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    Japan court bans sale of DS homebrew-enabling R4 flash carts

    February 27, 2009 - 11:46am

    The Tokyo District Court placed an injunction on the Chinese cart manufacturers who make the R4 today, making it illegal to sell the cartridge in Japan. It has already disappeared from shops and Nintendo, Capcom, and Square Enix have all come forward with their support. These companies haven't ceased their efforts yet, however, as they've vowed to continue pursuing those responsible for similar devices.R4 carts, along with other flash carts, allow users to run homebrew (and pirated) material on their DS or DS Lite (no dice on the upcoming DSi, folks). If this is all still over your head, then check out our guide to homebrew on the DS right here.[Via Eurogamer]Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

    North Americans will drum along to original Let's Tap soundtrack

    February 27, 2009 - 11:00am

    While the concept was intriguing, what really drew our continued attention to Prope's Let's Tap was the promise of a free cardboard box the music. The super-bouncy, catchy soundtrack, most notably the theme song, makes us extremely happy that Prope decided to include a Taiko no Tatsujin-like music game among the lineup of minigames. When Sega announced a North American release, we feared that it would record new music or license popular tunes for the Rhythm Tap mode -- even if we didn't think Sega would drop that kind of money, we maintained a low-level dread regarding the possibility. Luckily, Sega confirmed via its blog that Let's Tap will stay "true to the Japanese feel of the game" and include all of the Japanese tracks! That includes "Kung Fu Disco," which just happens to be embedded after the break. Good call, Sega. It's good for us, and good for your budget.

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    Trivial Pursuit to allow safer family get-togethers starting March 10

    February 27, 2009 - 5:00am


    If you've had the extreme misfortune to attend a social gathering in which some unsavory individual busts out the unsinister-looking Trivial Pursuit board game, then you're well aware of the destructive properties that lie within that accursed box. It starts out harmless enough, but as your hollow pies continue their endless revolution around the rainbow-toned board, tempers inevitably flare. Razor-sharp question cards are flung across the table at frightening speeds. Dice are swallowed out of protest. Wedges become irrevocably lodged within eye sockets.Fortunately, EA Hasbro will bring the game to a less tangible -- and therefore, less perilous -- format on March 10 for all the major home consoles. Wii, PS3 and 360 owners can pick it up for the reasonable price of $39.99, while PS2 owners can grab it for $29.99. It'll include a few interest-piquing gametypes, including Classic mode, a single-player mode titled "Clear the Board," and a casual, speedy "Facts & Friends" mode. Best of all, it seems the "Awkward Trip to the Emergency Room" mode has finally been removed. Huzzah!Permalink | Email this | Comments

    Wii-A Sports: Tiger Woods 10, Grand Slam Tennis releasing first on Wii

    February 26, 2009 - 9:45pm


    EA Sports announced today that both Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 and Grand Slam Tennis will release for Wii on June 16, with versions for all other platforms following at later dates. That commitment EA's made to producing as many Wii games as it does for PS3 and 360 combined? Looks like we can also bet on some cross-platform titles hitting the Big N's machine first.As previously reported, the two games will support Wii MotionPlus for near 1:1 motion control. In the announcement, EA Sports referred to the titles as being developed specifically for Wii; we'll find out more on what that entails when we play them March 12.
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    Metareview: Dead Rising Chop 'Till You Drop [update]

    February 26, 2009 - 7:00pm


    Update: The reviews haven't exactly been pouring in for Dead Rising: Chop 'Till You Drop. We've added one more, but this can't be a good sign for the game.It's been a rocky road to release for Capcom's Wii port, Dead Rising: Chop 'Till You Drop, and now that it is finally out, has all of the hate been warranted? Well, we can't answer that question, but we can offer you the next best thing: some reviews. Find the few scores available so far below and for those of you who have spent some time with it, be sure to drop your own two cents into our commenting fountain. We'll update the post as new reviews roll in.

    • IGN (69/100): "A lot of corners have been cut to get this game on the Wii and the result is not the impressive next-gen experience it was on the 360. Rather, it's a breezy weekend diversion with some fun gameplay and subpar graphics."
    • GameTrailers (69/100): "A more flexible save system is also a step in the right direction. Yet, the repetitive mission objectives and moronic AI ensure that the enjoyment you glean from it will be directly proportional to how much you enjoy using new weapons to kill zombies."
    • Official Nintendo Magazine (68/100): "A real let-down. There are some great ideas in here but they're just not executed very well. Stick to Resident Evil 4."
    • CVG (50/100): "Another example of a game that greatly underperforms on a perfectly capable console."

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    Dead Space: Extraction to support MotionPlus

    February 26, 2009 - 6:02pm

    Despite Nintendo's total, mystifying silence about the MotionPlus peripheral in its big news release today, EA is still working on games designed to support the new gyroscope add-on. In addition to Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 and EA Sports Grand Slam Tennis, both of which EA reconfirmed as MotionPlus titles today, Dead Space: Extraction will feature MotionPlus capabilities.EA's COO John Pleasants revealed the use of the device at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference today, saying that Extraction would be "taking advantage of the MotionPlus controller." John Riccitiello previously alluded to this in a somewhat less specific manner during the original announcement of the game.Dead Space seems like an odd choice for MotionPlus -- as an on-rails title, we would expect its controls mostly to involve using the pointer for aiming. But EA knows what it is doing: including MotionPlus support for anything is going to get the Wii fanbase on its side.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

    Enjoy some sunshine with Gardening Mama

    February 26, 2009 - 5:15pm

    Majesco has to make sure it keeps the Cooking Mama voice actress on its payroll. She is basically magical. We love the Cooking Mama games enough to be interested in Gardening Mama anyway, but Mama's encouraging, heavily-accented narration makes us really want to do some fake gardening in the "first gardening game on DS" (which must mean that Majesco doesn't count farming as gardening)! How great would it feel to be told you're "even better than Mama" at pouring water into the ground? Pretty great. We never get such an enthusiastic "Bravo!" when we spray stuff on plants. We could use more of that kind of feedback in our lives. Permalink | Email this | Comments

    Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars trailer light on gameplay

    February 26, 2009 - 4:30pm


    The Chinatown Wars are about to begin. Rockstar Games' first official trailer for the upcoming DS-exclusive Grand Theft Auto game finally shows off some in-game footage ... provided you slam your face to the monitor and squint. This much-too-brief trailer gives us a very basic synopsis of the game's story, and does very little to highlight any of the game's compelling gameplay. That's a shame -- because we really do like the game.Watch the trailer, after the cut.

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    Hardboiled detective action from Hudson Soft: Miami Law

    February 26, 2009 - 4:15pm

    In the midst of all the new release dates, a totally new Hudson DS game almost eluded our attention. We had no idea what Miami Law was when it showed up on Nintendo's press release. Hudson just sent the first screens and info about the DS action-adventure game, which distinguishes itself from Atlus's Tokyo Beat Down through multiple styles of play. Miami Law, according to the press release, is "packed with all of the ingredients of a prime-time TV show," following FBI agent Sara Starling and Miami cop Law Martin (LAW MARTIN: MIAMI LAW has a pretty nice ring to it) on two separate adventures. Sara's game is a mostly investigation-based adventure game, as she searches crime scenes and solves puzzles; Law's half of the game is all car chasing and shooting segments. Miami Law also includes unlockable Texas hold 'em and sudoku games for "when the tension gets thick."We don't believe we've seen this game before -- while it looks like a rebranded Japanese game, we don't recognize it from anything we've come across, from Hudson or anyone else. Miami Law hits the streets in June.Permalink | Email this | Comments

    Anno coming to US on Wii and DS as Dawn of Discovery

    February 26, 2009 - 3:15pm

    Ubisoft is bringing the Anno series of historical strategy games to Wii and DS in North America under the title Dawn of Discovery this summer. It's also coming to PC -- but another strategy game on PC isn't really that big a deal. Dawn of Discovery features city-building gameplay in a simulated 1404 AD. According to the game's premise, King George's sons William and Edward are sent out to settle new territories in order to gather resources for a drought-ridden homeland. As you build your society, you will gain access to new developments from neighboring cultures through developing trade routes around the world.The Wii version, which marks the first Wii release for the series, even features 2-player cooperative play. All three versions are due out this summer.

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