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.
We immediately cried out, "Bullshots!" when we sighted these screenshots released with Battle Rage: The Robot Wars' Wii press release today, but then we remembered that a PC version of the fighter is also in the works.
With a quick comparison comparing the image resolution with other screens for Wii games (and a bit of common sense), we were able to confirm our suspicions that these shots are, indeed, too good to be true. That said, if graphical detail isn't a primary concern for you, jump into the gallery for three new screenshots of the four-player arena combat game.
And, while the images might not be for the Wii release, there's no doubt that this European boxart is! The cover actually looks badass, you know, despite Data Design Interactive's out-of-place Popcorn Arcade branding.
Details about the actual game: 20 weapons, 10 arenas, 8 robots, special melee/ranged weapons for each robot, customizable robots, arcade mode, team battles, 2036 setting, yadda yadda yadda, convicts trying to earn their freedom by battling mechs for a bored society's entertainment.
Were you one of the easily offended, outraged souls who took umbrage with Zero Punctuation's more-than-scathing review of Super Smash Bros. Brawl? If so, then Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw has some feedback to your feedback. That's right: rather than dedicating this week's Zero Punctuation to the usual misanthropic, ranting reviews that we love so much, Yahtzee has answered the numerous critics of his Brawl review, which attracted over a thousand comments on the Escapist's site (and quite a few on here).
Hit the break for the full, NSFW version, and prepare yourself for a chilling insight into the minds of the most irrational fanboys.
The latest Nintendo of Europe release schedule contains fairly awesome news for the neglected continent, as there's finally a concrete release date for Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Nintendo's wildly popular fighter is hitting stores in the region on June 27th, and there's more happy tidings, with WiiWare and Nintendo Channel set to launch on May 20th and May 30th respectively.
There's little else in the list that both interests us and has a specific date (de Blob and Blast Works have both had a vague "Q2 2008" slapped next to them, though it appears that Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors will be out on May 9th), but heck, why are we yammering to you about this? Check out the latest European dates for yourself past the break!
Oh dear. This isn't going to be pretty. We're going to hazard a guess that Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw's opinion of Super Smash Bros. Brawl doesn't exactly coincide with the view taken by most of our readers -- frankly, it sounds like he hated every minute of Nintendo's scrapper.
But before you start punching out that hate-filled, trembling-with-rage email to the man, stop right there and hear him out, because you may just find yourself agreeing with some of his points -- even we had to concede that a number of his grievances have bugged us in the past. With that in mind, take some deep breaths and head past the break for one of the most venomous Zero Punctuation reviews to date, and the usual dose of NSFW language.
We know that Street Fighter IV is possible for the Wii, but it looks like at least one person has decided it's going to happen. Is it a typo? Wishful thinking? Someone with advance knowledge? There's no telling, but the game was listed as a Wii title on the back of what appears to be a promotional DVD packed-in with Japanese manga magazine Champion Red. There, in a list of other Capcom titles, are the words Wii owners may be longing to see.
We're not getting our hopes up over this one -- at least, not much -- but on the other hand, after what Capcom said about putting the title anywhere it will fit, a Wii release does seem likely. We just doubt this is the proof, so put your Classic Controller down and just be patient.
This just in: Super Smash Bros. Brawl sold a lot. That's an observation that is neither new or particularly exciting, but put it in graph form and Brawl's phenomenal success is capable of wowing us all over again.
At first glance, we presumed those blue bars represented the first month sales of all three Smash games in the U.S. But no: those are lifetime sales of Super Smash Bros. and Super Smash Bros. Melee respectively, while the red bar is Brawl's first month sales. That's right: in its opening month alone, Brawl not only bypassed the lifetime sales of the first title in the franchise, but has already reached 70% of its predecessor's all-time sales. Our flabbers? Consider them gasted.
Groovy! One of the most-requested Virtual Console games is now officially on the way, thanks to Interplay. And it's bringing friends! Earthworm Jim, Shiny's platform/shooting adventure about a worm in a space suit, will be released on the Virtual Console "later this year," joined by its sequel, as well as the Claymation SF2-alike Clayfighter(developed by Visual Concepts) and Boogerman (full title: Boogerman: A Pick and Flick Adventure).
According to Gamasutra, these will be the Genesis versions of the games, which means that Earthworm Jim will include the extra "Intestinal Distress" level that was exclusive to that version.
Hey, Interplay had the rights to Out of this World at some point. Maybe they still do!
Namco Bandai's new huge monster fighting game, Kaiju Big BattelDaikaiju Ultra Battle Coliseum, features a wide array of familiar, but legally distinct, monsters in your everyday city-destroying scenarios. There's the big flying thing! The walking lizard guy! The robot! Coliseum, it turns out, is an adapted version of an arcade game called Daikaiju Ultra Monsters, which has also been adapted into a TV show from Ultraman producers Tsuburaya Productions. Thankfully, Namco Bandai has swapped out pretty much everything from the original game. While the arcade game is one of those card-based things that are so popular in Japan, Daikaiju Ultra Battle Coliseum uses Wiimote motions to control the (ultra) fighting.
There aren't many details about Daikaiju Battle Ultra Coliseum, but Namco Bandai is bringing the game to Japan this summer. All we know is that it's a fighting game, involving giant monsters. While that's not much to go on, it sounds pretty fun to us -- taking a giant robot (like the weird guy pictured to the right) and beating up on a Godzilla-like character or other monster would be too cool.
Hopefully we'll see some trailer footage soon. Thanks to the freeloader and the nature of fighting games, if this one incorporates just the right amount of cheesiness, it might be worth the import.
Nintendo sent a survey out to registered owners of Super Smash Bros. Brawl asking "Assuming a reasonable price, how likely are you to purchase a sequel to Super Smash Bros. Brawl or ask for it as a gift?" Was Nintendo just looking for an ego boost? Or are they worried about some backlash? Maybe they just want some numbers that they can use to convince Masahiro Sakurai to make another Smash Bros. game.
We're going to go out on a limb here, but if there's anyone in the world interested in another Smash Bros. sequel, it's the people who not only purchased the last game, but spent time entering the product code into Nintendo's website for no reason.
Ladies and gents, let's make some noise for the latest addition to the PAL European (sorry, Aussies) Virtual Console, the Commodore 64. Woo!
Yep, after what feels like an eternity, the fondly remembered platform has made its Virtual Console debut with two of the strongest titles from its vast library: International Karate and Uridium. Both are comfortably worth the entrance fee of 500 Wii points, and begin to look like an even more obscene bargain when you consider this week's other addition: Midway's totally mediocre Cruis'n USA. Hit the break for videos of all three.
International Karate -- Commodore 64 -- 500 Wii points
The single-player game in Super Smash Bros. Brawl is pretty enjoyable. The Subspace Emissary is a decent side-scrolling brawler, and there's a ton to do offline outside of that. You can pass hours building stages, breaking targets, launching coins, clearing events, and taking on the Multi-Man Brawl. There are characters, trophies, stickers, and songs to collect. But the truth is that Brawl is really about competition. It's about fighting with other people, just like every other fighting game.
But what if you're, say, not competitive? Or you're, uh, not good at the game? If you don't have a lot of time to play, there's not too much chance of success online, in Game Night or any other setting. Do you think it's possible to have a satisfactory experience with a multiplayer-oriented game like Brawl without taking part in too much multiplayer? Is it possible to enjoy a fighting game without being competitive?
And no, not in the way you would expect Brawl to rewrite history. Instead, forum posters over at NSider2 have (allegedly) discovered an unusual glitch in replays of their fights, namely that said replays are showing totally different fights. While the characters and stage remain the same, the moves being executed and the eventual victor are often different.
To demonstrate this, NSider2 member Warchamp7 uploaded a video of the glitch in action (which he finds "very scary"), and the replays do seem to vary. Barmy stuff. So far, this has only occurred on a particular custom-made stage, and not on any of the game's default, Nintendo-themed levels.
Due to the wonders of video-editing and it being that time of year again, we're marking this down as a rumor, but has anyone here encountered similar issues?
Gallery: SSBB gallery three
Read: Original NSider2 forum thread (registration required). Read: Warchamp7's YouTube demonstration.
Posted Mar 20th 2008 2:15PM by JC Fletcher Filed under: News
Battle Rage: The Robot Wars evokes a lot of things that are awesome in video games: Battle. Rage. Robots. Also war. That title tells you pretty much what's going to be happening in Destan Entertainment's fighting game, which had been announced for PC but as yet unpublished, and is now being released for Wii. It's a four-player arena combat game between giant fighting robots. Robots who face off with ranged and melee weapons in a series of open stages. Sweet.
Battle Rage: The Robot Wars (the subtitle is added for the Wii version) is being published by Popcorn Arcade, which is part of publisher Data Design Inter- oh. Never mind. We let ourselves get all excited over a Data Design Interactive game.
We know that Street Fighter IV is possible for the Wii, but it looks like at least one person has decided it's going to happen. Is it a typo? Wishful thinking? Someone with advance knowledge? There's no telling, but the game was listed as a Wii title on the back of what appears to be a promotional DVD packed-in with Japanese manga magazine Champion Red. There, in a list of other Capcom titles, are the words Wii owners may be longing to see. 
There aren't many details about Daikaiju Battle Ultra Coliseum, but Namco Bandai is bringing the game to Japan this summer. All we know is that it's a fighting game, involving giant monsters. While that's not much to go on, it sounds pretty fun to us -- taking a giant robot (like the weird guy pictured to the right) and beating up on a Godzilla-like character or other monster would be too cool. 
