Though Don King’s Prizefighter wasn’t exactly a knockout on HD consoles, the fuzzy-haired one clearly has high hopes for the forthcoming DS and Wii versions, which come under the new name of Don King Boxing, and look to be quite different to their hi-def cousins.
The balance board isn’t required, but if you own one, it can be used for bobbing and weaving your way between your opponent’s blows. Meanwhile, 2K has incorporated a Boxercise mode, clearly in an attempt to cater to the Wii Fit crowd - though the press release suggests that it won’t just help you exercise, the program will also increase your boxer’s stats for his next bout.
“We’ve created our best set of real-life boxing exercises ever for Don King Boxing” claims the man himself. “It wouldn’t surprise me if a future world champion was introduced to the sport through this game. This is where you can get the skills that make for thrills.”
Or that pays the bills, presumably. Both versions are out on 27th March in Europe, and four days later across the US.
It’s high time we heard a bit more about Sega’s forthcoming controversy-baiter MadWorld, and so its developer Platinum Games has launched its own site dedicated to that and its two other titles in the making - the bizarre and (potentially) brilliant Bayonetta for the HD consoles, and starship RPG Infinite Space.
Two out of three are obviously of interest to Nintendo fans, and that’s why this deserves a mention - plus the fact that Platinum Games created two of the very best games of the last generation in Okami and Viewtiful Joe as well as the fantastic (albeit divisive) God Hand, which MadWorld owes a small debt of gratitude to, by the looks of things.
The site has Flickr picture sets, blog entries, podcasts and video footage of the games in question, and is well worth checking out if you’re old enough. It had some problems with the age-gate when I looked earlier, but they seem to have been resolved now. Definitely worth a look.
After much wailing and gnashing of teeth on my part about the extreme unlikelihood of us Europeans getting our hands on Another Code: R, along comes a PDF detailing Nintendo’s financial results briefing for the year, and my hopes are suddenly raised.
Scroll down to page 8 of the report, and you’ll see a launch schedule of primary Nintendo products for 2009. Now this list is clearly incomplete, but CiNG’s Wiiquel is definitely on the European schedule, with the release date given simply as ‘2009′.
Also of interest is the DS list, which suggests Rhythm Paradise (changed from Heaven due to religious concerns, perhaps?) will hit Europe in the first half of the calendar year. The Wii list also has Punch-Out!! down for release before June.
Now, it’s too early to start celebrating just yet, but I’d assume that if a European release wasn’t at least considered for Another Code: R, then it wouldn’t show up on the list. I’ve fired off an email to Nintendo UK to ask if anyone can confirm the information, but haven’t had a response as yet.
More tidbits of info: Endless Ocean 2 is another conspicuous absencee from the North America listing though it remains on the schedule for Europe. And somehow, Pokemon Platinum has shifted ten thousand units outside Japan. Lots more facts, figures and tentative release dates here.
A games industry source close to WiiWii.tv has revealed his frustration at Nintendo’s reluctance to hand out the Software Development Kit required to start development on MotionPlus controls for Wii games. “We are still unable to obtain the SDK,” says the source, “and until then we aren’t working on any Wii games.”
The source also suggested that other developers might well be in the same boat - it’s unclear whether or not they’re also halting progress of their Wii titles, but it seems that most companies are still to get their hands on the relevant kit.
With Satoru Iwata set to deliver an address on ‘Discovering New Development Opportunities’ at GDC in March, I wonder if Nintendo is holding off until then to let developers into the fold - in which case, it seems unlikely that any third-party games will employ MotionPlus until the third quarter of 2009 at the earliest.
On the one hand, I can understand Nintendo wanting to lead the way, with Wii Sports Resort set to show exactly what the new add-on can do. But on the other, making developers wait to add MotionPlus to their games is a dangerous strategy, particularly if more publishers postpone releases until they can support the enhanced controls.
Mario Tennis stays at the top while Namco-Bandai’s beautifully desolate adventure Fragile enters at number two. It’s a very slow week for sales, though, so whether the publisher is happy with that total is anyone’s guess. Reports suggest its initial shipment was just 30,000 and that some Japanese gamers have struggled to get their hands on a copy - hopefully it can hang around a little longer, as the Wii could do with a few third-party successes.
And that’s exactly what Taiko no Tatsujin Wii can be regarded as - the back-in-stock rhythm-actioner zooming back up the charts into third position, making it a rare Wii 1-2-3, with Wii Fit upping its Japanese tally to 3,196,000 units sold. The remaining six positions are shared by the two handhelds, which shows how portable gaming has become the dominant force in the east.
Depressingly, only one of these games has thus far been released in the west, though we’re getting Mario Tennis soon and - hopefully - Rhythm Tengoku Gold. Fingers crossed someone picks up Fragile for Europe and the US, but I’m not getting my hopes up.The full top ten is below.
01. [WII] Wii Play: Mario Tennis (Nintendo) 31,000 / 88,000
02. [WII] Fragile (Namco Bandai) 26,000 / NEW
03. [WII] Taiko no Tatsujin Wii (Namco Bandai) 25,000 / 316,000
04. [PSP] Zill’O (KOEI) 25,000 / NEW
05. [PSP] Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (PSP the Best) (Capcom) 25,000 / 357,000
06. [NDS] Rhythm Tengoku Gold (Nintendo) 20,000 / 1,614,000
07. [WII] Wii Fit (Nintendo) 19,000 / 3,196,000
08. [PSP] Dissidia Final Fantasy (Square Enix) 18,000 / 866,000
09. [NDS] Devil Survivor (Atlus) 18,000 / NEW
10. [NDS] Wagamama Fashion: Girl’s Mode (Nintendo) 17,000 / 684,000
If you’ve played GBA classic Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, then you’ll know why the return of videogaming’s Best Evil Sidekick, the hilarious Fawful, is a very good thing indeed. His broken English - speeches about “mustard of doom” and “brothers of badness” - caused many a belly laugh, and while sequel Partners in Time saw his appearance reduced to a brief cameo as a badge shop owner, it looks like he’ll be playing a key role in the imminent threequel.
Original developer Alphadream is returning, too - and it looks to have a fair few neat ideas up its sleeve if the videos dotted about the game’s official site are any indication. They’re mostly the sort of thing we’ve seen in the clips posted on the Touch-DS minisite yesterday, but it’s interesting to see exactly how Bowser will affect Mario and Luigi’s progress and vice versa -a potentially more elegant and less confusing central mechanic than the baby heroes in Partners.
The art is delightful too, with some excellent character designs, engaging animations and a general spit-and-polish for the whole presentation. To paraphrase Fawful, if you don’t want this then you are idiots of foolishness. “Snack on my wrath, fink-rats!”
D3 has released the final boxart for Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers, which should be arriving in Europe in the next few months. It’s been rated a 15 certificate by the BBFC, despite featuring non-stop violence and gore, presumably because the action is so fantastical that it couldn’t possibly be considered as offensive as an 18 cert, which - curiously enough - is what sister Xbox 360 title Onechanbara: Bikini Samurai Squad has had slapped on its box. The difference between SD and HD? Possibly. Or perhaps the latter has some other more offensive content.
Early reports suggest Onechanbara could be a bit of a cult classic - UK mag NGamer suggests it might not have the big-budget polish of rival zombie-killer Dead Rising, but that the undead hordes are more plentiful in number, making the slicing and dicing that little bit more fun.
The current release date is down as ‘first half of 2009′ but I wouldn’t be surprised to see this before April’s out. Whether it’ll be positioned as an alternative to Dead Rising remains to be seen - it’ll certainly be interesting to see which does best. Will the trashy indie bloodbath triumph over the horror blockbuster? Judging by the evidence so far, it might just pull off a shock.
Mario & Luigi RPG 3 has to be one of my most-anticipated DS titles of the year, and the latest footage of the game has me even more excited.
It seems that the brothers will spend the majority of the game inside Bowser’s stomach, with the game switching between top and bottom screen depending on who you’re controlling. As Mario’s nemesis you’ll swallow water which enables the brothers to float up to unreachable platforms, while also winding up some powerful punches to take out baddies in battle.
The combat looks to have the same timing-based attacks as the previous games, but stylus-activated moves are also available on top of the button commands. Enemy design looks even better than ever, while the attacks themselves look brilliant in motion, particularly the one which sees Luigi inflate to around ten times his normal size.
As well as the YouTube clip above, you can find more videos here and here. Oh, and should you need any further incentive to watch them, both feature an incredibly attractive Japanese model cooing and giggling over her DSi as she plays.
Some of us were beginning to wonder if it did still exist, but proof that Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers is actually coming to Wii can be found in the trailer above.
It’s looking pretty spiffy, truth be told, with some interesting monster design, decent visuals and a weird creature-chucking mechani, as well as a gigantic cactus-man created by some bizarre witchcraft or other. Like previous Crystal Chronicles titles, it seems to have more of a focus on action rather than stat-building, though it looks potentially more in-depth than your average spinoff.
The trailer doesn’t give away any release information, so I’ll just assume it’s coming at some point in 2009 in Japan and who knows when everywhere else. But nice to see it’s not been canned and even nicer to see it looking so good.
Nintendo has released a boatload of assets for the forthcoming release of New Play Control! Pikmin - hit the jump for four pieces of art - and some screenshots, one of which (above) details the game’s controls.
They’re pretty much as you’d expect - the GameCube controls were nigh-on perfect, and Nintendo hasn’t fixed what wasn’t broken. It seems there may be a slight issue with Olimar not throwing Pikmin as far as the cursor - freed from the constraints of digital input by pointer control - but otherwise it’s as you were.
That plus a new, more forgiving save structure is about all we get for what’s probably the least improved of all the forthcoming Wii-makes announced so far. Still, it’s a chance for some to experience one of the Cube’s finest for the first time, and we’re sure some of the true hardcore will take the opportunity to revisit a classic.
But I still can’t get over the fact that we’re paying £29.99 for an eight-year-old game. Compared to an HD powerhouse like PS3’s forthcoming Killzone 2 - which, when it’s released, will probably become the most expensive game ever made - and it starts to look like pretty poor value, regardless of quality.
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