Latest Nintendo Wii Virtual Console Additions Arrive

The latest three Virtual Console titles have arrived at a Wii Shop near you. Yes, we’re aware this actually occurred Monday, but we were off yesterday. So sue us.

And threesome goes a little something like this:

ActRaiser (SNES, 1 player, 800 Nintendo Wii Points): A masterpiece of game design originally released in the early days of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, ActRaiser’s enduring popularity stems from its revolutionary combination of action- and simulation-based game play. The user plays the role of the Master, a dethroned deity whose once-idyllic world has fallen under the control of the Evil One. Stripped of godly power, the Master must somehow put an end to the Evil One’s reign and rebuild his desolate realm. Game play alternates between two modes: Action and Simulation. In Action mode, the Master must battle against impossible odds to pacify six lands. Pacifying a land unlocks Simulation mode. In this mode, the Master must oversee the development and repopulation of the territory he has reclaimed. In doing so, he will gain followers who gradually restore his godly might, empowering him to take back the next land and, ultimately, defeat the Evil One.

Kid Chameleon (Sega Genesis, 1-2 players, 800 Points): The local arcade is packed with kids, all lining up to play the latest, most realistic video game they’ve ever seen. It’s called Wild Side, and it uses holographic images to immerse the player in a strange world. But there’s a problem… Kids are literally getting sucked into the game, and now several of them are trapped. Throughout more than 100 levels, you’ll take on several different forms, such as a Berzerker, a Micromax, a Maniaxe or a Skycutter, which will make you much more powerful. It’s up to you, Kid Chameleon, the best gamer in town, to get yourself inside the game so that you can defeat the game’s boss and bring your friends back to reality.

J.J. & JEFF (TurboGrafx16, 1 player, 600 Points): This comical action game features two bungling detectives, J.J. and JEFF, as they travel through a total of six fields. One day, a request comes into their office to take a case that requires them to “rescue a wealthy man who’s been kidnapped.” Choose between the two characters and set off alone to outwit your partner and save the day. Each field is broken down into four areas, where enemies, as well as your partner, will try to keep you from your goal. There are many items throughout each area. Kick around in various locations to make them appear. Jump and spray-paint your way toward your goal. If you find a hidden room, you can regain health while being completely entertained by its short sketch and surreal allure.

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Mii Codes Linked to Friend Codes

In an interview with a French publication, Next Level Games’ Justin Dowdeswell, Producer of Mario Strikers Charged Football, mentioned that each Mii is linked to a Friend Code that can be used in future online games, meaning the need for inputting codes may become a thing of the past!

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Blitz on Nintendo Wii, DS, Downloads & Much More

Cubed³: Could you please tell our readers how you got into the gaming Industry and about some of the other games you have worked on in the past?

Philip Oliver, CEO & Co-founder of Blitz Games - Long, long ago, well about 1980, Andrew and I were school kids when Space Invaders appeared in arcades. A friend let us play on his dad’s Apple IIe, games like Zork, TaxMan and Night Mission and our parents bought us a Binatone PONG console for Christmas. Within a year our older brother bought a ZX81 and Andrew and I started playing with it and learning how to program very basic games. We got the bug and in ‘82 we were first in line for a Dragon 32. This had colour graphics and 32k of memory - although you could only use half of it because half was reserved for screen memory, but that was still a LOT! Remember we were coming from a ZX81 with 1k memory! We then moved onto a BBC Micro and then Amstrad CPC128 which is where we started to make our very successful games. Once our games took off we started to convert them to the leading games platform at the time - the ZX Spectrum. (1k = 1024 Bytes - a Byte is a single number between 0-256 - so that’s not much!!!)

Games we’ve worked on - well that’s now a very long list. But we remember and are very proud of the games we created for Codemasters in the mid-eighties - particularly the Dizzy series and most of the Codemasters ‘Simulator’ games. The full list is at: www.OliverTwins.com & www.Blitz-Games.com - (by all means print a list! )

C3: Do you find that working on an established franchise as opposed to working on a brand new production is quite restrictive? And if so, in what way?

PO: They are different but both are fun and creatively challenging. When you are given no starting point it’s hard to come up with something compelling and keep the enthusiasm focused through the whole development cycle. Whereas when we have a license we know the game will sell and we start with a lots of creative ideas, characters and scenarios, within that world we have to be creative to pull out the best elements and create a fantastic game which is guaranteed to sell and already has a keen audience waiting for it.

C3: What is currently on the cards for Blitz Games? Will you be working on Wii again in the near future or perhaps even something for the Nintendo DS?

PO: The Blitz reputation for quality games is growing fast and the company is growing fast – we’re now around 200 people with many subcontractors too! We are working on most platforms, but the Wii has a very special place in the market and is perfect for the kind of games that Blitz is known for. We have 4 more Wii games in production currently and are in discussions for others.

We have decided not to pursue handheld formats, that includes DS, simply because there aren’t enough good people to cover the console work we have, so we don’t want to spread ourselves too thin supporting all the different technologies.

C3: In your experience, how does developing for the Wii differ from the other next-generation formats?

PO: Nintendo has played a very clever game. The console is much cheaper at retail and therefore selling very well. The trade off was to not cater for the higher resolutions of HD TVs. The controller is unique and gives a new fun experience that has more appeal to the mass market. Nintendo focused on fun and price point rather than resolution and that’s served them very well. This approach works very well given the economics of the games industry. Higher graphic resolutions make game production more expensive whereas different control interfaces have less impact. Because the console is selling so well it will have a large user base making it more viable for impressive games to be written as they are more likely to sell in large volumes and therefore make profits.

C3: Possession was once rumoured for an appearance on Wii (back when it was still known as Revolution), but there has been no word on it for a while. What is the status of the game as far as coming to Wii is concerned? Was there any truth to the hearsay?

PO: I’d rather not comment on that right now.

C3: Could you possibly give us any hints as to what Volatile Games’ ‘Secret Project’ is? Considering Nintendo already has more mature games coming to the Wii (for example Resident Evil and Manhunt 2), is there a chance the mature side of the company will support the system?

PO: I expect Volatile will produce games for the Wii in time. The console is becoming very popular and we are becoming experts on it.

C3: With the Wii already flying ahead of the PS3 in terms of sales in the US and Japan and quickly catching the Xbox 360 on a worldwide basis, do you think it can keep up its momentum like the DS has?

PO: Yes, I believe it will continue well for 2 to 3 years, after which Nintendo will be ready to launch it’s successor. As HD TVs become more popular they will need to address this next time, but they are clever people and I trust they know what they are doing.

C3: It has been reported that by 1986 7% of all games sold in the UK could be linked with you and your brother. That really is a massive achievement! Do you ever see the UK market becoming as strong as that again? And what are your thoughts on the state of the Industry at the moment?

PO: That statistic is true, but in VERY different times. The market was much smaller and much less global. Most games being sold in the UK were produced in the UK. But our games were not being sold abroad much. Now the industry is global we have much more competition and must maintain our quality, but it’s commercially viable to do as we are now selling to a much bigger market. Our games now sell much higher volumes and at higher prices than the games we wrote back when we had 7% of the UK games market.

C3: What do you think about the demise of E3? Can it be replaced by any other shows, such as TGS?

PO: I was shocked when I heard what had happened, as I took it for granted there would always be an E3. For me it was a great opportunity to see many different games very quickly, but it was becoming harder to do real business. The problem is the deals are getting bigger and the environment was getting more hectic. Many described it as ‘trying to do deals in a circus’. As a result of its demise, I’m sure other shows will grow although never back to the size of E3. A shame really as E3 was a high point for the industry and a real showcase of just how far games have come and how big an industry it now is. Sadly it was a showcase rather than an efficient place to do business.

C3: With Nintendo announcing that it will encourage new releases from smaller development teams, do you feel that the company could re-ignite the old style of bedroom development once more?

PO: When Nintendo says smaller that’s all relative! It means smaller than the likes of Epic!! Certainly all boxed games will be sizeable productions. It is cheaper to produce games for the Wii than the Xbox360 or PS3. That combined with the unique controller does mean we are likely to see more innovative games, which could be smaller than most boxed games if they are fresh, different and fun.

C3: One of your biggest hits from the past was Dizzy. Do you still hold the rights to this, or is it still a Codemasters property? And, if you do, have you got any plans to either revamp Dizzy for systems such as the DS and/or Wii, or maybe get older Dizzy games distributed via the Wii’s Virtual Console?

PO: We’re obviously very proud of Dizzy, but in many ways Dizzy was more than a name and an egg shaped character - it was a game making philosophy that lives on in Blitz today. In those games we focused on immersing the players in interesting new worlds of challenges and adventure populated with imaginative characters - some friendly and some not so. We targeted the mass market, not hardcore gamers. We didn’t show off with technology, we focused on fun gameplay and accessibility. If you look at our ‘Blitz’ games you will see the evidence. It’s been commented many times that our PacMan World 3 game last year was in so many ways what Dizzy would be if it were to come back (well not so yellow obviously!).

Will Dizzy ever return? Codemasters own half the IP in the name and character so it’s not just down to us but ultimately we’d like to see Dizzy return.

C3: Considering the newly formed Blitz Arcade team is to create new games for digital download, does this mean you are interested in Nintendo’s idea of creating new content on the Virtual Console?

PO: Of course! We are really excited by digital downloads hence our new division. We fully expect to be on the Wii’s Virtual Console as soon as possible and have several very interesting projects in the works.

C3: Philip, you recently spoke with GamesIndustry.biz about the British development community and the lack of support given for those moving from university education into the world of development. Do you think the situation will change in the future, or are other sectors of the world inevitably going to take control in the development world?

PO: A very serious issue and I’m pleased you’ve thought to bring this subject up again. Games are exciting and big business. It’s a dream job for so many people but it’s surrounded by problems. Game development budgets are soaring faster than the growth in people’s spending on games. The quality is rising fast and competition is global - with improved communication people know which are the good games and who are the good developers and this causes a focusing effect meaning mediocre skills won’t cut it any longer. So anyone wanting to enter needs to improve their skills and quickly. Every other country in the world knows there’s a good industry and economy to have through developing games and therefore it’s become highly competitive. Other governments are actively encouraging game developers and education within their countries which, left unchallenged will mean we will lose all game development companies from this country, just as we’ve lost many other industries in the past.

I’m passionate this doesn’t happen - the UK is our home and I have many people I’m responsible for that are passionate about living here and making great games! So we are doing what we can to fight this. For any students reading this wanting to get into the games industry please keep checking GameON on the Blitz website, more info will be coming soon.

C3: Is this problem a primary reason for your involvement with Tiga? Could you please briefly tell our readers a little about Tiga and its aims?

PO: It’s one of many reasons. TIGA’s goal is to look after the mutual interests of all game development companies in the UK & now Europe, regardless of ownership; so publisher-owned development teams are now represented too. There are many challenges but certainly skills and training is one key factor. Many of the areas TIGA tackles are for medium to long-term gains and I firmly believe it’s performed well and will continue to do so. For those reading this that are in the industry and whose companies are not part of TIGA you have to ask yourself - are your management thinking about the long term future of the UK games industry or just themselves?

C3: Finally, what games have you been playing recently in your spare time?

PO: Spare time! That’s a laugh! With my family, a wife and three daughters, and a company of almost 200 people spare time is non-existent!

My girls like there DS’s and PSP so I do get to ‘help’ on games like New Super Mario Bros, nintendogs, Bratz Forever Diamondz, LocoRoco & Mercury. At work I get to review and play all our games in production which I love doing although our Project Managers always cringe when I do as I’m able to write hundreds of suggestions within a very short space of time - often after seeing only a few minutes of the game!

I wish there was more time to play, but in many ways I see the challenge of running a company as similar to a very complex game where doing well results in more than just a good score - it has major positive effects on a lot of people.

Thanks very much,
Philip Oliver
CEO & Co-founder of Blitz Games.

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Party On! Nintendo Wii Gamers, Tamagotchi Ships

Namco Bandai announced today that it has shipped Tamagotchi: Party On! for the Nintendo Wii.  This 3D party game, somewhat oddly released alongside the latest installment in Nintendo’s juggernaut Mario Party franchise, lets gamers run for Tamagotchi president.

Namco Bandai’s first Wii title promises plenty of laughs, as up to four players can compete in a variety of mini-games that’ll see gamers twisting, shaking, driving, and jumping all while using the Wii Remote.

You’ll find more on Tamagotchi: Party On! in the press release below:

Santa Clara, Calif., (May 29, 2007) – Leading video games publisher and developer NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc. announced today that they have shipped TAMAGOTCHI^®: Party On™! for the Nintendo Wii™.  Take part in the wildest campaign election since the primaries as your favorite Tamagotchis come to life, running for Tamagotchi president in this quirky and totally fun 3-D party game.  Namco Bandai’s first game to hit the Nintendo Wii, will have you laughing out loud as players are able to get together with up to 4 of their friends to compete in a hilarious and completely unique presidential campaign.  Utilizing the Wii Remote to compete in a variety of fun mini-games,TAMAGOTCHI: Party On!, will have players twisting, shaking, driving, and jumping their way to presidential victory.

“We’re very excited to be bringing TAMAGOTCHI: Party On! to the Nintendo Wii community.  The Wii Remote’s unique functionality is suited perfectly for this kind of fun pick-up-and-play type game,” Makoto Iwai, Senior Vice President and COO, NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc., said. “With its adorable visuals and incredibly addictive mini-games, it’s a game the whole family can enjoy together.”

About TAMAGOTCHI: Party On!

TAMAGOTCHI: Party On! allows players to choose their favorite virtual pet and engage in a hilarious campaign to become the next president of Tamagotchi Planet. Earn your popularity by going up against three friends or solo in over 15 unique and totally addictive mini-games including shaking hands, finding lost children, and cleaning up the city! In order to succeed at each of these mini-games, players will have to swing, shake, point, turn and twist their Wii Remotes in order to increase their popularity.

Earn Gotchi, the currency on Tamagotchi Planet, in 10 quick and exciting Gotchi games from classic Rock, Paper and Scissors, UFO Memory, Meatball Maker and many others. Use the hard-earned Gotchi to outfit the candidate’s headquarters with the latest in Tamagotchi design.  The more lavish the campaign headquarters is, the more popularity points the player will earn.

With over six different towns to win over and tons of Popularity Points to be earned in a number of adorable, yet tricky mini-games, TAMAGOTCHI:  Party On! brings out the fun in politics without all the mudslinging! Be happy! Be popular! Be president!

TAMAGOTCHI: Party On!  is rated ‘E’ for Everyone by the ESRB and carries an MSRP of $39.99. For more information on TAMAGOTCHI: Party On! please visit http://www.namcobandaigames.com/games/tamagotchipartyon/

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No Silent 5 For Nintendo Wii, It Seems

Printed rumors claim that Silent Hill 5 is coming to PS3 and Xbox 360, but it looks like Wii will be left out of the loop. And it’s not because of horsepower, but because of the antiquated perception that it’s only a family console.

In a recent interview with Electric Shock Magazine (via), Masashi Tsuboyama both complimented and condescended to Wii’s audience.

“While Nintendo Wii sales are very high, and i applaude Nintendo for their sucess, I dont think Silent Hill is a game that would be sold on Nintendo Wii as much as a game like Zelda would worldwide. This by no means says we will not consider the idea but the general opinion is that Wii is for family games and im sure the fans don’t play Silent Hill with their grandma!”

Apparently, he hasn’t been informed that Resident Evil, No More Heroes, and Manhunt 2 aren’t exactly rated E for Everyone.

He also thinks the Wiimote isn’t a good match, saying it “would be easier to make for but the control scheme would be hard to implement in a Silent Hill game.”

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Mortal Kombat Armageddon on Nintendo Wii

This is the latest chapter in the Mortal Kombat fighting franchise and the Nintendo Wii lets you use your hands more than ever in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, this is real extreme fighting action on the Wii.

In this version you not only get every character from the Mortal Kombat fighting universe, but you will also get a really cool new mode called Konquest.

With the Wii’s unique control system you will be more hands on than in any fighting game before, it really does look fun (and that graphics look cool too).

Mortal Kombat Armageddon for Nintendo Wii Features:

• Deliver powerful combo attacks in mid-air with new Aerial Kombat
• Experience deep, story driven adventures in the enhanced Konquest mode
• Finish your opponents with the all-new Kreate-A-Fatality system
• Kreate-A-Fighter mode allows you to make customizable characters you can take online!
• Fight as any of the 60 plus characters from the entire Mortal Kombat universe!

So speak up Nintendo Wii fans, Will it be a Hit or Miss?

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Nintendo Wii VC Will Be Blazing This Monday

Hudson will come out with lazers blazin’ this Monday, as the company has revealed that Blazing Lazers will be this Monday’s Wii Virtual Console release for the TG-16 console. This vertical scrolling shooter is well-respected by schmup fans, with several different types of power-ups. Like virtually every other TG-16 re-release to date, it will retail for 600 Wii Points.

Since it’s almost the end of the month, this also indirectly confirms that World Sports Competition will be the TG-16 release on May 28th. The company has already revealed that it too will retail for 600 Wii Points.

Source: Hudson

Nintendo Wii Virtual Console Sees Kong 2, Yoshi

It’s a smaller than usual week for Euro Wii gamers looking for classic titles on the Virtual Console.  With only two titles to choose from, it’s a tad disappointing.  But there’s always next week.

Stake your claim as king of the jungle this week as the world famous ape family swing their way onto the Nintendo Wii Virtual Console. Released for the Super Nintendo in 1995, Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest sees our hero Donkey Kong take a step aside to allow his family members to take centre stage. When the big ape himself is kidnapped, it is up to the young Diddy and Dixie Kong to fight their way through eight worlds of comical action to save their superstar relative. Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest is available now for 800 Points.

Joining this retro classic is another all-time great from Nintendo’s archives. Originally making its debut in 1992 on the NES, Mario & Yoshi is a fast-paced puzzle game starring everybody’s favourite plumber and his faithful dinosaur side-kick, Yoshi. In this game, players must catch falling enemies from the Mario series in-between egg shells, to free Yoshi trapped inside. With increasingly difficult stages to master and a frantic split-screen multiplayer mode to enjoy with a friend, this is the ideal title for puzzle fans! Mario & Yoshi is now available to download for 500 Points.

Source: Nintendo

Namco Museum Remix Confirmed for Nintendo Wii

Namco Bandai has confirmed recent rumors that it will release Namco Museum Remix for the Nintendo Wii this Fall.

The highlight of the compilation is, as the title suggests, five remixed Namco arcade games with new controls geared towards the Wii Remote. This includes remixes of Pac’n Roll, Galaga, Pac-Motos, Rally-X, and Gator Panic. It also includes nine titles ported (or more likely emulated) directly, including Galaxian, Dig Dug, Mappy, Xevious, Gaplus, Super Pac-Man, Pac & Pal, Pac-Mania, and Cutie Q.

You’ll find more in the press release below:

Santa Clara, CA., (May 18, 2007) – Leading video games publisher and developer NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc., announced today that Namco Museum™ Remix will launch on the Nintendo^® Wii this Fall. Featuring a graphical makeover, Namco Museum Remix, includes five “remixed” Namco arcade games with new controls utilizing the Wii Remote to whip, swing, twist and shake up the video game classics. In addition to the entertaining “remixed” titles, Namco Museum Remix will also feature a collection of arcade games that stay true to their original arcade style.

“Namco Museum Remix breathes new life into all time classic games like Galaga^®, Rally-X^® and Pac’n Roll^® by taking their fun and famous gameplay and adding new twists which are easy to grasp, involve multiple players and offers a level of fun that is only possible with the Nintendo Wii,” Makoto Iwai COO and Senior Vice President, NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc., said.

Namco Museum Remix will revitalize popular Namco games, recreating them from the ground up with intuitive controls utilizing the Wii Controller and with new visuals in terms of both graphics and presentation. Each game delivers a unique experience that can be shared between anyone wanting to jump in on the action.

Popular remixed games for Namco Museum Remix include:

• Pac’n Roll Remix –Pac-Man^® will ROLL his way to victory instead of chomping his way through. Players navigate Pac-Man by rolling him through worlds where he will face deadly obstacles, roll-up classic pac pellets and use awesome power-ups.

• Galaga Remix –With Galaga invaders arriving from the far reaches of space, players must try to shoot down the invading forces and save Pac-Man from ultimate destruction. With up to four-players able to challenge the oncoming invaders, and scores being tallied for each player, wiping out an alien species has never been so much fun.

• Pac-Motos^™ Remix – The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to knocking your opponents off a series of unique and colorful stages all while using the Wii Controller to move, dash and power-up your Pac-Man! Players engage in a small arena where the goal is to knock opponents off while grabbing power-ups and navigating through challenging environments.

• Rally-X Remix – With up to 4 players capable of taking the screen at once, this classic Namco title is brought new life with slick graphics, power-ups and a new intuitive control scheme using the Wii Remote to steer. All these new features for Rally-X equal one thing – fun.

• Gator Panic^® Remix – Gators pose a serious problem and Pac-Man is here to solve it. Players use Pac-Man to whack at emerging gators that appear on screen. The player with the most gator whacks at the end of a match wins!

Also included in Namco Museum Remix are nine faithful classic Namco arcade games to experience again or for the first time. These arcade games include: Galaxian^®, Dig Dug^®, Mappy^®, Xevious®, Gaplus^™, Super Pac-Man, Pac & Pal^™, Pac-Mania^® and Cutie Q^™.

For more information about Namco Museum Remix, please visit the official site at www.namcobandaigames.com

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Nintendo Wii Rabbids Redux For 2007

Rayman Raving Rabbids on Wii has been both a critical and commercial success for Ubisoft. The party title was the perfect showpiece for the console, demonstrating how many different ways people could have hours of goofy fun on Nintendo Wii.

So Ubi has quickly picked up the ball and ran with it; this holiday those wacky wabbids will be returning in a sequel.

The news comes from a reliable poster on NeoGAF:

The latest edition of English magazine NGamer has a preview of RRR 2. The game is coming out this year, and will once again feature mini-games. The story: The Rabbids are attempting an rebellion from beneath a shopping mall and the mini games will be Rayman attempting to stop their training.

And now the bad news: they didn’t seem impressed as some mini games look like rehashes from the original. UbiSoft will host its own mini-E3, as most companies are having this month, on monday, so perhaps then will we see more from this game.

We’re filled with both excitement and trepidation — a few lazy rehashes of old mini games is somewhat acceptable, but hopefully the majority will be fresh ‘n’ new.

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