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    New Monkey Ball trademark discovered, may use Wii Balance Board

    June 16, 2009 - 5:40pm


    Isn't it weird when you wake up in the morning, covered in sweat, waking up from a dream where you are trapped in a plastic ball, forced to roll around in hundreds of deadly mazes -- collecting bananas you have no way of eating? This happens to us all the time. It looks like our dream may be becoming a reality, as Sega looks to be creating a Wii Balance Board-centric Monkey Ball game.The US Patent & Trademark Office has revealed the title of a brand new game in Sega's long-running series, called Super Monkey Ball: Step & Roll. While the listing doesn't confirm use of the Balance Board, it seems like a perfect fit for the franchise. The active nature of the title makes us believe this is indeed Sega's attempt at letting players use their real-life balance to navigate the tricky Monkey Ball worlds. It's such an easy concept to visualize, we're surprised it hasn't already been made yet.[Via 1UP, Kotaku]Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

    The future is now: Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 screens in 3D

    June 16, 2009 - 5:10pm


    Normally we don't get excited for new screens in the "Holy S! It's the future in front of my eyes!" kind of way, but friends, today is an exception. Vicarious Visions has posted its second 3D screenshot of upcoming superhero extravaganza, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 (both found after the break) on its website and, to be honest, it's really impressive, allowing you to spin the full image in three dimensions.The newest one features Deadpool leaping into the air and firing dual pistols at a bunch of fools, while the first (and even more impressive) screen has Thor combining with The Human Torch's powers to create some form of fire tornado. That's right -- a fire tornado. And no, things don't get much sweeter than that.[Thanks, Wombat!]

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    Rumor: McDonalds reveals Pokemon Mystery Dungeon on WiiWare

    June 16, 2009 - 5:00pm

    According to what has been identified as a pamphlet from a McDonalds location in Japan, Nintendo is preparing to launch three new Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games -- on WiiWare. A detail from the pamphlet shows an announcement of the WiiWare release of the three games, along with logos for Mystery Dungeon games called Susume! Hono no Boukendan, Ikuzo! Arashi no Boukendan, and Mezase! Hikari no Boukendan, which translate to Advance! Fire Adventure Team, Go! Storm Adventure Team, and Aim! Light Adventure Group!, respectively.Since we don't even know if the pamphlet, presumably distributed as a promotion for the Mac de DS program, is real, obviously we don't have any more details about the games, like whether Mystery Dungeon series creator Chunsoft is creating them or if they are all variants of the same base game.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

    Over 11 million enlisted in Call of Duty: World at War

    June 16, 2009 - 3:45pm


    Treyarch's Call of Duty: World at War has been quite the retail success for Activision, as Edge has revealed the game has sold a ridiculous 11 million copies across all platforms. And Activision is mighty proud, as the company's strategy of alternating development on the franchise has paid off. Add the success of the game's DLC, and you've got yourself one nice money-printing machine.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

    Ubisoft on next gen costs, current gen motion control

    June 16, 2009 - 3:40pm


    Speaking to CNBC, Ubisoft big cheese Yves Guillemot says that development costs on the next generation of games are going to be huge. With large games currently costing up to $30 million to develop, Guillemot believes that cost could rise to $60 million by the time the next hardware cycle arrives.Regarding Natal, which Microsoft is treating like a new console, Guillemot says that consumers will soon "take the other step - pushed by the environment." Guillemot is happy to keep working with current hardware, saying, "I'd like to stay with this generation as long as possible, but my customers will want the best machine possible." One thing that might push the next generation of games out sooner than expected, according to Guillemot, is the potential of new online consoles like OnLive. "If OnLive manages to make this work," said Guillemot, "we will have a next generation of systems sooner than currently planned."Still, Ubisoft is in no hurry and plans to develop motion controlled games for all the current consoles -- up to 80 percent of Ubi's lineup will likely be motion controlled, actually. That's a lot of Rabbids.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

    Seven minutes of Dragon Quest IX

    June 16, 2009 - 3:15pm

    Square Enix has finally started ramping up the promotion for a game that basically needs no promotion: Dragon Quest IX. With a new semi-open-ended structure and multiplayer gameplay, there's a lot of mysterious new content in this game -- even after Square Enix and Level-5 toned down the "new."The last half of this (seven-minute-long) new trailer focuses on the multiplayer mode, which adds a bit of the unexpected to the expected (the expected being a tavern lobby and multiplayer dungeons). You can see players taunting each other and dancing, and one player even demonstrates the ability to be a jerk to other players by setting pit traps. Classy. Check out the trailer after the break.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

    VC/WiiWare Tuesday: Scramble!

    June 16, 2009 - 1:10pm

    This week, Japanese gamers will be able to download the new multiplayer Pokemon brawler (which is such a great idea!), but they'll have to pay for it. We admit to gasping a bit when we saw the 1,500-point price tag on Ransen! Pokemon Scramble, but we suspect we'll be spending that many of our American-style Wii Points soon enough. Pokemon Scramble is joined on WiiWare by a tambourine-based music game, and a cute-looking puzzle game about rotating objects to allow little creatures to move into a goal.On the Virtual Console, Square Enix delivers the second Final Fantasy game in as many months. Final Fantasy II was designed by Akitoshi Kawazu, who we just happen to have spoken to at E3! The other VC game is Wonder Momo, a cutesy side-scrolling brawler from Namco that presents itself as a stage play. We're a little embarrassed about liking it.Virtual Console

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    Nintendo selling puzzlingly vintage Professor Layton bundle in UK

    June 16, 2009 - 12:10pm

    That's the first Professor Layton game. And a DS Lite. Despite the current availability of a new DS system, and the impending launch of a new Professor Layton game, Nintendo is planning a UK release of a bundle containing a black DS Lite and the extremely popular first Professor Layton game, due in stores June 19.MCV suggests that it's being positioned as a Father's Day bundle, but we could see it selling well beyond the gift-giving occasion, due to two factors: first, the enduring hit status of Professor Layton, and second, wow, is that ever a classy-looking box design.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

    Spyborgs' Bionic Games lays off some of its staff

    June 16, 2009 - 10:10am

    Bionic Games, developers of the Capcom-published action game Spyborgs, has laid off an unspecified number of staff, according to statements given to G4 by company president Michael Haller. "On Friday, we began moving team members to other projects and laying off those for whom we do not have an immediate position," Haller said. "This is normal at every development studio that I am familiar with." He denied rumors that a refusal to pay by Capcom had forced the company to shut down entirely.According to Haller, the current state of Spyborgs development no longer required the full complement of employees at Bionic. "Last week, we completed our Beta delivery [of Spyborgs] to Capcom," he told G4. "We now only need a small team to handle any bugs that might pop up over the next month or so. The game is for all intents and purposes finished and delivered."In fact, Haller confirmed that Bionic is "six months into" its next project, and will begin hiring more staff following a successful prototype submission for that game.
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    Rock Band Wiikly: Bonnaroo, many other artists

    June 16, 2009 - 12:15am


    This week's Rock Band Wiikly brings tracks from a few artists who recently performed at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Tennessee. Keeping up with the latest tradition for Rock Band tracks released on Wii, along with the Bonnaroo songs, there's 18 more tracks that were previously released on other consoles in the mix. If Harmonix keeps up this recent pace of Wii-lease, it might have full sync across consoles by the holidays.

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