System: Nintendo 3DS
Release Date: June 27th, 2013
Developer: Strangelands Ltd.
Publisher: Strangelands Ltd.
Cost: $7.99 ($5.59 until July 4th)
Author: Spencer
In the early-to-mid 2000s, if you ever had a class in school that was in the computer lab, chances are everyone was doing one thing — playing addicting Flash games. Such games were so addicting because they would provide plenty of levels, challenge, and frustration, and everyone was trying to get farther than their friends, or asking “if you got past that one part,” and if so, “HOW DID YOU DO IT?!”
Why am I mentioning flash games in a review for a 3DS game? Because Urban Trial Freestyle— like the games it takes obvious inspiration from, Trials Evolution and Trials HD— is heavily based on those old physics-challenge motocross flash games, which drew influence from the Motocross Maniacs games before that. I’m not going to be throwing around legal terms or calling anything a “blatant rip-off,” however, because regardless of originality, Urban Trial Freestyle is a very fun game.
Author: Austin
Coming out of the vacuum that was the E3 show-floor, the last thing I expected to hear out of the gaming press was that Nintendo needed to “justify the existence of the Gamepad”. But alas, that is indeed what I heard! Writers weren’t terribly coy with their impression that we’ve yet to see a truly exceptional experience on the Wii U that couldn’t even remotely be done anywhere else, and they– by their count– certainly didn’t see anything like that at E3 this year.
Neglecting experiences like ZombiU or Nintendo Land (which is an understandable and deliberate oversight), they might be right: We haven’t yet seen a game that both uses the Gamepad in a truly creative way and manages to pass the level of critical acclaim that many people are looking for. But here’s my question “why is that what the Gamepad needs?”
There may be some hope for a new Moon game. According to Renegade Kid co-founder Jools Watsham, the studio will regain the IP’s rights next year.
Watsham tweeted a short while ago that Renegade Kid’s agreement with publisher Mastiff was for five years. Since the game came out in 2009, Moon will revert back to the developer in 2014.
@Dementium3D @Moon3DS Save your energy. Renegade Kid gains Moon rights back in 2014. 😉
— Jools Watsham (@JoolsWatsham) July 1, 2013
@Sylverstone14 @Dementium3D @Moon3DS Nope. Straight up. We had a 5 year agreement with Mastiff. Moon was released in 2009. Excite!
— Jools Watsham (@JoolsWatsham) July 1, 2013
Moon sequel for the eShop, anyone?!
One Wii U eShop game that has slipped under the radar is “The Pinball Arcade”. It was originally planned for the Wii U launch window, but months went by without any news or updates from the developer. No need to worry though: the game is still very much in development, and it will be coming to the digital store in the somewhat near future.
We recently caught up with developer FarSight Studios, who confirmed that the beta build of Pinball Arcade will enter internal testing sometime within the next few days. Its final submission is scheduled for late July, with a release planned for September.
FarSight also told us that all of the tables in Table Packs 1 through 16 will be available for Wii U at launch.
The official Pokemon X/Y strategy guide has gone up on Amazon
, and it mentions some rather interesting things.
Included in the item description is something called “Super Training”. This brand new feature has yet to be officially announced by Nintendo or the Pokemon Company. While it’s unclear what it will offer, we do know that the developers will be offering the Super Training functionality in the 3DS games.
Also confirmed are the return of TMs, HMs and the Hall of Fame.
You can find the full Pokemon X/Y strategy guide description below.
Nintendo has been unsuccessful in its efforts to obtain the WiiU.com domain.
A few months ago, Nintendo of America filed a cybersquatting complaint against the website’s owner with the World Intellectual Property Organization. However, the domain won’t be going anywhere after a ruling – reached yesterday – did not go in the company’s favor.
If Nintendo still hopes to acquire WiiU.com, it will need to negotiate with its original owner and likely pay a large sum of money.
