Ah yes, Project H.A.M.M.E.R., the Wii game that never was. We were disappointed when we learned it had been cancelled, and several months down the line it’s still as dead as the proverbial dodo. But for the curious amongst you, here are some leaked screenshots of the game in action.
They were taken from a very early build of the game, created using a devkit. They look pretty basic, and there’s nothing in them to counteract the official line that it had “quality issues”. We just wanted to tease you with a smidgeon of an idea of what might have been.
Oh yes, there’s also a gameplay video, did we forget to mention? You can see that here.
Ah, Smash Bros. Dojo, what would we do without you and your consistently excellent update nuggets? Get into arguments about the amount of worthy newcomers, that’s what. But as if to frantically wave our attention away from such pointless nitpicking, the latest Dojo news brings us something that we can all get distracted about: the ability to create our own stages.
Using a grid pattern and a selection of scalable platforms and objects, you can build your level out of nothing, planning the perfect battleground for a punch-up. Then save it onto an SD card and send it off to people on your Friends list to fight on and enjoy.
In addition, Nintendo are planning to accept submissions of custom-designed levels. They’ll pick and choose the best ones (or more likely the first ones in the pile that don’t look like the platforms resemble penises) and showcase them on a daily basis. They do warn, though, that each stage will possibly only exist to play once, before being scrapped for the next submission without, we presume, the ability to save it for yourself. WiiWii’s tip: use tracing paper on your TV to trace the outline of the best levels and you can then design it yourself later - simple!
Of course, Smash Bros. games have alway been known for their inventive, hectic stages, and from the looks of it, the tools aren’t there to design something quite as visually phenomenal. However, maybe we’ll get something that allows a new mode of fighting to come to the fore, emphasise a particular set of characters’ abilities, or even lead to some non-combat game styles they hadn’t even considered. We can’t wait to see if the system’s versatile enough to accommodate our wildest dreams.
If you’re a despicable, unscrupulous pirate, then now just might be your Christmas. According to a NeoGAF forum source, an illegal copy of Super Mario Galaxy’s found its way onto the Internet, ready to be downloaded and enjoyed on a chipped Wii.
Apparently, US Store EBGames was given Galaxy demo discs to showcase in their in-store pods. While the playable demo itself is limited to ten minutes, Nintendo have included the whole of the actual game on the disc. Which means, with a bit of jiggery-pokery, some show-off hacker was able to remove those barriers and upload the title to a torrent site quick-sharp.
So what do you reckon? If it’s true, will you be rushing off to download it? Are you one of those people who think it’s your right to pirate a game in order to try it out, then buy it if you like it? Or do you just like getting things for free? This is one of the biggest - if not THE biggest - Wii game for ages, and some people are going to be desperate to get their hands on it. Are morals are thing of the past when it comes to playing games, then?
Only two more characters to go (edit: probably) in the Super Smash Brothers Brawl Newcomers roster , and after the confirmed appearance of Sonic the Hedgehog last reveal, Nintendo are going to have to pull out all the stops in order to beat that announcement.
So who could it be? Rayman? Viewtiful Joe? Leon Kennedy? Mega Man?
Ah, hell. It’s King Dedede, over-sized penguin royalty, and Kirby’s nemesis. His weapon of choice is a mallet almost as big as himself, with his bulk putting him in the same heavyweight category as Donkey Kong and Bowser.
But, seriously, we’re a little disappointed. We’ve already got Meta Knight. We know Masahiro Sakurai, the man behind Brawl, had a hand in the Kirby series, but surely there’s a world of better characters to choose from. They’ve got one more chance to pull out something really impressive. Our wish is for Nintendo to reveal a brand new never-seen-before character about to appear in their next Wii-based franchise. Going on the basis of this decision, however, it’s going to be Dixie Kong. Please don’t let that be so.
While we don’t expect any Europeans to make the dedicated journey to Los Angeles next weekend for E for All, the public-access replacement to E3, you might decide to have a sniff around if you’re already in the area. Lucky you, then, because this will probably be the first time you get your hands on playable versions of both Super Mario Galaxy and Super Smash Brothers Brawl, two stellar titles that deserve to create a rush to the demo pods if the previous months hype and hoop-la are anything to go by.
As well as those two, Nintendo will also have Batallion Wars 2, Guitar Hero 3, Ninja Gaiden DS, and the Wii Zapper on display for our perusal, amongst others. That’s a good line-up. Let’s hope it stands well to counter the miserable Wii game drought we’ve been having these past few months, and roll on Christmas.
Kotaku have posted screenshots of the Wii version of Pro Evo Soccer. Although Wii owners have to wait until next year to get their hands on the best footy sim ever made, it looks as though the extra time has been put to good use. Firstly the graphics aren’t half bad. It’s difficult to from the shots, but the graphics aren’t of an “OMG, cut out my eyes!” standard, and get my seal of approval.
The second thing to notice is the big circles around the players. Kotaku state that the Wii version has a unique control method, which allows you to control two players at once. A bold move, but if my experience with Pro Evo games is anything to go by, players just don’t make the runs you want them to. The ability to make this easier is certainly welcomed with open arms! Let’s just hope the “unique controls” do make it easier, and not more frustrating. I’m even more keen to try out this game now. Whilst there’s FIFA out now, which’ll help pass the time, PES Wii cannot cannot come soon enough.
“Hey, ya dumb kid! Get out of here! We’re trying to fight and you don’t want to get in our way. It could be dangerous. Wait, what’s that you say? You’re a new character for Super Smash Brothers Brawl? Your name’s Lucas, and you’re from Mother 3. Ah, I recognise you. Well come on in, and let’s give you a kicking.”
Yes, another character added to the roster, this time from the slightly lower ranks of the Nintendo Hall of Fame. Chances are a lot of people aren’t even going to know who he is. For those who do know, Lucas might be an odd choice seeing as how the Gameboy Advance game he’s from never did (and most likely never will) get a release outside of Japan. Talk about rubbing our noses in it. Take this a chance to work out our frustrations on the little blond-haired brat, and hope that the bat-swinging Ness pops along later too so we can fling a fireball in both their import-unfriendly faces.
Moves? He has “psychic powers,” says his description. Read our minds then, Lucas: release the Mother games over here.
We know it as Project Zero, the rest of the world knows it as Fatal Frame. Whatever the name, Tecmo have announced that number four in their spooky camera-based survival horror series will be coming to Wii.
Getting things into focus will be Grasshopper Manufacture, the love ‘em or hate ‘em studio behind such cult titles as Contact, Killer7, and the out-soon No More Heroes. Good news, as they’re the last people we’d expect to tackle a sequel. If past experience is anything to go by, expect something dark and disturbing - a perfect fit for the series itself which freaked us out in the past on several occasions. We presume the Wii’s point ‘n click abilities went some way towards influencing the format, and it’s good to see the console getting into a groove with mature horror games, too. We estimate a release by the end of the next year.
Let’s pray that Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword for DS plays as good as it looks, i.e. brilliantly, because we’ll really ninja-flip out if it doesn’t. For now, though, we can only speculate wholeheartedly that it will, as evidenced by this recently released Tokyo Game Show trailer of Team Ninja’s gorgeous-looking game.
This canon handheld version, if you recall, uses almost nothing but the touch-screen to control your character (a single button is used to block), with the action viewed in Brain Training-a-like vertical book-form. This footage, amongst various other thrills, shows several minutes of a ghostly stylus scratching and tapping at the screen in a demonstration of how we’ll be able to pull it all off. And, lo, it looks great to boot.
Will it be mega-hard, though? Those moves make it look slick and simple, but we’re ordering new mouth-guards in anticipation of teeth-clenching difficulty. We reckon on ninja robots doing Team Ninja’s Itagaki’s bidding in that demonstration.
Get ready for some dodgy acting, as this Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles features two quite over the top actors using the new ‘Wii Zapper’ peripheral. Looks pretty awkward to handle if you ask us. The Zapper we mean, not the actors…
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