Nintendo Wii Fanboy

Turns out that the Wii wasn't forgotten when Firaxis decided to roll out Civilization Revolution -- we're just getting the game a few months later than the other guys. Is it too much to hope that the delay means we're getting online multiplayer, and it takes a little more time to work out the kinks with Nintendo's new system? Maybe we'll find out at E3, but we wouldn't bet on an answer coming that quickly. However, since 2K Games will be discussing the game with (and demonstrating for?) lucky attendees, at least a few juicy details are likely.


[Via Joystiq]

Manhunt 2 isn't in as dire a situation in the US as it is in the UK, but it's close. The ESRB has labeled Rockstar's controversial game with an AO "Adults Only" rating. If the game ships with this rating, most retailers will refuse to carry it, cutting sales massively. The only other console game to have an AO rating in stores? Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which was re-rated following the Hot Coffee scandal, and quickly re-released in an edited form.

Rockstar has the option to appeal the rating, or they can edit the game and resubmit it. We doubt they'll release the game at AO, because they like selling their products.

[Via Joystiq]

Colin Torretta headed out to the Nintendo Media Summit for the Joystiq Network to get a little hands-on time with a lot of games, including the upcoming baseball blowout from Take-Two's 2k Sports, The BIGS. The BIGS is a baseball game, sure, but it's not your average game. It's baseball made bigger, better, faster, and completely awesome ... unless, of course, you want a fully realistic experience. But come on, you can get that anywhere. Sometimes it's nice to wallow in a string of heart-wrenching moments of baseball badassery -- and that's what The BIGS promises.

And according to Colin's impressions, The BIGS delivers exactly as promised in most ways ... but not in one highly-anticipated extra. The controls sound fluid (like a beefier Wii Sports Baseball), and judging from the screenshots, we don't have much issue with the look of the game. But it seems that the promised online mode is missing from the Wii game. It's a shame, but we're starting to get used to inviting people over to enjoy the Wii at this point.

Take-Two Interactive has been in the news a lot lately. We've seen everything from trailers for GTA IV and the company's very public floundering, but it's the latest that's of particular note to Nintendo fans: Take-Two has stated, quite firmly, that they are committed to producing games for Nintendo.

Great! Welcome aboard the good ship Nintendo, where we welcome third party developers. But what will you bring us? Chairman Strauss Zelnick keeps stressing Grand Theft Auto -- even to calling it the company's "James Bond," but will we see a GTA on the Wii? We want specifics! Manhunt 2 isn't enough. If we can't get an original new gen game of our own, what about a port of Rockstar's Table Tennis? That's one port we might not complain about. Anything else you'd like to see Take-Two turn out?

Rockstar and Team Bondi (the guys behind The Getaway) have announced L.A. Noire, a stylized, 1940's-era interactive story littered with glamorous dames, puzzles to solve, and a hardboiled gumshoe behind it all. Now, normally we wouldn't take too much notice of Rockstar news, but there's something here that sparks our interest. Hmm ... what could it be ... interactive story, puzzles, stylized imagery ... why, it sounds like it could be perfect as a Nintendo game!

Add in the Reggienator's comment about meeting with Take-Two and you've got fuel for a whole day's worth of inter-tube speculation. After all, they've announced no console for L.A. Noire. This could be our moment in the sun -- or in the shadows, as it were, snapping photos and tonguing the butt of a cigarette.

MTV (yeah, really) has a great GameFile piece up right now that speculates on the upcoming battle between the Nintendo Wii and the PS3. But though the rest is interesting, we only had eyes for one little thing that Reggie Fils-Aime let slip:

"We're reaching out to every publisher, frankly every day. I'll be spending some time later today with the folks over at Take Two to see what type of support they can give our console. ... The fact is there will be M-rated content on the Wii console."

This is either the sign of the apocalypse or the red carpet down which the Wii may strut to console wars victory. Take Two Interactive is, of course, the publisher behind the impossibly popular Grand Theft Auto franchise -- a franchise that has never appeared on a Nintendo console, though GTA has surfaced on the GBA.

We'll give you a moment to consider that one. It's okay. We'll wait.