It’s been about five months after its release in the US and Japan, but Nintendo have finally got round to releasing Super Paper Mario in Europe. Start queuing up now, it’s going to hit these shores on September 14, 2007.
Don’t be fooled into thinking it’s just a conventional Super Mario adventure, this is a fully fledged role-playing game with a witty script and a beautiful soundtrack. If you’ve played your share of Final Fantasies and Dragon Quests, then you should definitely check this one out.
If we felt like being difficult, we’d be wondering why Nintendo took such a long time to release it over here. Apparently a lot of effort has gone into localising the game for at least five different regions (UK English, French, German, Spanish and Italian). That’s all well and good, but when are we going to hear “Letsa go!” in Estonian?
Sorry for the cheap headline, but these things work you know! This week’s update at the oh-so-wonderful Smash Bros. DOJO reveals Donkey Kong’s very impressive finishing move, also known as a ‘Final Smash’.
When he’s fully charge up, DK pulls out a set of bongos (cunning product placement) and thumps out some killer beats. Right at the end, he claps his hands together and delivers a massive sonic shock to all enemies nearby. It’s a pretty powerful move, and best of all, DK is invulnerable while performing it.
Usually its companies targeting the younger children, to try and get their product lodged firmly in their heads (not literally of course) from a very young age. But the gaming world doesn’t really work like that. There’s still a divide between gamers and non-gamers that’s existed since the inception of this enjoyable hobby, but the proportions are not quite as heavily weighed in the direction of non-gamers as years gone by.
With Shigeru Miyamoto’s recent comments with regards to people now talking about video games again, is the Wii truly creating a whole new generation of gamers?
Great news from the tail-end of the San Diego Comic Con; Viva Piñata is heading to the Nintendo DS.
Rare are going to momentarily slip their golden Microsoft handcuffs to work on the development, with the stated intention that it’s going to be pretty much identical to the cutesy-wootsy 360 version.
That means it should retain all of the core gameplay features that made it so loveable, if not the same level of visual splendour. But hey, who needs super-duper graphics when you’ve got a touch screen?
This is an uncharacteristically magnanimous gesture by Microsoft. Realising that this brilliant game hadn’t found an audience on the 360, they’ve done the admirable thing by allowing Rare to develop it for a more appropriate platform. Even if said platform is owned by Nintendo, one of their most bitter rivals.
And Rare? They’re probably over the moon. They’ve sunk a lot of care and imagination into this particular property, and it must’ve been heartbreaking to see it barely dent the sales charts. Needless to say, they haven’t a bona-fide commercial hit in a very long time, and an appearance on the DS could be just the thing to turn their fortunes around.
Nintendo must be wondering if releasing a web browser for the Wii was such a good idea after all. www.wiipicross.com is the latest site to offer a free webgame optimised for the Wii.
To the uninitiated, Picross is a grid-based logic game in the same vein as minesweeper. It’s sure to tap into the same audience that eats up games like Brain Training and Big Brain Academy, and best of all it’s free of offensive slurs against the disabled. That’s just dandy.
The game works just as well on the PC and I like the way the site has gone for some borderline mimicking of the Wii interface. Whether this will sit well with Nintendo’s lawyers is another matter.
In a recent interview, Shigeru Miyamoto - the awe-inspiring mind behind the likes of Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong, and Nintendogs - claimed that the Wii is the reason that people are suddenly talking about video games again.
“…I do get the distinct feeling that because of the Wii, people all over the world are finally taking notice of video games again, when they havn’t for a while.”
Is the great man wrong? Nah, not at all. There’s little doubt that the Wii’s potential family gaming leanings has opened up video games to a whole new base of gamers, and single-handedly changing an entire demographic. The clever buggers that they are.
Nintendo’s recently announced WiiWare service is off to a good start with five titles from PlayFirst.
Teaming up with Hudson, the Diner Dash developer PlayFirst will be bringing some casual games to the Wii’s digital-download service WiiWare in 2008.
Diner Dash is probably the best known of the titles on the way however PlayFirst made it clear that this will not be the only game to make the jump onto the WiiWare Channel. Joining Diner Dash will be Mystery of Shark Island, Sandscript, Zenerchi, Oasis and Chocolatier.
Diner Dash was originally a web-based game until it made the jump to the ever successful Nintendo DS and now it seems that those of you who have missed out on its charm will get to experience it on the Wii some time next year.
An interesting Wii find here, with claims that this is the Wii version of the forthcoming Need For Speed ProStreet in action on Nintendo’s dinky console. Could these gorgeous graphics really be from the same machine that’s offered up so many shocking looking title’s during its short life span? We’re not convinced…
John Riccitiello, the new CEO of Electronic Arts, made a surprising admission at an investor’s meeting last week, stating that the company had failed to anticipate the success of the Nintendo Wii.
They chose instead to plunge the majority of their next-gen investment into PS3 games, a strategy which met with less than stellar results. Riccitiello described EA’s single-minded focus as backing “the wrong horse.”
Of course, it’s arguable that their investment in PS3 (and 360) games wasn’t that great to begin with. Their next-gen sports games, for example, seem to be lacking in crucial features and are nowhere near as polished as their last-gen contemporaries.
Gazing into our crystal ball, we predict that EA will be shifting more and more heavily to the Wii, especially with titles from their newly-formed EA Casual division. Looming on the horizon are Playground, Boogie and MySims, three games that actually look pretty good. Plus there’s going to be Blocks, their well-publicised collaboration with Steven Spielberg.
Sorry for the cheap headline, but these things work you know! This week’s update at the oh-so-wonderful Smash Bros. DOJO reveals Donkey Kong’s very impressive finishing move, also known as a ‘Final Smash’.
Usually its companies targeting the younger children, to try and get their product lodged firmly in their heads (not literally of course) from a very young age. But the gaming world doesn’t really work like that. There’s still a divide between gamers and non-gamers that’s existed since the inception of this enjoyable hobby, but the proportions are not quite as heavily weighed in the direction of non-gamers as years gone by.
Nintendo must be wondering if releasing a web browser for the Wii was such a good idea after all. 
In a recent interview, Shigeru Miyamoto - the awe-inspiring mind behind the likes of Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong, and Nintendogs - claimed that the Wii is the reason that people are suddenly talking about video games again.
Nintendo’s recently announced 
John Riccitiello, the new CEO of Electronic Arts, made a surprising admission at an investor’s meeting last week, stating that the company had failed to anticipate the success of the Nintendo Wii.
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