Archive for September, 2008

See Resident Evil again for the very first time

Posted by admin On September - 28 - 2008

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Resident Evil sure looks familiar, doesn’t it? That’s probably because this latest Capcom port is just the GameCube version with a dash of motion. That isn’t to say it doesn’t look good (it does), it’s just that this game has been remade, reworked, and re-released a lot.

How many times do we need to replay great games — particularly when we can already play them on the system in question?

Gallery: Resident Evil

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Wii Warm Up: The next big thing

Posted by admin On September - 28 - 2008

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Today, over at DS Fanboy, we’re discussing the probable changes to the DS Lite, and of course, it’s gotten us thinking a little about Wii adjustments. Do you think we’ll see a beefed-up version of the little white console? There are some issues with it, certainly, but Nintendo has concentrated most of their hardware re-releases to handhelds in the past.

If you think we will see a Wii-plus, what do you think it’ll have? Storage? DVD playback? Something utterly useless? When will it hit?

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Wii Warm Up: Mega Busted

Posted by admin On September - 28 - 2008

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Mega Man 9
is back-to-basics in more than just the graphics. Rush can no longer turn into shoulder pads, for example. There’s no charge ability for the Mega Buster, nor are there the shot upgrades available in Mega Man 8’s store. You can’t even slide any longer. If we were going to get into Mega Man X, we could add the wall-clinging business as well.

Is there one addition to the post-Mega Man 2 world that you miss the most? The Mega Buster? Sliding? Clown Man’s voice acting?

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MeWe reveals new Quad Charger for your Wiimotes

Posted by admin On September - 28 - 2008

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Those of you looking for a rechargeable solution to your Wiimote’s power needs, manufacturer MeWe has just come up with a new device: the Quad Charger. As you can see above, it includes LEDs to let you know the power status of your recharging Wiimotes, as well as the capacity to charge four simultaneously. And, of course, it comes with four rechargeable packs (Ni-MH).

The MeWe Quad Charger is currently available and costs $49.95.

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Hit the slopes in Europe with Shaun White on Nov. 14

Posted by admin On September - 28 - 2008

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Click for full-sized image

Shaun White’s Balance Board-compatible game will be hitting retail shelves on November 14th across Europe, for all of you who’ve been watching the game and found it to be to your liking. When the game was announced, we merely got a “holiday 2008″ window, so it’s good to get a concrete date down. And we assume that North America will receive the game around the same time, so look for an update here when we find out more.

Who’s anxious to hop on the Balance Board and check this out?

Gallery: Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip

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Activision CEO: Music labels should pay us

Posted by admin On September - 28 - 2008

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Activision Blizzard CEO Robert Kotick is a pretty opinionated dude. With the music and rhythm games skyrocketing to popularity, Kotick sees the games as a means to bring new consumers to the bands, not vice versa. “When you look at the impact [Guitar Hero] can have on an Aerosmith, Van Halen or Metallica, it’s really significant,” Kotick said, further adding “so much so that you sort of question whether or not, in the case of those kinds of products, you should be paying any money at all and whether it should be the reverse.”

Kotick backs up his point even more by stating that the games “have lots of music to choose from, lots of artists to choose from” and that a “12-year-old kid has no idea who Steven Tyler is or who Aerosmith is,” but that the game can introduce them to that particular artist. Kotick went on further to say that the majority of people who enjoy these games “will tell you they’re not purchasing the products based on the songs that are included. They’re purchasing based on how fun the songs are to play when they’re playing them.”

Gallery: Guitar Hero World Tour

[Via CVG]

Source (subscription required) - Activision’s CEO speaks

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Nintendo: Wii Music assists musical education

Posted by admin On September - 28 - 2008

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In what is now a time-honored tradition for Nintendo’s first-party releases, Satoru Iwata and Shigeru Miyamoto came together over a cup of tea and a Jammie Dodger* to have a chinwag about Wii Music. Neither man fell about laughing hysterically at any point in the interview, so we assume the game is actually going ahead.

As usual, Shiggy came up with some corking soundbytes, in between reflecting on the ukelele he received as a youngster and other trivial details. These included the shocking revelation that he had never been so excited while making a game as when making Wii Music — not even when he was crafting Super Mario Bros. In an even more controversial twist, the conversation then turned to how Wii Music could (in Iwata’s words) “raise people’s basic level of music education.” Not surprisingly, Miyamoto agreed, adding, “I’ve even thought it would it would be great if kindergartens or elementary schools got Wii Music and began kid’s music education with that …”

So there you go: according to Nintendo’s top men, Wii Music could kickstart basic music skills in kids … by making them play invisible instruments. Eh?

* Awaiting confirmation on this.

Gallery: Wii Music

[Via Kotaku]

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Point/Counterpoint: 2D vs. 2D

Posted by admin On September - 28 - 2008

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Arguably the two most eagerly awaited Wii games of September have something slightly unusual and wholly awesome in common: they’re both 2D. Mega Man 9 and Wario Land: Shake It! have each been widely lauded for daring to ignore the third dimension, but they’re still quite different in terms of how they use 2D.

Mega Man 9 rejects all modern graphical conventions, taking the player through a timewarp to 1988 with its intentionally blocky, charming sprites. Conversely, Wario Land: Shake It! is straight from the Metal Slug school of design, in that it uses painstakingly detailed, beautiful hand-drawn art. Which do the Wii Fanboy staff prefer? Read on to hear both sides of the argument!

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Emotional puzzler Geon is coming to Wii

Posted by admin On September - 28 - 2008

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Last year’s XBLA release (and this week’s PSN release) Geon is coming to the Wii. While the video above is not taken from the Wii version of the game, it gives you a general idea of what to expect from the puzzler. Being the puzzle fans we are, we’re anxious to give the game a whirl. Oh, and it won’t just be a port of the XBLA and PSN release, either. The Wii title will feature 4-player split-screen action and 16 new ‘duel mode’ grids.

Geon is scheduled to release on Wii later this year.

Gallery: Geon

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It’s a WARIO World: Transformations

Posted by admin On September - 28 - 2008

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We couldn’t help ourselves–Mario fashion is so last Friday. In case you didn’t notice, maybe because you were too busy getting domineered by the formidable boss roster of Mega Man 9, a little game called Wario Land: Shake It! landed at retailers on Tuesday. And you can bet we’ve been shaking it all week (besides listening to Charles Martinet ham it up, of course). What better way to welcome this momentous release than to dedicate our humble gallery to the big scoundrel himself?

It is appropriate that we have transformed this feature to accommodate Wario’s oversized rear end. Transformations are Wario’s speciality; whether he is provoked by status-changing characters or influenced by elements of his environment, Wario relies on his many forms to effectively navigate level design. Adopting forms that range from animal to mechanical, this rude evil genius is unquestionably a Master of Disguise. Let’s take a look back at the numerous transformations Wario has undergone in our new gallery chock full of yellow, purple and poor manners.

It’s-a WARIO World is a weekly feature in which the ubiquity of Nintendo’s EVIL GENIUS is celebrated: We’ll incessantly ruminate about mustache wax garlic pizza, debate the curious whereabouts of the princess MY treasure and covet troves of gold. Check back here every Friday to find out what strange and wonderful thing has got us tipping our caps shaking our butts.
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