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Nintendo sponsors British game show

by JC Fletcher { Jul 2nd 2009 at 10:15AM }

Nintendo has made a deal with UK TV station Five to fully fund one of its new shows, MCV reports. The Advertiser-Funded Programming deal means that Nintendo will pay for eight episodes of the new Britain's Best Brain show, which subjects contestants to five tasks, each designed to test a different brain function: "memory, co-ordination, numeracy, recognition and risk."

Obviously, we suspect Nintendo will use this opportunity as a promotional platform for the Brain Training series. If it were, say, Capcom looking for Britain's best brain, there would be cause for concern. MCV notes that in-show product placement is illegal, meaning that Nintendo will have to relegate the DS mentions to ads.

Go Grease Lightning (to the Wii and DS)

by Griffin McElroy { Jul 1st 2009 at 2:45PM }

Listen up, musical theater majors! Your time of reckoning approaches. Sure, your friends can easily best you at Halo 3 or Call of Duty 4 -- but in a short while, a title which will finally allow you to invoke your unique skill set will hit store shelves. We speak, of course, of Grease. The movie. The video game. For Wii and DS.

505 Games recently picked up the rights to adapt the musical film in conjunction with Paramount Digital Entertainment. The game will put players in the gaudy, unfortunate shoes of one of Sandy or Danny's cronies, forcing them to sing and dance using motion controls, microphones or the DS touch screen. Further gameplay details or a release date for Grease are currently unknown. C'mon, 505! Tell us more! Tell us more!

Metaboli's Chill-Out Pack brings casual games, parental controls

by Richard Mitchell { Jun 27th 2009 at 12:15AM }

European game service Metaboli -- partner to GameTap -- has announced its plans to launch the Chill-Out Pack, a service dedicated to downloadable, family-friendly casual games. The service is set to include over 200 casual games, including recognizable movie licenses like The Chronicles of Narnia and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, according to Casualgaming.biz. The service will update with new titles every week as well.

The Chill-Out Pack also offers new parental controls, including the ability to create sub-accounts for children, which allow parents to set parameters for their little ones, such as limiting playtime and deciding which games the kids can play.

Honestly, we thought it sounded like a great idea, until we discovered that the pack offers Peggle. As a warning to unsuspecting parents: Know that Peggle has the ability to tear your family apart. Seriously, you might want to hide it from the kids.

Namco Networks gives BurgerTime the update it didn't need

by JC Fletcher { Jun 25th 2009 at 12:30PM }

27 years after the release of Data East's original, Namco Networks has declared BurgerTime once again. BurgerTime Deluxe (not to be confused with the Game Boy game) recasts the arcade classic as a casual PC game, which primarily means replacing the arcade game's pixels with awful 3D models. Deluxe adds enemies like lemons and zucchini for some reason, includes minigames, and replaces the repetitive BurgerTime music with equally repetitive, but less catchy, music. Oh, and Peter Pepper talks to you all the time.

It still mostly plays like Burgertime, which is the only reason Data East hasn't risen from its grave in the form of a zombie Karnov and destroyed the world with fireballs. You can try it yourself for free for one hour (Burgertime Deluxe, that is, not destroying the world as a zombie Karnov).

And now for a bit of BurgerTime trivia: Data East released two arcade sequels to BurgerTime, called Peter Pepper's Ice Cream Factory and Super BurgerTime.

Suda 51: Middle market is key to refreshing Japanese game industry

by JC Fletcher { Jun 23rd 2009 at 8:30PM }

GamesIndustry.biz spoke to No More Heroes/Killer 7 creator Suda 51 at the Nordic Game Conference, and while it may seem like an odd fit to ask the Grasshopper Manufacture head -- who isn't known for big sales numbers -- about marketing, that's exactly what GI did, discussing the slowing Japanese market.

Suda approached the problem from a game design perspective. "Well, there are a lot of core gamers, and a lot of lighter users playing on platforms such as the DS," Suda said, "but there's nothing in-between. I think it's going to be very important for games to be created for that middle audience, and that will help bring the market back on-track."

Responding to a follow-up question about Grasshopper's signature style, Suda named some mass market games with their own distinct styles. "For example, Call of Duty, LittleBigPlanet or BioShock -- you can feel different core elements in each of those games. Burnout Paradise is my favourite [smiles]."

Wii Sports Resort: Video clip marathon

by JC Fletcher { Jun 22nd 2009 at 3:15PM }

Wii Sports Resort has a lot more content than its predecessor. For example, the aerobatics portion doesn't just include the skydiving segment that begins the game -- you can also fly the plane. Similarly, there are multiple aquatic vehicles you can operate -- canoes, wakeboards, and a few different jet-ski-based activities. Each of the twelve base sports contains a few gameplay variations.

After the break, you can see the airplane game and more for yourself, in a series of nine gameplay videos captured by GameVideos. We're glad you'll finally be able to see the surprisingly strenuous canoeing portion in action.

Gallery: Wii Sports Resort

Continued →

As Seen on TV: Murder, She Wrote and House M.D. games announced

by JC Fletcher { Jun 10th 2009 at 6:00AM }

Just thirteen years after the conclusion of the television show, Legacy Interactive has snapped up the hot Murder, She Wrote license for a PC game. The hidden-object game will feature five all-new mysteries, and will include both the classic Cabot Cave locale and "well-loved characters from the show" including Dr. Seth Hazlitt, Sheriff Mort Metzger, and, of course, crime-solving novelist and potential distant relative Jessica Fletcher.

Slightly more timely is Legacy's announcement of PC and DS games based on the House M.D. license. In this game, players will control the members of Dr. House's diagnostic team, including House himself, in five different cases. According to Legacy, the game will involve diagnosing and treating patients with rare diseases. It is unknown whether this process will involve breaking into their houses, as it always does on the show.

[Via Big Download]

The best of WoW.com: June 2-9, 2009

by Mike Schramm { Jun 10th 2009 at 12:00AM }

WoW Insider is now WoW.com, if you haven't yet heard, but don't worry: we still have everything you need to know about the world's most popular massively multiplayer online game, from tips and tricks to news and views. Here's our most popular posts from the past week, including news about all the new Druid forms above -- if it's in Azeroth, we've got news about it, just for you.

News

Beware of Blood Elves selling mounts
One of our writers' friends falls prey to the game's newest scam.
Achieved: Level 1 to 80 with no deaths
A character appropriately named Cautious reached the highest level in the game without dying once.
Revamped Night Elf Druid cat forms revealed
New looks for Night Elf Druids.
Zarhym explains Druid form color combos
Want to make sure your Druid has the form you want? Here's how.
Ensidia gets world-first Algalon 25-man kill
One of the game's biggest pro guilds downs the last major boss in the current content.

Features

An interview with a scammer
The perp in the article above gets the WoW.com interview spotlight shined on him.
WoW, Casually: Rating the classes for casuals
Which class is best to play for a casual player?
Arcane Brilliance: Reaching the hit cap
Mages, here's how to make the most out of those spells you're casting.
The lore of Ulduar
The latest game dungeon has more than a few hooks and hints into the rest of the World of Warcraft.
The Queue: Waterfalls
Our Q&A column will actually go chasing waterfalls to find answers to your questions. Not just stick to the rivers and the lakes that they're used to.

Ubisoft announces Style Lab casual franchise

by Griffin McElroy { Jun 1st 2009 at 9:50PM }

Ubisoft's press conference just took a turn for the boastful as the publisher praised its highly profitable casual franchises, Petz and Imagine. In order to rake in more solid gold bars of gold, Ubisoft is attempting to achieve a sales nirvana they're calling "Tween Games 2.0." The latest push in this attempt? An all new for-kids (let's be honest, for little girls) franchise known as "Style Lab."

The franchise will feature games that implement the DSi's camera for various girly reasons -- take a picture of yourself, and tart yourself up with make-up, or design your own jewelry which you can submit online and order in real life. Day. One. Purchase.

Nintendo's Rob Lowe discusses casual versus core product cycles

by Xav de Matos { May 27th 2009 at 11:30PM }

In an interview with Casualgaming.biz, Nintendo UK product manager Rob Lowe was asked if the casual, family-friendly gamer has become more valuable to the video games industry than the core gamer. "There is clear room for both and any publisher can demonstrate clear value in both casual and hard core," he responded, suggesting Nintendo sees the benefit of having titles aimed at both markets. A fair assessment from the company who reigns supreme in the hardware sales charts.

According to Lowe, casual and core software have the same ability to sell, but each at a different pace. While core titles usually sell well within a short time, casual games have a better ability to sell consistently throughout their lifespan on the store shelf.

"For every Carnival Games there is a BioShock and for every Wii Fit there is a Resident Evil 5," Lowe said. "It's really just different product cycle." A strong argument, even if Lowe couldn't name two recently released core titles on his own platform.

Majesco looking up to My Hero this fall for DS

by Jason Dobson { May 20th 2009 at 9:00AM }

Going casual has paid dividends for Majesco, and the company has announced yet another line of family-friendly titles coming to the Nintendo DS. Collectively called My Hero, Majesco calls the new sim franchise "aspirational," allowing players to pretend to be an astronaut or firefighter without the real-world worry of being burned alive or suffocating in the vacuum of space.

So far three My Hero games have been announced, with My Hero: Astronaut and My Hero: Firefighter set to ship in August. A third title, My Hero: Doctor, will follow in December, offering the perfect gift for the burned out rock star looking for a new gig on your holiday shopping list.

Wii Sports Resort features ... golf and table tennis?

by JC Fletcher { May 18th 2009 at 1:00PM }

Nintendo of Japan's new commercials for the Wii MotionPlus and Wii Sports Resort use some very slick high-speed camera footage to illustrate the realistic motions used in, among other things, table tennis and golf. New in-game footage found in the commercial reveals that two of Resort's new minigames will be retreads of things seen in previous titles -- table tennis was covered in Wii Play, and golf, of course, appeared in the original Wii Sports.

Nintendo must be very confident that MotionPlus improves these games significantly. We still don't know how many games will be included in Resort, but if two of them are going to be encore presentations, there had better be a lot of games. We totally understand Nintendo wanting to take a second crack at table tennis, we must admit, because Wii Play's version is not where it's at.

Gallery: Wii Sports Resort

[Via N-Europe]

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Joystiq interview: the EA/Hasbro game agreement

by Kevin Kelly { May 13th 2009 at 6:00PM }

When it comes to the realm of board games, Hasbro is quite the ... player. Over the past couple of decades, it has absorbed Parker Brothers, Milton Bradley, Avalon Hill, Wizards of the Coast, Cranium, and others. Chances are that any board game, not to mention toys, you used to play with as a kid are now owned by Hasbro.

In 2007, Electronic Arts signed an exclusive agreement with Hasbro to produce games based on some of the items in its vaults, and so far we've seen Scrabble, Hasbro Family Game Night, Trivial Pursuit, and more. EA also just announced Hasbro Family Game Night 2 for the Wii and DS, due out later this fall, which will add Pictureka, Bop-It, Operation, Jenga and others to the mix.

But where are the titles like Risk, Axis & Allies, and Dark Tower? We spoke to Steve Flege, Senior Marketing Director for Hasbro Digital and Kyle Murray, Senior Product Marketing Manager at Electronic Arts about the deal, the first games we've seen, the pricing structure, and what's coming up next. The good news: we might be getting Risk on next-gen consoles. It's been on the PC, the PS1, the PS2, and the original Xbox, so it's about time. Roll those sixes!

Gallery: Hasbro Family Game Night: Xbox 360

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Ex-Naughty Dog founders go casual with Monkey Gods

by David Hinkle { May 12th 2009 at 2:20PM }

Back in 1986, Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin had a dream. As childhood friends, they both wished to make games, so in their adult life, they established Naughty Dog in Santa Monica. They made some games for the Sega Genesis and 3DO, but pay dirt didn't arrive until they created Crash Bandicoot and set the whirling dervish loose on the PSOne. When the PS2 came around, the duo thought up another beloved property in the Jak & Daxter series, which we don't have to tell you was a pretty big deal (and still is!).

Now, the duo has a new company: Monkey Gods. Its focus is on the PC crowd (mostly the casual players), though there really isn't anything on the site at the moment. The first game to come from Monkey Gods will be Snood for the iPhone, available on the iTunes App store June 1.

We've put in word for comment to the two, and will update you all on whatever we hear back just as soon as we receive it.

[Via Geoff Keighley's Twitter]

Cooking Mama recipe yields 4 million portions

by JC Fletcher { May 11th 2009 at 8:30PM }

Majesco certainly seems to have cause to party -- other than demonstrating Cooking Mama 3, that's the actual point of its E3 Cooking Mama celebration. The company announced that the five games in the Cooking Mama franchise (not counting the iPhone port) have collectively sold over four million units in North America.

"We will continue to explore ways to expand the Mama brand with innovative and compelling products that offer new entertainment experiences," Majesco CEO Jesse Sutton said in a press release. Some of those new experiences may include babysitting and crafting!

Majesco also announced another milestone that may be of more practical importance: with a $20 price drop on Cooking Mama: World Kitchen, every Mama game is now available in the US for $29.99 or less.