew Panic puts you in charge of an all-female crew of mechanics, your task to fix whatever comes into the pit, be it a toilet, a bridge or an aircraft carrier. Tools like screwdrivers and wrenches are handled using the Wiimote, up to four players are supported (online or offline).
Pool Revolution: Cue Sports is set to be the first pool game you can take online to challenge others with. 8-ball, 9-ball and snooker are all in there. In terms of controls, you use the Wii Remote like you would a pool cue. Power can be determined by how fast you shoot, or you can set it by a button if you choose.
No release dates have been stated, but early screenshots of the first two are now up.
Good morning, a strong duo of games have been released today on the Euro/Aussie Virtual Console.
Mega Man 3 (NES)Phantasy Star 4: The End of the Millennium (Genesis)Have a good weekend and come back all fresh-faced on Monday for the US releases.
Popular Franchise Makes its Portable Debut with Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir
There's a mystery afoot, and only someone with a keen eye and attention to detail can solve it. Today's launch of Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir brings a new style of puzzle-solving adventure game to the portable Nintendo DS. The game begins with instant intrigue: Eccentric millionaire Phil T. Rich has disappeared and only you – the Master Detective – can find him. Players progress through an interactive detective story, visiting more than 30 richly illustrated environments to find more than 1,000 cleverly hidden objects in an effort to find the rightful heir to Phil T. Rich's fortune.
"Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir is an interactive seek-and-solve scavenger hunt that everyone can enjoy," said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. "The compelling story paired with the enchanting graphics and unique seek-and-solve style of game play will appeal to hard-core gamers, casual gamers and franchise fans alike."
Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir is part of the popular Big Fish Games franchise. This new mystery was developed exclusively for Nintendo DS.
"Our partnership with Nintendo is very exciting. The game play in Mystery Case Files is perfectly suited for the touch screen," said Patrick Wylie, Big Fish Games' vice president of Studios. "Just tap it with the stylus to find objects, rub it to brush dust off of evidence or use the microphone to clear cobwebs."
Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir is a fun addition to family game night. Using multiplayer modes, players can challenge up to three Nintendo DS owners to see who can find the most objects or work cooperatively to solve a puzzle.
To top off a "MillionHeir" look, players may want to pick up the newly released Metallic Silver-colored Nintendo DS.
Nintendo has even more good news for fans of puzzles, games and mysteries. Today Nintendo will re-release both Clubhouse Games and Hotel Dusk: Room 215 for Nintendo DS. Clubhouse Games is a collection of more than 20 classics, like chess, poker and darts. Up to eight players can join in on the action. For some grittier action, check into Hotel Dusk: Room 215, a film noir-type detective story that puts players in the middle of the novel. Players even hold their Nintendo DS systems sideways like a book. Engage in conversations and unravel the clues until you figure out what really happened in Room 215.
For more information about Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir, visit www.nintendo.com/mcf.
Women who prefer the hottest designer handbags draped over their arms will now be able to have the hottest portable video game system at their fingertips as well. Nintendo has partnered with From Bags to Riches, a popular online handbag-rental service, to include stylish and colorful Nintendo DS systems and games with some rentals through the end of 2008.
From Bags to Riches subscribers will have the chance to borrow a Nintendo DS and games, free of charge, with a 30-day rental of one of From Bags to Riches' featured handbags from such coveted designers as Prada, Tory Burch, Gucci and Juicy Couture. Consumers can choose the handbag and Nintendo DS that best suit their taste on FromBagstoRiches.com. After the conclusion of the rental period, consumers simply return the Nintendo DS along with the bag.
The designer handbags will be accompanied by a variety of chic Nintendo DS colors, including Metallic Silver, Metallic Rose, Onyx, Crimson/Black or Cobalt/Black. Subscribers will also be able to select from a collection of popular games such as Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir, Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day and Nintendogs.
"In today's fashion world, carrying customized accessories means everything," said Kara Richter, CEO and founder of From Bags to Riches. "With the addition of the stylish Nintendo DS, Nintendo brings to fashion accessories what Prada brought to stylish messenger bags."
"Almost half the Nintendo DS systems sold in the United States last year belong to women," said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. "With From Bags to Riches, we can help the growing population of female gamers test drive some great Nintendo DS games – and look good while they're doing it."
More information about the promotion can be found at www.frombagstoriches.com. For more information about Nintendo DS, visit www.NintendoDS.com.
About Nintendo: The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii and Nintendo DS systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo has sold nearly 2.7 billion video games and more than 470 million hardware units globally, including the current-generation Wii and Nintendo DS, as well as the Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, Super NES, Nintendo 64 and Nintendo GameCube. It has also created industry icons that have become well-known, household names such as Mario, Donkey Kong, Metroid, Zelda and Pokmon. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo's operations in the Western Hemisphere. For more information about Nintendo, visit the company's Web site at www.nintendo.com.
About From Bags to Riches: Since launching in 2004, the company has seen tremendous success and expects the future to continue to skyrocket. With offices located in St. Paul, Minnesota, the retailer is run by founders Kara Richter and Samuel Mangiere. More information about renting luxury designer handbags and the partnership with Nintendo can be accessed at www.frombagstoriches.com.
The official NPD numbers are in for US console sales during October.
Nintendo Wii - 803,000Nintendo DS - 491,000Xbroke 360 - 371,000PSPastic - 193,000Sony BS3 - 190,000Sweet, that's an even bigger hammering than usual. Wii consoles may be hard to get hold of again this xmas, buy early!
Greg Joswiak from Apple Inc has spoken out about the gaming capabilities of their iPhone and iPod Touch products.
"There are already so many games for the iPhone and iPod Touch, and as we look at it, to us, it really seems this is the future of gameplay. Whereas a lot of these devices like Nintendo DS and Sony PSP are more in the past. The computer power and the 3D graphic power here is significantly greater, so this allows people to do higher quality games".
Greater 3d graphic power? Wow! That sounds all kinds of awesome. Shigsy just peed his Japanese pants, Nintendo's days are numbered.
The new Animal Crossing: City Folk game for the Wii console launches Nov. 16, allowing players to move into fun communities, customize their surroundings and interact with hundreds of animal characters. The world is filled with possibilities, and players never run out of things to do. They can collect more than 2,400 items like shells, fossils and bugs, or design new clothing patterns that they can share with their friends.
The new "city" area of the game provides access to the latest fashions and offers players the ability to give their character a Mii makeover at the hair salon, which transforms the character's features to look like the player's Mii. Players can also put items up for auction in the city and bid on items others want to sell.
"Animal Crossing: City Folk is all about building communities, customizing your world and staying in touch with friends and other characters," said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. "There's no ending, so people can keep playing for months and even years. It's an experience that everyone in the household can share together."
Up to four people can create characters and move into the same town. And using the Wii Speak accessory, players can voice chat with friends and family members around the world. The microphone sits atop the TV set and captures the voice of everyone in the room, providing for a more communal experience. People can now get together to chat with their distant loved ones, which is especially meaningful when they can't be together for the holidays. The microphone can also be used with the upcoming Wii Speak Channel, which launches in December.
The Animal Crossing: City Folk calendar passes in real time, so climates along with bugs and fish change with the seasons. Players can catch fireflies in the summer or celebrate Harvest Festival in the fall. If players use Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection to meet up with friends in other countries, they will experience the holidays native to the friends' cultures.
Animal Crossing: City Folk is a great value for the holidays because it can be enjoyed by everyone. The game never ends, which gives players months - or even years - of exploring and interacting with their virtual community.
Animal Crossing: City Folk retails at an MSRP of $49.99 and the Wii Speak accessory is sold separately at an MSRP of $29.99. Bundles of the game and accessory are also available at an MSRP of $69.99.
Animal Crossing remains one of Nintendo's most popular franchises. The original Animal Crossing for Nintendo GameCube sold more than 1.55 million copies in the United States alone, while the Nintendo DS version, Animal Crossing: Wild World, sold more than 1.75 million in the United States.
Remember that Wii features parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about this and other Wii features, visit Wii.com. For more information about Animal Crossing: City Folk, visit Animal-Crossing.com.
With gold medal fever still fresh in American viewers' minds, Nintendo and Nickelodeon are giving fitness fans another heart-pumping event to cheer about. Olympic skating champion Kristi Yamaguchi will host the finals of the first-ever Wii Fit Family Challenge, a fun-packed competition in which three families will compete for the title of Wii Fit Fittest Family by proving their prowess at Nintendo's innovative Wii Fit. Highlights from the Challenge will air on Oct. 9 on Nick at Nite, interspersed between its prime time programming.
The Wii Fit Family Challenge will feature teams twisting and tilting atop the motion-sensing Wii Balance Board in a series of aerobic, yoga, strength training and balancing activities. Finalists in this extraordinary competition have already been awarded a Wii video game system, Wii Fit software from Nintendo and a Nickelodeon expense-paid trip to Orlando for the Sept. 17 event taping.
The Nickelodeon Family Suites in Orlando, Fla., plays host to this entertaining and interactive fitness showdown, culminating in the crowning of the Wii Fit Fittest Family, who'll win a Nickelodeon and Nintendo grand prize package.
Nintendo's Wii Fit has already sold more than 1.8 million units in the United States alone since its May 19 release. With the included Wii Balance Board accessory, the game lets every member of the household enjoy a personalized at-home workout, and track progress over time.
For more information about the Wii Fit Family Challenge, please visit www.WiiFitFamilyChallenge.com.
EA has put out a video showing off its own exercise game carrying the branding EA Sports Active, though that may not be the actual title.
Clearly hoping to cash in as an alternative to Wii Fit, it will retail for around half the price at $60. The exercises involve strapping the Wiimote or Nunchuk to your leg, two of these special straps will be packed in. There's also a "resistance band" which is used in some activities.
You're given an on-screen personal trainer to guide you through your program (and perhaps yell generic slogans at you). A variety of settings are available, but the game recommends at least 20 minutes of usage per day.
Exclusive to the Nintendo Wii, you can expect to see this on shelves in March.
Opera, the makers of Wii's web browser have been talking about its next version 2.0. It's set to feature a few things you might find useful, including a "tab cube" (seen above) which can hold up to 6 separate pages.
Tab cube holds 6 tabs, can be made invisible.New buttons style.Wii Speak Compatibility.Read your Wii mail from inside the browser.It's scheduled for release in December. Note that this is an update to the existing browser, if you already have it then it's free. Otherwise you will need to pay 500 Points.
The new in-game voice chat function for Animal Crossing™: City Folk will be ready to go as soon as the game launches on Nov. 16, using the Wii Speak™ accessory. A separate Wii Speak™ Channel that people can use to chat independent of Animal Crossing: City Folk will be available in December.
The new voice chat function makes use of the new Wii Speak accessory, a microphone that sits on top of the television and allows entire rooms of people to communicate with one another. Only users who have traded Friend Codes can connect with one another using Wii Speak. The accessory is sold separately at an MSRP of $29.99 and will also be available as a bundle with Animal Crossing: City Folk at select retailers at an MSRP of $69.99. The Wii Speak accessory comes with a code that lets users download the Wii Speak Channel from the Wii Shop Channel at no charge.
The Wii Speak Channel will allow friends and family members to chat with one another, whether they live across town or across the globe. When users are chatting with the Wii Speak Channel, they can see each other's Mii™ characters representing them on the television screen.
Remember that Wii features parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about this and other Wii features, visit Wii.com. For more information about Nintendo, please visit www.Nintendo.com.
You'll find a food-themed game to tempt your tummy, a challenging brain game to please your noggin and a classic sci-fi action title to fuel your imagination. Whatever the recipe, you're sure to come back for seconds-and thirds, and fourths, and beyond.
Nintendo adds new and classic games to the Wii Shop Channel at 9 a.m. Pacific time every Monday. Wii owners with a high-speed Internet connection can redeem Wii Points to download the games. Wii Points can be purchased in the Wii Shop Channel or at retail outlets. This week's new games are:
WiiWare
Brain Challenge (Gameloft, 1-4 players, Rated E for Everyone, 1,000 Wii Points): Just like your body, your brain needs to be exercised to stay in shape. Boost your brain and relieve stress through various minigames in a personal session to get a detailed evaluation. Challenge your friends' brains in delirious party games to see who is the smartest. Test your brain's abilities in Visual, Memory, Logic, Math and Focus minigames. Compare yourself with friends by challenging their brains in three multiplayer modes. Develop your resistance to stressful situations that could happen in real life. Use a customized Mii character to create personal sessions. Choose your favorite personal coach. Track your overall performance with detailed statistics and graphs. The special Kid Test and Senior Test modes will gather everyone around the game.
Yummy Yummy Cooking Jam (Virtual Toys, 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone-Animated Blood, Comic Mischief, 1,000 Wii Points): Yummy Yummy Cooking Jam is a frenetically active cooking game in which you must serve food to your customers as quickly as possible. This could be a simple task, but the customers aren't very patient, and you'll find a multitude of annoying insects that make the noble mission of satisfying your small gourmets' stomachs much more difficult. In the game's Career Mode, your goal is to become the best chef in the city. To do so, you have to prove your worth by cooking in four fantastic restaurants: the Hot Dog, Hamburger, Pizza and Mexican Restaurant. Enjoy playing Yummy Yummy with your family, serving delicious food to the most surprising characters: vampires, ninjas, extraterrestrials and mafia thugs. Put on your chef's hat, sharpen your knives and turn up the heat.
Virtual Console
Mega Man 3 (NES, 1 player, Rated E for Everyone-Mild Cartoon Violence, 500 Wii Points): In the year 200X, the notorious Dr. Wily, now reformed and working for the forces of good, works hand-in-hand with Dr. Light to build a new type of peacekeeping robot. When a new set of eight Robot Masters escapes the lab to wreak havoc on the world at large, only Mega Man can save the day. This time, Mega Man must rely on his new slide move and canine companion Rush to conquer the stages and vanquish evil. A new character, Proto Man, adds to the mystery and appeal of this seminal title in the famous action-game series.
For more information about Wii, please visitwii.com.
For the latest WiiWare games, click here.
Click here for a list of games available on Virtual Console.
According to 2D Boy's official website, World of Goo will be heading to WiiWare in Europe after all.
The previous plan was to release the game on a disc at retail with some extra content. But now, the developers say that wouldn't have been fair to consumers and have decided to take the downloadable route instead.
Europe's version is to be the same one North America got, and as such the pricing will likely remain the same at 1500 Points. It's unknown what, if anything, will happen to the extra content that was made. Maybe an addon pack or something would be good.
The Wiimote may have Bluetooth connectivity, but reader Inoges has written in saying that their remote's jacket and some parts of the Nunchuk have literally turned blue.
Has anyone else experienced this strange phenomenon? The truth is out there.
The new Pokmon™ Ranger: Shadows of Almia action-adventure game for Nintendo DS™ launches today and lets players capture Pokmon in a fun, new way: by circling them on the touch screen with a "Capture Styler." Capturing a Pokmon allows players to use its abilities to overcome various obstacles and challenges they face along the way. As the game progresses the stylus-controlled Capture Styler is upgraded with new abilities.
"The first Pokmon games launched in the United States more than 10 years ago, and new fans are created every day," said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. "To date, the Pokmon franchise has sold more than 60 million games in the United States. Pokmon Ranger: Shadows of Almia gives fans new challenges and new adventures."
In Pokmon Ranger: Shadows of Almia, players take on the role of a Pokmon Ranger, who works to help people, Pokmon and nature. Along the way, players meet and capture all kinds of different Pokmon who can help them overcome various challenges, such as fighting wildfires, rescuing people or delivering important packages. Different Pokmon have different powers that can help players as they progress through the game.
Players get to travel through a larger land, go on more Missions and experience more adventures than in the original Pokmon Ranger game. The game is set in Almia, a new region that has locations such as oceans, forests and deserts not found in the original game. Players can start the game as a boy or girl Ranger, and add up to 17 Partner Pokmon (special Pokmon that remain with the Ranger even after their powers are used) to their team as the game progresses. Pokmon Ranger: Shadows of Almia features Pokmon from the Pokmon Diamond version and Pokmon Pearl version games (each sold separately).
For more information about Pokmon Ranger: Shadows of Almia, visit www.PokemonRanger.com.
Nintendo's nationwide mall invasion continues in full force. Already thousands of people across the country have seen and experienced the wide variety of Wii™ games available for the holidays. And later this month, Nintendo will give weary mall shoppers a break with massages, a relaxing atmosphere and fun Nintendo DS™ games.
Since Oct. 31, malls nationwide have included a nine-screen Wii presence featuring game demos and interactive game play. The Wii area helps people get the scoop on all the cool Wii games for the holidays and beyond, including Wii Music™, Wii Sports™, Mario Kart™ Wii, Mario™ Super Sluggers, Wario Land™: Shake It! and Super Smash Bros.™ Brawl. The Wii experience will be available through Dec. 29 at the following malls:
Brea Mall in Brea, Calif. Gurnee Mills in Gurnee, Ill. Oxford Valley Mall in Langhorne, Pa. Stoneridge Shopping Center in Pleasanton, Calif. Northshore Mall in Peabody, Mass. Mall of Georgia in Buford, Ga. The Galleria in Houston Arrowhead Towne Center in Glendale, Ariz. Tacoma Mall in Tacoma, Wash. Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn. Dadeland Mall in Miami FlatIron Crossing in Broomfield, Colo. Ross Park Mall in Pittsburgh Washington Square in Tigard, Ore. Concord Mills in Concord, N.C. Castleton Square in Indianapolis The Streets at Southpoint in Durham, N.C. Opry Mills in Nashville, Tenn. Independence Center in Independence, Mo. Kenwood Towne Centre in Cincinnati Mayfair in Wauwatosa, Wis. Fashion Place in Murray, Utah North Star Mall in San Antonio Cottonwood Mall in Albuquerque, N.M. Barton Creek Square in Austin, TexasAnd for people who have run themselves ragged while shopping, it's Nintendo DS to the rescue. Between Nov. 24 and Dec. 8, shoppers at six locations can look for the Nintendo DS spa area, which will provide an oasis of relaxation amid the chaos of holiday shopping. Visitors will be treated to cushy chairs, brief massages and the chance to de-stress by playing some Nintendo DS games. The menu of available games includes Brain Age™ 2: More Training in Minutes a Day, Mario Kart™ DS, Mystery Case Files™: MillionHeir™, Nintendogs™, New Super Mario Bros.™ and Crosswords DS. Participating malls include:
Bridgewater Commons in Bridgewater, N.J. Westfield Topanga in Canoga Park, Calif. Stonebriar Centre in Frisco, Texas Westfield Valley Fair in San Jose, Calif. Natick Collection in Natick, Mass. Lenox Square in AtlantaFor more information about Nintendo, please visit www.Nintendo.com.
Wanna check out the fireworks? This is a commercial for Animal Crossing: City Folk on Wii. It shows off the use of Wii Speak, Nintendo's solution for voice chatting.
Telltale Games has revealed that Trogdor the Burninator will be appearing in the fifth and last episode of the Strong Bad series on WiiWare.
Introduced in 2003, the immensely popular Trogdor is a dragon with a muscly human arm, his main interests include burning peasants and their cottages.
Free Radical Design, the developers behind TimeSplitters has put up another poll pertaining to Nintendo Wii games. It asks:
What would you like to see on Wii?More regular games like on other consoles.More games using peripherals like the balance board.More short, 'pick up & play' games.Nothing. I'm bored of Wii.Previously Wii won the poll for getting TimeSplitters 4 with 36% of the votes (but that's not to say we'll get it). If you'd like to have your say this time around, go and vote here.
In some venues, silver is the color of second place. For Nintendo DS, silver is No. 1. Starting Sept. 7, Metallic Silver joins the Nintendo DS color palette. The new Metallic Silver version makes a nice addition to any tech collection, whether you're a gadget hipster or fashionista. Watch for the Metallic Silver DS to be featured in the new upcoming Nintendo DS print ad featuring actress Liv Tyler.
Millions of people around the world, from core gamers to new players, have discovered Nintendo DS. Some like to play traditional games like New Super Mario Bros., Mario Kart DS or The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. Others use it to train their brains with Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day or solve puzzles with Crosswords DS. With a library of more than 600 games in every conceivable genre, there's a game or experience for everyone.
Wii Fit got even more people interested in fun and fitness.
Now Wii Music builds on that inclusive legacy by letting people turn their living rooms into fun concert halls. It brings the experience of performing music to people who think learning an instrument is too difficult. Wii Music launches exclusively for the Wii console on Oct. 20 and aims to bring a deeper love and appreciation of music to everyone.
Players can improvise jams on the fly with more than 60 instruments. You will find rock favorites like the electric guitar; orchestra standards like trumpet, saxophone and clarinet; and even international instruments like steel drums, marimba and sitar. Players simply select their instruments, and then move their Wii Remote and Nunchuk controllers as though they were playing the real thing. Wii Music turns players' movements into great music, even if you've never picked up an instrument before.
Budding musicians can play along to the beat of a diverse array of more than 50 songs from a variety of genres including popular, licensed, classical and Nintendo songs. Or players can improvise by adding new beats or creative twists to the songs. The combinations are endless, and it's all for the joy of creating fun new tunes.
Once players have their song the way they like it, they can forward it to friends who are also playing Wii Music via the Wii Message Board. Those friends can then put their own spin on the tune and send it back – or pass it along to their friends.
For more information about Wii Music, please visit www.WiiMusic.com.
Publishers Namco have posted up the impressive intro video to Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World. The story continues from the first one on GameCube, so if you played that you should recognize some of the characters.
Fans of the Samurai Shodown fighting series should be pleased to hear there's a compilation disc heading to Wii in Samurai Shodown Anthology. The box art looks like this:
Two WiiWare games added today, along with an 8-bit classic for Virtual Console.
Brain Challenge (WiiWare)Yummy Yummy Cooking Jam (WiiWare)Mega Man 3 (NES)Euro/Aussie updates on Friday.
New Wii Game Features 40+ Characters, Raucous Baseball Action
Today Nintendo is calling on its star player to step into the batter's box and hit one out of the park with the launch of Mario Super Sluggers. The new baseball game for the Wii console lets players use the Wii Remote controller to mimic motions they might experience on a real baseball diamond. Just swing the Wii Remote like a bat or make a pitching motion to throw a pitch. This wild, Mario-styled take on baseball includes more than 40 playable characters from the Nintendo universe, and players can even use their Mii characters in some modes.
"Mario Super Sluggers has enough depth for core gamers but also offers controls that are instantly accessible to everyone," said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. "Mario Super Sluggers takes the fun into extra innings with cool characters, baseball-themed challenges and different control options for novice and experienced gamers."
The single-player mode lets players visit Baseball Kingdom, where they encounter characters with different baseball skills. Players must defeat them in a variety of challenges to persuade the characters to join their team - and the characters that people choose are important. Team captains can perform special moves on the field. For example, Mario can pitch a wicked fireball, while Luigi can turn infield hits into a tornado. Just as in the real world, some players play better together than others: Different character combinations result in good chemistry for a team. In the world of Mario Super Sluggers, this could result in amazing catches in the outfield or the ability to interfere with fielders.
Multiplayer modes let up to four people compete at once. In Toy Field mode, for example, up to four players compete in a hitting and fielding extravaganza. Or just choose your players and play an exhibition game against friends.
To celebrate the launch of Mario Super Sluggers, Nintendo is giving the characters in the game the big-league treatment by creating a series of special baseball cards. These online cards can be found on a variety of Web sites and collected by users on a special album site. Pairing some players together creates a "Double Play" that unlocks bonuses like game videos and screensavers. Just as with real-life baseball cards, fans can collect multiple versions of the same card and trade them online for other cards they need. The more cards a person collects, the more bonuses and secrets they can unlock.
Remember that Wii features parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about this and other Wii features, visit Wii.com.
For more information about Mario Super Sluggers, visit www.MarioSuperSluggers.com.
Nintendo and its favorite antagonist, Wario, have teamed up with Six Flags to take over 10 theme parks throughout the country this September. In celebration of the release of Wario Land: Shake It!, the new game for the Wii console, Nintendo will be giving park guests the opportunity to check out the game and win prizes.
Wario Land: Shake It! plays like a classic side-scroller, but incorporates motion-controlled elements: Players shake the Wii Remote controller to help Wario shake down enemies for coins or tilt it to help him decide where to toss them. The game launches exclusively for Wii on Sept. 22.
"Wario Land: Shake It! is a game that everyone from veterans to newcomers can enjoy," said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. "Partnering with Six Flags to bring the title to theme parks nationwide is a great opportunity for consumers to experience the game and rediscover the franchise at a place that is designed for fun."
As part of the theme park takeover, Wario Land: Shake It! game-play interactives will be available at the 10 Six Flags parks' Wii Experience areas to allow Wario fans and park guests the chance to experience the game first-hand and reconnect with the long-running Wario franchise.
In addition, on Sept. 27, Nintendo will host a competition at two Six Flags locations: Six Flags Magic Mountain near Los Angeles and Six Flags St. Louis. Running concurrently at both parks, competitors will play through a level in Wario Land: Shake It! as fast as they can, just as Wario must race through various levels in the game. At the end of the competition, the player with the best overall time will be Nintendo's guest on a holiday trip to New York and a visit to the Nintendo World store. In addition, one person at each park with the best overall time will win a "Bottomless Coin Sack" containing:
a Wii system and a copy of Wario Land: Shake It! a Nintendo DS system a gift certificate for Six Flags merchandise fun premium itemsRemember that Wii features parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about this and other Wii features, visit Wii.com.
For more information about Wario Land: Shake It!, visit www.WarioLandShakeIt.com.
Participating Parks and dates include:
Six Flags Great Adventure (Jackson, N.J.) – 9/27-28, 10/4-5, 10/11-12
Six Flags Magic Mountain (Valencia, Calif.) - 9/27-28, 10/4-5, 10/11-12
Six Flags Great America (Gurnee, Ill.) - 10/4-5, 10/11-12
Six Flags Over Texas (Arlington, Texas) - 9/27-28, 10/4-5, 10/11-12
Six Flags Over Georgia (Austell, Ga.) - 9/27-28, 10/4-5, 10/11-12
Six Flags Fiesta Texas (San Antonio, Texas) - 10/4-5, 10/11-12
Six Flags New England (Agawam, Mass.) - 9/27-28, 10/4-5, 10/11-12
Six Flags Discovery Kingdom (Vallejo, Calif.) - 9/27-28, 10/4-5, 10/11-12
Six Flags America (Bowie, Md.) - 10/4-5, 10/11-12
Six Flags St. Louis (Eureka, Mo.) - 9/27-28, 10/4-5, 10/11-12
About Nintendo: The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii and Nintendo DS systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo has sold nearly 2.7 billion video games and more than 470 million hardware units globally, including the current-generation Wii and Nintendo DS, as well as the Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, Super NES, Nintendo 64 and Nintendo GameCube. It has also created industry icons that have become well-known, household names such as Mario, Donkey Kong, Metroid, Zelda and Pokmon. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo's operations in the Western Hemisphere. For more information about Nintendo, visit the company's Web site at www.nintendo.com.
About Six Flags, Inc.
Six Flags, Inc. is the world's largest regional theme park company with 20 parks across the United States, Mexico and Canada. Founded in 1961, Six Flags has provided world class entertainment for millions of families with cutting edge, record-shattering roller coasters and appointment programming and special events like the weekly Summer Concert Series, Fright Fest and Holiday in the Park. Now 47 years strong, Six Flags is recognized as the preeminent thrill innovator while reaching to all demographics — families, teens, tweens and thrill seekers alike — with themed attractions based on the Looney Tunes characters, the Justice League of America, skateboarding legend Tony Hawk, The Wiggles and Thomas the Tank Engine. Six Flags, Inc. is a publicly-traded corporation (NYSE:SIX) headquartered in New York City.
