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    Joystiq hands-on: EA Sports Grand Slam Tennis

    March 13, 2009 - 12:00pm

    click to enlarge
    EA Sports' entry into the Wii tennis game roster came out to play at its "Season Opener" event in San Francisco. We weren't so much interested in the fact it was a tennis title from EA as we were with its support for Nintendo's yet-to-be-dated Wii MotionPlus peripheral.It was a little odd, then, that we started off our play session without said Wiimote doohickey. We were essentially playing a more -- though not entirely -- realistic game of Wii Sports tennis, right down to the serve mechanic and the automatic on-court movement of our character. Thankfully, we learned that the game will support a Nunchuk for player-controlled movement -- and we eventually got to give MotionPlus a try.

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    Cave Story dev: Nintendo opens Wii to Flash development

    March 13, 2009 - 10:00am

    Nicalis's Tyrone Rodriguez went to a "secret developer summit" for Nintendo developers in Los Angeles this week, bringing back news of an important new announcement for WiiWare game creators: Nintendo has now made it possible to develop Wii games entirely using Flash -- something that is presumably most useful for WiiWare. We will probably hear more about this new WiiWare Flash functionality at GDC -- it seems an appropriate venue."This should open up the Wii to a lot of web developers who already can do killer Flash games," Rodriguez said. You may think of this as enabling more quick shovelware, but we think of it as enabling Dolphin Olympics 2.In other news, The Escapist has posted an interview with Rodriguez and Cave Story creator Pixel that provides some insight into the kind of DLC planned for Cave Story. Rodriguez said that the structure is being designed to allow "all sorts of fun stuff like Boss Rush Mode or other fan-requested modes."Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

    Kawata: Darkside Chronicles a 'very dark' Resident Evil

    March 13, 2009 - 9:00am


    Speaking to attendee's of last night's Resident Evil 5 launch party, Masachika Kawata, producer of the newly announced Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles, shed more light on Capcom's Umbrella Chronicles sequel. Kawata addressed the crowd after screening the first trailer for the game."What we're looking to do is go back to a 'very dark' style of Resident Evil," Kawata said. "'Dark' is really a key word for this game. It will be shown in horror, in the storyline, in the emotions that the characters go through." We saw examples of this as Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield fought side-by-side through a zombie ravaged Racoon City, circa Resident Evil 2.He also explained that the development team at Cavia is "putting a lot of care, a lot of attention into [improving] how the camera system works in a rail-based shooter." This was evident in what was shown of the game's strong cinematic presentation, which included dramatic point-of-view shots of zombies feasting and the player narrowly escaping death with their partner's help. Kawata wrapped up his stint on stage saying that more information on the game would be revealed later this year, as everyone involved with the franchise is (rightly) focused on today's launch of RE5.Permalink | Email this | Comments

    Metareview -- MadWorld

    March 13, 2009 - 7:00am


    You may not realize this, but MadWorld is a scathing look into the future of reality television. On today's shows we have survivors attempting to avoid madness and starvation, people who think they can dance and survivors who must dance to avoid madness and starvation (maybe we mixed that one up). MadWorld ups the ante by throwing players into a game show called Death Watch -- where winning puts $150 million in your pocket and losing puts you in the morgue. Arnold Schwarzenegger tried to warn us television would go this route ... now, it's Sega's turn.

    • 1UP (A-): "The design constraints of Nintendo's system forced the developers at Platinum Games to be creative, and they followed through on their creativity by putting together a thoroughly enjoyable brawler with just the right amount of the ultra-violence."
    • GamePro (90/100): "Dark, brutal and hilarious in just the right way, MadWorld is a title that has rocketed to the top of every staff member's must buy list. Don't let the fact that it's on a "kiddie console" fool you-this is one title every "hardcore" gamer needs to play, provided you're over eighteen years old, of course."
    • GameTrailers (85/100): "One of the most eye-catching games to come along in a while, MadWorld is stylish, bloody, and a great fit for the Wii's controls. Though there's a surprising amount of incentive to replay it, it's barely seven hours long, so if you aren't persuaded by the novelty of extreme violence buy with caution."
    • Eurogamer (70/100): "No matter how much the schoolboy-humour commentary grates, no matter how repetitive the bits in between the set-pieces start to feel and no matter how frustrating the later levels become, MadWorld provides a rush of blood to the head almost as often as it provides a rush of blood to the pavement."

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    Hasselhoff taps 'celebrity card' to nab his daughter a Wii

    March 13, 2009 - 3:00am

    David Hasselhoff, representative of talking cars and safe beaches the world over, recently told a very funny story to MTV Multiplayer. He says he's one to "play celebrity cards," and when his daughter said she wanted a Wii, he got busy. Calling up his local game store, The Hoff was told that no systems were left, but was quickly able to charm the clerk into admitting that the store had held one system back. "Hold that game. I will be over in 30 minutes," he said, eventually showing up to the store where a very shocked employee declared, "Knight Rider! Dude!"Obviously, the store sold him the game system, and we imagine his daughter was incredibly happy that her dad used his celebrity to get it, but wouldn't it have been faster to just call up Nintendo? We heard Iwata's hooked on a feeling.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

    Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars launch party at Nintendo World Store (plus: new trailer)

    March 12, 2009 - 7:45pm


    Imagine: a world of Nintendo products -- a Nintendo World if you will. New York's Nintendo HQ is playing host to yet another launch event. Although the venue may be the same, the atmosphere will stray far from the norm. The M-rated Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars deserves its own mature-themed party.DJ OhNo will be on hand providing music throughout the night in an event "all fans ages 17 and up" are invited to. The first 25 fans that purchase the game will be given a chance to get some exclusive, limited edition swag, such as GTA Kubrick sets. A limited edition customized Chinatown Wars DS Lite system will be on display, and "even more surprises" are being planned for the evening's festivities.The event takes place the evening of March 16th, from 11:59PM to 2AM. Let us know if you can make it. For those of you outside of NYC, take this new trailer (after the break) as a consolation prize.

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    Joystiq Review: Boing! Docomodake DS

    March 12, 2009 - 6:00pm

    Docomodake the mushroom is a mascot for NTT Docomo, a large Japanese cell phone company. In Japan, he's a popular enough character (like, for example, our Noid) to carry his own DS game, which was published by AQ Interactive in late 2007. Ignition Entertainment made the rather bold, baffling decision to release that DS game in North America and Europe, where not only is Docomodake an unknown property, the Docomo company itself is virtually unknown.Why would Ignition localize Pororon! Docomodake DS, a licensed game for an unknown license? After playing the game, the reasoning became clear: because it's a wonderful little game, and because the character is more than charming enough to hold up on its own. Either that or the rights came along with AQ's Blue Dragon Plus. But we prefer the former explanation.

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    Kid-friendly Roogoo Twisted Towers and Attack box art

    March 12, 2009 - 5:00pm


    (click to embiggen)
    "Cheery," "colorful" and "cute" are all words that describe the recently released box art (and new screenshots) for the Wii's upcoming Roogoo Twisted Towers and the DS' Roogoo Attack. Admittedly, block for block, these Roogoo boxes have shaped up quite nicely. Except for the large and out of place red circle block on the Attack box. It's just trying too hard to steal our attention away from the green triangles and blue squares of the world! That's just twisted and shameful.Permalink | Email this | Comments

    Ask Joystiq Nintendo: Inaugural Edition

    March 12, 2009 - 4:30pm

    Last week, as we prepared to start our new Ask Joystiq Nintendo column, we put out a request for, well, requests, and our readers came through! This week, in response to your submissions, we clear up some misconceptions about Wii and DS upgrades, indirectly tout DS homebrew, and accidentally imply that Space Invaders Get Even is somehow better than Space Invaders Extreme. If you'd like us to set the record straight with any Nintendo-related issues, or perhaps inadvertently cast aspersions at your favorite DS retro remake, send us an e-mail at asknintendo at joystiq dot com!

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    New student-created DS games available for download in Japan

    March 12, 2009 - 3:30pm

    Students at the annual Nintendo Game Seminar program produce original DS games, which are made available for download at DS Download Stations throughout Japan, as well as through the Wii's Nintendo Channel. Four games from the 2008 seminar will be available at Download Stations starting tomorrow, one each week, ranging from a poetry game to face sculpting.Fuu Fuu Kirarin is a mic-controlled game in which players blow to create upward drafts that send stars back into the sky, around platforms and obstacles. Re: Koetist puts players in the role of a voice artist who reads lines, which are then played back, with the player's lines delivered by a random onscreen character. Ugo Ugo Trinity is an action game that somehow involves moving around and posing. It doesn't say it's controlled by the DSi camera, so we don't know what kind of trickery is at work. And KaoSapiens is a game about deforming and shaping weird-looking faces on disembodied heads.Now that the DS has its own download service, we expect to see these on the Japanese DSi Shop as well. We continue not to expect them outside of Japan, despite our interest in playing weird, experimental games.[Via Game Watch]Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments