Nintendo Wii Fanboy

If you thought that Trauma Center's return to the DS would mean the end of medical games on the Wii, you were wrong.

Zoo Hospital isn't just about normal doctoring, though -- as you can probably figure out from the game's title, you'll be a veterinarian (or, straight out of vet school, at least) that works on curing exotic animals from sicknesses.

Surgeries won't be the only tasks you'll be performing in Zoo Hospital. You'll also do X-Ray and dentistry related tasks to soothe the forty-eight ailing animals. But even if you find the premise interesting, you might not want to get your hopes too high, as the DS version off the game (also developed by Torus) was apparently not that good.

Zoo Hospital is planned to launch in European and PAL territories during Q4, 2008.


[Via press release]

We weren't expecting much from Emergency Mayhem, a Crazy Taxi-styled emergency services title peppered with minigames, but these video previews for the police car and ambulance modes look really fun! For a game with such a distressing past -- having been announced and canceled for the Xbox and PlayStation 2 in 2004, exchanging publishers and developers several times since -- we wouldn't have been surprised if this turned out to be a wreck.

Though reviews haven't been kind to Emergency Mayhem (the game hits stores this week), we think the minigames look like a good break from all the high-speed chases and siren-whining. You can defuse bombs, administer CPR, and even help someone cough out a fly. According to these two clips, you can also get some sort of bonus by running over criminals and patients. When that gets old, you can add spice to your emergency duties by crashing into crowds of pedestrians without consequence.

If you tried importing the Japanese version of Mario Kart Wii to Europe or the U.S. in order to get your copy early, you may have received this message from Play-Asia: "We received the first small delivery today for testing and unfortunately we have to inform you, that the game is not compatible with the Datel Freeloader (US and PAL Version)."

However, we've heard from NWF reader Nils that this isn't true, and an imported copy of Mario Kart has worked just fine on his Wii (we're still waiting to hear back on what version he imported). Still, we're sure Play-Asia wouldn't make such things up, since this will only lead to the site losing sales. So, at this point, just be cautious with your imports, and let's hope that Datel's Freeloader isn't outdated already.

We'll update the post if we find or hear more accounts from Mario Kart Wii importers, so be sure to tip us if you've tried it first hand.



[Via Go Nintendo]

That's right: in an effort to remind us that this is a third-party Wii game, Codemasters' Emergency Mayhem comes packed with minigames. As the latest shots from Jeux France demonstrate, these include tasks such as administering CPR, bringing bursting water-hydrants under control, and smashing rats with a mallet. Where have we seen that before?

There's also plenty of screens in the latest batch showing the game's driving sections, which, as we've previously mentioned, make us think of (and sigh nostalgically about) Crazy Taxi. The mere mention of using railway lines and sewers as shortcuts certainly brings Sega's yellow cab sim to mind.

Y'all may recall a rant from Dave Perry last year, in which Earthworm Jim's dad predicted that the Wii would lack staying power, due to its shortage of technical grunt. Well, Codemasters CEO Rob Cousens is clearly singing from a similar hymn sheet, because he's made pretty much the same prediction in an interview with GameDaily.

Warning that people would write Sony and Microsoft off "at their peril," Cousens claimed that Wii 2 would have to come along "pretty quickly" if Nintendo wanted to keep the Wii dream going for a full ten years. In short, he reckons the hordes of new gamers that have propelled the Wii to success may grow tired of the console before long.

"I could give you an argument that says there's going to be a Wii 2 pretty quickly because [Nintendo would need one] in order to sustain momentum over a 10-year period," claimed Cousens. "And what type of software would it have then? Because right now it isn't driven by technological supremacy or power.

"I wonder if the idea of opening up a whole new audience to 60-year-olds looking to make sure their brain cells don't die off is a sustainable form of entertainment," he added. "Maybe they got it right because we are all an aging population in Western markets, but I somehow think as a form of entertainment that won't be the case."

It's a little early in the console cycle to decide whether he has a point, but Cousens' argument also sounds as though it's based on a personal hunch, rather than any compelling evidence. But who knows, maybe we're all going to be horribly wrong when it comes to guessing the eventual victor from this bloody battle.

In a place called Crisis City, you'd imagine there is plenty of people in need. And, there is, as it's up to you to help these fine folk in Codemasters' upcoming Wii-exclusive Emergency Mayhem (wasn't this supposed to be an Xbox game back in the day?). As you can see in the trailer above, there's enough variety in the way you're helping these people to keep things fresh, so we're looking forward to that. And, is it just us or do the driving segments really remind you of Crazy Taxi?

It really does seem to be flyboy day around here, doesn't it? Well, when you've got a theme going, don't break it. At least, that's our philosophy. We've been talking about Blazing Angels all day, so we thought we'd switch gears and talk about a different, yet related title: Heatseeker. This week's video shows off not only footage from the flight simulator, but also offers a glimpse of the controls. Check it out after the jump.