Today's Special Archives: January 2010

News Archives Index This April: Hunt Monsters, Go Classic [ Nintendo ] Capcom Entertainment, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games, and Nintendo of America today announced an exciting new bundle featuring one of the most highly anticipated titles for 2010, Monster Hunter Tri, and combining it with the new Classic Controller Pro for the Wii system. The Classic Controller Pro's more traditional control configuration will give gamers the ultimate Monster Hunting experience when the bundle becomes available in North America this April at a suggested retail price of $59.99. The new Classic Controller Pro includes a second row of shoulder buttons and ergonomically friendly grips. The Classic Controller Pro plugs directly into the Wii Remote controller, and until now, has been available only in the Japanese market. The Classic Controller Pro will be compatible with more than 450 Wii, WiiWare and Virtual Console games. The Classic Controller Pro bundled with Monster Hunter Tri will be black, while both black and white versions of the controller will also be available separately at a suggested retail price of $19.99. The game will also be available without a controller at a suggested retail price of $49.99. Making its North American debut on Wii this spring, Monster Hunter Tri is one of the most strikingly beautiful titles developed for Nintendo's Wii system. Pushing the hardware to the limit, Monster Hunter Tri depicts a living, breathing ecosystem where humans co-exist with majestic monsters that roam both dry land and brand new sub-aqua environments – a first for the series. Offering the player varied control configurations to suit their style of play, players can choose between the Classic Controller Pro, Wii Remote and Nunchuck, or Classic Controller to slay the monsters that inhabit the world. The Monster Hunter series has sold over 11 million units worldwide and has become a social phenomenon in Japan giving rise to training camps, dedicated festivals and numerous licensed products. According to Media Create, Monster Hunter Tri sold 520,000 units in its first week of release in Japan and became the leading title sold across all platforms for the week of its release. Images: Monster Hunter Tri Boxart with Classic Controller Pro Classic Controller Pro Carl DeNovio -- Posted on Monday, January 25 2010 18:59 PM [Top] Aha! UNO Appears on Nintendo Downloads [ Nintendo ] WiiWare UNO Publisher: Gameloft Players: 1-6 ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) Price: 1,000 Wii Points Description: Get ready to call "UNO" on your Wii system! The world-famous card game is faithfully reproduced for the Wii console with some exciting new rules. Thanks to a multiplayer mode (additional Wii Remote controllers required) that's playable on one Wii console or online via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection (broadband Internet access required), UNO has never been so fun and easy. bittos Publisher: MACHINE Players: 1 ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) Price: 800 Wii Points Description: The next big thing in casual gaming, bittos is all about rotating, moving and placing game pieces onto a game board to make squares and, more importantly, squares within squares. Playing bittos provides hours and hours of entertainment for the whole family, with boatloads of challenge and replay value for even the most avid gamer. With luscious environments, multiple modes to unlock, game styles to suit every mood, multiple real-time reactive control methods, in-game Awards to collect and high-score boards for the entire your household, bittos is a new game-play experience that will sweep you away. "Aha! I Found It!" Hidden Object Game Publisher: Ateam Inc. Players: 1-4 ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) Price: 500 Wii Points Description: A hidden-object game for everyone has come to the WiiWare service. Try to find 12 particular items among a crowd of on-screen objects as fast as you can, from big fish to tiny earrings, easy-to-find items to well-hidden ones. Unlike most other hidden-object games, this one lets you play along with friends and family (additional Wii Remote controllers required) and compete to see who's best at finding the hidden objects in each stage. With 10 stages and more than 277 different items, there's plenty of searching fun to enjoy. Also, with items changing position each time you play, you can enjoy each stage again and again. Nintendo DSiWare NUMBER BATTLE Publisher: Nintendo Players: 1-4 ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points Description: From Japan comes NUMBER BATTLE, a board game that invokes the ancient art of feng shui while challenging players to clear the playing field. Take turns against human or computer opponents to reach a target score by placing numbered tiles on the board and linking the arms of each tile in various ways. Watch for the Winds of Change to possibly blow over the board during a battle, resulting in special squares that will score bonus points or affect game play in new ways. Items that aid you in your pursuit of points can also be found, but they'll cost you points and must be placed strategically. Go it alone in the main Story or Puzzle modes, or battle against up to three opponents from around the world via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection (broadband Internet access required). You can even learn from your past with History mode, which shows the moves recorded during previous contests. This unique combination of puzzle and strategy elements results in an exciting battle of wits. Can you guide your Warrior to victory? AiRace: Tunnel Publisher: QubicGames Players: 1 ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) Price: 200 Nintendo DSi Points Description: AiRace: Tunnel is an invitation to the newly started Project Tunnel. It was created to examine the quickness and attentiveness of aviation rookies. Think you've got the skills? Put your reflexes to the test and see how swift, precise and predictive you are. Maneuver your aircraft safely through specially created tunnels that are full of traps. Be careful: Your plane will speed up with every second, making each turn and each barrier harder to navigate. It's not just a game, it's a challenge. Escapee GO! Publisher: Gevo Entertainment Players: 1-4 ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) – Mild Cartoon Violence Price: 200 Nintendo DSi Points Description: In Escapee GO!, players take on the role of Claire, who awakens with no memory of who she is. Save for her name, all information about her has been destroyed. In its place, something within her has changed. Hunted down by an unknown enemy, she must find a way to escape her pursuers using her newfound powers. Will she be able to survive? Using her heightened senses, Claire is able to detect enemies before they come into visual range. During her daring escape, Claire will find mysterious items that can temporarily enhance her abilities, allowing her to level the playing field. Virtual Console Ghoul Patrol Original platform: Super NES Publisher: LucasArts Players: 1-2 ESRB Rating: E10 (Everyone 10 and Older) – Mild Fantasy Violence Price: 800 Wii Points Description: The main attractions at the library's Goblin exhibit have come to life! As the Ghoul Patrol, you'll go back in time and de-spook an encyclopedia of zombified historic dudes. Vaporize garbage-can ghosts and ninja spirits, rescue bug-eyed librarians and wigged-out pirates, dodge flying books and adolescent-eating plants, and ultimately put the beastly spirit back in the history books. Carl DeNovio -- Posted on Monday, January 25 2010 18:43 PM [Top] Muscle Marching to Nintendo Download [ Nintendo ] WiiWare Muscle March Publisher: NBGI Players: 1-4 ESRB Rating: E 10 (Everyone 10 and Older) - Comic Mischief Price: 500 Wii Points Description: Muscle March is a quirky Japanese action game stuffed full of macho bodybuilders. The all mighty protein powder has been stolen, so it's up to Tony and his muscle-bound crew to catch the thieves. Choose from a variety of perfectly molded superstars and bring these terrible villains to justice. As the thieves attempt escape, they will smash through walls while making a variety of poses. You must match these poses to fit through the holes and catch up to the thieves. The protein powder will be yours again! Flex your muscles by yourself or with up to three friends in turn-based macho excitement. Posing for a few minutes not enough? Enjoy Endless Rush mode until your muscles bulge and explode! Muscle March will also be the first WiiWare title to offer a polar bear in tight swimwear! The Amazing Brain Train! Publisher: Wahoo Studios Players: 1 ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) Price: 600 Wii Points Description: All aboard! Power up your intellect and embark on an epic quest aboard The Amazing Brain Train! Fueled by your mental energy, Professor Fizzwizzle's Brain Train will take you on a brain-boosting adventure. Put your mighty mind to the test and see how far you can go. Nintendo DSiWare STARSHIP DEFENSE Publisher: Nintendo Players: 1 ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) - Mild Fantasy Violence Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points Description: STARSHIP DEFENSE takes the tower defense genre into outer space. Defend your space fleet from wave after wave of enemy attacks by equipping a variety of weapons and using a combination of strategic skills and resource management. Attach weapons to your ships using the touch screen, making sure to place them for maximum effect when planning your defense. If you don't, the relentless nature of your enemies could overwhelm you. Increase your chances of success by using energy collected from defeated enemies to install new and more powerful weapons, destroying particular enemies to obtain weapon upgrades, and watching for rare power crystals that unlock advanced attacks, including a devastating black hole. And if you still find yourself in trouble, select an SOS card to call on a special kind of assistance. You'll have to defend your fleet across 30 intense sectors, some with specific challenges, while advancing your rank from lowly recruit all the way to fleet admiral. Are you up to the challenge? Dark Void Zero Publisher: Capcom Entertainment Players: 1 ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) - Fantasy Violence Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points Description: As the '80s were drawing to a close, the developers at Capcom began work on a top-secret project that aimed to set new standards for the platformer genre. That game was called Dark Void. Alas, Capcom suspended development on Dark Void as it began to evaluate the SNES. Before long, the game was shelved and drifted, unnoticed, into the annals of gaming history. Dark Void became a legendary "lost project" at Capcom. Now, nearly 20 years later, Dark Void is back! To commemorate the game's humble origins, Capcom has commissioned this recreation of the original 8-bit classic, now re-titled Dark Void Zero, on the Nintendo DSi system. You play as Rusty, the first human born in the Void, who must take on the Watchers in a quest to stop their domination of Earth. With the aid of Nikola Tesla and his state-of-the-art rocket pack, Rusty must take down the Watchers and their minions across three intense levels of action and intrigue. Chronos Twins Publisher: EnjoyUp Games Players: 1 ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) - Fantasy Violence Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points Description: Enter into the original world of Chronos Twins, where you'll live a fantastic adventure full of innovative ideas never seen before in any game. Thanks to its Dual Gameplay game system you'll be able to control Nec in two temporal scenarios at the same time. Chronos Twins mixes action, platforms, adventure and puzzles to challenge your intelligence and ability. If you like games with a real challenge, there's no doubt that Chronos Twins is the game you're looking for. Me And My Dogs: Friends Forever Publisher: Gameloft Players: 1 ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) - Comic Mischief Price: 800 Wii Points Description: Have you always dreamed of having a cute dog to cuddle? Thanks to Me And My Dogs: Friends Forever, you can have up to three of the cutest pups imaginable at the same time and take them with you everywhere you go. Choose from friendly Labradors, playful Chow Chows and smart Beagles. Like real dogs, you'll have to take care of them, feed them, wash them and give them lots of love. Play with them at the park and teach them lots of tricks or train them for competitions at the stadium. You can even call them like in real life thanks to the microphone. Virtual Consolee Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi Original platform: Genesis Publisher: SEGA Players: 1 ESRB Rating: E 10 (Everyone 10 and Older) - Fantasy Violence Price: 800 Wii Points Description: Easy to play, hard to master, Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi, first released in 1987, is the sequel to the original Shinobi arcade game, and is one of the only games in the Shinobi series to feature true arcade-style game play. Play as Joe Musashi, the master ninja known to his enemies only as "The Shinobi." This battle is not one you must fight alone, as this is the first game in the Shinobi series to feature your ninja attack dog, Yamoto, who will charge foes on command, leaving them open to a powerful drop kick. Use your mastery of ancient ninja technique to topple the crime syndicate - the Neo Zeed Corporation - and free the foreign dignitaries they have taken hostage in New York City. Good luck, and may the ninja spirits help guide you in your journey. Eric Jones -- Posted on Monday, January 18 2010 10:11 AM [Top] Netflix Finally Comes to Wii [ Nintendo ] Nintendo of America Inc. and Netflix, Inc. today announced an agreement that will allow Netflix members who are also owners of Nintendo's Wii home console to instantly watch thousands of movies and TV episodes streamed from Netflix directly to their TVs. Netflix is scheduled to go live on the Wii console this spring in the United States at no additional cost to Netflix members who have a plan starting at $8.99 a month, a Wii console and a broadband Internet connection. The partnership between the two companies will extend the reach of content streamed from Netflix farther than ever before, thanks to the mainstream popularity of the Wii console. Wii remains the fastest-selling home console in history, and reaches more consumers than any other device that currently supports streaming movies from Netflix. In December 2009, Nintendo sold well in excess of 3 million Wii consoles in the United States. Wii is the top-selling home video game system of this generation, and as such brings the Netflix experience to a broad and diverse mass market. To enable their systems to stream content from Netflix, Wii owners will need a Netflix instant-streaming disc for the Wii console, which will be available at no additional cost to Netflix subscribers. The free disc looks and operates the same as a disc-based Wii game, and the entire user experience will feel natural and intuitive to Wii console owners. Netflix members and Wii console owners can now reserve a free instant-streaming disc by going to www.netflix.com/Wii. Once available in the spring, the discs will be delivered for free by first-class mail. When the instant-streaming disc is inserted into a member's Wii system, an array of movie and TV choices will be displayed right on their TV screen. These titles will be conveniently organized into a variety of categories based on members' personal preferences and will include popular genres, new arrivals and members' individual instant Queues. Using the Wii Remote controller, members will be able to choose a movie or TV episode to watch from their instant Queues or pick one directly from any of the lists. They will also have the ability to read synopses and rate movies, and will have the option of fast-forwarding and rewinding their selection. Carl DeNovio -- Posted on Thursday, January 14 2010 6:47 AM [Top] Steam, Fights, and That Insane British Chef for Download [ Nintendo ] Nintendo DSiWare Trajectile Publisher: Nintendo Players: 1 ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points Description: Trajectile is a puzzle game that's as much about firepower as it is about brainpower, requiring you to line up your shot and launch a flurry of missiles at enemy targets. Three types of missiles are at your disposal, each one with its own characteristics - but all of them can bounce off walls on their path to smash, blast or drill through enemies and blocks. Along the way, you'll find item blocks just waiting to be destroyed so that you can obtain special power-ups ... and cause even more destruction. Be careful though, as missile type and position are predetermined and you get only a limited number of launches per stage. Complete multiple classes containing numerous individual stages, earning medals when you clear stages in fewer than the given number of turns. Are you ready to take aim at becoming a Trajectile master? Animal Puzzle Adventure Publisher: Aksys Games Players: 1 ESRB Rating: E10 (Everyone 10 and Older) - Mild Suggestive Themes Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points Description: Animal Puzzle Adventure is a simple puzzle game where you have to lead various animals to their respective barns placed on the map, while avoiding pitfalls and cliffs and using the objects on the field to your advantage. There are 10 stages per level with a total of five levels, creating 50 stages in all. After clearing a stage, you unlock a piece of a photo. Once you clear all 10 stages in a level, the wallpaper for that level becomes unlocked and you can then view it in the gallery. With so many puzzles to unravel, you'll find yourself immersed in the puzzle-riffic world of Animal Puzzle Adventure. Hell's Kitchen Vs. Publisher: Ludia Players: 1-2 ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) Price: 800 Nintendo DSi Points Description: Hell's Kitchen Vs. is based on the U.S. TV phenomenon where world-renowned chef Gordon Ramsay puts aspiring chefs through rigorous culinary tests. The game recreates the show's pressure-cooker atmosphere as two players battle head-to-head in an arcade-style kitchen challenge. Try to conquer your opponent in each time-management test, while taking the heat of Gordon Ramsay judging and rating your performance at every stage of the game. WiiWare Heron: Steam Machine Publisher: Triangle Studios Players: 1-4 ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) Price: 500 Wii Points Description: Heron: Steam Machine is a game about a factory where rubber duckies are being produced by a large steam engine. On this steam engine, there are four different gauges which you will have to watch carefully. By connecting the pipes, you will earn points and relieve some of the pressure, keeping the machine running just a little bit longer. If one of the gauges reaches its maximum, the machine will eventually blow up, and the game is over. If you were lucky enough to achieve a high score, make sure you enter your name in the list so other players can compete with you. In Multiplayer, you are able to cooperate with friends in maintaining the steam machine. When you play with two, three or four players, the screen is divided into sections with different background colors. Each player is able to solve his or her own part of the puzzle. Players are restricted to their own section of the screen, so you will have to work together to make the pipes fit properly. (Additional accessories are required for multiplayer play and are sold separately.) Pub Darts Publisher: Big Blue Bubble Inc. Players: 1-4 ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) - Alcohol Reference Price: 500 Wii Points Description: Pub Darts is a simple darts simulation which uses the Wii Remote™ controller's unique controls to mimic dart-throwing motion. The game is set in a local pub where the players will settle in to play some of their favorite dart games, including 501, Cricket, Around the Clock, Killers and Baseball. Controls function just like throwing a real dart. Players are able to create their own personal profiles, including selecting their avatar image from a collection of creative characters and the design they would like displayed on the dart flights. Fast Draw Showdown Publisher: Digital Leisure Inc. Players: 1-2 ESRB Rating: T (Teen) - Alcohol Reference, Violence Price: 500 Wii Points Description: When it comes to fast draw there're only two types of people: the quick ... and the dead! Now you have the chance to find out where you stand, or lie, as the case may be. You'll go up against the best quick draws in the business, including one of the world's fastest, Wes Flowers. Unholster your Wii Remote controller and show 'em who the fastest draw really is, in this live-action shooter. You can even take on a friend in multiplayer modes, and see which of you has the quickest draw. You'll need some serious speed and awesome accuracy to take on these gunslingers ... so get ready for some real fast draw action. Virtual Console Final Fight 3 Original platform: Super NES Publisher: Capcom USA Players: 1-2 ESRB Rating: T (Teen) - Animated Violence Price: 800 Wii Points Description: Following the defeat and subsequent disappearance of the Mad Gear Gang, a small group known only as "Skull Cross" is responsible for a new uprising of vandalism, terrorism and death. The government of Metro City is at a complete loss. Metro City's mayor, Mike Haggar, and Guy are prepared to take on the new gang, but before they can act, the door bursts open, revealing Lucia, Cody's old friend. "Metro City is under attack!" she shouts, "Skull Cross is loose, and they've got something up their sleeves." But before any of them can move, a mysterious man appears in the doorway. "My name is Dean," he says. "I know Skull Cross inside-and-out, and I hate them more than anything. I can help you, and you can help me. We must go!" All four fighters vow to bring Skull Cross down. It will be a tough assignment, and may even be their final fight! Eric Jones -- Posted on Monday, January 4 2010 10:15 AM [Top]