Over the past month or so, our contact form was down. This was due to a minor glitch in the system. It’s back up now, however, so if you need to contact the guys behind the scenes, feel free to use the contact form. We also accept any news tips that you may have.
1. [DS] Beautiful Character Training (Nintendo) – 66,000
2. [PS3] Yakuza 3: Kenzan! (Sega) – 46,000 / 227,000
3. [WII] Wii Fit (Nintendo) – 45,000 / 1,704,000
4. [WII] Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Nintendo) – 41,000 / 1,449,000
5. [PS2] Gundam Musou Special (Bandai-Namco) – 24,000 / 213,000
6. [DS] Shugo Character! The Three Eggs and the Strange Joker (Konami) – 20,000
7. [PS2] Daito Giken Koushi Pachislot Simulator: Shin Yoshimune (Paon) – 18,000
8. [WII] Wii Sports (Nintendo) – 17,000 / 2,855,000
9. [DS] Harvest Moon: Shining Sun and Friends (Marvelous Entertainment) – 11,000 / 93,000
10. [WII] Wii Play (Nintendo) – 11,000 / 2,271,000
1 (1) Super Mario Bros 3
2 (2) Super Mario Bros
3 (3) Mario Kart 64
4 (10) Kirby 64 : The Crystal Shards
5 (4) Super Street Fighter 2
6 (5) Super Mario World
7 (6) Super Mario 64
8 (7) The Legend of Zelda : Ocarina of Time
9 (8) Bomberman 93
10 (9) Super Mario Bros 2
11 (11) The Legend of Zelda : A Link to the Past
12 (18) Paper Mario
13 (13) Pac-Man
14 (14) Sonic 3
15 (15) Sonic
16 (12) 1080 Snowboarding
17 (20) Bubble Bobble
18 (17) The legend of Zelda
19 (E) Kirby’s Adventure
20 (19) Yoshi’s Story
LONDON, England. — (March 19, 2008) — Details of the next game in the highly popular anime-inspired, sci-fi action/role playing game series Spectrobes have been uncovered. Disney Interactive Studios today announced the name of Spectrobes: Beyond The Portals, the sequel to Spectrobes, one of the most successful third-party Nintendo DS™ games of 2007 with more than 1 million units shipped worldwide. Spectrobes: Beyond The Portals for Nintendo DS continues the story of Rallen and Jeena, interplanetary patrol officers who discover, excavate, awaken and train mysterious fossilised creatures known as Spectrobes and then use them to battle enemies. The story surrounds the origins of mysterious portals that lead to distant dimensions.
Developed by Kyoto, Japan-based Jupiter Corp., the studio behind Spectrobes, Spectrobes: Beyond The Portals has a wealth of new features, including an entirely new story; a new three-dimensional perspective; a map to assist with exploration; new excavation and battle features; more creatures; and the debut of an online battle system utilising the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Spectrobes: Beyond The Portals also includes DGamer, Disney Interactive Studios’ innovative new technology that provides a fun, connected online game community for Disney video game fans. Spectrobes: Beyond The Portals is currently planned for a Autumn 2008 release.
“Spectrobes has become an international sensation,” said Craig Relyea, senior vice president of global marketing, Disney Interactive Studios. “By continuing to build on its enthralling story, unique gameplay features and memorable characters, Spectrobes: Beyond The Portals will continue to thrill fans. This second game is part of our plan to expand the series in the coming years.”
The game is being overseen by Disney Interactive Studios’ Tokyo office.
“With Spectrobes: Beyond The Portals, we’re working with Jupiter Corp. again and ensuring the series adheres to its defining features while capturing new elements of anime style and storytelling,” said Kentaro Hisai, producer, Disney Interactive Studios, based in Tokyo. “Spectrobes was a major success last year and we look forward to continuing the series.”
In Spectrobes: Beyond The Portals, players can take on the role of either Rallen or, for the first time, Jeena. Jeena uses her research and technological skills so the duo can solve puzzles and complete their missions.
For more information about Spectrobes: Beyond The Portals, log on to www.spectrobes.com/beyondtheportals.
Defy gravity in Midas’s latest and greatest futuristic racing title Zero-G for the Nintendo DS.
Players compete as an elite Zero-G pilot racing against fearless rivals from across the stratosphere in 7 gut wrenching tournaments.
Every second counts as players take control of one of the most technologically advanced racing craft in the galaxy. Capable of reaching break neck speeds, they will need lightning reactions as they negotiate a massive 21 different tracks packed with obstacles, mines, tunnels and insane G-force drops.
The brilliant Wi-Fi multiplayer mode encourages players to challenge their friends or link up with players from across the globe. Find out who will rein champion of the world. This is racing like you’ve never seen before!
Zero-G is exclusively available for the Nintendo DS™ and is released on the 18th April 2008.
Minna Atsumare! Quiz Party (NDS, Ertain): 5 / 6 / 6 / 5 – (22/40)
Sakana to Asobou! Aquazone DS – Kaisuigyo (NDS, GungHo): 6 / 6 / 6 / 6 – (24/40)
Lyra no Bouken: Ougon no Rashinban (NDS, Sega): 6 / 6 / 6 / 6 – (24/40)
Katekyoo Hitman Reborn! Bongole Shiki Taisen Battle Sugoroku (NDS, Takara Tomy): 5 / 5 / 4 / 5 – (19/40)
Simple DS Series Vol. 35: The Genshijin DS (NDS, D3): 7 / 7 / 7 / 7 – (28/40)
Kidou Senshi Gundam 00 (NDS, Bandai Namco): 7 / 8 / 7 / 8 – (30/40)
Lux-Pain (NDS, Marvelous): 7 / 8 / 7 / 7 – (29/40)
Ninja Reflex (Wii, EA): 4 / 6 / 5 / 7 – (22/40)
Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga (Wii/PS3, Activision): 8 / 8 / 8 / 7 – (31/40)
Nitrobike (Wii, Ubisoft): 4 / 5 / 5 / 4 – (18/40)
Lyra no Bouken: Ougon no Rashinban (Wii, Sega): 6 / 7 / 6 / 6 / – (25/40)
Tomb Raider: Anniversary (Wii/Xbox 360/PS2, Spike): 7 / 8 / 8 / 8 – (31/40)
When Super Smash Bros. Brawl was released, an explosion of users tested the waters of the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Unsurprisingly, a ton of lag and online issues plagued the experience. There has been a strong demand for Nintendo to fix the issues with Brawl’s online modes, and, in some ways, the company has. The spectator mode has been fixed, and options now appear. However, not everything is perfect yet. Instead of looking into fixing more problems, Nintendo has decided to wait out the issues the Wi-Fi Connection has been faced with.
“As with the launch of any online-enabled game, especially one as popular as Super Smash Bros. Brawl, everyone wants to play at once. This puts a strain on the pipeline. We have seen improvements in online play performance every day since launch.” – Nintendo spokesperson
REDMOND, Wash., March 17, 2008 – After just one week on store shelves, Super Smash Bros.® Brawl for Wii has become the fastest-selling video game in Nintendo of America’s history. Since its launch on March 9, the feature-packed fighting action game has sold more than 1.4 million units in the United States, including more than 874,000 on March 9 alone. It has sold at a rate of more than 120 units per minute between launch and March 16.
“Super Smash Bros. Brawl has made the leap from video game to cultural phenomenon,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “Game reviewers and the public alike praise its fun game play and extensive, inventive content.”
Super Smash Bros. Brawl features a nearly limitless variety of options for players. Dozens of classic Nintendo characters like Mario™ and Pikachu® are joined by industry icons like Sonic The Hedgehog™ and Metal Gear’s Solid Snake for all-out four-player battles. The endless customization keeps players coming back for more. The previous game in the series, Super Smash Bros.® Melee, became the best-selling Nintendo GameCube™ game of all time with more than 7 million copies sold worldwide, so it’s no surprise to see this latest installment racking up record numbers.
Are hardcore FPS titles going out of style? According to Ubisoft, yes. Phil Therien of Ubisoft made a comment that first-person shooting games do not provide enough revenue to warrant the development process of these games. Moreover, Therien noted that the market is “too narrow” to continue to develop as many FPS titles as the company has done in the past. Arguably, this is due to the overwhelming success of casual games. Will more companies follow in the steps of Ubisoft?
