Posts with tag lostwinds
Virtually Free: It's like the wind
Wii Fanboy Review: LostWinds
LostWinds sequel plans already aloft
Their website features a link that allows visitors to "REGISTER FOR ADVANCE INFORMATION on Frontier's forthcoming LostWinds sequel containing amazing new gameplay as Toku and Enril's incredible adventure to save Mistralis continues."
That doesn't really leave much room for misunderstanding, does it? The sequel's on the way. No hinting, no teasers, just "Hey, guys, we're making another one." Having a quickly-announced sequel makes it seem like an episodic title, doesn't it? We guess there isn't really that much difference between an episodic game and a game with really quick sequels.
Nintendo reveals first WiiWare titles for Europe
Nintendo has released a list of eight games described as "launch window" titles ahead of WiiWare's debut in Europe on May 20th. Included are four games that the U.S. is still waiting on -- Dr. Mario & Germ Buster, Star Soldier R, Toki Tori, and Pirates: The Key of Dreams -- though it looks like Europe will be waiting a little longer for Defend Your Castle and V.I.P Casino: Blackjack. Frankly, we'll live without a blackjack game.
Once again, note that these are "launch window" games. How long is a launch window? No idea. "Launch window" is one of those infuriatingly flexible terms beloved by PR types. Anyway, the list of WiiWare games that Europe will be getting kinda near the launch is as follows:
There's currently no news on pricing, but we'd fully expect European WiiWare prices to match those of other regions, assuming Nintendo hasn't found a totally new and unique way to rip European gamers off.
Virtually Free: Slightly to the left of normal
So what do you have to do to win? First of all, you have to leave a comment (with a valid e-mail address) on this post telling us what you're looking forward to most of the announced WiiWare titles. Second, you must be a legal resident of the United States with an American Wii (sorry, Canadians, we have to leave you out of this one; blame the gifting system and not us!) and 18 years of age or older. You may enter once per day between now and Monday, May 19; the contest comes to a close that night at 11:59 PM Eastern time, and we'll select a winner in a random drawing the next day. Questions? Check out the official rules.
WiiWare goes live!
As we anticipated, Nintendo waited until the last possible moment to reveal the details on WiiWare's U.S. launch. In a press release which describes WiiWare as the "most democratic environment in industry history," Nintendo confirmed the six titles that launched with the download service today -- and it looks like the leaked information from the weekend was spot-on:
- LostWinds -- 1000 Wii Points
- Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King -- 1500 Wii Points
- Pop -- 700 Wii Points
- Defend Your Castle -- 500 Wii Points
- V.I.P. Casino: Blackjack -- 700 Wii Points
- TV Show King -- 1000 Wii Points
Gallery: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King
[Via press release]
Nintendo reveals WiiWare launch List
- Defend Your Castle -- 500 Wii Points
- Pop -- 700 Wii Points
- V.I.P. Casino: Blackjack -- 700 Wii Points
- TV Show King -- 1000 Wii Points
- LostWinds -- 1000 Wii Points
- Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King -- 1500 Wii Points
How about you? Do you plan on downloading any of the above, or are you going to wait for impressions and reviews first?
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
LostWinds trailer blows this way, makes us sleepy
LostWinds continues to look like the most tranquil Wii game of 2008. Is it just us, or does this WiiWare adventure strike you as the antithesis of most modern games, which too often seem obsessed with packing non-stop action into our already crammed craniums? We quite appreciate an occasional change of pace, and could comfortably drift off to sleep simply while listening to this trailer (were it not for our ferocious superiors, who routinely patrol the Wii Fanboy dungeon, watching for napping bloggers).
Wikipedia has LostWinds down as a WiiWare launch release, though the official site is still displaying TBA. More as we ge -- zzzzzzzzzzz.
NMS08: Joystiq gets their hands dirty with WiiWare
- Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People seems to capture the Flash toon's look and feel, but is fairly linear (at least in the demo available at NMS08). Stern was also able to pry some more info about the episodic nature of the game from the title's marketing director, who said "Each episode, a different designer [is in charge], which is more like they do on TV. ... It's still the same team. [But] it'll be interesting to see how the episodes feel as a result. With Sam & Max, we've had complaints that they feel too similar. We might find with Strong Bad, that each one feels very different."
- LostWinds is shaping up nicely, apparently, as Stern commented "Because of game's playful controls, I wish I could have spent the time progressing through the entire game." He says this because LostWinds is actually finished, and the folks behind it hope its in the WiiWare launch lineup.
- Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King is more for the folks that like everything outside of the combat in RPG games. It's very menu-heavy, and you're very much like the manager of the game, sending out your townfolk to find goodies to bring back to you.
- Pop seems to have some very interesting multiplayer mechanics and, like LostWinds, is totally finished. The single-player games are "casual and a trance-like way to relax," apparently. They hope that it will be in the WiiWare launch lineup and between 500 and 800 Wii Points.
- Major League Eating is offering up a buffet of features for users to take from, including Wi-Fi gameplay and the complete package of competitive eating. There's going to be gross out techniques, as well as actual attack and defensive maneuvers. We're not all about who can eat a billion hot dogs the fastest ourselves, but it looks like this one is shaping up to be a full meal of fun on WiiWare.
- World of Goo is something that we've been interested in, surely you all know. And everytime someone checks it out and bothers to write something up on the internet, we're even more convinced this is a must download. Stern's label that this title has the "clever puzzle mechanic" and "irresistible gameplay" we've been hoping may have just cemented its status as a must own for us.
Read - Major League Eating
Read - World of Goo
Read - LostWinds
Read - Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King
Read - Pop
Read - Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People
A serene video of LostWinds in action
There was a brief video clip of Frontier Developments' LostWinds during Nintendo's GDC presentation, but that video has yet to be released -- until today, maybe. This video from IGN looks very similar to the GDC trailer; in fact, we think it may be the same one. It is at least equivalent in terms of showing the game in motion and illustrating the use of the pointer to control wind. We love how the little gust kicks up some water.
We're pretty sure that LostWinds would look much more exciting without the exceedingly mellow music. Although maybe mellowness is the order of the day for a game in which the main character's fighting style involves a breeze.
We're pretty sure that LostWinds would look much more exciting without the exceedingly mellow music. Although maybe mellowness is the order of the day for a game in which the main character's fighting style involves a breeze.
LostWinds creator describes a very complicated-sounding game
And it's not just simple platforming made to sound more complex. There's actually a lot going on in LostWinds other than jumping and gusting. You can use the wind to interact with the environment, including blowing water into the ground to grow an assortment of seeds that you can then use.
The interview goes on to discuss the importance of audio and narrative in games, and LostWinds' stylized appearance. Braben also denies (for now) a Virtual Console release of his Commodore 64 classic Elite.
GDC08: New WiiWare title unveiled: LostWinds
UK developer Frontier Developments (Thrillville) announced a new title for Nintendo's WiiWare service today, titling the adventure platformer LostWinds. We have a gallery of screenshots below that you can thumb through for a preview of the game's stylized art direction.
LostWinds stars Toku, a young boy who has discovered a wind spirit in a land threatened by its power-hungry sun/moon spirit. You'll move Toku around using the nunchuck's analog stick while aiding him with Wii remote gestures commanding the wind elemental. A quick controller movement can send a breeze or even a tornado to power Toku's jumps, glide him across distances, blow away enemies, and solve puzzles.
Frontier Developments hasn't yet announced a release date or price, but the studio is hoping to put LostWinds out with WiiWare's US launch this May 12th.
Read - Lostwinds official site
Read - Level Up interview with Frontier Developments' David Braben
