The August 2009 Game Informer review scores are as follows…
Fight Night Round 4 – 9/9.5
NCAA Football 10 – 8.5/8.5
Prototype – 7.25/7
The BIGS 2 – 7/6.5
Battlefield 1943 – 8.5/8.5
Guitar Hero: Smash Hits – 8/8
Overlord II – 6.5/7
Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood – 8/7.75
Damnation – 3/4
The Conduit – 7/7.5
Overlord: Dark Legend – 7/7.5
The Legendary Starfy – 7/7.5
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Baseball Blast! (Wii) – E
Crazy Mini Golf 2 (Wii) – E
Family Fun Football (Wii) – E
Frogger Returns (Wii) – E
Hidden Objects – Mystery Stories (DS) – E10+
Imagine Salon Stylist (DS) – E
Our House (DS) – E
Scooby-Doo! First Frights (DS) – E10+
Spyborgs (Wii) – T
Squeeballs Party (Wii) – E10+
The Wizard of Oz: Beyond the Yellow Brick Road (DS) – E
The Biggest Loser (DS/DSi) – E
The Mystery of Whiterock Castle (Wii) – E
Space Invaders Extreme 2 (DS) – E
All Star Cheer Squad 2 (Wii) – E
Sudoku (DSi) – E
Where’s Waldo: The Fantastic Journey (Wii) – E
MySims Agents (Wii) -E
Military Madness: Nectaris (Wii) – E10+
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 (Wii) – T
HB Arcade Disc Golf (Wii) – E
Cars Race O Rama (Wii/DS) – E
Best Buy
Go Play Lumberjacks (Wii) – $19.99
Gold’s Gym Cardio Workout (Wii) – $19.99
Trivial Pursuit (Wii) – $19.99
Target
Virtua Tennis 2009 (Wii) – $29.99
Gold’s Gym Cardio Workout (Wii) – $19.99
Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party (Wii) – $29.99
Artist Stephanie Laberis had been teasing a Chrono Trigger announcement of sorts for August 11th, though she was able to reveal the mystery a few weeks early. Don’t get too excited, however, as it was not related to a new game. Laberis’ Chrono Trigger art (which you can see above) will be sold alongside 1,000 copies of CHRONOTORIOUS, a new CD by The Bad Dudes. This probably isn’t the announcement that Chrono Trigger fans had been hoping for, but the piece of art, in addition to the C.D., could be nice pickups for followers of the series.
“15 delicious Chrono Trigger tracks have been arranged for you. But only if you buy the CD album. When the CD is gone, it’s gone forever, along with 5 of the tracks. There will be an iTunes/AmazonMP3 release, but it will only fature 10 tracks and won’t include the poster and you’ll find yourself scouring eBay for a legit copy.” – CHRONOTORIOUS description
Dead Space: Extraction has long been known as a title only for Wii, but now there appears to be a fairly strong chance that the game could see a release on other platforms – at least if teased words from the game’s producer have any meaning.
At Comic-Con last night, EA held an “Art of Making a Horror Video Game” panel and one of the questions brought up was whether Extraction is a Wii exclusive. Steve Papoutsis, executive producer of the title, said that it is “right now” and added that the question asked was “interesting.” An iPhone version wasn’t exactly ruled out either. Papoutsis noted that the concept of an iPhone version sounds “pretty cool,” but it didn’t look as though he wanted to comment completely. Where Extraction may end up in the future is unknown for now, but discussion from last night’s panel seems to be hinting that the game won’t be an exclusive down the road. There doesn’t appear to be any other reason why Papoutsis would say that it’s Wii-only “right now” instead of simply stating that it is – and will remain as – an exclusive for Nintendo’s console.
There were also a few new/old details discussed during the panel which you can check out below.
– Dev team encountered problems with story telling because players don’t complete games with one session
– Wanted to make sure that Extraction wouldn’t interfere with the overall storyline of Dead Space (no contradictions)
– Lighting was important for the dev team so that gamers’ attention could be focused at a particular area
– Depending on whether the title is successful, there may/may not be another animated feature
– More info will be provided regarding Issac, events from the original game
– Extraction was always planned to be from the first-person perspective
– Three new weapons in Extraction
“Well, I think — especially for us — the thing about something like a new accessory, whether it’s Wii MotionPlus or any of the other accessories we’ve done, it’s really, “Is the gameplay experience compelling enough to give that accessory a reason to exist?” And in the case of Wii Fit and the Balance Board, I think that was obviously the case.
With Wii MotionPlus, we’re seeing Tiger Woods [PGA Tour 10] was a very, very well-executed game [that] takes great advantage of Wii MotionPlus. It’s already got a pretty good install base for us out there in advance of the launch of Wii Sports Resort. So I think already, there are audiences that feel that Wii MotionPlus clearly brings something new to the table, [that it] creates something new that you can’t have anywhere else. And I think that, as long as that’s the case, that people are going to — if they feel there’s value in that experience — that they won’t hesitate to pick up a second one.” – Senior Product Marketing Manager for Nintendo of America, Bill Trinen
I think it’s a shoe-in that most consumers will eventually pick up a second MotionPlus. However, with the amount of peripherals that the Wii is capable of using, MotionPlus might be considered to be expensive by some consumers and might be less willing to shell out cash for an additional add-on.
In this photo provided by Nintendo, Nintendo of America’s vice president of Corporate Affairs, Denise Kaigler, right, competes against actor Chace Crawford in a match of swordplay at the Wii Sports Resort launch event, Thursday, July 23, 2009, in New York. To commemorate the next chapter in the Wii Sports experience, Nintendo brought in 50 tons of sand to transform Manhattan’s famed Military Island into Wuhu Island, the fictional setting featured in the game. (Photo by Diane Bondareff for Nintendo)
Nintendo celebrates the upcoming launch of Wii Sports Resort, the next chapter in the Wii Sports experience, by bringing in 50 tons of sand to transform Manhattan’s famed Military Island into Wuhu Island, the fictional setting featured in the game, Thursday, July 26, 2009, in New York.
Table tennis expert Alston Wang, right, competes against Annamarie Tromp at the Wii Sport Resort launch event in New York, Thursday, July 23, 2009. Launching on July 26, 2009, Wii Sports Resort comes bundled with the Wii MotionPlus accessory to provide players a more immersive gaming experience.
Nintendo celebrates the upcoming launch of Wii Sports Resort, the next chapter in the Wii Sports experience, by bringing in 50 tons of sand to transform Manhattan’s famed Military Island into Wuhu Island, the fictional setting featured in the game, Thursday, July 26, 2009, in New York.
In this photo provided by Nintendo, Alex Leng plays Frisbee at the Wii Sports Resort launch event in New York’s Times Square Thursday, July 23, 2009. To celebrate the July 26 launch of the game, Nintendo offered consumers a free mini-vacation by bringing in 50 tons of sand to transform Manhattan’s famed Military Island into Wuhu Island, the fictional setting featured in the game. (Photo by Diane Bondareff for Nintendo)
