Game On!

SANTA MONICA, CA – June 23, 2008 – After playing to sold-out crowds in living rooms around the world, the blockbuster video game Guitar Hero is hitting the road with Guitar Hero®: On Tour for Nintendo DS™, Activision, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) today announced. Available now at retail outlets nationwide, Guitar Hero: On Tour brings a new dimension to handheld gaming and gives fans the ability to shred along to their favorite tunes with complete portability.

Packaged with the revolutionary Guitar Hero™ Guitar Grip™ peripheral that fits snugly into Nintendo DS, and a unique Guitar Hero pick-stylus, Guitar Hero: On Tour delivers a unique experience by challenging handheld gamers to rock out and prove their shredding skills on one of the most diverse set lists ever offered in a Guitar Hero game, including master track hits from Nirvana, OK Go, No Doubt, blink-182 and Bloc Party.

“Guitar Hero: On Tour offers handheld gamers an all-new Guitar Hero experience letting them unleash their inner rock star anywhere, anytime,” said Dusty Welch, Head of Publishing for RedOctane. “Utilizing the innovative Guitar Hero Guitar Grip peripheral and Guitar Hero pick-stylus, and taking full advantage of the unique voice and touch abilities of Nintendo DS, Guitar Hero: On Tour is going to again redefine how fans can experience music.”

Designed from the ground up specifically for Nintendo DS, the game continues to build on the franchise’s signature easy-to-play, yet difficult to master addictive gameplay, and now lets players take their experience wherever they go. Players use the Guitar Hero Guitar Grip, which mimics a guitar fret board, and the Guitar Hero pick-stylus on the touch screen to strum their favorite tunes and create their rock ‘n’ roll legacy in career mode. Fans can also join together to play co-op mode using a local wireless connection, or battle each other in a Guitar Duel using new Battle Items unique to Nintendo DS.

Guitar Hero: On Tour is developed by Vicarious Visions, is rated “E 10+” (Everyone 10 and older) by the ESRB and is available now at retailers nationwide. For more information about Guitar Hero: On Tour, visit www.GuitarHeroOnTour.com.

About Activision, Inc.

Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision, Inc. is a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and leisure products. Founded in 1979, Activision posted net revenues of $2.9 billion for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2008 .

Activision maintains operations in the U.S. , Canada , the United Kingdom , France , Germany , Ireland , Italy , Sweden , Spain , the Netherlands , Australia , Japan and South Korea . More information about Activision and its products can be found on the company's website, www.activision.com.

Posted by Matt Sarrel at 8:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES (June 17, 2008) – TAITO Corporation (TAITO™), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Square Enix Co., Ltd., announced that SPACE INVADERS EXTREME™ and ARKANOID™ DS were shipped to North American retailers today.

These highly anticipated releases are legendary titles reimagined for the 21st century. SPACE INVADERS®, a worldwide sensation since its original release in 1978, has been reborn as SPACE INVADERS EXTREME for Nintendo DS™ and PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system. Celebrating its 30th anniversary, SPACE INVADERS is as addictive as ever, with this new edition carrying on the classic gameplay experience while adding fast-paced new twists.

Meanwhile, the 1986 blockbuster hit ARKANOID comes exclusively to Nintendo DS with multiple modes and playful new backgrounds. With ARKANOID DS, players can test their skills against other DS users through the multiplayer option.

Loved around the globe for generations, these milestone titles in computer game history are simply timeless. Both SPACE INVADERS EXTREME and ARKANOID DS were developed to appeal to fans of the original titles and a new generation of players alike. The exhilarating arcade experience is now portable and available on store shelves today.

Features: SPACE INVADERS EXTREME

* New Look: The classic design of the original SPACE INVADERS, now with revamped graphics and new background movies that add to the game’s excitement.
* New Music: Get in the groove with upbeat techno tunes that are synched to gameplay.
* New Mini-Games: Experience varied gameplay with mini-games (Rounds) that are launched mid-game – they add to the fun, and are a good way to rack up points.
* New Twists: Discover exciting twists to the classic game that provide exciting, fast-paced game play.
* New Functionalities:
o DS Version
+ Worldwide (Japan, North America and Europe) two player competitive play and score ranking available via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.
+ Two player wireless competitive play and game sharing available
+ Compatible with Nintendo DS and Nintendo DS™ Lite Rumble Pak
o PSP system Version
+ Two player competitive play available via ad hoc wireless connection

Features: ARKANOID DS

* Explore three game modes that offer varied gameplay designed for a wide range of users.
* Compete against two to four players via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, and enter high scores in the ranking system.
* Decorate ARKANOID DS with colorful designs by trading points gained through gameplay for fun backgrounds and icons.
* Rock to an irresistible soundtrack produced by Zuntata, TAITO’s award-winning sound team.

SPACE INVADERS EXTREME is rated E (Everyone). ARKANOID DS is rated E (Everyone). Please visit the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) website at www.esrb.org for more information about ratings.

SPACE INVADERS EXTREME will be available at North American retailers for the suggested retail price of $19.99 (USD). The official website can be found at http://www.taito.com/csm/title/2008/sie/index.html.

ARKANOID DS will be available at North American retailers for the suggested retail price of $19.99 (USD). The official website can be found at http://www.taito.com/csm/title/2008/arkanoid_ds/index.html.

About TAITO Corporation

TAITO Corp. (TAITO) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Square Enix Co., Ltd. With headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, TAITO operates core businesses such as game arcade operations, coin-operated game machines, and mobile phone content services. A seminal part of gaming history, TAITO caused a worldwide sensation with its arcade legend, SPACE INVADERS, and developed such fan favorites as EXIT™ and ARKANOID. Today, TAITO continues to thrill game lovers of all generations by offering both classic and new family-oriented titles on the latest gaming platforms. TAITO delivers a wide range of entertainment experiences with the goal of providing consumers with fresh surprises and new discoveries. More information on TAITO can be found on the Internet at http://www.taito.co.jp/english.

Continue reading "Legendary Games Reimagined: SPACE INVADERS EXTREME and ARKANOID DS Launch Today" »

Posted by Matt Sarrel at 9:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I recently went out to Las Vegas for Midway's Gamers Day at the Red Rock Resort. They showed a few games: NBA Ballers: Chosen One, Wheelman, TNA Impact, Unreal Tournament 3 Xbox 360, and This is Vegas were playable. They also announced a Mortal Kombat and DC Comics game, which looked like a MK fighter with Scorpion, Sub Zero, Superman, and Batman confirmed as characters. There was a lot of excitement in the crowd about that one. We wondered how the whole fatality thing would play out with the super heroes, for example, would DC want Superman to rip out his opponent's skull and show it to him? They also announced sequels for Game Party and Touch Master as well as Blitz: The League.

There was a lot of talk, especially from Midway execs like Mark Booty, Interim President and CEO, about how Midway is reaping the benefits of centralization and standardization. The different studios share assets like game engines and design tools as well as knowledge. You could see how licensing the Unreal Engine and then using it to build every game is paying off in terms of how the games look, how complex the game play is, and how quickly they can come to market.

The big focus was on This is Vegas. The game is being made by Surreal Software in Seattle - they've been working on it for three plus years. It's an open world of a likeness of Vegas where you gamble, party, race, and fight. It's an ambitious project to create a world that big. This gives players the chance to live out "their Vegas fantasy." It looked OK, nothing special in terms of graphics or audio. The focus has definitely been on game play. I did the dancing mini-game, the same that was shown during the press conference. I thought that it was fun. I wonder about it conceptually though. My concern is that by offering many types of game play it may end up asking players to play in ways that they don't want to play, for example, the guy who wants to drive around and beat people up may not be the same guy who wants to enter a dance contest. But I talked to Darci Morales about this concern and she said that if you don't want to play a particular mini-game you don't have to. The point of all the mini-games is to build your buzz and gain experience and you could choose to do that however you want. I'm mainly interested in seeing how all of the different games and gaming mechanics translate into a holistic gaming experience. I think This Is Vegas is noteworthy because it looks like it'll be a hell of an achievement for Surreal and Midway when it is done and it deserves merit if only for being a massive effort at establishing an open game play world with lots of variety. I'm not sure whether that translates into being a successful game in an overall sense. I'd get a better idea from a more in depth demo where I could see how the player goes from one mode to the other, how fluid that is, and how all of the different modes combine.

Continue reading "Midway Gamers Day 2008" »

Posted by Matt Sarrel at 10:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I had a really interesting talk about a month ago with some staff members from a maximum security facility for minors somewhere in the USA. I agreed to keep tany identifying information confidential and it is irrelevant anyway. They wanted to know what I thought about the security implications of residents (mostly teenagers) having Nintendo DS and Sony PSP in the facility. They had seen that I write a lot about network security for different magazines and sites and also seen this blog so they thought I would be a natural choice to speak about these issues. I thought it was an interesting exercise.

On the surface, what harm could there be from allowing some kids to play portable video games? It doesn't seem like such a bad thing.

This is what I came up with. There are probably more things that can be done that I might have gotten to if I had some more time to brainstorm.

1. The Nintendo DS and the Sony PSP can physically be used as weapons. You could hold one in your hand and hit someone with it. You could sharpen a stylus and shank someone with it. You could break a UMD and use the sharp edge to attack someone. If you allow the kids to have the device then you have to allow the chargers and maybe the headphones; the cords of either could be used to strangle someone.

2. The Nintendo DS has a plastic blank filling the compartment where a GBA cartridge gets plugged in. The inside of that blank can be used to conceal contraband. Likewise with the UMD bay of the PSP, and maybe even the Memory Stick Slot of the PSP.

Continue reading "Security Implications of Nintendo DS and Sony PSP" »

Posted by Matt Sarrel at 9:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I met with Ubisoft the other day and talked to them about the games that they are working on for 2008. I saw a bunch of demos, and played some games. They even brewed a fresh pot of coffee for me.

Rainbow 6 Vegas 2 - It's the 10 year anniversary of the franchise and it returns with a bigger (meaning more game play) story. Due out in March 2008. There's a greater degree of character customization in equipment and experience points can be applied to better weapons. Enemy and squad AI is better. There's been a huge expansion of co-op game play - friends can jump in and out of the game on the fly without restarting levels. It's the same core game play as version 1 with simple team controls. They've worked hard to add verticality to the levels such as looking up and seeing an enemy through a skylight and then having to go outside and climb up onto the roof to get him. There's destructible cover so you can't sit in one spot and hide. You sort of have to think and plan rather than charge right in. There are 7 locations and each location has multiple scenarios.

Far Cry 2 - They set out to keep the best parts of the original. The intention is to keep it real yet exotic so this version takes place in Africa. There's 50 square kilometers of open game world, mostly savanna with some jungle. All objects are coded meaning that nothing is just a stupid graphic so trees grow while you're playing and everything can take damage. There's wind and light from the sun that change as the day progresses. No mission will ever be exactly the same because there's a randomness about how enemies are deployed; they're not always in the same place at the same time. It's fast paced and from what I saw there was a lot of fire which is always a good thing. One fascinating thing that Clint Hocking (Creative Director) brought up is that it is now cheaper in terms of utilizing system resources to create vegetation procedurally than it is to make it animated. The game is due out roughly around holiday 2008. It will be the same game on console as on PC with the PC version having higher resolution.

Petz Bunnyz - This cute little DS game is basically targeted at young girls who want to play with fluffy bunnies at Easter time. It's not my kind of game, but if you have a daughter who wants to raise a virtual bunny and play with it then this would be a hit.

Continue reading "UbiSoft 2008 Preview" »

Posted by Matt Sarrel at 5:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Pokemon Diamond or Pearl
Nintendo
Rated E for Everyone
Score: 5 out of 5
Players: 1-8 (1-4 in battle)

What can I say? I'm 37 and I love these pokemon games. I find them highly addictive. I played Ruby until I won, which took tens of hours. I'm well on my way towards logging that with Diamond. Today I noticed that I've played 10 hours to date. I don't know what it is exactly, but the combination of exploration, puzzle solving, and turn based combat is fun. I also think that maybe the relationship between trainer and pokemon, in otherwords, my odd affection for my pokemon, is another thing that draws me in. I also love how everyone I battle says something like "prepare to lose" or "you're so weak this isn't even a challenge" and then I wipe the mat with them.

When you start your adventure in Sinnoh, you choose between 3 pokemon, Turtwig, Chimchar or Piplup. I chose a Turtwig and named him Turdwiggle. Today, he turned level 20 and between his Razor Leaf and Absorb he can beat the crap out of anyone. There are over 100 new pokemon such as Munchlax, Weavile, Lucario, Mime JR, Bonsly, and more. You pick whether you want your character to be a boy or a girl, then find and train pokemon, which really means you battle, earn experience, and teach new more effective moves to your pokemon. You travel from town to town and battle with Gym Leaders to advance. There's also a storyline about Team Galactic who wants to control the universe.

Continue reading "Pokemon Review" »

Posted by Matt Sarrel at 1:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Score: 3.5 out of 5
Publisher: Nintendo
Platform: Nintendo DS
ESRB: E 10+

Custom Robo Arena is very much like Custom Robo for GameCube. It's a familiar concept that battles are waged between robots and not between people. The twist is that you play as a kid who does all of the battling, not as some kind of futuristic soldier. And the battles take place in a ring, or arena, not on the battlefield. The robots are small and called "robos" instead of being some sort of huge mech kind of thing. Overall, the game has a charming interface and graphics, and the combat is limited to taking place in a ring. I think the combination of those factors makes this a very good game for children who are interested in robots. Also, geekier adults, such as I, will enjoy the extensive robo customization features.

I had actually written a much longer review, but for some reason it simply disappeared. My guess is that I hit "publish" but didn't hit "save". Gotta love duplicating my efforts.

You play as a kid who is starting a new school and wants to join the robo team. In this, you walk around the town and talk to people. Unfortunately, this part reminded me of Pokemon for GBA, which is my way of saying that it isn't really up to DS standards. Although, to be fair, when you talk to someone the artwork is pretty good. It's just that the exploring the town part is very basic.

The real action comes in the robo arena. Before the battles you can tweak your robot by modifiying different parts such as guns, pods, body frame, bombs, and legs. You can make your robot heavily armored and slow, or give it one really good gun, a light body, and then hop around and shoot. The ability to customize your robot so heavily is a major strongpoint of the game. There's strategy involved in building and configuring your robo and then there's tactics involved in the actual fighting. Fighting is pretty fast and frenetic, and best of all no one gets hurt so this seems like a pretty good game for kids. I also like the way that the fighting is confined to a ring, which sends the message that fighting is only ok under controlled circumstances.

Continue reading "Custom Robo Arena" »

Posted by Matt Sarrel at 9:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Nintendo Reveals Strong Second-Quarter Lineup for Wii, Nintendo DS

REDMOND, Wash., March 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Wii(TM) owners of all ages have
discovered the fun of playing with a group of friends in the same room. Now
for the first time players can compete with one another near and far with
Pokemon(R) Battle Revolution, a game of remarkable firsts:

* the first Wii game to include Nintendo(R) Wi-Fi Connection play
* the first Pokemon game for Wii
* the first game to link Wii and the hand-held Nintendo DS(TM)
* and the first Wii game that can be controlled using Nintendo DS

When Wii and Nintendo DS are linked, players can use their Nintendo DS
units as controllers or import characters from the upcoming Nintendo DS games
Pokemon(R) Diamond Version or Pokemon(R) Pearl Version. Pokemon Battle
Revolution launches on June 25 exclusively for Wii and brings a dramatic new
chapter to the Pokemon franchise, which has sold more than 155 million units
worldwide. Pokemon Battle Revolution also serves as one of the standouts in
Nintendo's second-quarter launch lineup, which the company revealed today in
conjunction with the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.
Pokemon Battle Revolution will be joined by Super Paper Mario(TM), the
first Mario(TM) game for Wii; Mario Party(R) 8, a multiplayer party game; and
Big Brain Academy(TM), a brain-training game that builds on the phenomenal
success of the Nintendo DS brain games. These will add to the ever-growing
library of Wii games, which will total more than 50 by the end of June.
Nintendo DS fans will see the arrival of Pokemon Diamond Version and Pokemon
Pearl Version, two surefire smash-hits.
"With strong third-party support, Wii and Nintendo DS have games on the
way for both casual and veteran gamers," says Nintendo of America President
Reggie Fils-Aime. "Our new ways to play have attracted millions of players
around the world. This lineup demonstrates our commitment to leading the
industry with the future of video gaming."
Third-party publishers also have stepped up their support of both Wii and
Nintendo DS, recognizing these systems as the hottest things going in the
video game industry. The list of games for April, May and June includes the
following:

Wii
April 9 Super Paper Mario Nintendo
April Prince of Persia Rival Swords Ubisoft
April Bust-A-Move Bash Majesco
April Bioncle Heroes Eidos
May 15 Mortal Kombat: Armageddon Midway
May 29 Mario Party 8 Nintendo
May Tamagotchi Party On Namco Bandai
May Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean Disney Interactive
at World's End
May Escape from Bug Island Eidos
May Spider-Man The Movie 3 Activision
June 11 Big Brain Academy Nintendo
June 25 Pokemon Battle Revolution Nintendo
June Cosmic Family Ubisoft
Spring Heatseeker Codemasters
Q2 Legend of the Dragon American Game Factory
Summer Shrek the Third Activision
Summer Transformers the Game Activision

Nintendo DS
April 22 Pokemon Diamond and Pokemon Pearl Nintendo
May Pirates of the Caribbean 3 Buena Vista
May Dragon Ball Z: Harukanaru Densetsu Atari
May Pony Friends Eidos
May Diner Dash Eidos
May Touch the Dead Eidos
June 4 Nintendo DS browser Nintendo
June 4 Planet Puzzle League Nintendo
June 11 Touchmaster DS Midway
June Zendoku Eidos
Spring Naruto Ninja Council 3 Tomy
Spring Time Ace Konami
Spring Death Jr. and the Science Fair of Doom Konami
Q2 Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon Natsume
Summer Shrek the Third Activision
Summer Transformers: Autobots Activision
Summer Transformers: Decepticons Activision

Game Boy(R) Advance
Summer Shrek the Third Activision

The worldwide innovator in the creation of interactive entertainment,
Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and
software for its Wii(TM), Nintendo DS(TM), Game Boy(R) Advance and Nintendo
GameCube(TM) systems. Since 1983, Nintendo has sold nearly 2.2 billion video
games and more than 387 million hardware units globally, and has created
industry icons like Mario(TM), Donkey Kong(R), Metroid(R), Zelda(TM) and
Pokemon(R). 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.
Pokemon USA, Inc., a subsidiary of The Pokemon Company in Japan, manages
the property outside of Asia which includes licensing, marketing, the Pokemon
Trading Card Game, an animated TV series, home entertainment, the official
Pokemon Web site and an online retail center www.pokemoncenter.com. Just
coming off its 10th worldwide anniversary in 2006, Pokemon was launched in
Japan in 1996 for play on Nintendo's Game Boy(R) and has since evolved into a
global cultural phenomenon. Pokemon was introduced in North America in
September 1998 and today is one of the most popular toy and entertainment
properties in the world. For more information, visit www.pokemon.com.

Posted by Matt Sarrel at 6:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I met with Majesco a few days ago and checked out their spring lineup. It's essentially casual games, ie not hardcore gaming, on Wii and DS. I liked a few of them, but I can't help but remember that Majesco once shipped BloodRayne. That was a great game and you couldn't really ask for something more hardcore than that. Times have changed and markets have changed. My guess is that it has more to do with the finances of developing and publishing blockbuster titles. Nothing that Majesco showed me is going to run away with the market, but there's certainly fun to be had.

Cooking Mama Cook Off - This innovative game for Wii puts you in the kitchen where you learn recipes and cooking techniques. It was pretty fun on DS and now they've got a Wii version with 55 new recipes. An interesting thing that they did was add an international element. There are 10 countries, each with a champion and 2 dishes. So you can compete against the little Spanish girl to make paella and that unlocks the paella recipe. It's really a bunch of clever cooking based mini games. For example, you hold the Wii controller upright and spin it like you are spinning pizza dough on your fingertip. The speed with which you spin the controller dictates the size of the pizza. There's 2 player split screen which should be a blast at parties. It'll ship in April for $49.99.

Cooking Mama: Cook Off Trailer

Continue reading "Majesco Winter Gamers Day" »

Posted by Matt Sarrel at 12:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I met with my good friends Anthony (from 2K Sports) and Katie (from Access PR) yesterday and they showed me Major League Baseball 2K7 on Xbox 360 and PS3. It's going to be available on everything except GameCube and Wii (they would have had to create a whole new control system and couldn't do it in time for the season) and it will ship in the first week of March 2007. i was pretty impressed with it. Overall, the graphics and sound are great. The details are all there, from Inside Edge statistics that affect AI on a play by play basis, to 150 signature style individualized player animations, and even to shirts rippling in the wind and little puffs of dirt coming up from player's footsteps. The commentary was reasonably interesting, at least for the few innings that we played. The heckling "Hey, I stole your girlfriend Jeter") was pretty cool.

Here's a screenshot from PS3:

Pitching controls remain the same, using the "Payoff Pitching" system and now you can even control the catcher and have him call the game. Hitting is the same using the swing stick. On PS3 you also have the option to swing using the controller due to it's 6-axis motion sensing capability. I couldn't get the hang of this during the brief time that I had with the game. They reworked a lot of the fielding so that momentum when running seems more real than last year. They also revamped every stadium, including lighting down to the way that shadows affect hitting. The PIP baserunning makes it easy to control runners.

Here's a screenshot from Xbox360:

There is online play with online leagues for both Xbox 360 and PS3.

Also new is the ability to manage your budget and set ticket prices in franchise mode.

Here's a PSP screenshot:

Continue reading "Major League Baseball 2K7" »

Posted by Matt Sarrel at 5:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I spent a few days in Las Vegas last week to visit Midway. They booked The Joint at the Hard Rock for a great event that highlighted several of their 2007 and 2008 titles. They had some great sushi and the scotch was flowing freely; what could be bad?

BlackSite: Area 51 This FPS is due to ship summer 2007 for Xbox 360, PC, and PS3. The story is pretty cool. You're sent into an area because some troops are missing and all of a sudden all hell breaks loose. There are all sorts of creepy crawlies that come after you. My favorite are the ones that you kill but their heads pop off and continue to pursue you. Midway promises realistic sound, but I couldn't tell because it was in a crowded noisy room. The graphics look great and lighting effects were very cool. The massively destructible environment is another cool thing. All in all, the short level that I played was a whole lot of fun. There's also a basic squad based element, which I mainly used to order my guys ahead on point. There were some performance issues, but it's a very early build. All in all, this is a title that I'm looking forward to.

Hour of Victory This Xbox 360 WWII FPS is built on the Unreal Engine 3 so it looked fantastic. The innovation with this title is the ability to switch between 3 characters. There's the brawny charge ahead and gun Nazis down character, the stealthy slit their necks from behind character, and the eagle eyed sniper. At various points in each level you are given the opportunity to switch guys. Interestingly, you can do any part of the game using any character although some are better at certain parts than others. I found that using the brawny charge ahead and gun Nazis down character made this game feel exactly like Call of Duty. Not a bad thing for me, because I love these WWII shooters. In fact, I can remember a night when the guy in the apartment above me asked me to stop storming the beaches at Normandy (Medal of Honor) because it was 2 in the morning. I wonder how many other people like them. How much of a market is there for them? Very little was said about multiplayer modes, although the level looked like a good multiplayer design. The other cool thing is that you can take over turrets, planes, tanks, etc. That's always tons of fun in multiplayer.

They also showed Stranglehold which looks like so much fun. I've written about it several times before.

They showed a trailer for The Wheelman with Vin Deisel. I can never tell very much about a game from the trailer. It's too early for me to have anything to say about this one.

They showed a great video about the controls for Mortal Kombat: Armagedon for Wii. This looks like a lot of fun. It's basically a combination of swipes and motions with the remote and a little button pushing. I'm really looking forward to playing this one.

And finally they had playable The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar which is a MMO for PC. They announced that it will ship on April 24, 2007. They just started a pre-order program which gets you the game for $9.99 per month or $199 lifetime. It looked good and there was a lot of excitement about it.

Continue reading "Midway Winter Gamers Day" »

Posted by Matt Sarrel at 9:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

REDMOND, Wash., Jan. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- There has never been anything like it. Independent U.S. sales figures released by the NPD Group today confirmed a red-hot launch for the new Wii(TM) system by Nintendo, and the crowning of the portable Nintendo DS(TM) as the best-selling video game device of any type for both the holidays and all of 2006.
Along with stunning success for The Legend of Zelda(R): Twilight Princess
and historic sales of accessories, including more than 1.5 million extra controllers for Wii alone, Nintendo recorded the most successful across-the-board holiday performance in U.S. video game history.

Among key results:

* Consumers purchased every Wii console available at retail -- more than
a million in just the 44 days between U.S. launch and year end.
* With sales of another 1.6 million systems in December alone, Nintendo
DS achieved full year sell-through of 5.3 million.
* The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was purchased by an
extraordinary 86 percent of Wii buyers, or more than 900,000 games for
that system alone. Coupled with the companion version released in
December for Nintendo GameCube(TM), the two versions of the newest
Zelda title totaled approximately 1.5 million unit sales in less than
seven weeks, which would represent one of the five best-selling games
for the entire year.
* Wii owners also purchased an average of three additional games from a
wide library of choices, in addition to the Wii Sports title packed in
with every hardware system.
* Two Nintendo DS titles, New Super Mario Bros.(R) and Brain Age(TM):
Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day, also were top-10 sellers for the year.
* Throughout the November/December holiday shopping period, Nintendo
accounted for more than half of all video game hardware systems sold in America.

Earlier this week, Nintendo increased its projected worldwide financial performance for the year ending on March 31 to be the best in company history.
"Millions of players, both hard-core and brand-new, are already enjoying the unique entertainment provided by Wii, but demand for the system remains incredibly high," says Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime. "So our work is just beginning. We're dedicating ourselves to maximizing both manufacturing and distribution full bore throughout 2007, to make sure everyone who wants to experience the future of video gaming can do so just as soon as possible."
The momentum behind Wii will continue unabated through the early weeks of 2007, with retail debuts of WarioWare(TM): Smooth Moves, Wii Play(TM) and Mario Party(R) 8 from Nintendo; a host of third-party releases; and a steady stream of classic games made available via download with the Wii Shop Channel.

Continue reading "Nintendo Records Best Holiday Selling Season in U.S. Video Game History" »

Posted by Matt Sarrel at 9:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

REDMOND , Wash., Oct. 13, 2006 – As both an entertainment and a business, Nintendo DS™ today is the powerhouse of the U.S. video game industry, driving nearly all industry revenue growth so far this year. Without this portable system, the video game industry growth overall would be nearly flat when compared with 2005, according to independent sales figures from the NPD Group of Port Washington, N.Y.

Through September's end, the U.S. industry overall shows revenue growth of 11 percent when compared with the same period in 2005. Nearly all of the growth comes from the portable DS – without it, the industry would report a mere 1.6 percent growth over the past nine months. DS hardware and software units posted a robust gain of 203 percent when compared to the same period in 2005. The news is the same globally: Nintendo recently announced estimated full-year shipments for DS hardware will grow to 20 million units from 17 million units worldwide, while estimated DS software shipments increased to 82 million units from 75 million.

"Numbers dramatically show the value of reaching out to the masses with products that are compelling and comfortable," says Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime. "And this perfectly sets the stage for our breakthrough Wii console, which appeals to both core players and current non-players with an intuitive control system and a price everyone can afford."

The NPD numbers also indicate that during September, Nintendo DS lifetime U.S. sales surpassed more than 6.2 million units. That total includes more than 1.4 million units of the new Nintendo DS Lite systems, which launched just 16 weeks ago on June 11. It's important to note these numbers represent Nintendo DS systems actually purchased by customers, not ones shipped only to stores.

"During a home console generation upgrade, consumer interest in existing consoles tends to drop as anticipation for new consoles increases. Hand-held game hardware and software revenues have kept the industry afloat," says Billy Pidgeon, Program Manager, Consumer Markets: Gaming at IDC. "Hand-held gaming has spurred real industry growth, and Nintendo's longstanding leadership in this space continues to drive this market."

This summer, Nintendo launched its Touch Generations brand to help newcomers to video games identify which nontraditional and pick-up-and-play titles are appropriate for them. The response from consumers has been enthusiastic, as four of the top 10 best-selling Nintendo DS games are Touch Generations titles. Touch Generations games include Brain Age™: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day and the three versions of Nintendogs ™. And at the same time, avid players also are fueling growth: the New Super Mario Bros. ® title, exclusively for Nintendo DS, is the third best-seller among all video games this year, including console games.

Nintendo's internal statistics show the Touch Generations brand continues to reach more women and older gamers. Nintendo statistics show a significant percentage of all Touch Generations software buyers are female and are age 25 or older, demonstrating the broad appeal of Nintendo titles like Brain Age and Big Brain Academy™, which provide engaging and entertaining content for baby boomers and seniors alike.

For more information about Nintendo DS, visit www.nintendods.com. For more information about Nintendo's Touch Generations brand, visit www.touchgenerations.com .

Continue reading "NINTENDO DS LEADS VIDEO GAME INDUSTRY GROWTH" »

Posted by Matt Sarrel at 9:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SANTA CLARA, Calif., (September 26, 2006) – Leading video games publisher and developer NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc. today announced that Mage Knight: Destiny’s Soldier™ for the Nintendo DS™ system has shipped and is available in retail outlets nationwide.

A turn-based strategy title based on the best-selling collectible miniature game from WizKids Games, Mage Knight: Destiny’s Soldier takes players to a time where war is rampant and the fate of the land rests in the hands of one brave warrior.

Players take on the role of a warrior who is tasked to fight and rally as many troops as possible in an effort to restore peace and keep the Land alive. This warrior must prove himself by fighting hard and earning the respect of other soldiers by engaging in small battles along the way. The more respect a player earns, the more inclined others will be to fight alongside him in an all-out war against those trying to destroying the Land.

“The Mage Knight™ franchise has always delivered a solid gameplay experience with lasting appeal,” said John Whitmore, Director of Internal/External Development at NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc. “While staying true to the traditional tabletop game, Mage Knight: Destiny’s Soldier allows players to strategize, customize their armies and conquer the magical Mage Knight universe.”

Mage Knight: Destiny’s Soldier provides players with a deep and structured combat system based on the established Mage Knight rules. Players can explore and conquer more than 80 maps including forests, mountains, villages, icy plains and other various types of terrain throughout the Land. Players can also build an unstoppable custom army by utilizing more than 90 different units of troops through recruitment and conquest.

Mage Knight: Destiny’s Soldier is rated “E 10+” for ages 10 and up by the ESRB, is now available nationwide for a suggested retail price of $29.99.

Continue reading "Mage Knight Destiny's Soldier for Nintendo DS Ships To Retail" »

Posted by Matt Sarrel at 9:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

BURBANK, Calif. — (September 26, 2006) — Buena Vista Games, Inc. (BVG), the interactive entertainment affiliate of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS), today announced that “The Cheetah Girls,” “Phil of the Future,” and “The Suite Life of Zack & Cody: Tipton Trouble” are now available. “The Cheetah Girls” and “Phil of the Future” are available for the Game Boy(R) Advance. “The Suite Life of Zack & Cody: Tipton Trouble” is available for the Nintendo DS(TM). All three games are rated E for Everyone by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB).

“Kids can take their favorite Disney Channel characters anywhere this fall with new adventures from ‘The Cheetah Girls,’ ‘Phil of the Future’ and ‘The Suite Life of Zack & Cody,’” said Craig Relyea, vice president of marketing, Buena Vista Games. “With the recent success of ‘The Cheetah Girls 2’ Disney Channel Original Movie, we’re particularly excited to offer fans more ways to interact with the performers’ story.”

In “Phil of the Future,” developed by Handheld Games Corp. for the Game Boy Advance, players help their favorite characters from the popular Disney Channel series save a town overrun with the mischievous pets from the future – “The Blahs”. As Phil, Keeley or Curtis, players collect and assemble more than 20 futuristic gadgets to solve puzzles, overcome obstacles and capture the blahs to save the day. With several mini-games and unlockable features, “Phil of the Future” offers players hours of fun.

Join “The Cheetah Girls” as they dance and sing their way to a talent competition in Spain, where the top prize is a record contract. Players take on the role of each of the four Cheetah Girls – Galleria, Chanel, Aquanetta and Dorinda, plus Galleria’s pedigree pooch, Toto. To prepare for the big gig in Barcelona, players create their own tunes in the music studio, choreograph dance moves and coordinate Cheeta-licious outfits. The game also features mini jobs for each girl -- flip ribs on the grill with Aqua; teach dance with Dorinda; make music with Galleria and Toto at home or coordinate outfits at a high-end fashion store with Chanel. Developed by Gorilla, “The Cheetah Girls” is an adventure that fans won’t want to miss.

“The Suite Life of Zack & Cody: Tipton Trouble” is an action platform game from developer A2M, based on the Disney Channel’s popular TV show, “The Suite Life of Zack & Cody.” The game enables players to enter the world of Zach and Cody, 12-year-old twins who live with their mother in one of Boston’s swankiest hotels. As in the TV show, the twins attempt to save themselves from 14 outrageous situations by jumping, crawling, climbing, running and racing to conquer enemy forces. Players can race through corridors on Zack’s skateboard, shoot various objects like water balloons, bubble gum and cream pies from Cody’s amazing vacuum, and unlock mini-games that feature two-player wireless action.

Continue reading "TAKE YOUR FAVORITE DISNEY CHANNEL CHARACTERS ON THE GO WITH THREE NEW VIDEO GAMES" »

Posted by Matt Sarrel at 9:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment gives their fans the chance to get into the chase themselves, when the two hilarious, chase-filled TOM AND JERRY TALES games for the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS ship on October 31! Putting an emphasis on what Tom and Jerry are all about - the chase - the TOM AND JERRY TALES games allow gamers to play as Jerry who must make his way through the house to survive, running through mouse holes, destroying the house through interactions with Tom and recovering the precious cheese Tom has stolen along the way. Each version of the game features exclusive content-the GBA version includes various mini-games to keep the chase moving, while the NDS version includes touch-screen activated events that require players to use lightening quick reflexes to cleverly avoid Tom and create general mayhem in the house.

Continue reading "Tom and Jerry Tales" »

Posted by Matt Sarrel at 5:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – August 22, 2006 – Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) announced that Madden NFL 07, the newest iteration of the EA SPORTS™ best-selling football franchise with the exclusive videogame license of the NFL and PLAYERS INC, is in stores everywhere today. Madden NFL 07 continues to lead with innovation and gameplay by reinventing the running game with the all-new Lead Blocker Control and the new highlight stick so you can run like the real players run. NFL Superstar: Hall of Fame mode comes to Madden NFL 07 this year, where you can live the life of an NFL Superstar.

Madden NFL 06¸ since its launch, has sold more than 6.5 million copies*, and was the #1 selling videogame of 2005 in North America. Madden NFL Football has become a cultural phenomenon, with more than 51 million copies sold (LTD), and the launch day becoming a holiday for many avid fans.

“Madden NFL Football has become a cultural phenomenon and, with Maddenoliday, we are honoring all the Madden gamers across the country who line up at midnight and then take off the day to play Madden NFL 07,” said Todd Sitrin, VP of marketing for EA Tiburon and EA SPORTS brand. “We continue to bring innovative changes to the game every year, and now with the improvements in the running game, Madden NFL 07 is even more authentic. You will know how it feels to be actually on the field playing with the pros.”

You now control the running game like never before with Lead Blocker Control in Madden NFL 07. For the first time ever, step up as the lead blocker to create a hole, and then take control of the tailback and smash through, overpower, or slash away from would-be tacklers as you fight for every yard. Innovative rushing controls give you a game-breaking ground attack featuring all-new jukes, cutbacks, and the distinct running styles of your favorite backs.

NFL Superstar: Hall of Fame mode makes its debut in Madden NFL 07 on the Xbox 360 and is even deeper for the current generation systems. You can create and customize your own player and guide him one Sunday at a time from that position on the field for an all new way of experiencing the game. Madden NFL 07 Franchise Mode is deeper than ever before. On current generation platforms, now scout collegiate prospects with the all-new NFL Draft Scouting System and the College All-Star Game, or watch players around the NFL impact their teams with the new Franchise Player Roles feature. On Xbox 360, participate in an interactive player rehab through mini games.

For the Xbox 360 there is an all-new Mini-Camp mode where you can build up your players attributes by running him through skill-based, combine-type mini-games. In the off-season use Mini-Camp to condition players or rehab injuries to get back on the field faster. Track your career accomplishments in Franchise Mode to earn Madden Gamer Points, then risk your points against the computer or live opponents in the same room.

In its second installment on the PlayStation® Portable system, Madden NFL 07 brings you a new exclusive mini-games -- return kicks, avoid tackles, and players can aim for the high score in “End 2 End.” And for the first time you can transfer an entire season in Franchise mode from your PlayStation®2 to your PSP system.

September 1 in Denver, CO is the kick off to the highly-anticipated 5th annual EA SPORTS™ Madden Challenge, played exclusively this year on the Xbox® video game system from Microsoft, with a $100,000 grand prize check for the Finals winner. Void where prohibited. Eligibility Restrictions Apply. Tournament runs on published dates in each city. For additional details and Tournament Official Rules see www.maddenchallenge.com.

Entering its 17th year and with more than 51 million copies sold life to date, Madden NFL Football continues to stand out as the most popular football videogame franchise of all time with a combination of innovative new features and the most authentic football gameplay. Developed in Orlando, FL by EA Tiburon Madden NFL 07 will be available on August 22 on Xbox 360™ videogame and entertainment system, the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, the Xbox® video game system from Microsoft, Nintendo GameCube™, Nintendo DS™, PC (as well as www.downloader.ea.com), PSP™ (PlayStation®Portable) handheld entertainment system and Game Boy® Advance. Madden NFL 07 is rated “E” (Everyone) by the ESRB and has an MSRP of $59.99 for the Xbox 360, $49.99 for the PlayStation 2 console and Xbox, $39.99 for Nintendo GameCube, PSP, and PC, $29.99 for Nintendo DS and Game Boy Advance. In Europe, Madden NFL 07 launches on PS2, Xbox, NDS, PC, PC Downloader August 25 and on Xbox 360 and PSP September 8. For more information check out www.madden07.com.

Continue reading "MERRY MADDENOLIDAY! EA’s MADDEN NFL 07 HITS STORE SHELVES TODAY" »

Posted by Matt Sarrel at 1:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Have you ordered your copy of Pokemon(R) Mystery Dungeon yet? If so,
great! If not, what are you waiting for? It's the first ever Pokemon
game where you play as an actual Pokemon. If that's not enough to whet
your gaming appetite, Nintendo is offering everyone who pre-orders the
game (by placing a deposit at select retailers) a Pokemon Mystery Dungeon
Rescuer's Guide, featuring a game preview and other Pokemon information.

Pokemon games always sell about a bajillion copies, so you'll want to
order early. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team plays on the new
Nintendo DS(TM) Lite and Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team plays on
Game Boy(R) Advance SP. Both let you play as a Pokemon and talk to other
Pokemon as you encounter randomly generated dungeons and work through the
engaging storyline. Both versions launch Sept. 18 and are Rated E for
Everyone.

Starting Sept. 12, The Official Nintendo Power Player's Guide for Pokemon
Mystery Dungeon will be available at retail. Readers will find all kinds
of helpful information, including in-depth details about all Pokemon and
where they can be found in the game, full walk-throughs of every dungeon
and advanced battle tips.

Continue reading "Nintendo Offers Bonus Item for Fans Pre-Ordering Pokemon Mystery Dungeon" »

Posted by Matt Sarrel at 9:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A new Nintendo DS game is arriving with the stealth befitting a ninja assassin. Tenchu(R): Dark Secret, made exclusively for Nintendo DS(TM) sneaks up on you -- then grabs you by the throat. Be on your guard because it launches today.

Keep in mind you can't just find a ninja on any old street corner. Thus, it'll take skill and knowledge to obtain Tenchu: Dark Secret. The game, Rated T for Teen, will be available exclusively at GameStop and EB Games stores nationally.

Princess Shizu is a young woman married to a cruel warlord. After an attempt on her life, you must use your ninja skills to play through 40 missions to protect her and reveal her would-be killers. You can strike with a sword, plant secret grenades and even construct your own weapons.

If you're running low on supplies in your single-player missions, connect to Nintendo(R) Wi-Fi Connection, Nintendo's wireless gaming service. There you can meet with friends and strangers to buy, sell and trade important items. The only thing more fun than playing as a ninja is fighting another ninja for supremacy. Just meet with another player on a local wireless connection and match wits until one of you reigns supreme.

Continue reading "Nintendo Reveals its Dark Secret" »

Posted by Matt Sarrel at 9:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

REDMOND, Wash., Aug. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- The latest craze to sweep the planet is Brain Age(TM): Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day for the portable Nintendo DS(TM). Selling more than 4 million units worldwide, including 600,000 in the Americas, 3 million in Japan and 500,000 in Europe, the top-selling title redefines how millions of people now think about video gaming.
Brain Age first took Japan by storm with its edition that includes a series of math and memory puzzles designed to keep the mind agile. Even after selling 3 million copies in the 15 months since launch, Japanese sales are not showing any signs of slowing. The title was launched in the Americas and Europe this year and maintains a similar trend of steady weekly sales. Around the world, game players, baby boomers and seniors are intent on keeping their minds sharp by making Brain Age part of their daily routine. For many of them, Brain Age is the first video game they've ever played, showing Nintendo's efforts to expand the audience of players is highly successful.
"Brain Age is so easy to pick up and play, regardless of your experience level," says George Harrison, Nintendo of America's senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications, whose "Brain Age" has improved to age 20 (the best score you can achieve). "You can play it for 10 minutes or an hour and keep yourself feeling sharp. As a baby boomer, it's like a treadmill for my mind."
Brain Age is a cornerstone of Nintendo's new Touch Generations brand, which helps gaming newcomers identify which titles might be appropriate for them. The second title in the brain-training series, Big Brain Academy(TM), launched in the Americas on June 5 and already has sold more than one quarter million units. Both titles have helped to lay the foundation for Nintendo's upcoming Wii(TM) console, which also will include fun, simple games that everyone in the family will want to try.

Continue reading "Nintendo's Brain Age Sets New World Record, Training Millions of Brains Each Day" »

Posted by Matt Sarrel at 7:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) today announced that fashion street wear brand 55DSL will be coming to Need for Speed™ Carbon. Exclusively designed items from 55DSL, plus a selection of garments from their ‘Zurka and the 55 Vagabonds’ winter collection, will feature prominently on key in-game characters in the game,developed by EA Black Box in Vancouver, British Columbia. Need for Speed ™ Carbon delivers the next generation of adrenaline-filled street racing and will challenge players to face the ultimate test of driving skill on treacherous canyon roads..

55DSL items are specifically tailored to the game, bringing with them the unique style and tone of the brand. Exclusively designed clothing for the game, will be available only through local EA events around the world and pre-order campaigns.

Andrea Rosso, the Creative Director of 55DLS is enthusiastic, “When the opportunity to work with EA, and in particular Need for Speed™ Carbon, came along, it seemed like a natural progression for us. I’m a gamer and I’m going to play this game for sure so to see characters wearing our exclusively designed t-shirts and other items, is really amazing for me.”

“This partnership adds another layer of authenticity to our role in street culture”, says Larry LaPierre, Executive Producer. “Having 55DSL integrated so tightly within Need for Speed™ Carbon adds an increased sense of realism to the game and gives fans the opportunity to wear exclusively designed items that brings them closer to the action.”

Continue reading "EA ANNOUNCES 55DSL COLLABORATION WITH NEED FOR SPEED CARBON" »

Posted by Matt Sarrel at 7:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The fourth quarter of 2006 will herald a new era for Nintendo with the launch of its remarkable new Wii(TM) home video game system. But that's not what this news item is about! How could that be, you ask? Perhaps the secret to the launch information for Wii is somehow encoded in the text of this news item. You might want to pore over it for a few hours before staying up all night to debate phraseology and comma placement with your friends online. Or maybe it's all just a scam to get you to read the other games we have launching this fall. One of the two.
As the weather cools down, the Nintendo portable game offerings heat up. FINAL FANTASY(R) V ADVANCE makes its way to Game Boy(R) Advance SP on Nov. 6. As series go, FINAL FANTASY is to video games what James Bond is to movies. FINAL FANTASY loyalists will enjoy an opportunity to debate which installment was best.
Nintendo DS(TM) owners are the big winners. Every week or so, another huge DS title hits, from the Touch Generations title Clubhouse Games(TM) to fan favorites like Elite Beat Agents(TM) and Yoshi's Island(TM) 2. Clearly a gamer's idea of paradise, here is Nintendo's upcoming DS lineup:

Oct. 9: Clubhouse Games(TM)
Oct. 16: Nintendogs(TM) (Dalmatian)
Oct. 23: Magical Starsign(TM)
Oct. 30: Pokemon(R) Ranger
Oct. 30: Children of Mana(R)
Nov. 6: Elite Beat Agents(TM)
Nov. 13: Yoshi's Island(TM) 2
Dec. 4: Custom Robo(TM) Arena
Dec. 4: Kirby(TM) Squeak Squad

Continue reading "Nintendo Game Offerings Heat Up as the Weather Cools Down" »

Posted by Matt Sarrel at 7:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

REDMOND, Wash., July 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Nintendo delivers on its promise to bring video gaming to the masses. In less than two years since its Nov. 21, 2004 launch, Nintendo has sold more than 21 million Nintendo DS(TM) systems worldwide. By comparison, Apple(R) shipped one million of its ever popular iPod(R) music players in its first 19 months. The rate of Nintendo DS units being sold equates to 23 systems per minute -- that's nearly one every two seconds -- non-stop since launch.
"We're thrilled to be announcing this milestone today," says George Harrison, Nintendo of America's senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications, "especially since Nintendo DS was North America's top-selling video game system of any type in June. We attribute this success to Nintendo's overall strategy of offering something for everyone -- from five-year-olds caring for their Nintendogs to 65-year-olds tuning their mental agility with Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day."
Nintendo recently launched the new version of its popular portable system, DS Lite, featuring a smaller profile and more brilliant display. Beyond appealing attributes such as dual screens, a touch screen, a microphone and seamless Wi-Fi play, DS popularity also is being propelled by a unique mix of software that appeals equally to mainstream players and those new to the category.
The Touch Generations line of fun and accessible games for all ages and skill sets features the red-hot Brain Age(TM): Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day and Big Brain Academy(TM), as well as the enormously popular and innovative Nintendogs(TM). Nintendo DS sales success is also supported by video gaming sensations, New Super Mario Bros.(R) and Animal Crossing(R): Wild World.

Continue reading "Nintendo News: The World Goes Portable with Nintendo DS - 21 Million Sold!" »

Posted by Matt Sarrel at 7:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I met with Majesco a few days ago and looked at their holiday games. They're now making casual games for DS. I understand that casual gaming (games with easy instructions that you can just pick up and play for a minute or two) is hot, but I want to see more hardcore games because that's what interests me. And probably anyone reading this for that matter. I just couldn't really figure out what Majesco's overall objective is by coming out with all of these inexpensive casual style games.

Guilty Gear X2 and Judgment - For PSP, this game ships in September 2006. Guilty Gear X2 is a straight port of the Xbox title with 22 characters. You can use the analog stick or the d-pad for control. There's two player ad hoc versus mode. Judgment is a sidescroller like Final Fight with unique moves for each character. There are five core characters. You meet new characters, fight with them, and then unlock their story mode. There are 19 areas for each character. The right shoulder button is a powerful back attack.

Mech Assault Phantom War - This is a mech fighting game for DS that ships in September 2006 for $29.99. There are campaign and multi-player modes, 4 player ad hoc game play. There are 24 missions on 4 planets. You use your mech to bring generators back online. There are 20+ mechs, battle armor, tanks, and turrets. The game uses a lot of voice to tell you what to do so you'll have to actually listen to your DS for once. You pick up salvage to replenish health and power up weapons. Take over enemy mechs. This looks like a fun game. Multiplayer can be team based or not. THere's a Phanto Melee mode in which heavy dense fog makes you rely on your radar for combat.

Monster Bomber - This DS title ships in September 2006 for $19.99. This is a casual game for the DS. Aliens invade earth in this bust a move meets missle command meets space invaders game. There is single cartridge four player multiplayer which is pretty cool because 4 friends can play with only a single copy of the game. Basically, you fling balls of color at the matching color enemy and then go for combos of coloration.

Naco Libre - This DS title ships in October 2006 (when the DVD comes out) and will cost $29.99. When I saw it, it was about 35% complete. The plot follows the movie with cut scenes from the movie. There's also a 4 player ad-hoc mode. They're using a technique they're calling "photo puppetry" to creat characters with a realistic head and face and a cartoony body. The result is realism combined with comedy. This is going to be the first wrestling game on DS and will also come with mini games that use the touch screen.

Continue reading "Majesco Holiday Games Preview" »

Posted by Matt Sarrel at 9:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SANTA CLARA, Calif., (July 10, 2006) – Leading video games publisher and developer NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc. announced today that Gunpey for the PSP(R) (PlayStation(R)Portable) system and Nintendo DS(TM) is heading to retail holiday 2006. From the mind of game industry legend Gunpei Yokoi and Q Entertainment, comes Gunpey, an exciting, innovative and challenging puzzle game with dynamic music that changes as you play. Gunpey will test your reflexes, stretch your mind and dazzle your senses.

“Addictive and easy-to-learn, Gunpey was originally conceived by Game Boy(R) creator and legendary game developer Gunpei Yokoi. It has now been re-imagined by the creative minds at Q Entertainment in a perfect dream collaboration that should excite any hardcore gamer,” said Naruo Uchida, NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc.’s Product Group Director. “This title embraces the signature touches of a product conceived by Yokoi. It is accessible, original, and intuitive, yet a challenge to master. Additionally, it combines the ground breaking music integration that has become Q Entertainment’s signature.”

Continue reading "Namco Bandai Games Announces Gunpey for Nintendo DS and PSP (PlayStation Portable) System Portable Platforms" »

Posted by Matt Sarrel at 7:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., – June 23, 2006 – Crank it up, gamers! The football pre-season kicks off with a bang as Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) reveals the 35 songs that will be featured in Madden NFL 07, becoming the de facto soundtrack of the 2007 football season. The bone-crunching action and heart-pounding adrenaline of the grid iron is intensified by the game’s one-of-a-kind mix of rock and hip hop.

“Year after year, the music selected for inclusion in EA’s smash hit football series invariably becomes the soundtrack of the football season, moving beyond the game to turn up in football stadiums and on live TV broadcasts,” said Steve Schnur, Worldwide Executive of Music and Music Marketing at EA. “The Madden NFL Football franchise is recognized across North America as a driving force behind break-out bands… this year EA does it again.”

Players step onto the field in Madden NFL 07 with the thundering roar of the crowd in the background and the air filled with pounding rock anthems and energizing hip hop beats. Dr. Dre’s protégé who first appeared in NBA LIVE 06 and NFL STREET 2, Bishop LaMont now makes an appearance on Madden NFL 07 with a track featuring Chevy Jones, while Lupe Fiasco is on deck with Jonah Matranga. These hot tracks are included alongside new releases from fan favorites AFI, Audioslave, Dashboard Confessional and Taking Back Sunday. Also this year, game fans will be spellbound by new music debuts from Jared Leto’s 30 Seconds to Mars, Dave Navarro’s band The Panic Channel, and Rise Against whose sophomore record is anticipated to be one of the biggest rock albums of the year.

Again this year, the hip hop production team Da Riffs remixed nearly a dozen original NFL FILMS music pieces will be showcased throughout the menus and in gameplay.

The complete in-game soundtrack for Madden NFL 07 includes:

ARTIST

SONG

30 Seconds To Mars

Battle Of One

AFI

Summer Shudder

Al Fatz

Came Down

Anti-Flag

This Is The End (For You My Friend)

Atreyu

Ex’s And Oh’s

Audioslave **

Revelations

Bishop LaMont feat. Chevy Jones **

The Best

Cartel

Say Anything (Else)

Cord **

Go Either Way

Damone

Out Here All Night

Dashboard Confessional

Reason To Believe

Dynamite MC **

Bounce

Feezy 350

Playa What

Glasses Malone **

Right Now

Hit The Lights

Until We Get Caught

Keane

Is It Any Wonder?

Less Than Jake

Still Life Franchise

Lupe Fiasco feat. Jonah Matranga

The Instrumental

Matchbook Romance

Monsters

Omnisoul **

Not Giving Up

Rise Against

Drones

Riverboat Gamblers

On Again Off Again

Saves The Day

Head For The Hills

Shorty Da Kid **

Get Loose

Spank Rock

Backyard Betty

Sparta **

Future Needs

Taking Back Sunday

Spin

The Panic Channel**

Teahouse Of The Spirits

The Pink Spiders

Easy Way Out

The Rapture**

WAYUH

The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus

In Fates Hands

The Sleeping

Don’t Hold Back

Trae

Real Talk

Underoath

Ever So Inviting

Wolfmother

Woman

** Indicates song will debut in Madden NFL 07 before being released to retail

Continue reading "EA UNCOVERS TOP SECRET IN-GAME MUSIC SOUNDTRACK FOR MADDEN NFL 07" »

Posted by Matt Sarrel at 5:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Redwood City, Calif. – June 22, 2006 – Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) announced today that Need for Speed™ Carbon is in development and will hit the streets this November. Developed by EA Black Box in Vancouver, British Columbia, Need for Speed Carbon delivers the next generation of adrenaline-filled street racing and will challenge players to face the ultimate test of driving skill on treacherous canyon roads.

“We pride ourselves on our ability to reinvent the franchise and continually uncover new and exciting trends in car culture. Canyon Racing is a real test of a driver’s skill and we think it provides a fantastic game play opportunity to lean into,” said Larry LaPierre, the game's executive producer.

What starts in the city is settled in the canyons as Need for Speed Carbon immerses you into the world’s most dangerous and adrenaline-filled form of street racing. You and your crew must race in an all-out war for the city, risking everything to take over your rivals’ neighborhoods one block at a time. As the police turn up the heat, the battle ultimately shifts to Carbon Canyon, where territories and reputations can be lost on every perilous curve. Need for Speed Carbon delivers the next generation of customization giving you the power to design and tweak your crew’s cars in every way using the ground-breaking new Autosculpt™ technology. Represent your car class, your crew, and your turf in Need for Speed Carbon, the next revolution in racing games.

Continue reading "EA ANNOUNCES NEED FOR SPEED™ CARBON" »

Posted by Matt Sarrel at 3:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After just 35 days on store shelves, New Super Mario Bros.(R) for Nintendo DS(TM) has racked up sales in excess of one half million in the United States alone. That's a sell-through rate of more than 20 every minutes since the game went on sale May 15.
New Super Mario Bros. marks a new adventure for Mario(TM), the most popular video game character in history. The classic feel of the game attracts newcomers and old-school fans alike, and the gaming press has universally praised New Super Mario Bros. as a near-perfect video game. IGN.com raves: " ... it absolutely is something special. This game marks a brilliant return to Mario's side-scrolling environments, with a look, feel and play that feels unbelievably classic, with new elements that do a fantastic job advancing the design."

Continue reading "Nintendo News: New Super Mario Bros. Surges Past Half-Million Mark" »

Posted by Matt Sarrel at 3:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES – June 20, 2006 – D3Publisher of America, Inc. (D3PA), a publisher and developer of interactive entertainment software, today announced the release of their first title for the Nintendo DS™ Break’em All. Players will attempt to break’em all in classic arcade puzzle solving action as they fight their way through more than 3 million variations of randomly generated levels and out-duel challenging bosses. Three unique gameplay modes such as Tokoton, Quest and Survival offer compelling single player action or multiplayer games for 2-8 players via the wireless feature for Nintendo DS. Break’em All is available now on stores shelves across North America with a suggested retail price of $19.95.

“Game genres ebb and flow in popularity, but compelling arcade style games are always a favorite among gamers,” said Alison Quirion, vice president of marketing, D3PA. “Break’em All is easy to pick up and play, but challenging to master as it offers hours of entertainment for one low price.”

Jam packed with levels ranging from the super simple to supremely difficult, Break’em All allows players to control their paddle with pin-point accuracy using the touch pad and stylus and offers 12 diverse bonus powers to power-up their ball. Break’em All will challenge the most skilled players as they strive to set and break multiple records for High Score, Maximum Rallies, Bricks Broken and more!

Break’em All was developed by Warashi and is rated “E” for Everyone by the ESRB.

Continue reading "D3PUBLISHER OF AMERICA BUSTS INTO RETAIL STORES NATIONWIDE WITH BREAK’EM ALL FOR NINTENDO DS™" »

Posted by Matt Sarrel at 1:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

REDMOND, Wash., June 19 /PRNewswire/ -- During the busy summer travel season, it's a rite of passage for travelers young and old to stock up on games and puzzles for entertainment during long flights and car trips. Nintendo is declaring summer 2006 the "summer of sudoku."

Sudoku Gridmaster(TM) launches June 26 exclusively for Nintendo DS(TM), letting vacationers take more than 400 sudoku puzzles on the go and save their progress at any stage. The compact Nintendo DS fits into bags, whether it's being carried onto planes or toted to the beach. For those who like to travel light, the new, lighter, brighter Nintendo DS Lite makes all your portable
games look better than ever.
"The Nintendo DS touch-screen controls make it easy for players to write, change and save their answers," says George Harrison, Nintendo of America's senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications. "Sudoku Gridmaster is one of the many ways Nintendo is getting new audiences involved in video games."
Sudoku Gridmaster contains four levels of difficulty, giving sudoku novices and experts alike a variety of challenging puzzles. Players use logic to fill a grid with numbers. It sounds simple, but its addictive nature has helped to make sudoku one of the most popular puzzle games in the world. Sudoku Gridmaster also adds some features to enhance the experience in ways not possible when doing the puzzle on paper. With a touch, players can highlight an entire row or column. Or they can highlight all instances of numbers at once. And of course, a grid can be saved for hours or days before the player plays again.
Sudoku Gridmaster is one of the first titles in Nintendo's new Touch Generations brand, which highlights titles with appeal beyond core gamers. The distinctive Touch Generations logo helps gaming newcomers identify which titles might be the most fun for them. For more information about Sudoku Gridmaster and all the Touch Generations titles, visit
www.TouchGenerations.com.

Continue reading "Sudoku Craze Goes High-Tech With Sudoku Gridmaster for Nintendo DS" »

Posted by Matt Sarrel at 7:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

See it in action with the new video now available online at www.codemasters.com/micromachines

New York (June 13, 2006) – Remember what pure fun looks like, as Codemasters unleashes the first video of MICRO MACHINES v4. Multiplayer mayhem like this is the reason friends were invented, as gamers can see for themselves at www.codemasters.com/micromachines.

MICRO MACHINES v4 has now gone gold and is speeding towards its June 27th ship date for the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, the PSP system, and PC with a Nintendo DS edition to follow. The MICRO MACHINES property is under license from the Hasbro Properties Group, the intellectual property development arm of Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE: HAS).

Everything gamers love about the MICRO MACHINES games is back and tuned up several notches. It’s time again to race tiny sports cars around the dinner table firing pint-sized rockets at friends knocking them over the edge. But no hard feelings, what’s a glass of spilt milk between friends? Just a road hazard is all.

Up to four players can challenge each other on MICRO MACHINES v4’s genius household raceways, weaving between train carriages on a model railway or ripping up the baize on a pool table.

A tantalizing taste of the massive fun to be had in this micro world is online now at www.codemasters.com/micromachines. Players can also prepare for the trash talking on the forum at www.codemasters.com/forum.

ABOUT MICRO MACHINES V4
Mixing miniature mayhem with maximum multiplayer racing, Micro Machines v4 comes packed with knockabout, breakneck racing in the fastest scale miniatures, complete with explosive weapon power-ups. Letting players loose with hundreds of vehicles, each with distinctive performance abilities, players will race inch-long miniature motors on the wildest tracks where everyday household objects appear immense in size and can become lethal hazards.

There’s an arsenal of power-ups and weapons to collect and use on opponents while racing. Micro Machines v4 brings all the favorites back – such as missiles and bombs – and provides new ones to attack with, including flamethrowers, heat-seeking missiles, plasma guns and, of course, the car-mounted giant hammer!

* Engage in madcap competition racing with your micro motors on the wildest tracks around your house, garden and beyond...
* Spin out on the breakfast table, turbo boost across the pool table or hit the gas as you race around the rim of the bath.
* Use your arsenal of power ups to blast your opponents with the flamethrower or heat-seeking homing missiles to throw them off course.
* Hundreds of tiny turbo cars to collect or trade. Or, up the stakes when you play for keeps with ‘pink slip racing’.
* Unlock bonus tracks with PSP system to PlayStation 2 connectivity.
* PSP system & DS wireless capability for up to 4-players, PC online multiplay and LAN.
* Unlockable multiplayer and single player content.
* Earn credits to unlock tracks and cars then trade with your friends.
* Track editor choose your own route through the garden or science lab… then challenge your friends to do battle!

Continue reading "Watch the return of the greatest multiplayer series with MICRO MACHINES v4 first game play video" »

Posted by Matt Sarrel at 11:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dozens of celebrities, philanthropists and children got their hands on the new Nintendo DS(TM) Lite on Sunday during an A-list fund raiser in Los Angeles for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. Celebrities like Christian Slater, Ellen Pompeo and Rachel Bilson played New Super Mario Bros. with kids in the Nintendo DS Lite Lounge on the same day that Nintendo DS Lite went on sale in the United States.

"Nintendo has a long tradition of making the lives of kids brighter, and our participation in this event underscores our commitment to the community," said George Harrison, Nintendo of America's senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications.

Each hour a different celebrity worked at the Nintendo DS Lite Lounge, while dozens of others worked in other areas of the "A Time for Heroes Celebrity Carnival." Every year, more than 100 Hollywood celebrities donate their time to raise money for pediatric AIDS research. This year's event was designed to raise more than $1 million.

Continue reading "Nintendo Joins Celebrities to Benefit Pediatric AIDS" »

Posted by Matt Sarrel at 9:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

REDMOND, Wash., June 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Quick -- which weighs more, three snails or a ladybug? How much is seven plus nine plus four? And was that sequence of sounds you just heard baby-baby-girl or girl-baby-baby?
Nintendo's new Big Brain Academy(TM) challenges players with a series of wacky mental tests in areas such as thinking, memorization, computation, analysis and identification. Players complete as many of these tasks as possible in 60 seconds as the difficulty level rises. Big Brain Academy, the second installment in Nintendo's wildly popular brain-training series, launched June 5 exclusively for Nintendo DS(TM).
In Big Brain Academy, users encounter a series of 15 different tests that involve use of the Nintendo DS touch screen. Activities include counting the number of blocks in a stack, matching pairs of colorful panels and deducing which object on a set of scales weighs the most. Big Brain Academy then rates users' performances by giving them a letter grade, suggesting a career option based on their areas of strength and assigning their in-game brain a weight. The better the score, the heavier the brain.
Brain training has become a worldwide phenomenon. The three software titles in the Nintendo DS series have sold more than 6 million copies in Japan. The first brain-training software, Brain Age(TM): Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day, went on sale in the United States on April 17.
Up to eight DS owners can compete wirelessly in multiplayer games, even if only one person has a game card. It will be sold under Nintendo's new Touch Generations brand, which encompasses titles that anyone can pick up and play, even with little or no experience with playing video games. It represents Nintendo's ongoing commitment to expand the world of video games to new audiences. Big Brain Academy is Rated E for Everyone.

Continue reading "Nintendo's Big Brain Academy Is the Most Fun You Can Have With Your Brain" »

Posted by Matt Sarrel at 7:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Score 4.5 out of 5
$129.99 MSRP

I've been playing with my DS Lite for a few days now and I'm ready to write a review. Overall, I really like it. I'm a big fan of the clamshell design (not that the clamshell is new I'm just saying I like it). The pearly white finish is sort of strange. It's like it's been "ipodified". But the finish seems scratch resistant and that's a good thing.

I've been getting a lot of looks carrying the DS Lite around. No one knows what it is yet. It's much sexier than the original DS. Just the right size to fit in my front pocket or a cargo pocket. It's 133 mm (5.2 in) wide, 73.9 mm (2.9 in) long, and 21.5 mm (0.85 in) high. The height is the key dimension because the DS Lite is very thin. It's also light, weighing in at about 216 gm. or less than 8 oz.

I like the design of it. My girlfriend had some interesting things to say about it. First of