Posts with tag Minigames
E308: Wii Fanboy sets records in Guinness World Records: The Videogame
Continue reading E308: Wii Fanboy sets records in Guinness World Records: The Videogame
Whip up a batch of Cooking Mama: World Kitchen screens
Yes, it's always fun to laugh at "life" simulation games (even if this life is a cartoon featuring big-head Mamas and cooking scores). The real truth, though, is that Cooking Mama games are usually pretty fun, and the fresh new gallery shows a pretty decent look at the upcoming Wii installment. Bon appetit!
Gallery: Cooking Mama World Kitchen
E308: Buns-on with Raving Rabbids TV Party
E308: Imagine Rabbidz
As far as I could tell, I was the first person to try it (or among the first, I'm guessing, because the attending Frag Dolls didn't seem to have been forced to play the demo hundreds of times, even though I did lose at multiplayer). And far from the nefarious destroyer of gaming you may imagine, Party Babyz is actually kind of a good game. Because it takes its design cues straight out of Rayman Raving Rabbids. Only with doughy little sprogs instead of rabbids.
The minigame I played, in which you bottle-feed your baby character, is exactly the burping minigame from Raving Rabbids 2. You start by shaking the Wiimote to shake the bottle, then you upturn the Wiimote to simulate holding the bottle up. Points are awarded for every second or so that the baby drinks. When the baby has had enough, you lower the Wiimote and hit A to burp the baby. I don't know if it would still be fun if I weren't thinking about Rabbids while playing, but it was definitely actual fun under those conditions.
Gallery: Babies Party
New Active Life screens leap, skip, and kayak our way
We found little in the latest batch of Active Life: Outdoor Challenge screens that was new to us, though they are the first English language shots (not that the game was packed with mountains of kanji in the first place). It's the usual mix of runaway minecarts, kayaking, and jumping over logs -- increasingly, this is looking less like an exercise game (and thus a competitor to Wii Fit) and more like a light-hearted selection of minigames bundled with a potentially fun peripheral; we could never imagine Active Life: Outdoor Challenge calling us fat, for example.
More screens and (terribly lifestyle) boxart follow the break.
Continue reading New Active Life screens leap, skip, and kayak our way
Cooking Mama gets a new perspective
For the first time, you'll be able to control Mama herself in spontaneous minigames, as she rushes in to fix your mistakes -- for example, she can catch mis-flipped burgers in her apron. "Additional rhythm and motion" has also been added to the main Wiimote-based gameplay. Whatever that means, at least Cooking Mama Limited is taking steps to avoid stagnation.
[Screens at IGN]
Square Enix localizes four Chocobo games for immediate release
Now you can read the instructions and understand the nuanced control schemes involved in keeping Jail Bird on top of a stick so he can catch apples in Chocobo's Balancing Act, deftly avoid ice in Chocobo's Snowboard Glide, fly on borrowed wings in Chocobo Flight, and goof off in class in Chocobo's Classmate. Not that you couldn't have figured out how to play those.
Ubisoft announces Play Zone, we die a little inside
Ubisoft has continued on its quest to make us sneer at almost everything it attempts by announcing "Play Zone," a new Wii-exclusive division focused on "party games." Hey, we hear it's what's hot nowadays! Ubisoft's first contribution to this festival of mediocrity is Sports Party or, as North American readers will know it, Digital Embryo's Summer Sports: Paradise Island, which Ubisoft has snapped up the European publishing rights to.
Says Ubisoft marketing director John Parkes: "With our new Play Zone party titles, the Wii gamers who like to spend time with friends and family will have fun with the Wii through innovative and involving mini-games." Join us in the gallery and we'll all hold each other and cry.
Gallery: Summer Sports
[Via press release]
Major League Eaters become major gamers
The competitive eaters out there are a true inspiration for the children. Everyone felt sick (except the eaters) after the original press event for Major League Eating: The Game, but this time the food is ditched entirely. It's still a tough competition, but the pros are trying their hand at the game itself, munching the Wiimote as if it were made of sweet, sweet candy.
In hindsight, the professionals down their food faster than lighting, so it probably wouldn't make much difference if they were eating hot dogs or Wiimotes. They won't be gorging on Nintendo accessories anytime soon, but it's the funniest display of fake eating since, well, this.
In hindsight, the professionals down their food faster than lighting, so it probably wouldn't make much difference if they were eating hot dogs or Wiimotes. They won't be gorging on Nintendo accessories anytime soon, but it's the funniest display of fake eating since, well, this.
Gallery: Major League Eating
Steering blobs and dropping dudes with Costco's $10.99 sale
Is Mercury Meltdown Revolution a part of your Wii collection? If not, it absolutely should be, for Ignition's addictive puzzler must be one of the most criminally overlooked gems on the platform. And now Costco has it for $10.99, along with a bunch of other titles that range from pretty damn good to shovelware (oh, hai Pool Party). Angelina Jolie favorite Ghost Squad is also on sale, giving you a chance to knock terrorists from their speeding, swan-shaped jet skis, and save money in the process. If a better offer has come along this century, we've yet to see it.
Below are the six titles that most stood out to us (the full list is past the jump); we expect at least two of these to be in your house by June 22nd, when the sale ends:
- Ghost Squad
- Sonic and the Secret Rings
- Sega Bass Fishing
- Mercury Meltdown: Revolution
- Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz
- SSX Blur
Gallery: Mercury Meltdown Revolution
Gallery: Ghost Squad Wii
Continue reading Steering blobs and dropping dudes with Costco's $10.99 sale
Birdo & Silver & Jet & Donkey Kong at the Olympic Games
There are plenty of other background characters that can be played with (some of which are fairly obscure), though only in certain events (such as trampolining). These include Shy Guy, Toad, the gut-churning Charmy, Espio, Cream, Boo, Bullet Bill (!), Goomba (!!), "Heroes Enemy 1," "Heroes Enemy 2," "SA1 Monkey," and -- nooo! -- Big the Cat. Sprint through the tape and into our gallery for a couple more screens.
Gallery: Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games
Famitsu pitches us fresh Mario Super Sluggers shots
Famitsu has posted another line-up of Mario Super Sluggers screens, covering everything from minigames (which look, erm, totally unrelated to baseball) to a few of the character-specific moves (such as Luigi's "tornado" pitch that you see above, and one of Mario's fiery shots) to some of the game's varied arenas, which include Yoshi Park, a jungle-themed Donkey Kong stage, and a pitch set entirely on ice. Hit the "Source" link to see all sixteen shots.
In case you needed reminding, Mario Super Sluggers launches in Japan ten days from now, though we're still waiting on an official release date for the U.S. and
Continue reading Famitsu pitches us fresh Mario Super Sluggers shots
Six Flags is better than five flags, Wii agrees
It won't be a management game like the excellent Rollercoaster Tycoon series, but rather a -- big surprise -- collection of mini-games and virtual rides. Before dropping your dollars, weigh up the alternatives. Would you rather buy the game, or spend the money on a day's entry to the real Six Flags? The choice is yours, and we have some fresh screens in the gallery to help you with the decision.
Gallery: Six Flags Fun Park
Sega (and UK) still not sick of Mario & Sonic
If Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games were a cow, it would have udders forged from diamond-encrusted, solid gold. This metaphor particularly applies in the UK, where the Nintendo/Sega crossover has sold over 1.2 million copies, and Sega (the distributor of the game throughout Europe) isn't yet ready to stop yanking furiously on those udders.Over six months after it launched in Britain, the game is still being advertised in prime time spots, such as during Saturday's final of Britain's Got Talent, which was watched by one-fifth of the UK (and which that dog should have totally won). And, with the Olympics due to start soon, Sega UK head honcho Alan Pritchard has promised that the company will continue to advertise the title "heavily," right through until the end of 2008.
So there you go, Brits: if you weren't already sick to the molars of the plumber and the hedgehog, you ain't seen nothing yet. In fact, Mario & Sonic could turn out to be the Wii's answer to Brain Training.
Gallery: Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games
Cooking Mama serving again this October?
The Cooking Mama series continues to make tons of money for Majesco, allowing them to fund some interesting games. In addition, it's hard to imagine something as basic as motion-based food preparation getting stale, so we say bring 'em on.
