– Over 65 mingames
– Rabbids are now invading T.V.
– Story mode: Play through a week of television
– New minigames presented each day
– Many of the minigames to use the Wii balance board
– Can play the minigames with up to four people simultaneously, 8 on turn-by-turn basis
– Players can aid or harm person using balance board
– One of the minigames: Ride “a live wildbeest down an Olympic ski slope.” You sit on the balance board and guide the animal, jump off slopes
– Developers focusing more on single player experience this time around
– First-person shooting games return, but it’s not FMV
– Music a big part of RRR3 – you will find out who has no rhythm. Not ready to reveal tracklist.
– Weather channel, music channel, movie channel, and “trash TV”
– Interactive commercial breaks: Call up TV ad to make up for poor performance in a minigame
– In multiplayer, winning player can control TV remote: Challenge the winner through brief TV program
– Shaking, precision, dexterity, balance, rhythm, combos, acting, stepping all elements in the game
– Rayman not too involved: Mainly makes a cameo
– Online leaderboards, send photos
– Mr. T involved?!
– Game takes place in mid 1800s when Belmont went missing
– All people unsuccessful at combating Dracula until Ecclesia formed
– Shanoa is the main character – first time a female stars
– Shanoa can use Glyphs (have many abilities) – source of Shanoa’s power
– “No real weapons in this game” – Glyphs used for every attack with MP
– Glyphs can change form: Ex – turn into a sword
– Glyphs located in environments, found when enemies dropped them, and other ways
– New layer of strategy due to glyph MP consumption with glyphs
– MP refills quickly when not attacking
– Can create combos
– Glyph Union special attack: Huge sword travels across the screen, constant barrage of knife hits -requires hearts
– Glyphs can be used in other ways: Ex – Produce magnetic field and cling to metal rods
– Barlowe part of Order of Ecclesia – gives tips and teaches you about your abilities at the beginning
– Albus also part of the Ecclesia group – Takes Dominus at the start of the game(the best Glyph weapon against the Dracula) – Shanoa loses her memory + power)
– World map utilized
– More than 20 locales in the game, Shanoa travels to find Dominus
– Save statues, teleport rooms return
– Side quests given by rescued villagers – villager data available in menui
– Game looks more mature, somber, painted than other games on the DS
– Michiru Yamane handling sound again
– No returning characters except for Dracula
– Returning from previous versions: Leveling-up, dodging (L/R buttons), select button to switch between map and stats, hard difficulty setting, multiple endings, Wi-Fi support
– Wi-Fi: New item interface: you can have your own shop, vs. competition considers items used and damaged received to determine winner
– Other features NP can’t talk about
Final Fantasy A2: Grimoire of the Rift (DS) – 7.0
Mega Man Star Force 2 (DS) – 7.0
Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures (Wii) – 7.5
GRID (DS) – 8.5
Death Jr.: Root of Evil (Wii) – 7.0
Etrian Odyssey II: Heroes of Lagaard (DS) – 8.5
Mister Slime (DS) – 6.0
Arkanoid DS (DS) – 6.5
Cake Mania 2 (DS) – 6.5
Soul Bubbles (DS) – 6.5
Looney Tunes: Cartoon Conductor (DS) – 6.5
Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures (Wii) – 7.5
Space Invaders Extreme (DS) – 8.0
The moon hinted in the last issue of Nintendo Power caused a huge stir among the gaming community. Theories were formed and the guesses were numerous based on DS and Wii titles. Unfortunately, the revelation of the mystery may disappoint some. The Nintendo Power moon is none other than Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia for the Nintendo DS. In the letters section, it was explained, “Well, see, the moon itself was a clue about this month’s Castlevania cover game! Um…get it? (Gulp.) Okay, so we stretched things by hinting that clues could be fond “in” the moon – it was all Steve’s fault…!”
Even though World of Goo will be releasing on four different platforms, the Wii will be the only version with two player co-op. The game suits two player co-op perfectly, as players manipulate goo balls to pass through terrain and gravity. Expect World of Goo to launch in the coming months.
Capcom, a gaming company that is well known for the development of a wide array of titles, seems to be shifting its focus slightly. CVG reports that Haruhiro Tsujimoto, President of Capcom, has expressed interest in creating movies out of its exisiting video game franchises. “We are in the process of working out contracts for several offers we received at the Cannes Film Festival last week and hope to make an announcement soon. If realized, the projects will have a big impact on the game and movie industries. We want to do with games what Marvel did with comics.” Capcom certainly has large ambitions, but video game to movie transitions have varied in quality. Everyone remembers the endearing, although abysmal Super Mario Bros. movie and countless other poor movie productions.
Videos
Wii Fit Event Report
Dr. Mario Online Rx Info Video
Family Table Tennis Info Video
Liv Tyler: Behind the Scenes
King Fu Pan Trailer
Cake Mania 2
FF Tactics A2 Trailer #2
Spider-Man 3 Wii Trailer
Sam & Max Season One Blooper Reel
The Sims 2 Castaway Trailer
Guitar Hero On Tour
Guitar Hero III: Legend of Rock
Trauma Center: New Blood
Cooking Mama Cook Off
Digest Video
We’ve already seen these demos, but in case you were wondering:
Brain Age 2 Demo
Brain Age Demo
Flash Focus Demo
Crosswords DS-Crosswords Demo
The Spiderwick Chronicles
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney
Eco-Creatures: Save the Forest
My Word Coach
Iron Man
Those who have been patiently waiting for a better Wii package to show up may have their wishes fulfilled. Allegedley, a new SKU has entered a temporary condition of “early warning.” The stock with the current SKU tags will be replaced with Wii consoles with the newer labels in 90 days. It is not known whether or not this new SKU could mean a new bundle, colors, or something completely different.
