Wii News

Europe set to catch em' all (again) on May 22


We know our European readers were probably worried that Nintendo decided at some point to stop worrying about making money, and had therefore elected to neglect Europe the latest installment in their pocket-sized monster-indexing franchise, Pokémon Platinum. Fear not, our transatlantic acquaintances -- Ninty just set a European launch date of May 22 for the Diamond and Pearl follow-up. That gives us Americans two whole months to create a devastating arsenal with which to exact our revenge for a little something called the Battle of Lexington. Oh, you thought we'd forgotten?Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Nintendo boasts NPD success that 'offset' competitors


Nintendo issued a celebratory press release following the announcement of the NPD numbers last night, pointing out an impressive statistic: "While the video game industry grew by $150 million (12 percent) year-on-year, Nintendo's total sales grew by $300 million in January, offsetting declines on other platforms." Nintendo is basically compensating for the whole industry's decline at this point, at least in terms of financial growth. No doubt Nintendo is pleased to have a new angle to talk about in its monthly statement of how awesome it is. The company said that sales of the Wii grew 148 percent in January 2009 over January 2008, and DS sales grew 99 percent. It also pointed out that 20 of the top 30 games last month were produced for Nintendo systems, including five of the top ten -- six, we must point out, if you count Guitar Hero: World Tour.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Treasure World turns Wi-Fi networks into hidden treasure

In December, Aspyr announced a creative DS game called Treasure Troves, a "real-life treasure hunt" that generates in-game items based on Wi-Fi hotspots. The company released more details about the game yesterday, as well as the first screens.Treasure World, as it is known now, creates a unique item for each Wi-Fi network it discovers. The items can be used to customize the character, or traded with others. There are other gameplay uses for the items, but we don't know much about the actual gameplay outside of the Wi-Fi hunting and trading.Aspyr will open an online community that lets players interact away from the DS, allowing them to display their collections and set up trades with other players. Treasure World and its associated community will be available this summer.[Screenshot via IGN]Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Joyswag: Evasive Space (WiiWare) [update]


Update: The contest is closed. Keep an eye on your email, winners!Looking forward to next week's release of Evasive Space? So are we, which is why we've hooked up with Yuke's and High Voltage to gift four (4) lucky readers with their very own copy of the game. To get in on the action, simply follow the rules below:

  • Leave us a comment telling us what your favorite WiiWare game is
  • You must be 18 years or older and a resident of the US
  • You may enter once per day
  • This entry period ends at 11:59AM ET on Monday, February 16. We'll randomly select 4 winners at that time to receive Evasive Space ($10). Please check your e-mail!
  • For a list of complete rules, click here

Best of luck to you all and thanks for reading!Permalink | Email this | Comments

Ubisoft moves 1 million Imagine unitz


Ubisoft is adding on to its enormous acquisition war chest, and the Imagine series is bringing the duckets: The company just hit the 1 million mark on its casual series for 2008 in the UK. Speaking with CasualGaming.biz, Ubisoft group brand manager Sgt. Mark Slaughter said, "The Imagine series and the broader Games For Everyone portfolio now represent a significant part of Ubisoft's business." That makes a lot of sense, considering the company sold nearly 300k "unitz" of Imagine titles in just the four weeks leading up to Christmas (with Imagine Teacher and Imagine Dream Weddings heading up the sales spike, obviously). Who knows what'll happen when blockbuster Imagine "gamez" like Imagine Fashion Designer New York make it to Europe? Ubisoft uber alles!UPDATE: We contacted Ubisoft, but the company couldn't confirm Mr. Slaughter's 1 million units number, instead telling us the series has sold over 8 million 11 million units worldwide. Michael French, Editor-in-Chief of CasualGaming.biz did, however, confirm Mr. Slaughter's number, saying, "This is a UK only figure."
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Grab 108 friends to watch this new Suikoden: Tierkreis trailer

Konami's new trailer for Suikoden: Tierkreis does an excellent job of making the handheld RPG look epic and exciting, mixing dynamic animated scenes with in-game battle footage -- even if the narrator does totally murder the pronunciation of the title. The accompanying press release offers a bit more detail about the unique online mode in the sequel. Players will be able to visit other players' games via Wi-Fi, using the in-game "door to the Infinity." They can then be hired by their host players to help with quests, dividing up the experience at the end.Konami calls the game "the fight of your life," but the company has the fight of its life coming up March 17, when it releases Tierkreis in North America on the RPG-overloaded DS.
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Majesco encourages Wii owners to Go Play its new games

Majesco has announced a new branding initiative for Wii games: the "Go Play" line. Three games in the lineup of "energetic, motion based Wii games" are planned for release this year. The first, Go Play Lumberjax, is a collection of logging-based minigames (seriously!) due out in "late spring." Go Play City Sports will follow in summer, and Go Play Circus Star is planned for fall.Go Play Lumberjax allows players to use the Wii Remote to "chop, climb, saw, and logroll" in a series of competitive multiplayer events. Go Play City Sports could be retitled Go Play in the Street, with "six classic games played on street "courts" filled with manhole covers and parked cars." Go Play Circus Star features 15 different games simulating circus attractions. We're ... vaguely interested in playing a lumberjack game, for some reason.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Yo Joe? More like: Oh no, G.I. Joe game impressions


EA is talking up its first G.I. Joe game, a movie spin-off, as "cross-generational." It's so easy to control that even "mom" can play. Which means, moms -- if you're reading -- not only will you be subjected to chaperoning a mission to the local theater to suffer through the G.I. Joe film adaptation this summer, you also may be expected to idle away your weekends with the game. Let's hope it's a short one.G.I. Joe: The Game plays as any generic third-person shooter, with the bonus of the aforementioned base layer Mom Controls(R). Literally, all that is needed to proceed is the left thumb steering the on-screen character and the right index finger, locked down on the designated shooting button -- just keep on holding it and the game will automatically target a new enemy once the current one has absorbed too many laser blasts and disappears into the well known in-game ether. Of course, "hardcore" gamers will find melee and character-exclusive secondary attacks, along with a rolling dodge and cover mechanic mapped to their controllers.EA is throwing out some big-name inspirations for its game: Contra, Ikari Warriors and Ikaruga. We suppose you could consider G.I. Joe as a like-designed title in so far as it is built as an "arcade" throwback, with high scores being the ultimate reward. Actually, the ultimate reward is unlocking all twelve playable characters -- unlocking characters requires score points, though. Scoring is linked directly to difficulty setting and one's play. Dying, for example, decreases one's overall score, but, on the lowest difficulty setting, will not produce further setbacks. Think of this as a "no fail" setting -- you know, the one mom can play.

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Get your Peggle fix with this latest trailer

PopCap Games has just unleashed a new trailer for the ultimate Peggle experience, Peggle: Dual Shot. In this version, players can enjoy 120 levels and 90 challenges, as well as the unique Peggle Zoom feature. There's also an all-new bonus underground and multiplayer duels, should that tickle your fancy. We can't be the only ones dying to play this, right?Peggle: Dual Shot releases for the Nintendo DS on March 3.Permalink | Email this | Comments

Mario & Sonic head to the Winter Olympics later this year


Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games is finally "official." Sega announced this morning that Nintendo's mascot and Sega's cross to bear will compete on Wii and DS in virtual Vancouver, Canada, with all their friends (and "new faces").As part of Sega's release, it stated that the original Mario & Sonic at the Olympics has sold over 10 million units globally. The latest casual cash-in will support the Wii Balance Board and feature Alpine Skiing, Speed Skating and many other events. That's all good, but will pairs figure skating deliver tension and romance between Sonic and Mario on par with the classic ice-skating movie, The Cutting Edge? We hope so ... not, we meant not.Update: Teaser trailer embedded after the break.

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