Hey, don't feel too bad. Just because you haven't heard of Active Life: Outdoor Challenge is no reason to shed those tears. Wii Fit is great and all, but you need something more. Something to do with a big island of fun, apparently. With a bunch of games and a new mat, it's pretty obvious that peripheral-crazy Wii gamers will dig this latest installment into no holds barred gaming fun.
It's your fun-loving responsibility to check out the new official gallery with the latest and greatest in Active Life images. Hit the link below for river-rafting, see-saws, and a traditional mine cart ride. Despite the notable lack of Short Round on this ride, the characters are stumpy enough to be somewhat passable.
Star Wars games aren't always great. In fact, sometimes they're Masters of Teras Kasi. Sometimes they're Super Bombad Racing. They suffer from the same fate as any other licensed game: the developers put the universe before the gameplay, and insert whichever popular genre of game they feel like into a Star Wars framework, knowing that enough units will sell regardless of quality.
Namco's Famicom Star Wars game is the worst, and the best. It deviates from the source material not just to fit the genre (Super Bombad Racing required the existence of karts, for example, though in this case the game just shouldn't have been made), but seemingly at random. Somebody on the team may have heard of Star Wars, maybe. Even Soul Calibur IV, which actually isn't a Star Wars game at all, makes more sense as a Star Wars game than this.
The status on Fragile has been officially updated from scanned to gallery'd. Yep, you'll find a whole bunch of fresh, clear and ... don't touch them .. rather pretty images from this intriguing tri-Crescendo RPG in our new gallery.
Fragile? What the heck is that, you say? A history lesson -- it was announced as a "ruin-exploration RPG" last year, and only now has Namco released some new character art and images from in-game scenes. It seemed like vaporware for a brief period there, but new life has sprung forth! It's more stuff, just like we wanted, but we actually meant "give, game now! us!" instead of a simple collection of media.
Here's an idea. Go to the official website, have a read (if understanding Japanese is a skill you possess), and make sure the volume is turned up to let the haunting tune surround you. Hit the gallery for quietly surreal screens and enjoy the Fragile experience! It's not as good as playing the actual game, but it beats playing something you'll regret.
The above video is the opening cinematic to Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World. Considering that's what video we started off with in this very post, you can safely assume that there will be more videos, full of spoilers. Sure, all the text is in Japanese, but we're sure at least one thing will be spoiled for you, should you watch them. So, before you head past the break, keep that in mind.
With the recent news that Nintendo's Mario Super Sluggersis only 2 months away for those of us in North America, you're probably too busy dancing and making noise in a fit of excitement to actually be reading this. That's okay, we'll leave you to that.
As for the rest of you, check out the lengthy video above. It documents all of the stadiums and their unique hazards, as well as showing off their look during both day and night in-game. If you don't want the stadiums ruined for you, then we suggest you check out some of our screens below for your fix on Mario Super Sluggers.
Katamari Damacy rolled onto the gaming scene in 2004, bristling with the unanticipated fury of a budget title with mass-market appeal. Damacy's success and popularity in the United States, where it has quickly achieved a devoted cult following, is remarkable for a game that's so distinctly ... Japanese. However, anyone who's played the game can instantly grasp the appeal -- a delicious layer of charm coats the inner goodness of straightforward, addictive gameplay, and that's why Katamari Damacy is this week's game that is Born for Wii.
When the irresistibly alluring, slightly fruity King of All Cosmos accidentally destroys the heavens, his solution is a novel one -- roll up piles of junk and send them skyward to replace the fallen stars. Fortunately for us, he's far too lazy to do the grunt work himself. And that's where we come in as the tiny Prince, charged with the daunting task of restoring the stars to the sky with the aid of a magical ball (a katamari, of course) that sticks to damn near everything.
Famitsu has posted another line-up of Mario Super Sluggersscreens, 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 regions that will probably never understand or care about baseball the rest of the world.
Well, we've had enough time to play this week's Virtual Console releases, so it's time we made our video, eh? We've done just that, so grab some popcorn, a refreshment and that special someone in your life, because you're about to be entertained. Of course, the reality is the video above is horrible and lacking in any quality.
So, to make up for that, we've got some added stuff past the break.
The steady flow of content continues this week, as those of us here in North America get our hands on some WiiWare goodness, as well as a pair of new Virtual Console titles. And, one of the Virtual Console downloads is an import, with the other being a classic that many are going to be waiting to download as soon as the clock strikes 12pm ET today.
The existing trailer for Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World is a glorious cinematic, and there's nothing quite as tasty as an epic RPG doing what it does best - showing off and kicking ass. Fortunately for us, the Tales series does lots of stuff best, and we're hoping this latest footage from Dawn plays as good as it looks.
The opening cinematic features Lloyd, Collette and the rest of the gang from the GameCube'sSymphonia. Keep in mind -- the entire video is overrun by lighting-fast Japanese commentary, and it's information we only wish we could comprehend. Nevertheless, you'll witness plenty of gameplay here, with the new world map featured (as opposed to the rather empty free-roaming map in the previous game), along with a couple of dialogue scenes and some heavy battling action. There's really nothing to criticize at this point -- we just want to play this stunner.
Fans of SNK and the Virtual Console, you'll be happy you're reading this post today. A couple of titles, Fatal Fury 2 and Art of Fighting 2 both popped up on the ESRB website with Wii listings, as well as Samurai Shodown and Samurai Shodown 2. Not only that, but classic title Dig Dug also popped up.
Now that's what we need! Some new, non-shooter titles on the Virtual Console are a welcome addition to the Wii's catalog.
Mario must be single-handedly keeping all his local sporting goods stores in business. He is no stranger to picking up any randomgame, throwing an item or two into the mix and giving it a go with all his friends. We're happy about that, because it usually turns out pretty good.
Now we can finally bring you some goodies for the latest foray into sporting superstardom. We've got the brand new trailer for Mario Super Sluggers, along with some captures in the gallery.
The trailer is very comprehensive, and shows off several cutscenes along with a demonstration of the all-purpose Wiimote controls. We don't have any idea what the guy is saying, but the movements displayed alongside the game speak for themselves. Of course, there'll be explosions and interference blasting every which way, so this isn't your typical Mom n' Pop baseball game.
We'll be on top of all Mario Super Sluggers information (and English content, geez) as it arrives. In fact, you could say we have all bases covered. Ha. That's funny.
The folks at Namco Bandai have announced that they'll be hosting an event in celebration of their title We Ski. It all goes down at the Nintendo World Store in New York City this Saturday, between 12pm and 4pm. Demo kiosks will be available to demo the title, either with the Wiimote and nunchuk or using the Balance Board. There won't be much in the way of goodies available, but the first 500 people to pick up the game will get a free poster.
Sadly, due to some image uploading issues on our end, you all will just have to settle for the video alone this week. Hopefully, it's enough to satisfy your curiosity regarding this week's lone Virtual Console release. How do we feel about it? Well, you'll just have to watch the video above!
Courtesy of CoroCoro Comics, we've got some more to gawk at concerning the once-named Super Mario Stadium. Now it's being call Mario Super Sluggers, which is an improvement in our eyes, and is to feature, as you'd expect, a plethora of characters from Nintendo's famous franchises. We're glad to see Mario is heading back to the diamond again!
The scans show off some interesting aspects of the game, including what looks like a kind of special catch system when playing in the outfield, which lets you rob players of home runs. Also, the player-specific abilities seem to be returning, as well as the themed stadiums in which you'll play ball. In the scan, you can see what appears to be Luigi throwing a kind of tornado pitch. Interesting, to say the least.
Star Wars games aren't always great. In fact, sometimes they're Masters of Teras Kasi. Sometimes they're Super Bombad Racing. They suffer from the same fate as any other licensed game: the developers put the universe before the gameplay, and insert whichever popular genre of game they feel like into a Star Wars framework, knowing that enough units will sell regardless of quality.
The status on Fragile has been officially updated from scanned to gallery'd. Yep, you'll find a whole bunch of fresh, clear and ... don't touch them .. rather pretty images from this intriguing tri-Crescendo RPG in our new gallery.
Katamari Damacy rolled onto the gaming scene in 2004, bristling with the unanticipated fury of a budget title with mass-market appeal. Damacy's success and popularity in the United States, where it has quickly achieved a devoted cult following, is remarkable for a game that's so distinctly ... Japanese. However, anyone who's played the game can instantly grasp the appeal -- a delicious layer of charm coats the inner goodness of straightforward, addictive gameplay, and that's why Katamari Damacy is this week's game that is Born for Wii.
Courtesy of CoroCoro Comics, we've got some more to gawk at concerning the once-named Super Mario Stadium. Now it's being call Mario Super Sluggers, which is an improvement in our eyes, and is to feature, as you'd expect, a plethora of characters from Nintendo's famous franchises. We're glad to see Mario is heading back to the diamond again!
