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The House Containing Some Dead 2 & 3

Posted Feb 24th 2008 12:00PM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: Video


I didn't see The House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return at GDC -- and I looked -- but Gamespot got a hands-on preview of the new release of Sega's light gun classics. Had I been there, I would have asked about the captioning. "Suffer the same way G did?" The audio's the same (from what can be heard on the video) so why the change in captioning? And why just that line?

In addition to rewriting Zeal's big line, Sega has added six different crosshair options and online rankings. What hasn't been added, unfortunately, is The Typing of the Dead. How could anyone do this?

Gallery: House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return



[Via NeoGAF]

GDC08: Convention Associates get their Brawl on

Posted Feb 23rd 2008 1:30PM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: Fan stuff


When I had my Brawl play session, I didn't go to Nintendo's booth. I went to an after-hours tournament for GDC volunteers, organized by my friend (and Wii Fanboy alum!) Nathan Mallory. Not only did I get to play Brawl for the first time on a huge screen, I got to see an exclusive, little-known piece of GDC culture.

I brought the Mahalo Daily video crew along to document the event and get interviews with some of the Community Associates. The video's up on Joystiq now. If you don't mind seeing the final Japanese game (and therefore possible character spoilers) go check it out!

GDC08: Extended Mario Kart trailer, remixed music

Posted Feb 23rd 2008 12:00PM by Eric Caoili
Filed under: Video


Remember that Mario Kart Wii trailer we posted just two days ago? Well, shift-delete that footage from your memory and replace it with this extended promotional video which debuted at the Game Developers Conference. Not only is this clip twice as long as the previous one we featured, but it has a remixed version of the old Mario Circuit music as its audio track instead of some guy who sounds like Jerry Seinfeld yelling in the background.

We can totally get behind this song! It sounds like something out of Bust a Groove!

Gallery: Mario Kart Wii

FFV: The other half of 2D Boy speaks

Posted Feb 22nd 2008 7:00PM by David Hinkle
Filed under: Friday Video


For those of you who've been lost in the swirling torrent of GDC news from The 'Stiq, you might've missed the other half of 2D Boy, Kyle Gabler, talk to Joystiq. We already bended the ear of his partner in crime, Ron Carmel, so if you dug our interview then hit up the video above.

Personally, we're dying to get all gooey with World of Goo.

Gallery: World of Goo

GDC08: Head tracking Easter egg included in BOOM BLOX

Posted Feb 22nd 2008 5:00PM by Candace Savino
Filed under: News


Remember the ever-so-awesome Johnny Lee's experiment with head tracking? We were so wistful then, seeing what the Wii's equipment was capable of in the proper hands.

Well, as it turns out, we don't have to be wistful anymore.

In a continued effort to make us look bad, the creators of BOOM BLOX revealed yesterday at GDC that the game would incorporate some head tracking. Before you get too excited, executive producer Lou Castle told Joystiq that this would only be an "Easter egg inclusion."

This feature won't be an integral part of the game, clearly, but it's still a big step for gaming nonetheless. We're a little worried that in order to use this feature, the player must make their own LED headset -- we think most people won't bother doing that, and thus miss out on something great. Castle said that they weren't going to promote the feature, and we're assuming that it's for this reason. Whether you take advantage of the head tracking option or not, though, it's still a laudable inclusion in our eyes.

Gallery: BOOM BLOX

GDC08: Wi-Fi good news, bad news

Posted Feb 22nd 2008 3:30PM by Candace Savino
Filed under: News, Nintendo Wi-Fi


Here's the good news:

Nintendo project leader Takashi Aoyama recently announced that Wii games would soon feature downloadable content. If you're unfamiliar with this service (which is currently prevalent in the other current-gen systems, the PS3 and Xbox 360), this means that you'll be able to download additional content for your games via Wi-Fi.

There's no word on what games will offer DLC (though we can make guesses on a few that will and won't), nor have we heard about potential memory limitations with the inclusion of this service. Add-ons will be available for both Wii Ware titles and disc-based games, though.

As per usual, Wii owners will be able to purchase such content with Wii Points or a credit card.

Now, are you ready for the bad news?

Continue reading GDC08: Wi-Fi good news, bad news

GDC08: Wii Ware FFCC is the beginning of a new Square Enix

Posted Feb 22nd 2008 11:15AM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: News


While Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King may look like just a slightly strange Final Fantasy spinoff, it's actually a huge departure for Square Enix. This game is a pilot for future projects by the company that are not huge. Producer Toshiro Tsuchida and lead programmer Fushiaki Shiraishi spoke at GDC about the bold new effort of making a non-epic game on Nintendo's download service.

On Wii Ware, with limited space, there was no option to use high-quality CG, a Square Enix benchmark. So the game had to be quite different. Shiraishi discussed the small scope of the game: one town, a few villager models, and unseen combat -- all of which are integral now to the game design. The game started from a game design rather than concept art -- another new development for the company. Shiraishi indicated that if concept art had been used, there would have been more of an effort to include everything that was in the art.

Continue reading GDC08: Wii Ware FFCC is the beginning of a new Square Enix

GDC08: Wobbling with Wii Fit

Posted Feb 22nd 2008 10:30AM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: News


As soon as the expo hall opened this morning, I made a beeline for Wii Fit, because what I really needed after two full days of walking was some exercise, and more standing. Luckily, there wasn't too much of a line, since Nintendo was demonstrating Brawl just a few feet away.

The second I stepped onto the board (shoes off, please!) I pretty much forgot everything. Not just what I've learned about Wii Fit and how it's played, but how to lean right. There was a bit of a learning curve before I was translating foot and body motions into desired onscreen action. It's somewhat nonintuitive, after all, to stand still on a motionless object to create motion.

Gallery: Wii Fit

Continue reading GDC08: Wobbling with Wii Fit

GDC08: Zombies in space

Posted Feb 21st 2008 2:15PM by Candace Savino
Filed under: News


Not much can compare to some good old-fashioned zombie shooting. Add a space station and a light gun to that formula, though, and you're guaranteed to come away with something special.

Siliconera's Spencer Yip, the lucky guy, got to try his hand at Forbidden Terror on Space Station Z at the Game Developers Conference. While we'd like to say we aren't brimming with envy, that would be a flat-out lie. This may not be the next "Game of the Year" (although it will be in our hearts), and it's actually not even a game (just a tech demo, unfortunately). Yet, it involves shooting zombies in space -- and at the end of the day, that's all we really want in life.

As if that wasn't enough, we're completely smitten by the title of Forbidden Terror on Space Station Z. Why is terror forbidden? Our own Eric Caoili suggested that they might be attending an intense seminar at the space station on getting over their fears.

While there wasn't much to the demo, Spencer described it as "amusing" and "pretty entertaining." Unfortunately, it may never actually turn into a full-fledged game. Spencer asked Emergent Technologies if they would consider releasing this for Wii Ware, however, and they seemed willing if they could work something out. Here's hoping!

GDC08: Mario Kart Wii in motion

Posted Feb 21st 2008 1:30PM by David Hinkle
Filed under: Video


For those of you who've decided that just looking at screens isn't enough for you, IGN has uploaded video of Mario Kart Wii in action. And, from the looks of it, this game is going to be just as we thought: fun. Seriously, did you ever doubt it could be anything but?

Gallery: Mario Kart Wii

GDC08: Super Smash Bros. Brawl hands-on

Posted Feb 21st 2008 12:25AM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: News


After reporting on the game about five hundred million times, and posting other people's impressions, I finally got a chance to play the Japanese version of Super Smash Bros. Brawl at an after-hours convention associate game tournament. I had to do something special for Wii Fanboy's gameplay impressions, right? So I went big. Big group, and big screen. Super Smash Bros. Brawl is exciting. For every single second it's being played. It ratchets up the adrenaline in Melee to an insane degree. There is always unexpected stuff happening. The tournament was set up using Brawl's tournament mode, which allowed everyone to pick their character and enter their name and let the game take care of the rest. Gamecube controllers were set up for everyone, for consistency.

I totally lost, by the way.

Continue reading GDC08: Super Smash Bros. Brawl hands-on

GDC08: Monster Lab: it's a lab -- for monsters

Posted Feb 20th 2008 9:00PM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: News


I was able to catch a demo of Backbone Entertainment's Monster Lab at the GDC Career Pavilion, which is mostly involved with game company recruiting, but features some game demos as a function of games being what game developers do. The game is almost completely different than previously assumed, and, in a way, more interesting. What may look like an online fighting game is in fact turn-based. It's important to note this, because the game looks so strongly fighter-like.

Monster Lab puts the player in the role of a new assistant mad scientist, who has to help her boss in a power struggle against other mad scientists -- by gathering and creating monster parts. The story is presented in a '50's sci-fi-movie opening and an introduction from your mad scientist boss (and his giant robot arm).

Continue reading GDC08: Monster Lab: it's a lab -- for monsters

GDC08: A collection of SNK collections

Posted Feb 20th 2008 5:00PM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: News


At SNK's GDC demo room, the Wii versions of SNK Arcade Classics, King of Fighters Collection: The Orochi Saga, and Samurai Shodown Anthology were available for play, and I went through a few of the games on each set, looking for controls and features, and, of course, basic performance. All of the games seemed to be running in 480i even on HDTVs, and it unfortunately showed.

Bizarrely, it's entirely possible to play any of the games with the Wiimote. The Neo Geo controller has four buttons, and so does the Wiimote. This is not recommended! The Neo Geo Stick 2 was nowhere to be found, or there would be a lot more exclamation points in this post.

The awesome news: SNK just went ahead and decided to throw KOFs '94 and fan-favorite '98 onto the collection, meaning that the set is now an almost-complete record of the 1990s' KOF games. Samurai Shodown does in fact include 1-6. The demos I had (mostly the KOFs) had significant lag, but I'm willing to believe that this will be ironed out by release. It would have to be.

The bad news, and the answer to pretty much everyone's question: SNK hasn't figured out whether this or the Virtual Console is The Way to go, meaning that they intend to give the VC games a chance to sell before releasing the collection. Because of this, the Wii version of Arcade Classics is being held until Q4. All versions (PS2, PSP, Wii) of the other collections are also scheduled for Q4.

GDC08: Telltale has a mysterious Wii Ware game in the works

Posted Feb 20th 2008 3:00PM by Candace Savino
Filed under: News, WiiWare


When we first heard from Nintendo that Telltale was releasing an episodic game for Wii Ware, we stubbornly believed, Sam & Max! Despite the wording in the press release, in which Nintendo revealed the existence of "a new episodic game series from Telltale," we still held onto hope that we'd get to do some rabbit and dog sleuthing on our Wiis.

Telltale cleared that up pretty quickly, though. The company stated simply, "And before you ask -- no, it's not Sam & Max." Fine, we get the hint.

While the game might not have anything to do with the beloved PC duo, we're sure that Telltale has something really great in store for us. The developer is being coy and keeping tight-lipped about the project, though, which is just making us anticipate it all the more. Hopefully Telltale stops playing hard-to-get soon and tells us what the game is -- unfortunately, patience isn't really a virtue of ours.

[Thanks, Michael!]

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