Rare not developing any handheld games at the moment
Posted on 16 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in DS, News | 2 Comments
“The handheld team wasn’t “closed down” quite as you put it – you’ll be pleased to hear that we still have all the talent on-site (even if they’re not all in the same barn) and they’re all hard at work on new projects.- What I can confirm is that none of these projects are for handhelds, so it’d be true to say that at present, we’re currently not developing any handheld games. Might we return to that field in the future? Well, we’re certainly not ruling that out. However, to the best of my knowledge there’s nothing in the pipe at the moment.”
I really hope Rare picks up work on handhelds in the future. The company did some great work with Viva Pinata on the DS…It’d be a shame not to see any more projects for them on the portable.
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and TT Games announce LEGO Battles for DS
Posted on 16 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in DS, News | 0 comments
WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT AND TT GAMES ANNOUNCE LEGO® BATTLES
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment to Publish New LEGO Game for Nintendo DSTM
London – Feb 4. 2009 – Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and TT Games are teaming up with The LEGO Group to deliver LEGO® Battles for Nintendo DS™, a videogame based on classic play scenarios in evergreen themes that include LEGO Castle, LEGO Pirates and LEGO Space. Produced by TT Games, developed by Hellbent Games and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, LEGO® Battles pulls three LEGO themes together to create a unique extension of the LEGO build-and-play experience that stays true to the customization and humor that are the foundation of LEGO videogames. The game is scheduled to be available in the United Kingdom this summer.
LEGO® Battles offers a new kind of “build and battle” LEGO gameplay. Through six distinct story lines, players build their own LEGO bases and battle teams as they engage in over 70 different levels, mixing and matching units to create the ultimate customized LEGO squad. These unique LEGO battles teams see pirate swordsmen fighting side-by-side with wizards and aliens; dragons battling ninjas; and pirate ships launching broadsides against spacecraft and knights! Players can also challenge friends on the battlefield in multiplayer mode through wireless DS multi-card play.
Website launch for Nintendo DS exclusive title Elite Forces: Unit 77
Posted on 16 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in DS, News | 0 comments
Gammick Entertainment today announced the website for the game Elite Forces: Unit 77 that will be released exclusively on Nintendo DS™. At http://eliteforces.deepsilver.com you can find product information, screenshots and a trailer.
In Elite Forces: Unit 77 a series of mysterious disappearances of high profile personalities from the worlds of science, industry and entertainment reveal a horrific global terrorist threat. With the clock running and the lives of the hostages and millions of others in dan-ger, the international community’s last hope lies with an extremely covert and highly specialized military team: Unit 77. Made up four professionals who are the best in the world at what they do, Unit 77 must combine skills to stop massive world destruction by the hands of terrorists.
ELSPA sales awards (January)
Posted on 16 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in DS, News, Wii | 0 comments
Silver (100k~200k units)
[PS2] PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER 2009
[PS3] HAZE
[360] LEFT 4 DEAD
[360] MERCENARIES 2: WORLD IN FLAMES
[360] PRINCE OF PERSIA
[WII] SONIC UNLEASHED
[WII] PDC WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP DARTS 08
[PC] S.T.A.L.K.E.R. SHADOW OF CHERNOBYL
[PC] MEDAL OF HONOR: ALLIED ASSAULT WARCHESTA
[PC] SCOOBY-DOO 2: MONSTERS UNLEASHED
[PC] COMMAND & CONQUER: THE FIRST DECADE
[360] RACE DRIVER: GRID
[NDS] CRASH OF THE TITANS
[NDS] MORE TOUCHMASTER
[PS3] PRINCE OF PERSIA
[PS3] VIRTUA TENNIS 3
[PS3] RACE DRIVER: GRID
[WII] MORE GAME PARTY
[PS3] MIRROR’S EDGE
[PS3] MIDNIGHT CLUB: LOS ANGELES
[PS3] GUITAR HERO: WORLD TOUR
[360] BROTHERS IN ARMS: HELL’S HIGHWAY
[PS3] WWE SMACKDOWN VS RAW 2009
Gold (200k~300k units)
[PS3] NEED FOR SPEED: UNDERCOVER
[360] SAINTS ROW 2
[PSP] TEKKEN: DARK RESURRECTION
[WII] LINK’S CROSSBOW TRAINING
[WII] COOKING MAMA
[PS3] RESISTANCE 2
Platinum (300k~600k units)
[PS3] LITTLEBIGPLANET
[WII] GUITAR HERO III: LEGENDS OF ROCK
[360] FALLOUT 3
[360] LEGO INDIANA JONES: THE ORIGINAL ADVENTURES
[PC] FOOTBALL MANAGER 2009
[NDS] COOKING MAMA 2
[WII] GAME PARTY
Double Platinum (600k~1M units)
[360] FIFA 09
[360] GEARS OF WAR 2
Atlus supercomputer suffers catastrophic failure; A few game release dates slightly affected
Posted on 16 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in DS, News | 0 comments
Also, machine now self-aware, intends to take over world
IRVINE, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 3, 2009 – Atlus U.S.A., Inc. today announced that its central supercomputer, tasked with planning and scheduling upcoming Atlus titles, recently suffered a critical hardware failure, rendering the planned launch dates for a small handful of Atlus games obsolete. As technicians scrambled to repair the mainframe, hoping to minimize fallout, they discovered that the machine had become self-aware and was plotting to take over the world.
“Unfortunately, a few Atlus titles will have to be slightly rescheduled as to their date of release, but the changes will be minimal. Also, every working day for us passes in constant fear, terror, and paranoia with the knowledge that our primary computer is now plotting to destroy us,” commented an Atlus engineer on the subject of release date changes and the now-sentient supercomputer with a hunger for manflesh.
Fate of Atlantis Wii exclusive in Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings
Posted on 16 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in DS, News, Wii | 0 comments
Yesterday, LucasArts revealed in the Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings press release that the Fate of Atlantis would be included in the game. However, many assumed that the bonus would be included in every version of the game. A publicist has clarified the situation and it looks as though the assumptions were incorrect. Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis will be exclusive to the Wii.
The latest Famitsu review scores are as follows:
Street Fighter IV (PS3/Xbox 360, Capcom): 9 / 8 / 8 / 9 – (34/40)
Mario & Luigi RPG 3!!! (NDS, Nintendo): 9 / 9 / 8 / 9 – (35/40)
Another Code:R – Kioku no Tobira (Wii, Nintendo): 7 / 7 / 7 / 7 – (28/40)
Tantei Jinguuji Saburo DS: Fuserareta Shinjitsu (NDS, Arc System Works): 7 / 7 / 7 / 6 – (27/40)
Hidamari Sketch: Doko Demo Sugoroku x 365 (NDS, Idea Factory): 6 / 6 / 6 / 6 – (24/40)
Saka no Gabaibaa-Chan (NDS, TryFirst): 6 / 6 / 5 / 5 – (22/40)
Skate It (Wii, EA): 6 / 6 / 6 / 6 – (24/40)
Skate 2 (PS3/Xbox 360, EA): 8 / 8 / 8 / 8 – (32/40)
Iwata: Relationship with third-parties improving, Wii Music wasn’t a mistake, more
Posted on 16 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in DS, News, Wii | 0 comments
This information comes from an Investor Q&A with Satoru Iwata. Some of the more important details have been paraphrased.
– ‘we scaled back because it’s how things look now and we want to reflect accurately so as to not defraud investors or shock the market at the end of the financial year’
– ‘Our relationships with 3rd parties are improving, and you’ll see results in the medium-term’
– ‘Wii was scaled back because the hardware bump was less than expected for year end in Japan. We’re going to try hard to impress the market better this year. Wii Music wasn’t a mistake but we had many communications issues, which have better prepared us for the future. We’re always going to try new propositions, and we’ll try hard to make another one like the launch of Wii, brain training, and animal crossing DS’.
– ‘Obviously with the current state of the exchange rates, there is no chance we can release DSi for the same cost as current DS Lite in foreign countries. We’re doing customer research before announcing’.
– ‘Not adjusting manufacture of wiis down and no huge stockpile. they were all shipped abroad’
– ‘Wii system update, featuring for example the SD Card fix, is coming in Spring as suggested at the conference last year.’
Apple: DS is the past of gaming devices
Posted on 16 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in DS, News | 3 Comments
With the sales of the DS/DSi, one might think that the portable is here to stay for quite awhile. However, Apple’s Greg Joswiak has a completely opposite opinion. Joswiak commented on the DS, noting analysts have told him that “the DS is the past of gaming devices and that the iPod Touch is the future of gaming devices.”
“Well, it’s not just the screen quality – it’s the graphics capability, the compute power, the App distribution model. I had an analyst tell me in September – and he was so right – that the DS is the past of gaming devices, and that the iPod Touch is the future of gaming devices. It certainly has our competitors scrambling in what they’re going to do in reaction to this. I think it’s a tremendous start that we’re having at entering this gaming market, and there’s no doubt that that’s happening – it just is.”