Over the Top Games announced today that Steven Gutheinz has created the original musical score for their highly anticipated Wii videogame, Icarian: Kindred Spirits. Gutheinz, a promising young composer, has being hailed to be at the forefront of the new generation of film composers. He has created numerous scores for films, television, and new media. His music fills all the score of Icarian: Kindred Spirits with delightful melodies that give the game a unique atmosphere.
At the same time the Over the Top Games team posted new screenshots that show a bit more of this promising game. They have sent word that they expect to release a gameplay trailer very soon.
More information about this game at: www.icariangame.com
Create Powerful Armies and Direct them to Victory as Acclaimed Strategy Series Debuts on Nintendo DS
REDMOND, Wash.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Nintendo DS™ system owners take note – the next game to engage your brain has arrived: Fire Emblem™: Shadow Dragon. A unique strategy adventure, the game grants players full control over a powerful fighting force in a captivating fantasy setting, putting virtual tacticians to the test as they implement creative battle strategies, improve the skills of their warriors and outthink their opponents on the way to glory and victory.
The Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon video game lets players alternate turns with opponents, moving their units to attack enemies on the battlefield and advance to more advantageous locations. There are dozens of units with different weapons and magic spells to wield, each with their own strategic benefits: high-flying Pegasus Knights move effortlessly over varied terrain, Archers can attack from a distance with their bows and arrows, and unarmed Curates use healing staves to help the wounded. Using Nintendo Wi-Fi® Connection and local wireless play modes, players can now test their skills against opponents, borrow units from others to use in their armies, talk with friends using the built-in Nintendo DS microphone and even use in-game currency to buy rare and powerful items from the Online Shop.
ONE WIIWARE GAME AND ONE VIRTUAL CONSOLE GAME ADDED (AND ONE SURPRISE COMING) TO WII SHOP CHANNEL
Feb. 16, 2009
Outer space meets inner space at the Wii™ Shop Channel this Presidents Day. A new WiiWare™ title will have you soaring across the astral plane, while a vintage NES™ shooter for the Virtual Console™ invites you to battle your way through the innards of an alien creature. Choose a hot new WiiWare game or a Gradius spin-off. It’s what the presidents would have wanted.
In other news, the Wii-kly Update has a fun surprise coming soon for all our fans. We can’t tell you the secret just yet but maybe we’ll offer you some hidden clues. From AZ to NC, if you’re a fan, your applause could rattle your walls, windows, door. You might enjoy this news whether you live in a brick house or Vanderbilt dorm. Even people living along Route 286 in rural Pennsylvania ought to be excited. It’ll feel like a bunch of birthday greetings and, really, who could ask for more? But that’s about all we can say for now, so be sure to check future Wii-kly Updates.
Nintendo adds new and classic games to the Wii Shop Channel at 9 a.m. Pacific time every Monday. Wii owners with a high-speed Internet connection can redeem Wii Points™ to download the games. Wii Points can be purchased in the Wii Shop Channel or at retail outlets. This week’s new games are:
46 year-old Edgar Montalvo was arrested by police on Wednesday, perhaps in part due to his heroin addiction.
Montalvo, while playing the Wii with his 14-year-old son, suddenly went into a rage because the boy did not pause the game and allow the family dogs to come inside quickly enough. He took the Wii, smashed it, and threw what was left of it outside.
Montalvo was keeping his family hostage. He took the car keys from his wife and at one point smashed the car of another family who wanted to take his son away from the home. Reports also say that Montalvo told his wife that he would kill her, their children, and even himself, later saying that he would also burn down the house if she called the police or if she left him due to his heroin use.
Police did arrive though, thanks to an anonymous complaint. Officers were able to see the smashed Wii and hear Montalvo screaming when they arrived at the house. Police were able to arrest the man after the wife quietly opened the back door.
The man has been charged with disorderly conduct, second-degree criminal mischief, second-degree threatening, third-degree assault, two counts of second-degree unlawful restraint and risk of injury to a minor. As of now, Montalvo is being held on $150,000 bond.
Capcom has pulled back new details regarding Monster Hunter G. In order to connect with others online, you will have to pay a certain fee. The company has not announced a final price point, but Capcom will reveal that information at a later date. It’s unknown right now whether or not Monster Hunter 3 will also require payment to play with others over the Internet, though it does seem possible given the news of Monster Hunter G’s online setup.
– Wii Fit (Wii, Nintendo): 3.126.747 units sold
Release: 01.12.07
– Tomb Raider Underworld (PS3, Spike): 12.132 units sold
Release. 29.01.09
– Mario Kart DS (NDS, Nintendo): 2.133.818 units sold
Release: 10.04.08
– Dissidia: Final Fantasy (PSP, Square Enix): 857.059 units sold
Release: 18.12.08
– Ninja Blade (Xbox 360, From Software): 9.739 units sold
Release: 29.01.09
– Layton Kyouju to Saigo no Jikan Ryokou (NDS, Level 5): 712.509 units sold
Release: 27.11.08
– Hoshi no Kirby: Ultra Super Deluxe (NDS, Nintendo): 1.010.802 units sold
Release: 06.11.08
– Animal Crossing: City Folk (Wii, Nintendo): 1.053.686 units sold
Release: 20.11.08
Venture into the never-explored Vageux-Vardette in Ys chapter I
IRVINE, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 13, 2009 – Atlus U.S.A., Inc. today discussed the new level exclusive to Legacy of Ys™: Books I & II for Nintendo DS™. Marking the site of a massive disaster that occurred 700 years ago is the Vageux-Vardette, a huge crater in the center of Esteria. Though the nature of the disaster has since faded from memory, the area within its rim is considered sacred and to tread upon its ground is forbidden. Since the appearance of the Veil of Storms months before, horrible howls and screams have haunted the land. In past version of Ys, the Vageux-Vardette was only mentioned in passing, but now in the first book of Legacy of Ys, players will be able to explore this never-before-seen area, essentially a whole new level, confronting its new boss and finding an entirely new set of equipment.
“The Vageux-Vardette is one of the more eye-catching aspects of Ys I geography, and now Nintendo DS players can explore the natural expansion of the Ys universe in an exclusive new level,” said Sam Mullen Project Lead of Legacy of Ys: Books I & II.
“It [Zack & Wiki] did not sell 500K units or anywhere near it. To the best of my knowledge, the 300K figure quoted by IR included European orders from Nintendo who published the title on our behalf in that territory. Nor did it do the volume it did do at anywhere near frontline pricing (in the US anyway). And what you think was a cheap game to make, wasn’t. Great games almost never are. Lastly, Okami Wii is not on track to outsell the PS2 version. The worldwide Okami Wii number might get to the US Okami PS2 number at some point though…
I will say that the Japan VG chart number appears to be pulled straight from Media Create… which is fairly accurate. Japan’s $2M TV campaign for the title in just that territory (e.g. better marketing) did not move the bar. We could have spent more, sold more, but due to that increased spending generated less profit (more loss). Look at publicly listed publisher financials. Industry standard is a variable marketing spend of between 9-12% of forecasted gross sales. We spend at similar levels (and sometimes above that) on every title we do, in every territory we operate in, including on Z&W…
Okami has been moderately successful… due in no small part to the quality of the game and the fact that it was cost effectively produced with managed scope.” – Christian Svensson, Corporate Officer/VP of Strategic Planning & Business Development
I’m glad that – at the very least – Okami “has been moderately successful.” At the same time, I’m very disappointed that the game hasn’t performed better. I could go on and on about how great I think the game is. The same goes for Zack & Wiki!
We’ve had a fun couple of weeks haven’t we?! The site experienced some unexpected downtime over the past hour or so. Unsurprisingly, the issue was caused due to our host. In the future, we will hopefully be able to avoid any downtime thanks to something that our tech guy is implementing. He is also thinking about changing our host.
Anyways, I’d like to apologize one more time that the site was down. Believe me – It really does bother me when I see that NE is down, even for a minute!
