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Posts with tag Action

Sonic and the Ludicrous Body Armor

Posted Dec 1st 2008 4:34PM by Chris Greenhough
Filed under: Screens


So it has come to this. Sonic and Knuckles, both kitted out in body armor (including some truly laughable headwear on Knuckles), and having it out with swords. Just kill us now.

The latest fifteen screens of Sonic and the Black Knight suggest that Sega has learned nothing from the critical response to Sonic Unleashed. Many reviews heavily criticized the werehog melee sections, but praised the running bits. So why are Sonic and Knuckles now exchanging scimitar swipes?! Sega's fascination with turning Sonic games into some kind of cartoony God of War baffles us.

Mind you, one possible explanation for this trend cropped up in the latest IGN 'Three Red Lights' podcast, where Sonic Unleashed developer David Clayman argued that a Sonic game featuring only running stages would last around three hours, such is the hedgehog's speed (full transcript here). In which case, may we politely suggest a WiiWare Sonic game, David?

Gallery: Sonic and the Black Knight


[Screens via press release; Indoor Heroes link via Go Nintendo]

Wii Warm Up: Disaster planning

Posted Dec 1st 2008 8:00AM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: Wii Warm Up


After delays and uncertainty, Disaster: Day of Crisis finally came out in Europe and Japan -- and pretty much bombed. New information suggests that Disaster may be planned for a North American release (although we suspect it's more that said release was planned years ago when the game was first unveiled, and just has yet to be cancelled).

But should it? Do you think the game has a better chance here than in other regions? Would you have any expectation of sales, especially given Reggie's low confidence (and thus low likelihood of promotion)? Personally, we want to play it and we don't much care if Nintendo of America profits on it or not. They've got enough money, but we don't have enough copies of Disaster. Feel free to speak from the position of "armchair business analyst" or "person who wants to play a game"!

Gallery: Disaster: Day of Crisis

Disaster back on the train to Rumorsville

Posted Nov 30th 2008 2:30PM by Chris Greenhough
Filed under: Rumors

We've been pessimistic about Disaster: Day of Crisis getting localized for North America, and with (what we believe to be) good reason. Now, the will-it-won't-it saga has taken another twist, after Go Nintendo reader Silver Lunar received an email from Nintendo customer support saying the game would be released in the region.

Okay, we know. Some guy saying he got an email from Nintendo customer support is exactly the kind of anecdote we'd usually snort derisively at, and you're right: we should all treat this with a degree of suspicion. That said, Go Nintendo's RMC received screencaps of Silver Lunar's email exchange with the big N, and reckons it's the real thing. If you'll excuse us, we'll shamelessly grasp at any straws tossed our way. Pleeeeease be true, lovely Disaster rumor.

Gallery: Disaster: Day of Crisis

Sonic and the Black Knight loses a little color

Posted Nov 28th 2008 10:55AM by Alisha Karabinus
Filed under: Screens


Nintendo's logo isn't the only thing that seems to be missing a little color lately; the latest batch of screenshots from Sonic and the Black Knight are noticeably washed out in comparison to the last set we peeped. Those last screens were lush, bold, and beautiful, and while these look good, they just don't look as bright. There's something gritty in this new batch, though, something that's a little dark and a little dirty and very appealing. Go forth, young knight, and see for yourself.

Gallery: Sonic and the Black Knight

Aonuma can't quit Zelda until he beats Ocarina of Time

Posted Nov 26th 2008 3:28PM by Chris Greenhough
Filed under: Interviews


As co-director of a game that many consider the greatest of all time, you'd think Eiji Aonuma would be content to put his feet up and soak up the praise. It's what we would do, but that's probably why we'll never create anything as awe-inspiring as The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Speaking to Nintendo Power about his past work on most of the Zeldas since Ocarina of Time, Aonuma insists that he can't stop making the games, because he's yet to beat what he achieved with Ocarina. "I'm happy that a title I worked on some time ago remains highly praised to this day," he says, "but that also shows how none of the subsequent games in the series have surpassed it."

He adds that this alone may be what motivates him to make more Zelda and keep putting more happy in our heads. A revealing insight into the perfectionist mindset of a top game designer!

Gallery: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Monolith reflects on Disaster non-sales, mentions a sequel

Posted Nov 25th 2008 7:18PM by Chris Greenhough
Filed under: Interviews


It is difficult to envisage a second Disaster: Day of Crisis game, for two reasons:
  1. How any follow-up could top the unlikely mélange of disasters (earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, terrorists, bears) that featured in the first game is beyond us. Perhaps an asteroid?
  2. Sales of the first game. Or the lack thereof.
Nevertheless, developer Monolith Soft is at least open to the idea of a Disaster 2. In an interview with Cubed3, Director Keiichi Ono revealed that "...there were so many wonderful options [in the game]. We would like to see the possibility for them, if we have chance to develop the sequel..." The sequel? Or a sequel? The difference is pretty crucial! While we're not exactly taking that as rock-solid confirmation of Ray's return, it's an interesting remark.

To bring us back down to earth, Nintendo's Hitoshi Yamagami reminded us of why the first game might not even come to North America, describing how Disaster is "performing lower than expected" at the tills.

Gallery: Disaster: Day of Crisis

MadWorld's take on Wii music

Posted Nov 24th 2008 4:30PM by Chris Greenhough
Filed under: News



As happens each month, some of the more interesting tidbits from the holiday issue of Nintendo Power have been transcribed by the tireless folks at Aeropause.

The most eye-catching news, for us? A novel and particularly painful-sounding attack in Platinum Games' MadWorld. According to the magazine, you'll be able to lodge "a trumpet where the sun don't shine, leaving the unfortunate fellow to stagger around as he inadvertently toots the horn." Awe. Some. What's a trumpet doing lying around on the set of a futuristic game show about death and wanton bloodletting? Heck, don't ask, just shove.

Other worthy factoids drawn from the mag deal with how No More Heroes creator Goichi Suda relaxes (by playing Burnout Paradise), and the news that Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers will have a two-player splitscreen mode. Hit up Aeropause for the rest!

Gallery: MadWorld


[Via Go Nintendo]

Tenchu 4: Surprise boxart attack

Posted Nov 20th 2008 9:00AM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: News

We don't know how long this preview boxart image for Tenchu 4 has been on Ubisoft's site. We suspect it hasn't been very long, because the name change (to Tenchu: Shadow Assassins) is a very recent development, showing up just last week on GameStop.com.

The image is regrettably tiny, but detailed enough for us to see what's going on -- and what's going on is that Rikimaru is cutting the head off of whoever picks the game up off the shelf. We've enlarged the image a bit. It's not as beautiful as the Japanese box, but it does have a certain "video game ninja" quality about it.

We're not sure the name change was the way to go; while Shadow Assassins is both more descriptive and exciting than 4, if we were Ubisoft, we'd want to emphasize however we could that this game was somehow different from all the other non-numbered Tenchu games not made by Acquire.

If you're in a Tenchu mood, be sure to browse the official website. And if you're Australian and in a Tenchu mood, good news! The OFLC has rated the game for release.

Atsushi Inaba talks MadWorld inspirations, Wii

Posted Nov 19th 2008 5:26PM by David Hinkle
Filed under: News, Interviews


A lot of things come to mind when looking at screens or video from MadWorld. Its visual style has been compared to Sin City and Running Man, to name a few. So, is this where creator Atsushi Inaba got his inspiration for the game?

"Of course we like Sin City very much and we have seen Running Man before but they are not the sources of our creation," said Inaba. "The concepts of MadWorld are 'visual impact' and 'over-the-top violence,' and these two themes run right through the game." Inaba also says it hasn't been easy for his team to accomplish the game's stylish look and feel, commenting that "all team members are constantly working very hard to capture the style we want the final game to have."

When asked why Platinum Games settled on the Wii, Inaba pointed to the "huge install base" and said his team is "really interested in the Wii platform" and "wanted to create a really cool and stylish game for that." Frankly, we're glad. Not just because we, uh, want to play this, but also because we're tired of the Wii getting the "it's only for kiddies" label. We're awfully tired of that, to tell you the truth.

Gallery: MadWorld

Alone in the Deal of the Day

Posted Nov 19th 2008 11:55AM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: News

Atari's latest attempt to restart the Alone in the Dark franchise may have been disappointing at $50, but we can't help but wonder how much less disappointing it is as a $10 game. The lowered expectations that come with the price may be just the thing! If you only had enough interest in the game to justify spending that amount, chances are you've rented it already. If not, today's Amazon Deal of the Day may interest you. For today only, they've dropped the price of the Wii (and PS2) Alone in the Dark to $9.98.

If cheap Atlus games are your thing, and if you have yet to hear about this, Amazon also currently has a bunch of Atlus games on sale for $19.96, including Dokapon Kingdom, Trauma Center: New Blood, and Baroque on the Wii.

Gallery: Alone in the Dark

SPRay trailer oozes into sight

Posted Nov 18th 2008 9:00AM by Alisha Karabinus
Filed under: Video


Hey, look! It's an offbeat action/puzzler all about your quest to spray everything with various liquids! You might think we've been here before (uh, except for the spraying), and you might be right. Not that this means we're making any predictions about the fate of Tecmo's SPRay. Nope, we're just going to sit back and insist that you look at the footage. That we can recommend. The voiceover? Not so much.

Ubisoft 'hope' to see Prince of Persia game on Wii

Posted Nov 17th 2008 6:15PM by Chris Greenhough
Filed under: Interviews

With the odd exception, the Prince of Persia series has maintained an enviably high standard throughout its nineteen-year run. Sadly, it's not something we've seen enough of on the Wii, apart from a slightly idle Ubiport. We want more of his royal leapiness on Nintendo's machine, and now Ben Mattes, producer of the cel-shaded Prince of Persia on the HD consoles, has sparked hope in our fanboy hearts.

Although he admitted that a version of the latest game wasn't heading to Wii, Mattes told Destructoid that he admired how the Wii port of Rival Swords (which he produced) felt with the Wiimote and Nunchuk. "I hope that we will see another Prince of Persia game on the Wii," he said. "Because [...] I really liked the way the Prince's movement translated to the Wii controls. I think that it's really kind of a natural fit."

Another natural fit is Prince of Persia games and our money, so get cracking, Ubisoft.

Square Enix starting development studio in US

Posted Nov 17th 2008 3:30PM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: News

Square Enix is serious about courting Western audiences. Last week, they announced that they would publish Gas Powered Games' Supreme Commander 2, a game targeted completely at North American and European gamers. Now, job listings on their site reveal that they're starting a new development studio in El Segundo, California, and that they're hiring staff to work on currently unannounced Xbox 360 and Wii action games.

Listings on Gamasutra's job boards state that software engineers in the new studio will have "a chance to make sure that a studio starts off in the right direction" and that they will experience "the creative control of a start-up but the backing and funding of a major publisher." That last statement strongly suggests that this studio will not simply do technical work for Japanese-designed games, but will be responsible for original designs. Maybe this initiative will fare better than Square's other development studio in the US, Square Pictures.

Alternate ending suggests potential Disaster sequel [update]

Posted Nov 12th 2008 10:55AM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: Imports, Video


[Update: Thanks to some of our commenters, we now have a better idea what's going on here. This is the introduction to an unlockable shooting minigame, rather than an unused ending. So instead of a lead-in to a sequel that won't happen, it's just a video from a game whose sequel won't happen.]

WARNING: If you don't want to spoil the incredibly obvious storyIine of Disaster: Day of Crisis, do not watch this video. We've put it after the break in case you don't want the game's epic plot ruined by even one preview frame.

It seems that Nintendo and Monolith Soft may have seen sequels in Disaster: Day of Crisis's future. Unfortunately, they didn't foresee the biggest disaster of all -- the release of Disaster: Day of Crisis, which turned out to be a powerful bomb capable of creating a sales vacuum.

Even though this clip, found in the game's theatre, creates a clear opening for a sequel, we wouldn't hold our breath in anticipation of the continued adventures of Raymond Bryce and his ornate beard. For one thing, this is just an extra video and not the real ending. Also, obviously, game companies prefer to make money. However, it's pretty entertaining to see the jokey, ham-fisted manner in which they teased a sequel.

Gallery: Disaster: Day of Crisis

Continue reading Alternate ending suggests potential Disaster sequel [update]

Atari rescues Ghostbusters

Posted Nov 7th 2008 3:23PM by Chris Greenhough
Filed under: News


When your game's alone
With no publisher
Who you gonna call?
Ghostbusters! Atari!

For a while, the merging of Activision and Blizzard looked like it might spell a grisly end for the Ghostbusters game, but now HERO OF THE PEOPLE Atari has stepped in to save the day, confirming previous assurances from Dan Akroyd and Variety. Once caught in development limbo, Ghostbusters is now due to release in 2009, and will feature the film's original main cast and a storyline penned by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. We never imagined ourselves saying this, but let's all raise a glass to Phil Harrison.

Gallery: Ghostbusters


[Via press release]

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