This information comes from Nintendo Power. The quotes are from producer Josh Olson…

– Team acknowledges that the first game had the player doing “the same thing over and over and over again”
– Want to do more with level design, gameplay design
– Embracing sci-fi element
– Game starts off with thunder, torrential downpour, you’re in a huge oil derrick in the middle of an ocean
– Picks off immediately after the original when you enter the portal
– Not sure where you are when you enter the portal and land in the ocean
– Derrick’s occupants begin to shoot at you
– Game will have some “big vistas and multi-tiered areas”
– Multiple paths, team wants the game “to feel bigger and give players the sense that there’s more going on”
– Sea serpent attacks the facility
– “Having those types of ‘wow’ moments is really important”
– Quantum 3 engine still being refined
– Ford continues to go through the oil derrick, fights with the leviathan one-on-one
– Have to use one of the derrick’s mounted defense targets since normal weapons won’t work
– Serpent targets you and generator that powers the turrets
– Need to find the serpent’s weak points, stun him, then impale him with a harpoon from a turret
– Game has an airborne chase scene, take control of a ship’s rear gun emplacement, shoot pursuers (one enemy type is jet pack-equipped soldiers)
– More NPCs, Ford can interact with them
– There are other aliens besides Adams around the world who control territories
– Adams has been particularly successful, wants to take over the world
– Ford needs to get the help of the other aliens
– Atlantis is the hub, portals to other areas are there
– Some freedom in terms of which stage you’ll take on next
– One mission has you going to Washington DC, need to recover important artifact from the Smithsonian
– More alien growth in the city than in the first game, Drudge and Trust still fighting there
– “AI vs. AI vs. player now”
– Will come across fights already happening
– “The AI in particular has been a big focus for us. We really want the enemies to come across as intelligent. In the first game, they just sit there waiting for you to show up. This time, we want it to feel like a living environment, like everyone was doing something before you got there.”
– Interactive elements in the environment (stuff moves, objects break, enemy knocks over soda machine for cover)
– Wider variety of hostiles, some specific to a location
– Atlantis: 30-foot-tall Guardians
– Siberia: Robotic wolves
– Differences between human soldiers, can carry any weapon (affects AI)
– SEGA/High Voltage will be holding a contest: Can get your name/face on a Missing Person flier or a Wanted poster
– 18 firearms from the original
– Have to tune the Phase Rifle by twisting Wiimote
– Deployable Turret: Set it down, control it with handheld display, can pull the trigger and have it autoaim or target manually
– Regarding the AsE: “…more puzzles and hacking minigames. It’s also a bit more of a detective tool now, we’re trying to put a lot more conspiracy objects and secrets in the environments to give you more reasons to use the ASE. Once you’ve scanned an object, you’ll be able to learn more about it in the game’s new data log. So it really plays into us trying to tell a deeper story.”
– ASE tied to Atlantis
– Using the ASE, can have a bit of control over the Guardians
– 12 players online
– Releasing this fall

Huge thanks to Johnson for the news tip!

This information comes from Nintendo Power…

– Mostly side-scrolling, but sometimes can move to the foreground/background
– Belly dances will allow Shantae to transform into a monkey, elephant, or mermaid
– Hair whip upgrades, can upgrade for animal forms
– Fireball, pike ball, crush puff magic
– A lot of humor
– Game is about 4.5 hours

Source

This information comes from a portion of an interview with Yoshio Sakamoto on the Nintendo Channel…

“[Development is progressing] very well. The teamwork between Nintendo, Team Ninja, and D-Rockets is perfect and we’re working to bring you an exciting Metroid, and an attractive Samus. I hope you’ll wait a little longer, and look forward to its release.”

The only strange comment here is that the developers are trying to bring “an attractive Samus.” It probably shouldn’t be taken too seriously, but let’s hope Sakamoto hasn’t fallen to Team Ninja’s ways!

System: Wii
Category: RPG
Players: 1
Developer: Namco Bandai Games/tri-Crescendo
Publisher: XSEED
Available: Now

I’m going to start this review off by telling you I have no idea how to start this review off. Why? Because Fragile is such a unique game, I’m hard pressed to review it as a “game” at all. Unfortunately, being that this is a website about games and not about whatever it is that Fragile is, I’ll have to just give it my all and hope things turn out okay.

Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon is classified as a role playing game, and it follows the tale of a young 15 year old boy named Seto who finds himself alone in the world after his “grandfather” (whether it actually was his grandfather or just an old man he was living with remains to be seen) passes away during the summer. As such, he is left to explore the ruined world and look for survivors on his own with no information as to what happened that left everyone dead except for him. Shortly thereafter, he runs into a girl (a mysterious girl, at that) and decides he better follow her if he wants to be not-lonely for the rest of his life. Thus begins the solemn tale of Fragile Dreams.

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3DS

– New Nintendo handheld
– Will be shown at E3
– Craig believes 3DS will be the actual name
– DSi is the stop-gap
– Backward compatible with the DSi
– One of the screens will be stereoscopic 3D
– Peer thinks the top screen will be the 3D screen, bottom screen touch
– Craig thinks Nintendo bought the screens from a public company or have to reveal they sold a lot of screens to a certain company, Nintendo wanted to make an announcement themselves
– NCL only cares about themselves, not really NOA, Nintendo of Europe, etc.
– Coming out by the end of March
– Apple sneaking in on Nintendo, iPhone can’t do stereoscopic 3D
– Everyone’s 3D jazzed because of movies like Avatar
– Professor Layton, brain games, could be neat in 3D
– Multiple third-parties have apparently received confirmation from Nintendo that nVidia Tegra chip isn’t being used
– Craig doesn’t believe high-profile third-party devs don’t have the actual dev kits
– With the DS, devs were only able to work with one screen, devs had to constantly send the kits back and forth, get the new one with touch screen, etc.

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So, here’s an idea for all of you reading this: How about we all play some games together one night a week? That’s my latest crazy idea.

What ever happened to game nights? I remember when I was a kid, my family would get together once a week and play board games as a way of bonding or something, and now I’m wondering: What ever happened to that? Well, I think we need to bring them back, so that’s what I’m here to do. I ran this by everyone a while back, and I’m just now getting back to it and putting everything in motion for this next week! Here’s all the details on the project:

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WiiWare

Diner Dash (1,000 points) – 264 blocks
WarioWare: D.I.Y. Showcase (800 points) – 83 blocks

VC

Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber (1,000 points) – 295 blocks

DSiWare

Save the Turtles (500 points) – 96 blocks
Super Yum Yum Puzzle Adventures (800 points) – 94 blocks
Disney Fireworks (800 points) – 69 blocks
Nintendo DSi Instrument Tuner (200 points) – 16 blocks
Nintendo DSi Metronome (200 points) – 13 blocks

Update: Details incoming below (thanks Johnson!)

There have been plenty of hints that High Voltage Software is working on a sequel to The Conduit. Today, though, the game finally been confirmed. Nintendo Power has announced that a new title in the series is in development. We’ll update this post with additional details as they come in.

– Set in Atlantis
– Other locations include Siberia, Agartha, Washington D.C.
– Team is focusing on art/story
– New gameplay types for online
– Bounty Hunter mode returning
– Different character classes, each has unique attributes
– Can unlock suit upgrades (ex: robotic legs that let you sprint farther)
– WiiSpeak support
– High Voltage, for now, has decided “to have one primary suit slot and two secondary slots where you can equip upgrades, but that may change in the final game.”
– Will be able to change character’s appearance
– 2-4 player splitscreen option for all competitive
– Co-op Invasion mode: Up to 4 players (online or local), has unique challenges
– New weapons: Vortex Cannon and Phase Rifle
– Vortex Cannon: Sends bullets back at enemies with a more powerful force
– Phase Rifle: Shoot through walls
– Old weapons will be returning
– Some old weapons are seeing a facelift
– About 7 new weapons
– Big boss battles
– ASE also returning
– ASE used for more things other than puzzles (can do a lot of scanning, which is recorded)
– Can use TPC ammo as mines
– SEGA publishing again
– No release date

The days are getting longer. The cherry blossoms are beginning to bloom. With these first days of spring, Ignition Entertainment turns the attention of the Arc Rise Fantasia dojo to a specific facet of this definitive JRPG for the Wii – the story!

A critical element of any JRPG is story. As one plays the game, one gradually gets to know the heroes of Arc Rise Fantasia and how their lives are shaped by each other and the challenges they face. As the mercenary L’Arc, players embark on a journey to defend the Meridian Empire from invasion. Apprehensive towards his chosen path, L’Arc faces a life altering decision. As the plot thickens, relationships become complex — hinting at unforeseen consequences with unlikely friends and treacherous foes.

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