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    Survey: Developers still worship Miyamoto, Blow too

    June 15, 2009 - 12:15pm


    Luminary Shigeru Miyamoto hasn't lost his shimmer in the eyes of game developers, with a recent industry poll finding the Nintendo icon to be without equal. The survey, commissioned by organizers of next month's Develop Conference, asked 9,000 devs to name their game development hero, with nearly a third of respondents pointing to Miyamoto as the man with the plan. The popularity contest also named id Software's John Carmack as the next most idealized developer, followed by Maxis and now Stupid Fun Club brainpan Will Wright. The top ten list of industry highlights was rounded out by Braid dev Jonathan Blow, who's likely too busy rewinding time (to see if he can somehow land higher on the ballot) to care.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

    NintendoWare Weekly: Let's Catch some Towering Toast

    June 15, 2009 - 11:15am

    It's an uncharacteristically packed week for WiiWare. Three games are out at once, and we've actually heard of all three. We feel like we're living in Japan! Nintendo didn't skimp on the Virtual Console either, with a new, exciting Virtual Console Arcade title -- well, new in the Virtual Console sense. It's still old. DSiWare also gets ... well, it's another set of clock and calculator apps. But they're exceptionally cute apps with Mario in them! That's still kind of worthwhile in our opinion. Maybe we just like making Mario coin sounds a little too much. Check after the break for the list of new downloads!

    Continue reading NintendoWare Weekly: Let's Catch some Towering Toast

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    Rumor: The Beatles: Rock Band track list leaked [update: Harmonix says nope]

    June 14, 2009 - 11:00pm


    It reads like so many rhythm/music game releases in the past -- the ubiquitous track list leak. The Beatles: Rock Band is still a few months off from its September 9 release date but Ripten has gotten its hands on a leaked list of the possible tracks from the game (found after the break).The list does include the three tracks we checked out in our hands-on with the game at E3, though it also looks an awful lot like a list of Beatles singles across their career. Ripten notes that the ten tracks found in the glorious opening to the game are all included in its leaked list -- and it is approximately the same amount of tracks we know the game will be shipping with -- though we've yet to receive any official confirmation or denial from MTV Games, Harmonix, or EA.Update: A Harmonix spokesperson has confirmed to us that this leaked list of songs is definitely not the track list for The Beatles: Rock Band, saying, "The rumored 'leaked' list is not the disc track listing for The Beatles: Rock Band. We'll be announcing more tracks throughout the summer. Stay tuned to thebeatlesrockband.com for the most up to date information about disc songs and downloadable content!"

    Continue reading Rumor: The Beatles: Rock Band track list leaked [update: Harmonix says nope]

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    Pachter: Wii price drop coming before the holiday

    June 14, 2009 - 7:00pm


    Michael Pachter loves low prices. First he does flip floppings around the PSP Go's price and now he's predicting a Wii price drop later this year. He notes that "Wii supply has finally exceeded demand," and that he "expect[s] Nintendo to cut the price of the Wii before [the] holiday." If true, this would be the first price drop since the Wii's release in late 2006.Alternatively, Nintendo could simply bundle the system with software in order to persuade people to buy the system. Wii Sports was a good enough selling point back in ought-six, so why not a Wii, Wii Sports Resort and Wii MotionPlus bundle? Still, Pachter's pretty well known around these parts, so he's bound to be right. Who knows, maybe the price drop will arrive just in time for the Wii HD announcement, right Michael?Permalink | Email this | Comments

    The Price is Right goes gaming, gives away DSi pack

    June 14, 2009 - 3:30pm


    It seems as though every day there's more mainstream saturation for Nintendo products. Why just the other day, we spotted Drew Carey offering a decently tasty Nintendo DSi bundle during the "Showcase Showdown" portion of his (well, not really his) gameshow, The Price is Right -- should the contestants guess the right price, of course.Though titles like Lord of the Rings: Conquest and, unsurprisingly, The Price is Right game were among those offered, DS staples like New Super Mario Bros. and Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword also made their way into the fray. We know, we know, the question on all your minds is of course: Did the contestant win? You'll have to see yourself over at the CBS website, folks![Via GoNintendo]Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

    New Super Mario Bros. Wii, future titles will play themselves

    June 14, 2009 - 2:00pm


    Are games too hard for you, Johnny? Don't worry -- Shiggy's got your back. Starting with upcoming New Super Mario Bros. Wii, future Nintendo Wii titles will be shipping with the ability to, well, play themselves. In an interview with USA Today, the man who birthed Mario confirmed the existence of "demo play" for the next Mario game and "future games, too" -- essentially an option to allow the game to play itself when the player encounters an area too difficult for them to handle.Savvy Joystiq loyalists will remember the patent filed by Nintendo earlier this year, roughly outlining the feature. The idea behind this, Miyamoto explains, is to reduce the barrier to entry for younger players and casual alike. Last we checked, the whole point of games was the challenge but, ya know, who needs that? "Demo play" remains the tentative title for now, but we expect some Wii-ification by New Super Mario Bros. Wii's release later this year.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

    Alex Ovechkin hip checks NHL 2K10 cover

    June 14, 2009 - 12:30pm


    Alex Ovechkin, left winger for the Washington Capitals, and his beautiful face will be gracing the cover of this years NHL 2K10. According to the Capitals website, a "fists clenched and mouth agape" Ovechkin image has been picked for the game's cover, the third hockey game to use his image on the box.Additionally, Ovechkin is participating in 2K's first ever "public outdoor hockey motion capture session" next week in Las Vegas, taking time out of his trip to Nevada for the NHL Awards Show. Rather than employing ice, however, the session is said to be using a plastic sheet, hopes, and dreams. Unfortunately, this ain't the hockey game with first-person fighting mechanics, so those of you looking to knock some teeth out of Ovechkin's head all up close and personal-like may find yourselves wanting for more.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

    Gauntlet DS found on ESRB website with Majesco as publisher

    June 13, 2009 - 11:00pm


    After being potentially canceled as of a few months ago, Gauntlet DS has re-emerged from purgatory with a new publisher in Majesco. At very least, that's our best guess based on an ESRB rating for the game found by a Gauntlet-lovin' GoNintendo reader.Once announced as being developed by Backbone Entertainment and published by now Square Enix-owned Eidos, the title was delisted from GameStop's website as well as Amazon back in February. Does this mean we'll finally be able to try our very best not to shoot food on the DS in the near future? One can only dream.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

    Hands-on: Academy of Champions

    June 13, 2009 - 12:30pm


    Ah, soccer ... the sport of kings. Oh, wait. That's chess. Or maybe that's the game of kings. Anyhow, we're talking about soccer. Well, soccer here in America, "football" to the rest of the known world. Ubisoft has a new soccer game coming out for the Wii called Academy of Champions, and despite the awkward combination of Pele (a legend) and Joel McHale (a goofball) at Ubisoft's E3 presser, the game is actually fun. Especially when you're playing with friends.You can see new screenshots from the game below before heading beyond the break to read our hands-on and see the new trailer for Academy of Champions. It's a bit like a Hogwart's for soccer, except without all the death and killing and such. But is there magic? Oh yes ... you can actually play as Sam Fisher in full-stealth mode. Find out more inside.

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    Neversoft would like to add turntable support to Guitar Hero

    June 12, 2009 - 10:15pm

    During E3, we got to check out the folks from FreeStyleGames playing DJ Hero -- Activision's upcoming rhythm/music game -- using blasphemous guitar controllers in-tandem with the ubiquitous plastic turntable (seen above). While Activision is still keeping mum on whether or not the ability to use guitars in all tracks of the game (none the less vocals) will be shipping with DJ Hero, apparently the folks working on the game think including their turntable in Guitar Hero titles "Sounds like a great idea!"In fact, both the DJ Hero team and Neversoft (developers of the Guitar Hero franchise) seem open to the idea of cross-game instrument implementation (say that three times fast). GH director Brian Bright told Eurogamer, "We would love to integrate in the future," speaking to the cross-franchise possibilities with each game's respective peripheral. So if we can use a turntable, have a group of folks on various instruments, and get someone spitting hot fire into a mic, what's the point of Def Jam Rapstar again?Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments