For those of you who signed up with the US version of Club Nintendo, and have been able to get all of your games registered, your diligence is going to pay off. Nintendo recently announced that those who are of Elite Status will be receiving notification from the company about being eligible for special prizes during the month of July.
Unfortunately, Nintendo went on to say that it might take longer for those prizes to actually go out. They promised it would be “before the end of the calendar year” but you still may have to wait several months.
While what is going to be offered as these prizes has not been revealed yet, Club Nintendo of Japan Elite Members were treated to special items like a gold-plated Mario Kart Wii wheel, a Club Nintendo 2009 calendar, and a plush Mario hat. It is likely that US members will receive the same prizes, but we will keep an eye out to be sure.
Nintendo of America has recently announced that those who have reached Elite Status on Club Nintendo will be receiving special rewards sometime this year. What time will they be released and what form will these rewards take?
Ah, summer. A time where kids play in little plastic pools with rubber ducks, water guns and get temporary tattoos on their arms at parties. They also play video games and, as the sweltering dog days of summer loom on the horizon, GameStop has decided to try and cash in on these different summer activities.
To that end, the company has decided to offer some… unique special bundles that combine things you do outside during the summer, with the Wii to do things inside with.
There is also a Mario & Sonic Olympic Games Bundle, but that’s just a Wii and a game. Why would you want that when you could get a water gun or a rubber duck?!
Some very... unique bundles for the Wii are being offered at GameStop. Are they worth any attention or are they just more oddly gimmicky than bundles usually are?
Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles was a moderate success on the Wii. It was able to capture the feel of the Resident Evil series’ zombie blasting and incredibly cheesy dialogue, and abridge it into a bite-sized, rail shooter form.
Now the sequel to that game, The Darkside Chronicles, has released a new trailer. It is decidedly playing up the scare factor, like any horror movie trailer would, yet it still shows the dialogue is of a decidedly cheesy nature. RE fans are probably used to that by now.
A new trailer for the upcoming Wii Rail Shooter, Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles, has been released. Will it make the game look more favorable to audiences or is it... kinda cheesy?
I almost said that WiiWare has picked up a lot of steam lately, but that almost seemed like I was trying for a pun with Hudson's new Water Warfare. Instead, I'll just say that a lot of games are coming out. Dammit.
Hudson's probably out in front of this week's releases. Onslaught got them a lot of attention for being able to pull off an FPS on WiiWare, and now they're doing it again with the kid-friendly squirt-gun shooter Water Warfare. It really is some kind of Platonic ideal of the Nintendo game; it's got the gameplay you'd expect, right down to dual-wielding and weapon pick-ups, but it's bright, colorful, and nobody dies. (Of course, the fact that they flash several times and disappear does make it look like some kind of Wicked Witch of the West deathmatch.)
Agetec is back again this week with another budget title, Silver Star Reversi. If you're like me and the official download blurb means nothing to you, Reversi is the original name of the board game that was released in North America as Othello. 500 Wii Points gets you a reasonably accurate recreation of the board game with some odd-looking computer opponents. (Interesting side note: the Wikipedia page on Reversi makes sure to note just how much better computers are at the game than people. Prepare to die, meat creature.)
Finally, Natsume is bringing an inexpensive Reel Fishing game to WiiWare. I suspect this is one of those series with a strong invisible player base; the average hardcore gamer has never even met somebody who likes fishing games, unless they're using the controller to play Soul Calibur, but somebody buys them.
Meanwhile, on the Virtual Console, Sega reopens the box marked "Master System" with Fantasy Zone II: The Tears of Opa-Opa; I like Kotaku's description of it as a "cute 'em up." Interestingly, the Master System version of this game actually came first, so for once, we're not getting some kind of watered-down eight-bit port of an arcade game.
Oh, and the DSi gets Sudoku.
This week's press release is available after the jump.
Recently, Gaijin Games released the above image on their blog for the game Bit.Trip: Core, the sequel to the unique rhythm-based Pong game, Bit.Trip: Beat.
“7+6+9” could be interpreted as the date, “July 7th, 2009” but the “100” was a bit baffling. When asked if the meaning of the first three numbers was what people thought it was, an employee of Gaijin Games responded with extra information that explained the whole image:
"Absolutely," Gaijin's Chris Osborn told us. "And it will be the 100th WiiWare release!"
As of this writing, the number of WiiWare games available is at 95 and July 7th is a Monday, when new WiiWare games are released. This gives credence to the claim but it also is interesting in that milestone releases are usually reserved for titles believed to be greatly anticipated. Considering how well received Bit.Trip: Beat was, one can see how Nintendo would be taking such a chance with Bit.Trip: Core. The game just has to live up to its, now much higher, expectations.
A strange image was recently posted on the official blog for the upcoming WiiWare Title Bit. Trip: Core. When asked for more information, a company representative for Gaijin Games revealed a surprising fact behind its meaning.
The DS’ ability to offer unique game play experiences has given it some very interesting titles over the years. In the same vein, the appropriately named A Different Game is attempting to do the same on the DSi with Ghostwire.
As the video above demonstrates, Ghostwire makes use of the DSi’s two cameras to help players walk around and hunt for ghosts. Once you find them, you use the DS to interact with the ghosts and try to solve the problems that keep them trapped in our world. The game looks interesting but it may run into the same jokes as the original Boktai did.
After all, a game that requires gamers to go outside and walk around? Madness! Gamers do not go outside to play games!
On the other hand, a more sociable gamer may find a way to use it as a conversation starter. “I’m looking for ghosts,” is certainly a unique response to someone asking you, “What are you doing with that DSi?”
A video showing the key selling point of A Different Game's Ghostwire has appeared. While it certainly demonstrates a unique style of game play only possible on the DSi, will players go for it?
Metroid Prime Trilogy is a good chance for those who missed the first two GameCube games to finally have them and the third game all on one disc. Even some who have all three already may be curious to see the revamped versions of the first two games with Wiimote controls.
Until now, there has been little information but the activation of the game’s official website reveals a release date: August 24th. There is nothing beyond that at this point, but now people who are looking forward to this revamp/collection have something to keep an eye on.
No matter what, Drill Sergeant Mindstrong has given the world this banner image, and for that, I will always be grateful. It works on so many levels!
It's another big week for WiiWare, which seems to have accelerated rapidly post-E3. Aksys has translated another of their Family series of WiiWare titles, for four-player budget-friendly Mini-Golf (you know, looking at the Wikipedia pages for these games, it would appear that the Family series went over to IGN's offices and stole someone's puppy); XSeed's brought us the aforementioned Mindstrong, which seems to have a really weird approach to four-player-style party gaming; and Yukes puzzles it up with NEVES Plus, a sequel to their DS title.
On the DSi, Nintendo is publishing Art Style: Boxlife, which is kind of an origami-based touchscreen puzzle game. It seems really simplistic from watching that gameplay video, but puzzle games always do in the first couple of levels, and I have no idea what's going on in that first challenge. It's also an actual game, which is always nice to see for the DSi.
Finally, we have the slightly odd decision on Nintendo's part to release the TG-16 CD version of Will Wright's SimEarth, which is just shy of its twentieth anniversary. I'm surprised they didn't opt for the SNES port, which compares surprisingly well to this version, but you're getting slightly better graphics and music out of the deal.
This week's press release is available after the jump.
If absolutely nothing else, this week marks the triumphant debut of something called Eduardo the Samurai Toaster, so this week cannot be wholly bad.
For some reason, WiiWare has exploded this week, with three different titles. Eduardo, a shooter with what looks like some Metal Slug flavor to it, is from rookie developer Semnat Studios; they're so new, in fact, that Google doesn't know where their website is yet.
Eduardo's companions this week are Sega's Let's Catch, which I cannot believe they're charging 1,000 Wii Points for, and Taito's Rainbow Islands: Towering Adventure. The latter's the more interesting of the two; for some reason, the original Bubble Bobble is fondly remembered by an entire generation of gamers, but its sequels disappeared without a trace. Rainbow Islands is one of those sequels, but seeing as how it's only superficially similar to Bubble Bobble, you could be excused for not knowing that. At least, I'm hoping I can be excused, because I didn't know that until about fifteen minutes ago.
Since Square Enix bought Taito, they're making a real effort to dust off their old IP and make them more visible, which can only be good for everyone involved. Taito has an enormous catalog of games, many of which never appeared in North America.
This week's Virtual Console offering is another good sign. Instead of releasing the Master System version of Space Harrier, Sega has put the full-fledged arcade version up for download. The arcade version is an actual classic of its genre; the Master System version is... not.
Oh, and DSi users get a Mario-themed clock and calculator.
This week's press release is available after the jump.
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