Wii News

Rumor: EA Sports creating new NBA Jam


ESPN reports that Electronic Arts has acquired the license for Midway's NBA Jam and has assigned EA Canada's Vancouver studio to a reboot of the franchise. The game's original creator, Mark Turmell, who currently works at EA Tiburon as a senior creative director, is allegedly collaborating on the project, which, according to ESPN, will "ship to retail exclusively for the Wii."

With no other platforms mentioned in the report, the story sounds a bit off. However, 1UP, which has partnered with ESPN on the sports network's video game wing, has suggested XBLA and PSN versions of a new NBA Jam are also in the works, though that is not corroborated by the original report.

We've contacted EA and Turmell for confirmation and details. EA Sports will allegedly announce the game later this month.

Update: EA's official statement: "We do not comment on speculation or rumor."Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Moore reiterates EA Sports commitment to Tiger Woods


EA Sports president Peter Moore recently restated the publisher's commitment to golfer Tiger Woods in a blog post, despite the once pristine athlete's incredibly public fall from grace. Moore reaffirmed that EA's relationship with Woods has always been "rooted in golf" and that the company "didn't form a relationship with him so that he could act as an arm's length endorser." As for Tiger's penchant for prowling, the executive concluded, "Regardless of what's happening in his personal life, and regardless of his decision to take a personal leave from the sport, Tiger Woods is still one of the greatest athletes in history."

EA told Joystiq in early December that it plans to stand by Woods. The sports superstar may be losing other endorsement deals, but as GI.biz notes, EA Sports put convicted rapist and ear connoisseur Mike Tyson on the cover of Bite Fight Night: Round 4, so what's a little philandering between friends and business buddies?

[Via GI.biz]Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Hudson's 'Master Higgins' sings on new game music CD

For some of us, the latest game music remix album release from Hudson is going to be a bizarre retrogaming oddity. But for a few -- those who love Hudson classics and also idolize Takahashi Meijin, the Hudson PR executive who became famous for his ability to push a button 16 times a second, and who served as the model for Adventure Island's protagonist, Takahashi Meijin Legend: Soul of the 16 Shot -- is instantly going to become one of the year's most anticipated music releases. And a bizarre retrogaming oddity.

Soul of the 16 Shot features the Meijin singing, auto-tuned, over new arrangements of the music from classic Star Soldier, Challenger and Milon's Secret Castle. It'll be available on CD and in the Japanese iTunes store January 27. After hearing the new interpretation of the Adventure Island music, we're going to hope really hard that it shows up in the US iTunes store as well. Listen to some preview tracks after the break!

[Via Chiptuned]

Continue reading Hudson's 'Master Higgins' sings on new game music CD

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VC in Brief: Final Fight 3 (SNES)

Only one Virtual Console game this week: Final Fight 3. It's more of the same in the third installment of Capcom's classic beat-em-up, which adds custom super moves for each fighter. Check it out in the latest episode of VC in Brief above!

  • Final Fight 3 (SNES, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points)


Every week, we like to check out what's new on the Virtual Console. We offer these videos as a sort of taste to help you decide whether or not you would want the game in question. We also toss in our own two cents because we're pushy jerks like that.Permalink | Email this | Comments

Make time for Chronos Twins DX on WiiWare next week

The original DS version of Chronos Twin was released in Europe in 2007, but never made it to North America. The WiiWare update on the time-traveling action game, however, will be, thanks to the fact that developer Enjoy Up doesn't have to seek a publishing partner for a digital release.

Not only will Chronos Twins DX be coming to North America, Enjoy Up says it will be released next week. See a trailer after the break to decide whether that's good news or not. For our part, the Reflection-like concept of playing in two places simultaneously, combined with the idea of altering something in one time period to change the other, sounds like an excellent setup for some puzzle platforming.

Continue reading Make time for Chronos Twins DX on WiiWare next week

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Even burglars enjoy playing DS


We're not experienced in the crafty art of breaking and entering, but we certainly understand the draw of games. That's why this story out of a Chicago suburb really didn't surprise us so much. See, some guy broke into a young woman's apartment over the weekend and proceeded to steal her stuff, but upon seeing her DS, took a break from his heinous law-breaking to check out what the handheld had to offer.

It gets even more interesting, though. While he was engrossed in whatever DS game she had in the system, she ended up coming home from running errands, spooking the burglar. He then made off with only her pink iPod Touch, leaving her with a ransacked house and, thankfully, her DS system. We just hope he at least had the decency to not save over her game.

[Via Yahoo; thanks, Greg D]Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

New Games This Month: January 2010



Traditionally, this is the time of year when we'd be able to put our feet up and savor the calm after the Q4 storm. But in 2010/Two-Thousand-and-Sin/ZOLO, we're stuck with a month of completely decent releases. We've always begged the industry to release games throughout the year, but never stopped to consider the terrible cost: More work for us.

Check out the infuriatingly decent list and plan your purchasing strategy. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

This Week on the Nintendo Channel: Calling has a story

It seems the Nintendo Channel is still in vacation mode, because there isn't much in the way of new content this week. Sure, there's some No More Heroes 2 footage to check out -- odds are you've already seen it on our site -- but the only genuinely new and interesting video is the story trailer above for Hudson's survival-horror game, Calling. Check it out then be sure to head past the break for the full list of this week's content.

Continue reading This Week on the Nintendo Channel: Calling has a story

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Now Playing: January 4-10, 2010


It begins: Q1 2010.

Choose your platform to jump to a specific release list:

Last updated: Tuesday, 11:38 AM

Continue reading Now Playing: January 4-10, 2010

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Nintendo shuts down Zelda fan film, four years in the making


A few weeks ago, the fruits of four years of labor finally paid off for independent film studio BMB Finishes when its Zelda-based movie, The Hero of Time, was released for public consumption over the internets. Reaction to the film was mixed, but it seemed like everyone appreciated the 1,460 days of hard work that went into the feature-length film's creation. Apparently, that's not the case -- the movie's official site was updated on New Years Day, explaining that the studio had come to an agreement with Nintendo to stop distributing the film online.

The update sounds less miffed than you might imagine, stating, "we understand Nintendo's right to protect its characters and trademarks and understand how in order to keep their property unspoiled by fan's interpretation of the franchise, Nintendo needs to protect itself - even from fan-works with good intentions." The missive jokingly ends by saying, "I'm sure our next project will be right around the corner! No, it's not Majora's Mask." Yeah, that would be ridiculous. Twilight Princess, on the other hand, seems like a logical choice.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments