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    Gaijin Games offers help with Bit.Trip: Beat's hardcore save system

    May 6, 2009 - 2:45pm

    We thought Bit.Trip: Beat's saving system, which only saves your progress if you achieve a high score, was just part of the punishing design of Gaijin Games' WiiWare title. However, Gaijin revealed on its blog that it's actually a bug! "The fact is, we discovered this bug after the US version of the game was in the queue for release," BTB designer Alex Neuse said. "This meant that those of us in the US were stuck with this issue. The Japanese and European versions that came after the US one do not share the same problem."Even more surprising is the method Neuse has employed to rectify the bug -- he's offering his own save file, with all three levels unlocked, for download. You can just copy it over the save file on your Wii and actually see the second and third level for once! Neuse promises that "If you beat a level in CORE, the next level stays unlocked."Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

    All of the smash hits in Guitar Hero: Smash Hits

    May 6, 2009 - 1:45pm

    After a weird fan voting initiative through which fans chose the order in which Guitar Hero: Smash Hits tracks would be revealed, Activision has finally just given IGN the whole set list. Specifically, for those of you who have already been following along with the reveals, that means that the tracks from Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the '80s and Guitar Hero: Aerosmith have been added to the list. Hey, for the '80s tracks, it's a Guitar Hero Encore Encore!The selection from the Aerosmith game suggests that it may not be Activision's favorite among the back catalog of Guitar Hero games. In fact, Aerosmith's going to be cryin' when they see that only one song from the band made the cut. Check the full track listing at IGN to see which song it is! (It's not "Cryin'.")Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

    Joystiq hands-on: The Conduit online multiplayer

    May 6, 2009 - 9:00am


    click to enlarge
    Wii's biggest FPS of the summer (we'd say year, but Ubisoft has a little something cooking), The Conduit, has, perhaps in keeping with its theme of conspiracy and hidden secrets, only just now been shown with its online multiplayer component virtually complete and ready for the game's June 23 release. We spent an afternoon at Sega America playing through its various maps and modes with other games press and members of the dev team from High Voltage Software.Before we even got into the action, though, we were already impressed by how, well ... un-Wii-like the online mode was in both presentation and function. High Voltage has clearly spent a good deal of time pondering what players will want to find when they sit down for a multiplayer game of The Conduit for the first time.

    Continue reading Joystiq hands-on: The Conduit online multiplayer

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    Dead Space Extraction 'glow worms' offer unlimited light, arm cramps

    May 5, 2009 - 11:00pm


    Ammunition is not the only scarcity in Dead Space Extraction. In fact, flashlights seem even more difficult to come by, as miners on Aegis 7 are left to keep their wits about them basked in the comforting greenish hue of a "glow worm." The game's equivalent of glow sticks, glow worms offer an unlimited source of light that must be recharged by shaking the Wii remote. As mentioned following our recent time with the game, the mechanic, which is described in greater detail on EA's Dead Space blog, certainly ups the scare factor. Still, we can't help but wonder if -- after 10 or so hours of vigorous shaking -- these glow worms will leave us clutching our arms, reeling from a wholly different kind of strategic dismemberment.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

    Vertigo tumbles into retail June 16

    May 5, 2009 - 6:15pm

    We haven't heard about Playlogic's Vertigo, the weird racing/Monkey Ball/labyrinth game, at all since last September. Today, Playlogic announced that the Balance Board-compatible "futuristic racing puzzle game" will be available on PC and Wii June 16. In a weird coincidence, this "futuristic racing puzzle game" will come out the same day as Let's Tap, Sega's "future tapping game" for Wii. This trailer reminds us of a 3D Marble Madness more than Monkey Ball, with its future theme and precision jumping, but even that doesn't quite capture it. The levels seem a lot longer and more platformer-like. Vertigo also features four multiplayer modes: "Time Trial, Xorb Football, Death Match, and 10-pin Xorb bowling," as well as single-player time trials. For our own sake, we hope that the time trial grades you on how quickly you fall off the side.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

    Penguin United's new Wii gun doesn't need a Wiimote

    May 5, 2009 - 5:15pm

    Penguin United may be best known for its wonderful 24X Gaming Pouch, which allows you to carry a mess of DS games around without the, well, mess. But if its latest Wii product works well, it could have a new claim to (relative) fame.Penguin's CrossFire Remote Pistol is a Wii Zapper alternative that doesn't require a separate Wiimote. While most Wii guns are merely shells with levers to push the B button, this one is a completely self-contained Wiimote, with an integrated speaker.The final unit probably won't have jaggies -- this is a product render Penguin sent to us. The device will be available for testing at E3 next month.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

    Joyswag: New Play Control! Donkey Kong Jungle Beat

    May 5, 2009 - 5:00pm


    It's time for another Joyswag giveaway, and this time we're giving away the New Play Control! version of Donkey Kong Jungle Beat. Like rhythm-based games? Like big gorillas? Like leaders of the bunch? Then see how you can enter the giveaway below!

    • Leave a comment telling us what your favorite game featuring Donkey Kong is
    • You must be 18 years or older and a resident of the US or Canada (excluding Quebec)
    • Limit 1 entry per person per calendar day
    • This entry period ends at 3:59 pm ET onTuesday, May 11
    • At that time, we'll randomly select one winner to receive the "New Play Control!" version of Donkey Kong Jungle Beat ($30)
    • For a list of complete rules, click here

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    OFLC ratings suggest VC release for Pilotwings, Super Mario Kart

    May 5, 2009 - 4:15pm

    The OFLC website is back after being hacked, with the Australian ratings organization taking the opportunity to redesign it. Luckily, it's still revealing unannounced games! The database has two new listings for classic Nintendo franchises that, really, should already be on the Virtual Console: Pilotwings and Super Mario Kart. We've actually booted up the Wii Shop more than once hoping to buy Super Mario Kart after forgetting that only the N64 game is available on Virtual Console, not the original.Also of interest: Picturebook Games: A Pop-Up Adventure!, which must be Nintendo's original WiiWare board game adventure, Asoberu Ehon Tobida-Sugoroku!, and You, Me, and the Cubes, which is clearly Kenji Eno's WiiWare puzzler Kimi to Boku to Rittai.[Via GoNintendo]Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

    Visceral open to old IP, Dead Space sells 1.4 million

    May 5, 2009 - 3:45pm


    With the renaming of EA Redwood Shores to Visceral Games came the announcement that the rechristened studio would focus on generating new intellectual properties. While the studio is working on new IPs, Visceral's general manager Glen Schofield told GameSpot, "If the right license came along--the right movie, the right book or whatever--we'd do that as well." Stating that Visceral wouldn't just be "The New IP House," Schofield pointed to Capcom as a good example of a company that produces great original IP that can be turned into franchises, something he hopes to see happen for Dead Space.Dead Space, according to Schofield, has moved 1.4 million copies across the Xbox, Playstation and PC. Schofield is satisfied with the numbers given the economic conditions when the game launched last October. He adds that used sales and rentals probably add up to 3 or 4 million people having played the game. Schofield has high hopes for the upcoming Dead Space: Extraction for Wii, saying that both Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles and Resident Evil 4 sold very well.Regarding Dante's Inferno, Schofield says turning the epic poem into a video game has been fairly simple, noting that the nine circles of Hell translate perfectly into nine different game sections. Adapting the story, said Schofield, is simply "a writing exercise." Remember that, kids: Turning a 14th century Italian poet into a sword-wielding badass is a writing exercise.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

    Compete for Punch Out!! title at Nintendo World

    May 5, 2009 - 3:16pm


    As we read about the Punch-Out!! Challenge set for May 16 from 1 to 4 p.m., we couldn't help thinking about how times have changed. Back in the day, when we would hold a Punch Out!! tournament, it would be on the floor of Mark Fisher's rec room, not Rockefeller Center's Nintendo World store. And we wouldn't be facing off against one another, because it was a single-player game -- the only test was between Tyson and our own iron will.One thing hasn't changed though: You'll still receive a radical fake title for winning. But, for the record, we'd pass up Nintendo's World Video Boxing Association title for our Totally Laser Ninja Turtle World Punch Out Master award any day of the week.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments