- EA’s acquisition of Bioware shouldn’t affect Sonic RPG, just in case anyone was still worried about this
-- According to UK newspaper Guardian Unlimited, Will Wright confirmed Spore (Wii).
Release Dates
-- Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney is coming out February 2008
-- Okami (Wii) – spring 2008
-- Sega Bass Fishing – Early 2008
-- Along in the Dark (DS) – TBA
-- Final Fantasy IV (DS) – 2008
-- Worms: A Space Oddity (Wii) – March 2008
-- Harvey Birdman (Wii) – January 2008
-- One Piece: Unlimited Adventure (Wii) – Q1 2008
-- Bomberman Land Touch! 2 (DS) – January 2008
New Games
-- Teenage Zombies: Invasion of the Alien Brain Thingys (Nintendo DS): Control 3 zombies to save the earth from Alien Brain thingys. Platformer, switching between 3 zombies, each with their own abilities. Satirical take on Comics and retro sci-fi. Developer: InLight Entertainment
-- Runaway: The Dream of the Turtle (DS) – point and click adventure
-- Super Dodgeball Brawlers (DS) – revival of Super Dodge Ball on the NES, spring 2008 release date
Upcoming Virtual Console titles
- Art of Fighting
- Magician Lord
- Fatal Fury
- Gate of Thunder
-Golden Axe III
- Lunar Pool
- Metal Marines
- Ninja Jajamaru-Kun
- Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest
- Samurai-Ghost
- World Heroes
- Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos
Mario Kart Wii
-Wifi races for at least 12 players
- Executing a successful stunt gives you a “sweet reward”
- 16 brand new tracks plus many older ones
-motion control works well
- Spring 2008 release date
Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity
-motion controls have some issues but you can use the Gamecube controller
No More Heroes
- Nintendo Power were the first to play through the whole game, they seemed to love it and think it was completely crazy
- When Travis needs money he can stop by the job center to play minigames such as “mowing the lawn” or “carrying coconuts” to earn money
- The game’s menu is like the Atari 2600 in graphics and sound
-Travis is given/gives these words of encouragement before a boss fight at one point “You are the man! Eye of the tiger! Enter the red zone! Now, off to the garden of madness”
-Travis’s battle cry is “Strawberry on the Shortcake!”
- The game follows a set gameplay pattern: Travis runs around town doing odd jobs and assassinations until he can afford the entry fee for the next ranked match (the bosses). After he deposits the money he gets a phone call from Sylvia and goes to the match area. Fighting through waves of enemies takes place until he meets the boss. Travis beats the boss and he gets a health boost + story update. The process then repeats
- tons of stuff to do inbetween bosses such as upgrading the beam katana, improving his stats by training, watching wrestling tapes to learn new moves and buying new clothes
- all you can really do outdoors is go from place to place, all the action takes place inside
- the tiger in the HUD stays inactive until Travis enters a “dark mode”. Then it stands up and walks across the screen signifying the time limit for the “dark mode’
- The Japanese version removes the blood and replaces it with a black spray
- There is a cat in Travis’s room that he can play with, there doesn’t seem to be an actual purpose to this though
- When Travis gets a phone call the wiimote speaker will actually ring.
- A large part of the fun of No More Heroes is the insane bosses
- NP says the game is one of the freshest and funniest games in years
Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates
- early 2008 release date
Samba de Amigo
- Gearbox was very adamant to make a Samba de Amigo sequel, in fact they are the ones who pestered Sega to do it.
- Gearbox says forums users want a Samba de Amigo remake for the Wii more than anything else, so that is what they are doing
- The game will feature a mixture of songs from the original and the 2000 version
- Will contain “Hustle mode” from the 2000 version
- They are doing something with Miis
- Gearbox wants Wifi multiplayer but aren’t sure if it will work yet
Advance Wars: Days of RuinOriginally Posted by interview with Shun Nakamura, director of the original Samba de Amigo
NP: “Since the release of the original Samba de Amigo, what other titles has the team worked on?”
Shun: “Right after Samba, I did direction on Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg, the later, on Sonic the Hedgehog (360). Currently, I’m on the development team for Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games”
-The main character is Will, after the meteorite hit and killed every one he spent weeks living on only canned bread while digging himself out of rubble and dead bodies.
- 26 main missions
- 30 “training” missions can be unlocked as you complete levels
- new “Bike infantry” unit, can move quickly and capture cities but doesn’t have as much fire power as larger vehicles
-“Flare”, a new tank unit that can lob a bright light at enemies that are concealed by the Fog of War.
-“Duster”, a crop duster aircraft that can attack any kind of aircraft or land unit, but it isn’t as powerful.
- “Mobile Cannon” units
-another new unit is a ship that can mesh smartly with existing units (???)
-Everytime a unit destroys another unit it gains a rank, which gives it added strength. Can be upgrade 3 times, then it is a “veteran” unit
- CO powers aren’t as powerful as before
- The CO rides with a unit of your choice, giving that unit “veteran” status and power. If the unit gets defeated the CO returns to the base.
-As the CO’s unit destroys enemies the CO fills the CO power gauge.
-CO makes nearby vehicle’s more powerful
- CO’s also have a “CO zone” which gives units in the zone different power ups based on the CO. For example, a CO could give units added defense or increase their visual range.
- Friend Code Wifi battles are voice chat inabled, just like Pokemon Diamond & Pearl was.
- Over 150 multiplayer campaigns available.
- You can create your own map which can then be uploaded to a server for all players in the world to try. People can also rank the uploaded map’s quality.
- Other CO’s include Isabella, has amsnesia and can only remember sensitive military details (looks like a shy anime girl ripoff);
-and Waylon, a hot shot flyboy who suddenly finds himself allyless (looks a life a “Are you a bad enough dude to save the president” rip off)
Sega Superstars Tennis
-features Sonic and 15 other Sega superstars (including Amy, Eggman, Samba de Amigo, Ulala and Aiai (Super Monkey ball guy).)
-spring 2008 release date
- courts designed after classic Sega games, 10-12 courts in total
Interview: Goichi Suda (Suda 51)
-Suda started out as a scenario writer for Fire Pro Wrestling Special, in which he had the main character commit suicide at the end
- Suda named characters in No More Heroes by rhythm and sound, not meaning. Hence “Travis Touchdown”
-“No More Heroes” is a quote from the song “The Stranglers”. But also the assassins are like heroes to Travis, so if he defeats them all he won’t need heroes anymore.
-
-Suda would describe his games as a “Punk game” – a game with an edge.NP: “Crazy question time: how would No More Heroes’ Travis Touchdown react if he went into a restaurant for a burger, but they were all out?!”
Suda: “That’s a funny question. Travis would say:
“Ha! For Real? Fuck! Wait a minute. What’s going on? Get a manager, Ben! I need to talk to the fucker. He is a loser and just a fucker. I can’t believe that burgers are all out in an American diner. I haven’t heard about that. What the fuck! Where is Ben? Ha…. Ben is not here for a week because he is training at headquarters? FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! What the fuck! What? You’re asking me for my order? I’m here to get a burger. You are a fucking dork! You’re asking me for my order? Well…can I have a cherry pie?”
Travis is a kid trapped in a man’s body”
Reviews-NP: When it comes to violence in video games, everyone seems to have their own opinion about what is acceptable and what is not. Whwere do you, personally, draw the line?
Suda: This is a difficult issue. Each country has a different perspective, and acceptance for the freedom of entertainment is different in each country. Currently in Japan, the measure of restrictions of overall expression, not only violence is strict. There is a saying “do as the Romans do”. It means that if you live in Rome, it’s better to follow the rules and customs of Rome. Therefore, I basically follow the restrictions that are established in the country. I have a special consciousness in respect to the Japanese restrictions. I am not sure whether it’s important to water down the expressions extremely for children. These days you see more realistic graphics, but when human characters are injured and do not bleed, some people take them as reality, or some people consider that they can do similar things in real life without hurting others. From the position of a creator, I always think about how scary it would be if players acknowledge this as a reality.”
Super Mario Galaxy – 9.5
Mario Party DS – 8.0
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Wii) – 7.5
Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 (Wii) – 6.5
Manhunt 2 (Wii) – 7.5
Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles (Wii) – 8.0
Ghost Squad (Wii) – 7.0
Godzilla Unleashed (Wii) – 5.5
Cooking Mama 2: Dinner with Friends (DS) – 7.0
Tomb Raider Anniversary (Wii) – 6.5
Orcs & Elves (DS) – 5.0
Dementium: The Ward (DS) – 8.5
Link’s Crossbow Training (Wii) – 6.5
Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings (DS) – 7.5
The Simpsons Game (Wii) – 4.0
Need for Speed: Pro Street (Wii) – 8.0
Medal of Honor Heroes 2 (Wii) – 8.0
Ontamarama (DS) – 7.0
Soulcalibur Legends (Wii) – 6.5
Trauma Center: New Blood (Wii) – 8.0
Next Month
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney (cover)
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
ASH: Archaic Sealed Heat
Dragon Quest Swords