Rumor: Old Nintendo franchise getting revived on Wii
Filed under: Rumors
For most people who aren’t high-ranking Nintendo executives, the air is presently thick with speculation over what Nintendo will be revealing at its forthcoming Media Summit. Not if you’re Gamekyo.com, though. The French site knows for certain what is coming: a new Wii game based an old Nintendo franchise that “everyone is waiting for.”
The Gamekyo story certainly sounds very sure of itself (”We can announce today that Nintendo will reveal a new game for the Wii during this event,” reads the closing line), even though the article is entirely unsourced. While we’re advising you take this rumor with a barrel — nay, a truckload — of salt, the prospect of an old Nintendo series being resurrected was too much for us to ignore. For its part, Nintendo issued a by-now-standard “We do not comment on rumor or speculation” to CVG, but that’s not a denial, right?
Source: Nintendo making new game based on old franchise.
Source: Nintendo refuses to play ball.
[Thanks, Chris!]
Wii Music keeps on trucking
Filed under: Video
You know that intro movie in Rock Band, where all of the rocking types are jamming out on top of a speeding car, all XTREME-like (click here to jog your memory)? We guess this is Nintendo’s take on the thing, as Wii Music’s truck-riding, world-rocking ensemble very much resembles that, at least in our mind. Just, you know, Nintendo’s take is a bit more pleasant and a lot less full of leather-clad individuals rocking the desert.
For a more traditional trailer of the gang rocking out an honest-to-goodness venue, cruise past the break.
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Looking for more on Wii Music? You can catch an E3 trailer here, read about our time with the game here, and learn how to play the Famicom (yes, the Famicom), timbales, banjo, steel drum, handbell, trumpet, timpani, acoustic bass, shamisen, harmonica, cello, harpsichord, cheerleader, saxophone, sitar, cowbell, electric bass, drums, dog, accordion, taiko, clarinet, conga, electric guitar, harp, flute, marching drum, violin, piano, guitar, and marimba.
Hudson dates Kororinpa sequel for North America
Filed under: News, WiiWare
Click image for new screensHudson just sent us a press release stating that Marble Saga: Kororinpa will be making its way to North America in the spring of 2009. The sequel to Marble Mania: Kororinpa, the game will feature Balance Board support (which we already knew about), Wi-Fi compatibility and lots of new levels to explore. On top of that, there’s also 4-player local multiplayer to enjoy, as well as “customization features.”
Hit up our gallery below for some new screens and if you want to see the game in motion, check out the GC 2008 trailer here.
[Via press release]
Gameloft bringing TV Show King Party to Wii
Filed under: News
Gameloft has announced a new game for Wii, TV Show King Party. A follow-up to their previous Wiiware offering, TV Show King, the title will offer “thousands of trivia questions” for “players of all ages and families.” There will be eight different categories, ranging from “Music and Movies to History, Sports and Science.” The game will consist of four different multiplayer modes and three different quiz modes.
The title is set to release this November in North America as a disc-based game and will retail for $30. In the meanwhile, to get an idea for what to expect, read our review of Gameloft’s previous game here.
de Blob
de Blob
Description: This game follows ‘de Blob’ as he travels around Chroma City trying to put color back into, the now drab and gray metropolis.
de Blob must take on the I.N.K.T Corporation as he splashes his way around Chroma City. The game relies heavily on platform elements, with a unique sense of style.
Published: THQ
Developed: Blue Tongue
Release Date: September 22nd
Reviews
Gameplayer - 10/10:“With such complete attention to the teensiest of details, it’s obvious that de Blob was more than just another project for all those involved; it captured their imaginations and became a labour of love. As gamers all too often lumbered with substandard shovelware seemingly puked out to market without an iota of play testing, we’re the ones who benefit from this passion, for de Blob really is one of those all-too-rare instantly – and blissfully original –classics that is genuinely FUN to get to grips with.”
Game Revolution - B+/A+:“As a game that started life as a student project at the Utrecht School of the Arts in the Netherlands, de Blob most definitely scores high in the originality department. The path to commercial release means what you see on your Wii is a bit different than the original freeware PC game, it hasn’t lost touch with its roots. What’s here is just as wild and wacky as the original and it’s a benchmark game for the Wii. If you own a Wii, this is one game you don’t want to overlook.”
Gamespy - 4/5 Stars:“One of the best things we can say about de Blob is that it has an uncanny ability to make you forget about time. Many of our stages ran for at least a half-hour, and we seldom realized it until the level wrapped and reminded us how long we’d be playing. It’s a beautifully immersive game that really takes advantage of the Wii’s hardware to create a vivid and memorable experience.”
Metacritic Score: 83/100
Wii Blog Posts
de Blob - This One Should Be On Your Radar
Screenshots
Videos
Rhythm Tengoku fan spinoff brings punchy musical fun to PC owners
While we all still wait patiently for Rhythm Heaven to arrive on US and European shores, Japanese fans are already hard at work on their own spinoffs - this video shows Karateka Mania, which sets the rhythmic pugilism of one of Tengoku’s most celebrated minigames to a J-Pop soundtrack. It looks a little more complicated than Tengoku’s fairly straight rhythms, though perhaps not quite as exacting.
Rhythm Tengoku Gold remains in the Japanese top ten, and is a recommended import, although not as much as the superior GBA original. It’s expected to reach western gamers in the first or second quarter of 2009.
© Shiny Media - visit Wii Wii for more great content.
Wii pedometer on its way
Engadget is getting itself in a froth about a piece of equipment which has been found on a European trademark registry site, and is putting two and two together and coming up with five, claiming that it’s a Nintendo pedometer. With little supplemental information about the peripheral it’s hard to say that it’s definitely what it looks (a bit) like, though there’s no noticeable Wii branding, and I’m not convinced it’s necessarily the next evolutionary step for Wii Fit - or indeed related to a brand new game. Besides, we’ve already got Wii Jog on the way.
And isn’t that an Xbox 360 button on the reverse?
© Shiny Media - visit Wii Wii for more great content.
Tom Thumb’s balance board revealed
Well, not quite. It’s just the latest set of must-buy/resist gashapon from Play-Asia, featuring a tiny balance board attached to a tiny Wii Fit by a tiny chain.
Not convinced? How about the cute little Wii Wheel? Or the copy of Mario Party 8 that’s mercifully too small to actually play? Each toy with a game case actually has a tiny little disk inside, as you’ll see if you click on the link above.
Interesting observation - what on earth is wrong with the Wii Zapper? Why do we not have a Link’s Crossbow Training version? Could it be that Nintendo Japan is actually unhappy at the (admittedly fairly pointless) peripheral? Or perhaps they’re waiting for the next collection to unveil that one, perhaps alongside the Wii pedometer - see next post for details.
© Shiny Media - visit Wii Wii for more great content.
Nintendo plans franchise revival at this week’s pre-TGS conference
Gamekyo is today suggesting that Nintendo has a surprise lined up for its conference this coming Thursday. While rumours continue to fly about a new DS model (with camera functionality and larger screens), it seems that Nintendo also has a game lined up.
The site suggests Nintendo will reveal a new game during the event “which is actually an old franchise that everyone is waiting for”.
Which, let’s face it, means Kid Icarus or Pikmin. I’m going to go with the latter, and I’m also going to bet that it’s not just Pikmin 3 but something else - perhaps something that actually very few people were waiting for.
I guess we’ll know in two days’ time.
© Shiny Media - visit Wii Wii for more great content.
Rule, Britannia: Wii taking names in the UK
Filed under: News, Sales
What ho, chaps! This morning yielded jolly splendid (if totally expected) news for Nintendo from the UK: according to GfK Chart Track figures, the Wii is (to use a British colloquialism) kicking arse in the land of tea and crumpets.
Over the last 12 months, 2.5 million Wii consoles have been sold in Britain, swelling the total installed base to 3.6 million units. That means one in every 16.93 Brits is waggling a Wiimote — not a bad figure, considering the console launched only twenty-two months ago. Furthermore, high street retailer The Game Group estimates that the Wii will have hit 4.9 million units in Blighty by Christmas. Gosh!/Blimey!/Etc.
To see how the competition fared (spoiler: not very well), hit the break!
UK hardware sales (since September 2007)
- Nintendo DS Lite — 3,300,000
- Nintendo Wii — 2,500,000
- PlayStation 3 — 1,000,000
- Xbox 360 — 1,000,000
- PlayStation Portable — 700,000
UK hardware sales (total installed base)
- Nintendo DS Lite — 7,100,000
- Nintendo Wii — 3,600,000
- PlayStation Portable — 2,900,000
- Xbox 360 — 2,300,000
- PlayStation 3 — 1,400,000
