Nintendophiles 3.17.10: Wii Footage, DS Sequels, Metal Max 3, Dr Who and More!
Posted by Daniel Bonnizzio on 03.17.2010
Come inside with Nintendophiles and take a look at footage from two upcoming Wii games, Scribblenauts 2, the new Pokemon games, a unique DSi game, Dr. Who coming to Nintendo, and chart-topping sales in Japan!
Word on the Wii
Red Steel 2: Weapons on Display
For those who were disappointed by the original Red Steel game released way back when the Wii was new, fear not. This video has recently been released which makes it seem that Ubisoft has taken this sequel-making thing seriously.
That's a shotgun, a one-handed shotgun, an automatic machine gun, a revolver and a bigass katana thus far. The gameplay looks much smoother than the first one, and changing weapons seemed fluid and easily let you pick which one was right for the time. Color me red for this game.
Forgotten Sands: A First Look
A first-look video has been released of the newest game in the Prince of Persia series. Entitled "Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands," it is set in the seven year gap between the first game "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" and the second game "Prince of Persia: Warrior Within."
The game will be available for all major gaming platforms, but the Wii and DS versions will be slightly different from the others, including the Wii game having a co-op mode and as a bonus, the original SNES "Sands of Time" game.
Exclusive for the Wii version are three unique powers that the Prince must use to traverse the various levels. The first is known as the Sand Ring; when an enemy is hit with the Sand Ring, they will momentarily be frozen for a few seconds. Outside of combat, the Ring can be used to latch onto surfaces – such as flat walls – to ascend the wall. The other powers are a pillar of sand to allow the Prince to access higher ground easily and a sphere of sand to act as a shield in all directions.
Also unique for the Wii version is the plot. According to Nintendo Power, in the Wii version of the game entails a female djinn seeking aid from the Prince to help liberate a kingdom under evil rule.
As a longtime fan of the Prince of Persia series this news is exciting. I've always thought the Prince of Persia games were better done than other games in a similar genre and intent, so to hear that a new game is in development with gameplay that reminds us of why we love the game in the first place along with some minor tweaks to keep it new is great news.
EA Sports Active 2.0
Coming of the huge success of the first two games in their EA Sports Active lineup, EA has announced a third game, creatively enough entitled EA Sports Active 2.0. This new game will be considered a full-fledged sequel to the original game as opposed to the add-on game known as EA Sports Active: More Workouts.
The new game will feature a modified wireless control system that will be powered by arm and leg straps with motion sensors, as well as a heart rate monitor. A new online hub is being rolled out to keep track of your workout data which will act as an online community for people to share their progress and goals.
Chalk this up as another attempt to get the ‘family dollar,' mark it as cashing in on a success, but I can't say much. We all know this will do massive dollars.
Handheld Headlines
More Scribbling!
A sequel to 5th Cell's unique game Scibblenauts has been announced for release in late 2010.
Prominent among the games improvements is the updating of the movement systems. Many players had made remarks about the controls detracting from the game.
Also included in the game will be adjectives to modify base words, such as in the above photo with the spotted hippo or even the spiked fridge. In addition to adjective, there have been over 10,000 new words added to the Scribblenaut dictionary which should allow for more varied gameplay. There will also be a hint system and a level editor in addition to the 120 new levels added to the game.
The first game was fun but it felt awkward at times to play. Hopefully the fixes really do fix the problem because the first game was ingenious and a breath of fresh air.
Pokemon: 10 Years, Still Kicking
10 years after they first came out, the remakes of the GameBoy hits Pokemon Gold and Silver are still as big now as they were then. Released on 14 March 2010, Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver, the ‘newest' games in the Pokemon franchise, have already managed to gather some positive accolades.
Although the games feature little to nothing new to longtime fans of the series, the games have still been able to withstand time to bring fun to gamers everywhere. The compatibility with Diamond, Pearl and Platinum, in addition to the inclusive gadget – the Pokewalker – seem to have done just enough to make the games desirable.
Although I have not gotten a copy of either game myself – for I am poor – I can honestly say that, despite owning (and beating all the way through) copies of Gold, Silver and Crystal, I want to get one of these games.
DS2: Definitely Bigger, but is it Better?
According to sources, the sequel to the DS platform – creatively termed the DS2 – could possibly see a late 2010 release. Although the current incarnations of the DS – from the Lite to the DSi – are currently still selling well, the rate at which game developers are able to work on the various games for the new system would imply that Nintendo could make a big announcement at E3 2010, and the public could see a release in late 2010 – just in time for the holiday season.
The DS2 is expected to use a dev kit very similar to the GameCube, which would explain the speed at which developers are able to complete games.
The new DS is expected to have quite a few new features over the original series of handhelds. First, although it will retain its iconic dual screens, the gap between the upper screen and the lower screen will be almost negligible, making for what could be one seamless screen. Although the top screen will not feature touch screen abilities, the bottom screen will maintain this feature. In addition to the non-seam, the screens will be bigger and feature a higher resolution so the images will not appear blocky – as they will on the DSi XL. Also a new feature for the DS2 will be the presence of an accelerometer.
Foto Showdown: Say Cheese!
Konami has released word on a new game exclusively for the DSi to be named "Foto Showdown."
As the name suggests, players will be using the DSi's in-built camera for this game. The premise of the game is that the dominant colors of the pictures taken by the DSi's camera will determine the monster that will spawn into the game. It will feature RPG elements such as fighting, leveling up, stats and stat improving as well as shops and different items to boost your monster's abilities. The game will include over 100 levels and 152 different monsters, and players can connect wirelessly either to trade or to battle each.
While some would say this comes off as a gimmick-game, I think that so long as they don't make the game solely about the pictures and instead make it about the game then it will do fine. Too often I see innovative games get too wrapped up in their innovativeness and ignore the gameplay.
JapaNESe News
Metal Max 3: A Revival
For 17 years the Metal Max name had lain dormant outside of a one-off game known to the US as "Metal Gear." Now, in 2010, a sequel to the tank-driving game has been announced for the DS. Titled "Metal Max 3," the game will still feature the RPG elements from the original games as well as the customizable tanks that are the staple of the franchise. However, as an addition to the game, the player will now be able to use a motorbike while equipping a handgun to use alongside the tanks.
Hot damn that is a bike.
Metal Max 3 is set in the near future where human civilization has been lost. The player will take control of someone that was brought back to life following his death whose goal is to recover his memory.
Expected for a summer release in Japan, there are currently no reports of a release stateside.
Pokemon Tops the Charts
Over in Japan the past week a new Pokemon game was released. Entitled "Pokemon Ranger: Hikari no Kiseki" the game was a huge seller in its first week on the charts selling approximately 161,000 units in one week alone. More impressive is the huge lead it maintained over the next game released that week in .hack//Link, which only sold around 60,000 copies. For those who don't know math, that's nearly a 3:1 ratio.
Oh wait, that's not Ranger's sales for a week. That's the sales number for 2 days. My bad. Still impressive.
Doctor Who's Game Debut
Since I couldn't seem to find anywhere else to fit this, bonus news for you.
In a stunning deal that has cost Nintendo approximately £10,000,000, the longstanding company has purchased the rights to make a Dr. Who game for the Wii and for the DS.
According to sources, negotiations for this deal have been in the works for quite some time. The final decision was to go with Nintendo because of the company's image as a family-friendly company, and that image happened to fit in rather well with the friendly nature of the Dr. Who brand. As of right now, no details for the game have been released outside of a tentative release schedule for Winter 2010.
My biggest question for this game is if it's going to be just one Doctor or if they are going to portray a number of the 11 different Doctors. My how fun.
That's the news for this week, thanks for reading, and don't forget to follow 411 on Twitter!
