Posted Dec 2nd 2008 10:00AM by JC Fletcher Filed under: News
When it was first announced back in February, Rainbow Studios' Deadly Creatures seemed poised to be one of the most 'hardcore' action titles in 2008's Wii lineup. Now, we're quickly expending our supply of 2008, with nary a Deadly Creature to be found.
This Halloween, on one of the game's planned release dates, THQ set their sights on December. Now that's been pushed back to February 2009. As usual, the endless delays only drive our desire to play a game about a scorpion and tarantula who follow criminals around. And maybe the extra development time will mean we're less disappointed with what now looks to be one of the most 'hardcore' action titles in 2009's Wii lineup.
Yes, the localized version of Milestone's Ultimate Shooting Collection may have horribly generic boxart (seriously, compare this to the Japanese box and weep), but we still want the game badly.
Unfortunately, we're going to have to wait. Previously, the game was scheduled to come out on November 11th, but as it isn't in our homes right now, we had to assume it had slipped. When contacted, publisher UFO Interactive confirmed our worst fears: the new release date is December 15th, right in the middle of the Christmas rush. Pew pew your way past the break for a trailer.
Contrary to what we originally heard, it looks like the Wii Speak Channel won't be launching alongside Animal Crossing: City Folk on November 16th.
IGN snapped a picture of the WiiSpeak box, complete with a disclaimer that the Channel (which allows chat outside of Animal Crossing) will actually appear in December. When in December isn't clear, though we know the Channel will be available in Europe from December 5th, so maybe then. Until then, you're just going to have to pick fruit and chat simultaneously. We can probably cope with that!
Posted Nov 5th 2008 11:45AM by JC Fletcher Filed under: News
Unfortunately, we can no longer claim that Mushroom Men: The Spore Warsis one of the most promising games of this fall -- not because we've changed our minds about the game or anything, but because it's no longer a game of this fall. Gamecock announced that both the DS and Wii Mushroom Men games have been delayed to December 2nd. The Spore Wars was originally planned for this month, following an October release of the DS Rise of the Fungi.
Provided that Mushroom Men actually comes out this holiday season, it could do well as the only major platformer being released on the Wii (that doesn't star a werehog). Or we could be wrong and it could be swallowed by the mass of holiday releases in general! The point is, one of those processes will begin in December.
History shows that Nintendo of Australia like to do things at their own pace. Timely launches just ain't their style, y'know? We're not just talking games, either. Back in April, there was much Aussie hollering when Nintendo announced Club Nintendo would be heading down under, bringing with it all the Nintendo mugs, free Bowser wallpapers, SNES pads, and Wii Points that had so far been enjoyed by Japanese and European gamers. Except, it's still not up and running. Though games are shipping with Club Nintendo codes, Australia's Club Nintendo site has yet to go live, four and a half months after it was announced.
None of which will comfort U.S.-based Nintendo fans, who are simply waiting for a local version of Club Nintendo to be announced. If the sloth-like actions of Nintendo Australia are any indication, they may be in for a wait.
For some reason, according to a rumor posted by IGN, stores in Australia are expressing a lack of interest in carrying Rock Band. And by "for some reason" we mean "because EA set exorbitant prices and delayed the release for a year." As the rumor goes, retailers aren't too happy about the idea of stocking a game that will be both older and more expensive than Guitar Hero: World Tour (which will probably not already be old when it comes out). It also appears that the same malaise about Rock Band may carry over to the sequel as well.
While absolutely nothing regarding the Australian release of Rock Band is confirmed (and keep that fact in mind when determining the appropriate level of outrage), we're starting to wonder which would be a bigger ripoff: not selling Rock Band in Australia at all, or selling the Wii version.
Koei's RPG Opoona won't be arriving on European store shelves next month, as previously anticipated. According to CVG, the game has been pushed back to September, meaning RPG fans will need to wait a bit longer before they jump into the bright and colorful world inhabiting Koei's title.
So why the longer wait? Apparently, localization issues and production delays are the culprit here. Considering how poor the critical reception was, we're wondering if you really care all that much right about now.
Posted Jun 11th 2008 9:00PM by Phil Larsen Filed under: News
The Wii-eager Australian customers were all happily discussing which games they would purchase when Nintendo's hot new console hit the shelves on December 7th, 2006. Plenty of gamers were looking forward to Trauma Center: Second Opinion, which was shaping up to be a quality title.
After a miniscule eighteen months, TC:SO has now been rated by the OFLC for release! Yes, it apparently takes that long to bring a completed game to the shores of ridiculous retail prices. Aussies are used to delays for other big name games likeSuper Paper Mario and Super Smash Bros. Brawl (which still isn't out), but this one really takes the cake. It's worth noting that there still isn't an actual release date -- it's merely been rated. So, is there potential for a two year Australian delay for a US launch title? You bet!
When you can't think of an original name for a new Wii title, simply add "party" to the end and call it a day. The Wii is great for parties, so reminding everyone of their obligation to entertain friends while gaming is standard issue these days. The upcoming Tetris game for WiiWare admirably followsthistrend, with the latest information on Hudon's Japanese website displaying a name change and a lamentable delay.
Tetris Party is no longer released in July 2008; we're stuck with a "sometime 2008" instead. Well, that's for Japanese Wii owners, but hopefully the localization won't take a decade or something. All joking about the name aside, there's no reason this shouldn't be a great game. Tetris always is!
Kotaku posted the unfortunate news that Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People, the WiiWare adventure game based on the bizarre Flash cartoon series (in case you somehow made it onto the Internet without passing through Free Country USA), has been delayed until July. Telltale Games confirmed the delay on their forums, with staffer "Jake" saying "We moved the launch of the season (less than a month) to make the game better."
Telltale assured the unreasonably angry posters in the forum that once the game does launch, the company will stick to scheduled releases of new episodes. And we can wait for the first one, as long as it comes out before 20X6.
Gallery: Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People
With details on Hudson's two Bombermans making the games sound pretty irresistible, we were disappointed to hear that they've both been delayed. Originally meant to hit Japan in June, Hudon's website now reports that they're releasing in the fall.
Fortunately, Hudson's other hot titles (Tetris and Alien Crush, anyone?) seem to be right on schedule for this summer -- in Japan, that is. Still, we know the drill; the sooner games come out in the Far East, the sooner we get them elsewhere.
It's worth keeping in mind that none of these titles have actually been announced for localization yet. We'd be extremely surprised if such franchises (especially Bomberman and Tetris) don't release outside of Japan, though.
Monolith Soft's Disaster: Day of Crisis has been delayed indefinitely from its original July date, though we aren't 100% certain of the veracity of the rumor. It certainly seems to have had a rocky history since its debut at E3 2006, so we wouldn't be too surprised if Nintendo pulled it for retooling -- or cancelled the thing altogether.
Do you believe that Disaster is still coming? Do you believe that an "indefinite" delay at this point would mean the end of the game? It's a question of faith, we suppose, put to those who care.
Alternately, and more enjoyably, let's talk potential edits that could be made to make it more of a stereotypical Wii game. Balance Board minigames? Mii integration? Charles Martinet?
[Update: Majesco sent out a press release with a real release date on it! June 10. This release went out mere hours after our email to Majesco. Coincidence? Most likely.]
We don't know if this is official (but then no Blast Worksdate has ever been official), but Gamestop's release date for Blast Works: Build, Trade, and Destroy has moved from May 20 to June 3. If we weren't looking forward to playing the game, this carrot-and-stick routine would be comical, but really we're just angry. This was originally supposed to come out in October.
Amazon still says May 27. Best Buy says May 29. Were we regular shoppers and not game bloggers (which requires us to try to keep up with release dates and such), we would definitely have given up on following Blast Works by now. We'd just buy it whenever we happened to see it in a store.
According to an apparently reliable, but unnamed, source, Vooks reports that Super Smash Bros. Brawl will be released in Australia on June 26. That's just one day before Europe's release (and still several months after both the U.S. and Japan, of course) but what a difference a day makes.
For that one glorious day, Australian Wii owners will be able to feel the pride of not being the last to receive a game. And it's such a big game! Of course, Aussie Wii fans got a taste of not-lastness with Mario Kart Wii, but timeliness is addictive.
Congratulations, Australia. That is, if it's real. If this turns out not to be true or if Nintendo delays Brawlagain, we can only say sorry, Australia.
It was no mistake that Blast Works: Build, Trade, & Destroy didn't show up on our weekly releases list. We were sure that it was really going to come out this week, but just like every other time we thought Majesco would release the game, Blast Works has been pushed back. The new release date is still within the month, for now, so at least Majesco doesn't have very long to decide to delay it again.
According to Gamestop, Blast Works will be out on the 20th. Amazon says the 27th. We don't know if it'll really be out on either of those dates, but we will still want to buy it whenever.
When it was first announced back in February, Rainbow Studios' Deadly Creatures seemed poised to be one of the most 'hardcore' action titles in 2008's Wii lineup. Now, we're quickly expending our supply of 2008, with nary a Deadly Creature to be found. 
Monolith Soft's 
