Not a new complaint, this one. Previously, both analysts and developers have suggested that Nintendo's first-party software is too strong to compete with, and now THQ has joined in on the despairing.
At a Q4 earnings call with investors, President and CEO Brian Farrell has admitted that THQ's kids' games had underperformed, and that Nintendo's own output was the reason why. Says Farrell: "With [...] new competition from Nintendo's first-party titles -- as well as new music games -- our traditionally strong kids' business did not meet expectations."
For us, the only title of interest in this week's releases is Battle of the Bands. We'll admit that we enjoy the rhythm-based games quite a bit, so naturally it appeals to us. Of course, what with us being bloggers and all, we probably won't get a chance to play it until Nintendo's next console is released.
That isn't the case for you all, we're sure, who have time to play games and read gaming blogs on the internet (thanks!). What will you be playing this weekend? Picking up anything new?
Some ripe, juicy screens from THQ's de Blob are available for you to gnaw on, providing us with further reason to need this game. And, hey, even though Joystiq didn't find the game to be all that great, we're still hopeful that it will be the fun experience we've been expecting it to be. If the single-player bombs, there's always the multiplayer, right?
THQ held a preview event for their 2008 games this week, and Joystiq's Zack Stern was on the scene to play all the offerings. Luckily for us, he checked out the demo for de Blob, one of the more interesting, original games on the Wii.
Or, well, that's what we've gathered from reading previews of the game before tonight. Zack wasn't quite as enchanted with the real thing as we have been with videos.
"de Blob looks like a cuddly Wii game, but it didn't hook me like Katamari. I think certain Wii owners will enjoy it, but the novelty didn't last long on me." He does mention that two-player matches "add a little more depth." We're a bit disappointed, but still convinced that there's a high probability of awesomeness within de Blob.
Deadly Creatures seems to be marketed as a kind of nature-survival-horror thing, but it's closer to the "quirky" territory that we love, being an action-platformer about non-cutesy, non-personified insects. IGN's Matt Casamassina playtested Rainbow Studios' bizarre game, taking away some details about the scorpion's controls.
The scorpion's pincers are controlled with the Z and B buttons, and are capable of combo attacks. A locks on to enemies, and C puts the scorpion into a blocking stance (do scorpions have blocking stances?) The Z and B buttons also activate finishing moves, which are carried out through Wiimote and Nunchuk motions -- No More Heroes is already exerting influence! The scorpion learns further motion-controlled moves along the way, as well.
Having already expressedouradmiration for de Blob on more than one occasion, we were beginning to think THQ's game had run out of ways to impress us. Wrong! IGN has a stack of new videos from the game (all located past the break), a couple of which feature something we're yet to see -- four-player de Blob.
It looks like great fun as well, with players sharing the same colorless arena, and then racing around to daub as much of the play area as possible in their own color. Furthermore, players can paint over colors laid down by their opponents, providing a perfect opportunity to quickly avenge previous defeats, or to gang up on more skilled players. It might just be us, but we find multiplayer gaming is at its best when there are simmering grudges and bitter rivalries.
We didn't even realize what vaguely familiar song was being mashed up in this Battle of the Bandstrailer for a minute -- it sounded cool, and it was exciting, and it seemed like the kind of thing we would enjoy playing in a rhythm game. Then the "Latin" version kicked in and we figured it out -- it's Gorillaz' "Feel Good Inc."! Hearing our favorite songs in so many different styles is going to be novel for a long time.
As for the actual gameplay, we aren't quite sure how the waving-based control scheme will hold up. We hope it works as well as the musical concept of the game.
Not many of you seemed too excited when WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2008 came out, but then again, that was the same week as Super Mario Galaxy's North American release. Also, at that time, the game would have cost you a cool $50 to buy.
Now, though, thanks to Amazon and its video game "Deal of the Day" promotion, you can get the game for half the price (or, for those of you that are terrible at math, $25). As per usual, this sale will end at 3 A.M. EDT, so if you want this title you better be ready to succumb to your inner impulse buyer.
Also, if you like to wrassle but aren't too keen on doing so on your Wii, today's DotD extends to every other console under the sun.
Want to see what it looks like when a third-party developer puts time, thought, and effort into an original Wii game? We would like to refer you to the de above video of De Blob, from THQ of all people. This looks great -- and not just "great for a third-party Wii game." Regular great! Those colors (and lack of)! The jazz/funk soundtrack! The level designs! The bouncing back and forth from building to building! This game looks totally fresh and surprising every time we see it. We hope it doesn't get forgotten when it comes out -- whenever that is. Check after the break for another video!
The majority of coverage for Worms: A Space Oddity has focused on the lack of online play (including the title and first sentence of this post). However, lots of Worms games have been offline-only (if only because so many of them predate online capabilities in game consoles), and fixating on that disappointment draws attention away from the other aspects of the game, which include: the whole game.
Four new trailers for the game focus on the game's new or updated weapons, like the Robo-Sheep seen here. The Robo-Sheep is like a regular sheep, but robotic, because it's more sci-fi that way. Also you can move the Wiimote up to make it jump before exploding.
Games publisher THQ announced today that they're addingyetanother Wii game to their repertoire (howmanyisthisnow?). The subject of the game is, oddly enough, cheerleading, making it the first of its kind.
Unless you're a six-year-old girl, All Star Cheer Squad sounds pretty terrifying -- there's really no other way to describe "squad competitions and one-on-one cheer-offs." The game will also utilize the Balance Board, making it only thethird confirmed Wii game to make use of the peripheral.
In case you're wondering what a cheerleading game might entail, it's probably what you'd expect: you learn cheers, make up a few of your own, practice them, and then perform.
Another batch of de Blob screens has found its way onto the interwebs, all featuring our globular hero rolling through, bouncing around and generally making a colorful nuisance of himself in Chroma, the game's monochromatic metropolis. As usual, we've squished them into the gallery below. Those lil' law enforcement officers are the cutest!
Incidentally, while there's been no more official announcements on a release date, Wikipedia has the game listed for June 27th. That seems too specific to be a simple fabrication, but none of our other sources confirm the date; all we know for sure is that the game is due at some point after April 1st.
THQ is going Wii crazy. Not only is the publisher responsible for bringing aliens, bands, deadly creatures, worms, blobs, and more to our Wiis, but now beach sports, too.
If you've ever had the urge to play beach games like bocce or cricket without actually going to the beach, consider yourself lucky. Big Beach Sports will feature those and others, including football, soccer, volleyball, and Frisbee golf. This THQ title will include single-player tournaments for the different sports, and also let you get your multiplayer groove going with up to three more people. Since the press release made no mention of online play, though, we'll have to assume for now that the game won't have any.
Will this summer release be a good beach adaptation of Wii Sports? We can't be sure, although at the very least, Americans might finally be able to find out what the heck is going on in cricket.
We aren't entirely certain about the actual back-and-forth-waggling mechanics of Battle of the Bands (formerly Band Mashups). But we are quite certain that we enjoy the over-the-top band graphics. THQ and Planet Moon want to make damn sure that you know which musical style your band represents. A "rock" band could look like anything, from guys in suits and identical haircuts to people who look like they just got out of class, but Planet Moon went super-goth.
Not only was this guy probably just listening to "Bela Lugosi's Dead," he appears to be dead himself. The styles are also reflected in the gameplay tracks.
There's a pair of high profile titles hitting the Wii this week, in the latest installment of the Destroy All Humans and Sega's latest Dreamcast-to-Wii port, SEGA Bass Fishing. Then, there's another game that we, frankly, don't care much about. Since we've gone ahead and finished No More Heroes, you can bet we're dying to get some new games to play. Maybe we'll unleash Big Willy ...
Not many of you seemed too excited when 
