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Nintendo Gaming / From the guys behind World of Goo & Henry Hatsworth = Little Inferno!

« on: July 14, 2012, 11:00:10 AM »

So it looks like this news managed to completely pass by all the Nintendo-focused websites out there, but did you know that, in addition to PC and Mac, Little Inferno, the new game from Kyle Gabler (design, art + music, World of Goo), Kyle Gray (design, Henry Hatsworth) and Allan Blomquist (Wii port, World of Goo), is going to be on Wii U?

Because it totally is. Just so you know.

Yep, come Q4 2012, this mysterious title from the guys over at Tomorrow Corporation will be out on the Wii U eShop. Nobody knows all that much about the game, apart from the weird story undertones alluded to in the above teaser trailer - check it out, a corporation is encouraging kids towards global un-warming - although the official description says:

Congratulations on your new Little Inferno Entertainment Fireplace! Throw your toys into your fire, and play with them as they burn! Stay warm in there. It's getting cold outside!

Burn flaming logs, screaming robots, credit cards, batteries, exploding fish, unstable nuclear devices, and tiny galaxies. An adventure that takes place almost entirely in front of a fireplace - about looking up up up out of the chimney, and the cold world just on the other side of the wall.

They are currently accepting sign-ups for the beta on PC and Mac, if you pre-order the game for £10/$15. I don't think I'll bite until I see some sort of representation of how the game will play, but needless to say, I'm excited. This has got some great pedigree behind it, so I can't wait to see what Little Inferno is all about.

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Nintendo Gaming / Rayman Origins (a.k.a. Sleeper Hit 2011)

« on: December 02, 2011, 01:37:39 PM »

In another impulsive move that's really not helping my work situation, I took advantage of Amazon's deal on the Wii version of Rayman Origins. Couldn't help it. It's had an overwhelmingly positive reception, which makes the fact that it's gone so far under the radar even more sad.

Between writing a presentation and playing Skyward Sword, I haven't been able to play much of it - still in the first main area, learning the basics, finding it not particularly taxing so far, which is understandable. This jungle world hasn't shown off a whole lot of the apparently lovely art design just yet, but I could tell very quickly that this game has a very kooky style all to its own.

Anybody else looking to pick this up? As crazy as it may sound, Rayman Origins could be one of the real bright spots for this holiday of releases.

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Reader Reviews / Project "Backlog Eradication" - Clearin' out the pile o' shame

« on: June 21, 2011, 01:24:30 PM »

Edit: Wow, I totally forgot this thread was here. I have been slowly working through it this whole time and have cleared a good amount of the old list, but now that the summer has begun, I thought I'd start back up with the regular updates. Suffice to say, I'm not making this easy for myself. Anyway, I'm going to refresh this list and then have a good crack at it. (12/06/2012)

Much to my chagrin, I have built up quite a backlog. A lot of them are at varying degrees of completion, and (sadly) there are even a few that I haven't started yet. It's been bugging me for a long time, all the way back to the Gamecube era when this started being a problem, but evidently, the rate at which I buy has been greater than the rate at which I finish. Not any more. This summer, the backlog is going down.

The following is a list of the games in question. The plan is to use this thread as a dumping ground for my thoughts on each game as I move through them. Bear in mind that the list is likely to get intermittently shorter and longer as I potentially buy more games. Anyway, here goes. Wish me luck, and feel free to throw in your own comments.

Key
Green = Completed
Orange = Work in progress
Red = Not started
Line = Not completed, but for all intents and purposes, I am done with it

The List of Doom
Advance Wars: Dark Conflict
Amnesia: The Dark Descent
Bastion
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Beat the Beat: Rhythm Paradise
Bioshock
Botanicula
Company of Heroes (plus expansion packs Tales of Valour and Opposing Fronts)
Cthullu Saves the World
Dead Space
Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble
From Dust
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective
Half-Life 2 (plus expansion packs Episode One and Episode Two)
Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet
Kirby Mass Attack
Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light
Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX
Limbo
NBA Jam
NightSky
No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands
Psychonauts
Pullblox
Quantum Conundrum
Rhythm Thief and the Emperor's Treasure
Sam and Max: The Devil's Playhouse (Episodes 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5)
Second Sight
Shinobi [3DS]
Star Wars: Knight of the Old Republic
Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP
Tales of Monkey Island (Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5)
Terraria
The Binding of Isaac
The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition
Toki Tori
Trauma Centre: New Blood

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Nintendo Gaming / FAST: Racing League - will it scratch the F-Zero itch on WiiWare?

« on: May 11, 2011, 02:29:56 AM »

Many of us have been waiting 8 years since the awesomely brutal F-Zero GX for a new title in the series. Well, just yesterday, Shin'en Multimedia announced a new WiiWare racer called FAST: Racing League -- a completely uninspired name, but the screenshots definitely give off an F-Zero vibe.

Before you scoff at this notion, Shin'en Multimedia has built a pretty good pedigree on WiiWare so far, making such well-regarded titles as Art Of Balance (which was Karl Castaneda's #3 game of 2010) and Jett Rocket (which got a 9 in Matthew Blundon's review). For the record, they also made the two Nanostray games for DS. So while that doesn't guarantee this game's quality, it's a reason to be interested.

At least one thing you can be sure of for the game is great visuals. Evidently, this developer knows how to work with the system, as this looks better than some retail games.
http://wiiware.nintendolife.com/screenshots/27840
http://wiiware.nintendolife.com/screenshots/27839
http://wiiware.nintendolife.com/screenshots/27844
http://wiiware.nintendolife.com/screenshots/27842
http://wiiware.nintendolife.com/screenshots/27841
http://wiiware.nintendolife.com/screenshots/27843


Edit: Other details that I forgot to include. It's coming out very soon in Europe, 27th May to be precise. And it will cost 1000 Wii Points. Apparently, there will also be 4-player splitscreen.

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General Chat / The Happy New Year and Resolutions Thread 2011

« on: December 31, 2010, 07:08:21 PM »

Hey there, guys. The hands have ticked over and we are now in the year 2011 here in the UK (enjoying Jools Holland's Hootenanny as usual). So, first things first, I would like to wish a Happy New Year to all.

Next, what are your resolutions?

My resolution is to actively learn to drive and get my license, something which I have pushed aside for 4 years that I ought to deal with.

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Nintendo Gaming / Retro City Rampage looks wacky and brilliant

« on: October 31, 2010, 04:41:34 AM »

Yeah. What the title says.
Take a look at this 10 minute trailer and you'll see what I mean.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DZlwUtxXbk

What we have here is an 8-bit Grand Theft Auto-inspired WiiWare game with elements parodying various games from the NES era, including the underwater levels from Super Mario Bros and the items in Legend of Zelda, and a great sense humour. For example, there's some hilariously bad translation in the dialogue, which is subtitled to show what the character really meant. You'll also notice in the trailer, as it is promoted heavily, a gnarly soundtrack done by three renowned chiptune artists.

Do I want it? Yes. Do you want it? I think you do.

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Nintendo Gaming / Nintendo details PAX Prime line-up

« on: August 27, 2010, 03:39:34 AM »

This press release has begun to materialise on a few websites now, so I'm sure NintendoWorldReport will have it on the front page today, but I'd thought I'd throw it out there. With the Penny Arcade Expo fast approaching, this information is highly relevant and AFAIK some of the forum members plan to attend.


Basically, several anticipated games will make their first official public showing at the Nintendo booth at PAX, namely DKC Returns, Kirby's Epic Yarn, Metroid: Other M (although it will be out by that time), GoldenEye 007 and NBA Jam. Dragon Quest IX is at the booth as well, but there will also be a Tag Mode event for owners of the game, plus the opportunity to download a brand new map. Lastly, Nintendo took this time to announce a new first-party WiiWare game, Fluidity, which will be playable alongside the rest.


Here's the press release for validation:


Nintendo Invades Penny Arcade Expo with Metroid, Kirby, Donkey Kong, DRAGON QUEST IX and New WiiWare Game

The upcoming Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) in Seattle will give consumers their first-ever chance to play upcoming Wii™ and Nintendo DS™ games. Visitors to Nintendo’s booth (#352) will be able to get their hands on games such as Donkey Kong Country™ Returns, Kirby’s Epic Yarn™, GoldenEye 007 from Activision Publishing, Inc. and NBA JAM from EA SPORTS™. Fluidity, a new game for Nintendo’s WiiWare™ downloadable game service, will also make its debut at PAX.

Nintendo’s Fluidity combines an amazing physics engine that realistically models flowing water with innovative puzzle game play. Using the three forms of water – liquid, ice and cloud – players will solve challenging puzzles across multiple chapters of an illustrated magical book called Aquaticus. The game offers detailed tutorials that introduce basic game mechanics, but the complexity quickly ramps up as special powers are acquired and enemies are introduced, testing players’ reflexes and ingenuity.

PAX attendees will also be able to get their hands on Metroid™: Other M to see the seamless new perspective-switching first-person/third-person approach to this classic franchise. Visitors to the booth can also view one-of-a-kind costumes and props from the new Metroid: Other M television commercial in a special display area. Combining exploration, combat and a storyline that delves into the personal history of bounty hunter Samus Aran, Metroid: Other M launches on Aug. 31.

With so many video game fans converging in one place, PAX is the ideal place for players who already own DRAGON QUEST® IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies™ to gather to trade treasure maps or go questing together. Nintendo will provide DRAGON QUEST IX owners at the show with a special downloadable “Orgodemir” map via the game’s cooperative “Tag Mode” feature. Anyone who hasn’t yet purchased the game for the Nintendo DS family of systems can try it out at the Nintendo booth, and those looking to meet up with other players can do so at a special game-themed lounge in the North Lobby on level four of the PAX venue.

To receive treasure maps, players must have their Nintendo DS system running the DRAGON QUEST IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies game, set to Tag Mode. Once players reach the town of Stornway, they are able to access Tag Mode by talking to Erinn at the inn called “Quester’s Rest.”

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Nintendo Gaming / Official Trauma Team Thread

« on: February 19, 2010, 03:47:36 PM »

Trauma Team is the reboot for Atlus' Trauma Center franchise. This time, you will take control of 6 surgeons who specialise in 6 different practices and each have their own story to tell. They are:

"CR-S01", general surgeon
Tomoe Tachibana, endoscopic technician
Hank Freebird, orthopedic surgeon
Maria Torres, first-response paramedic
Gabriel Cunningham, diagnostician
Naomi Kimishima, forensics examiner

Atlus are building the game on a new engine featuring stylish 3D visuals and rotation. The focus has also changed, with the operation gameplay now concentrating on precision instead of speed.

Trailers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NamSBZYwNM - Surgery Developer Walkthrough
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-238ib5Tmdw - Endoscopy Developer Walkthrough
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4mkB4oPgGA - Orthopedics Developer Walkthrough
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMd0y74flTU - Forensics Developer Walkthrough
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkuKBPh--Hc - First Response Developer Walkthrough
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yX-EgrY-ob0 - Diagnosis Developer Walkthrough

I'd suggest watching all of those; if you really want to get psyched up for Trauma Team, take a gander at the Forensics video. It's a bit of coroner autopsies and a bit of Ace Attorney-esque investigation sequences, and it looks very cool.

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Nintendo Gaming / Ghost Recon: Future Soldier coming to Wii in some form

« on: February 09, 2010, 05:50:53 PM »

Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, the latest game in the Tom Clancy series, will be coming to the Wii (see Kotaku).

There is a different development team taking a different approach to the Wii version.
"It will deliver a fresh gameplay experience with an unparalleled level of quality", says Ubisoft.


My expectations are low, but we'll see.

10

Nintendo Gaming / Ask & receive: Nintendo advertises Shop Channel on TV

« on: January 21, 2010, 05:27:33 PM »

I have to admit, I didn't see this coming so soon.

Not long ago (by which I mean 2 days ago), an article published on GamesIndustry.biz cited a number of WiiWare developers who were calling for Nintendo to put more into promoting WiiWare to customers. Analysts estimate the proportion of users going online on Wii is just around 20%.

What a coincidence. It was just this evening I saw the new advert.

I was unable to find it on YouTube, as it is a fairly recent advert, but any forum readers in the UK will probably see this soon. Basically, it was an actor explaining how his 'family' uses the Wii online (and this was on Sky 1 by the way, which is the main channel of the biggest UK-based pay TV provider) while a montage of all these activities plays over the narration.
Firstly, he plugs Guitar Hero and Band Hero, whilst describing how he buys and downloads new songs to play. Next, he demonstrates the BBC iPlayer on Wii. Finally, he shows off what WiiWare is on the Wii Shop Channel menu, and surprisingly, he then advertises Bonsai Barber!. At the end of the advert, it displays a link to the Nintendo website. I checked and it's now got a new video showing everything off in more detail.

Obviously, we're all thinking "Finally" and yeah, this kind of exposure took longer than it should have to begin, but leaving all that to one side for a moment, I have to say this is perfect. This is exactly what WiiWare needs. It'll be a while before we can tell if there is any significant increase in the amount of people connecting to the internet on Wii, but I reckon this could spur a great uptake to it. Bravo, Nintendo UK's marketing team, bravo.

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Nintendo Gaming / LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias

« on: October 18, 2009, 03:03:43 PM »

The long-awaited LostWinds sequel is getting released on WiiWare tomorrow in North America. I'm sure there's a bunch of members who are looking forward to this, and rightly so. I bought it last Friday when it came out in the PAL regions, but I only started playing last night thanks to a busy week. Here's my impressions.

I'll address what's on everyone's mind. My time log is just under three hours at this point. I haven't completed the game yet, though the profile card shows that I've obtained all of the new abilities, so I figure the end can't be too far off. Nintendo Life states four hours, plus a little more if you aim to collect all 48 Melodia figurines, which actually appears to unlock a Secrets section in the main menu. Basically, the 1000 Point price tag is more justified and reasonable this time.

It requires 307 blocks of your Wii System Memory, IIRC - I guess that shouldn't be a problem for anybody owning a functional SD card. Having said that, the space is put to good use, as the overall presentation is fabulous. The graphics retain the style of the original but have easily noticeable improvements, specifically the effects. Relatively early on, you navigate an ice cavern with transparent pillars situated in the foreground; when you walk behind one, the polygonal surface of the pillar displays a distorted refraction of Toku (the hero of the series), which is a stunning visual effect. There are other cool touches like vegetation rustling and snowflakes changing direction in the breeze when you just move the cursor over them, as well as characters moving around in the background independently. Music is beautifully arranged too, with different tracks for Summer and Winter, not to mention separate recordings to compliment each type of enemy. High quality instrumentation, I might add.

Gameplay wise, Winter of the Melodias is yet more refinements across the board. It entails platforming and ability-based puzzles again, which are thoughtfully put together as expected. Obviously, the season switching is the big hook that has received exposure since the game's announcement. In the overworld exploration, it is prominently featured in order to reach inaccessible areas. In cavernous locales, it is scarce, although a new wind ability shines in those areas: the Cyclone. This is controlled by holding A+B together and spinning the Wii Remote to create a Cyclone, which can then be used in multiple ways like boosting Toku, forming rain clouds and drilling through weak patches of earth. One particular puzzle that stuck in my mind was somewhere near 2 hours in, when I had to transfer a pool of water elsewhere by collecting it in a cyclone and shifting the cloud, allowing me to access a switch, then I pressed a Sonté statue to change it to Winter so I could produce a snowball and weigh down the switch while I passed under the gate. There's tonnes of stuff like that, where the goal is clear immediately after examining the location you are in, but you need to carry out a handful of tasks before that goal is met.

I am having a lot of fun with LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias. Everything the first game did well is kept, and everything it didn't has been tweaked to make it superior. The brand new mechanics are great, as are inclusions such as a fleshed-out story and a very helpful map. I'm looking forward to seeing what else this title has in store for me when I play it tonight.

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Nintendo Gaming / Mini Ninjas

« on: August 15, 2009, 01:57:28 PM »

Mini Ninjas

• Publisher: Eidos
• Developer: IO Interactive
• Genre: Action Adventure
• Platforms: Wii, DS, X360, PS3, PC
• Age Rating: E-10 (US), 7+ (EU)
• Release Date: 8th September '09 (US), 11th September '09 (EU)

Videos:
Debut Teaser
E3 2009: Story Trailer 1
E3 2009: Story Trailer 2
E3 2009: Gameplay Trailer - Hiro
E3 2009: Interview With Designer
"Introducing Futo" Video
"Introducing Shun" Video
"Introducing Tora" Video

These ninjas are mini! Except the large one...

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Nintendo Gaming / The Calling

« on: January 25, 2009, 03:00:21 PM »

Calling... Someone is calling...
Calling... You hear the calling...

Scary happenings in the bedroom
Scarier happenings in the classroom

2009 = the year of survival horror.
First Fatal Frame, then Cursed Mountain, now this -- I'm gonna be all spooked out soon.

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Nintendo Gaming / Wario Ware: Smooth Moves

« on: August 21, 2006, 10:36:53 PM »

Quote
ONM: How many new games can we expect in Wario Ware Smooth Moves for the Wii?
GA: We're thinking around the 200 figure, which is similiar to other games in the series.

ONM: You have to make yourself look silly to play this game. Do you think people will be embarassed to play it?
GA: Yes, you do look silly playing it. One of the main goals was to make people do silly moves and entertain the people around them.

ONM: How long has the game been in development?
GA: A little over 6 months, and Nintendo has announced it will be released within 90 days of the Wii hardware launching.

ONM: Will Smooth Moves use the Wii Remote's speaker function?
GA: Yes, it will. We have a game where you bounce a ball on a tennis racket. As well as the vibration we will also have the sound of the ball. We are also planning on a game where the Wii Remote makes a sound and the player has to react to it.

ONM: Have you got any other ideas for Wii games other than Smooth Moves?
GA: Presently I would like to implement all my ideas into Wario Ware. However, there are ideas that wouldn't really work in the game so I will have to include them in my next project. Unfortunately, that will have to remain a secret for now!

Extract from interview of Goro Abe, director of Wario Ware: Smooth Moves, in the August issue of Official Nintendo Magazine.

Personally, I think this game has the cleverest and most in-depth use of the motion technology so far. Those of you who have seen the trailers and videos will have seen the likes of running, hula hoop, squat thrusts, balancing a broom, fencing, shredding paper and so on. The mini-games are incredibly simple, but the motion tech has been implemented very effectively and Smooth Moves looks like a really fun (and funny) game to play.

[Mario Kart WiiStar Fox WiiPikmin 3Animal Crossing 3Mario Party 8A Mario Sports game (or two)TimeSplitters 4Atlus sims (and not just sequels to DS versions, but actually ideas exclusive for Wii)Resident Evil 5?]

15

Nintendo Gaming / The stuff that should be expected over the Wii's lifetime

« on: June 08, 2006, 10:27:19 AM »

Right now, a lot of focus is on the launch in the Fall, and to be honest, I don't blame them. But has anyone stopped to think about the Wii in the long run? If not, this should be the place to discuss it.

Obviously, the most important thing to consider is games. Of course, there shall be all sorts arriving over the years to come, but I was wondering: what should be included in that 'all sorts'? Personally, I would imagine we will see these at some point:

Mario Kart Wii
Star Fox Wii
Pikmin 3
Animal Crossing 3
Mario Party 8
A Mario Sports game (or two)
TimeSplitters 4
Atlus sims (and not just sequels to DS versions, but actually ideas exclusive for Wii)
Resident Evil 5?

It is proven that all of these are killer apps already on current systems, so a return is inevitable, not to mention the fact that the new control system could innovate massively. As for brand new and unique ideas, I bet a few are bound to show up, but I have no idea what they could be - after all, Nintendo are full of surprises.

Feel free to post your own thoughts on what you think is to come with the Wii.