Nintendophiles 08.02.07
Posted by Theo Fraser on 08.02.2007
Ubisoft pull out the big guns, announcing the very first Heroes video game! Plus, see which Xbox franchise is making its way to the DS, and find out a ton of info regarding Guitar Hero 3 on Wii!
Well it's finally starting to look like Summer here in England, and I'm sweating buckets, so we'll go straight to the news before my shirt decides to completely attach itself to my skin.
Ubisoft bring Heroes to next generation consoles
Credit: IGN
Ubisoft executives will have been sipping the champagne this past week, as they made a potentially massive acquisition. Ubisoft have signed a license agreement with Universal Pictures to develop a video game based on hit TV show Heroes.
Now, Heroes has only just started over here on terrestrial TV, so I'm not all that familiar with it yet. I like what I see, however, and a video game does seem like a cool idea. Sylar better be a secret character though, I wanna go around scalping people! But let's keep that part hush-hush from the BBFC, yeah?
The licensing deal allows Ubisoft to produce a third-person action/adventure for PC and major consoles. It is not yet clear whether or not the game will be released across ALL platforms, but for a franchise as successful as Heroes, I see no reason why they'd limit themselves to one particular console. Plus, I'd be pretty confident for a Wii version anyway, as Ubisoft currently have a great rapport with Nintendo.
Storyline-wise, the game is said to slot in between Season 1 and 2, filling the gaps between them. This is akin to the 24 game, which revolved around events between Season 2 and 3. According to co-executive producer of the show, Jesse Alexander, the game has been in mind since the show's conception, so it doesn't seem as if this will be some cheap tie-in game; this will be a videogame worthy of its thriving on-screen counterpart.
All the major characters from the show are said to feature in some way in the game, so I'd imagine the main cast of the show will be playable. As long as Hiro's in it, it's cool with me!
Currently, a release date is estimated to be Winter 2008, but as is the nature of the beast, things can change. With such a hot commodity on their hands, I'd expect Ubisoft to get down to business pronto, and we'll see some first screens in a couple of months. Stay tuned, Heroes fans!
Rare bring Viva Pinata to the DS
Credit: Cubed3, CVG
Last week's Comic Con ‘07 event brought Nintendo fans the great news that Xbox 360 title Viva Pinata is being ported to the DS. This will mark Rare's first venture onto the DS, and comes after months of rumours that Rare would be in charge of porting many Xbox franchises to the Nintendo handheld.
Calling it a ‘port' is probably cheating a bit; it's more of a remake, being created with a top-down perspective. I'll hold out hope, although Rare's top-down perspective Banjo game on GBA was awful not too great. Still, it seems like a perfect fit for the DS, so one would assume that Rare would do everything in their power to capitalise on the hardware and make Viva Pinata DS a success.
For those wondering, this will be a port of the original VP title, and not the sequel that was recently announced, Party Animals. Just to clear that one up! Proper screens should be released soon, now that Comic Con is over, so expect those in a future Nintendophiles. For now, here's the only screen available. Looks good though!
Guitar Hero 3 details
Credit: ScoreHero
More details recently emerged regarding Neversoft's Guitar Hero 3, the first Guitar Hero game to come to a Nintendo platform. Whilst Wii-specifics are still under wraps, some general features were uncovered, such as the updated track list for the game (with four newly confirmed songs), which is as follows:
Suck My Kiss [MASTER TRACK]- Red Hot Chili Peppers
La Grange- ZZ Top
Number of the Beast [MASTER TRACK]- Iron Maiden
Through the Fire and Flames [MASTER TRACK]- Dragonforce
School's Out- Alice Cooper
Sabotage [MASTER TRACK]- Beastie Boys
Slowride- Foghat
Welcome to the Jungle [MASTER TRACK]- Guns N' Roses
Barracuda- Heart
Rock N Roll All Nite- KISS
Cult of Personality [MASTER TRACK]- Living Colour
Knights of Cydonia [MASTER TRACK]- Muse
Evenflow [MASTER TRACK]- Pearl Jam
Lay Down [MASTER TRACK]- Priestess
Paint it Black [MASTER TRACK]- Rolling Stones
Cherub Rock [MASTER TRACK]- Smashing Pumpkins
The Metal [MASTER TRACK]- Tenacious D
Rock You Like A Hurricane- The Scorpions
My Name Is Jonas [MASTER TRACK]- Weezer
Wooo, that is a MEAN track list! OK, my taste in music could never be described as ‘cool', but in my humble opinion that is a ROCKIN' list! Some good stuff in there. But sheesh, Through the Fire and Flames? That song is over 7 minutes long… and it's FAST! Expect to cry when playing that one on Expert Mode!
The character list was also unveiled, and whilst I'm not familiar with the names of the playable characters in the original Guitar Hero games, they sound pretty groovy. Check it out:
Axel Steel
Casey Lynch
Grim Ripper
Izzy Sparks
Johnny Napalm
Judy Nails
Lars Umlaut
Xavier Stone
Midori (new)
Slash (legend)
Anyone who goes by the name of Johnny Napalm gets some serious love from me. Rock on, Johnny…rock on!
Finally, the last little tidbit of news was the confirmation of venues featured in the game. Whilst they don't necessarily mean much without screenshots, you can get a fair idea of what they're like from the vivid names given to them. So without further ado, you'll be unleashing some serious licks and riffs inside Backyard Bash, Mitch's Moose Lounge, Video Shoot, Ye Olde Royal Odeon, Shanker's Island, Desert Rock Tour, Kaiju Megadome, and Lou's Inferno. Sounds like a good selection to me. Now all we need are some hard facts about why the Wii version will be so special, and Neversoft can gladly take my pre-order.
Viable Candidates for the Virtual Console
This is loooong overdue, but returning to my usual format of a weekly feature, we are due for another edition of VC-VC. This week, I'd like to go right back to 1997 and the launch of the Nintendo 64. Yes, yes, everyone was fussing over the greatness of Super Mario 64, and so they should, as it was a revolutionary game. But Rare launched their first N64 title alongside it, which garnered a number of fans over the years but never quite received the recognition it so richly deserved. And that game goes by the name of Blast Corps.
I'd like to pretend that I'm being really clever and picking Rare's first N64 game the same week Rare announce their first DS game is in production, but sadly…it was just a coincidence; I've actually been meaning to cover this one for quite some time.
For those unfamiliar with the title, Blast Corps (known as Blast Dozer in Japan) is what's best described as a ‘destruction puzzler'. At its core, it's basically a puzzle game, but put aside all your preconceptions of number-crunching or Tetris or anything like that, as Blast Corps is full of testosterone and adrenaline…and is actually fun! In fact, as puzzle games go, this would be a big hit for Nintendo nowadays, as it would surely cater to the mass market thanks to your in-game objective of smashing things and blowing stuff up.
The player is in control of a variety of destruction machinery, which range from a simple bulldozer to a full on mecha robot that stomps on buildings, leaving a wake of rubble and dust behind it. Your aim is to clear a path for an out of control carrier vehicle. Oh, did I mention that the vehicle has a nuclear missile attached to it?
It's tense stuff as you desperately try to bulldoze everything in its path, and then just when you think you've won, the carrier does a 180 and storms straight into the only skyscraper you left standing.
It's not just a simple case of mowing stuff down, however. The real puzzle element comes into play when buildings can't be simply bulldozed down. Sometimes you'll be required to find a crate of TNT, and have to slot it in the right place; other times you might have to fill in holes in the ground, or build bridges over rivers. You'll need about 3 brains to keep track of everything!
These main missions are known as Carrier Levels, but many more secrets await you once these have been completed. Half the fun, however, is in the Time Trial levels, which really bulk up the longevity of the game (which in itself isn't terribly long). These Time Trials often come with their own separate objectives, such as giving you a set number of buildings to destroy, or a set number of laps to complete, or (my personal favourite) clearing an area for a space shuttle landing.
Blast Corps was an important launch title, as it was a brand new, original franchise, which immediately showed that the Nintendo 64 was THE place to come for original content, as opposed to simply cashing in off of former glories. The one downside to the game is the fact that there is no multiplayer, but if Rare were keen to work on the game again, this could easily be implemented for a Virtual Console release. It's got addictive gameplay (something very important for a VC game), looks great (especially considering how early it came in the console's life cycle), and has a rocking soundtrack (I defy you to find a soundtrack that does a better job of getting your heart rate up), so there's no reason not to love it. I'd love to be able to download it onto my Wii, as I only played the original on a rental copy, so it'd be great to have more of a long-term session with it. Rare have already released two Donkey Kong titles onto the Virtual Console, and there isn't a problem with licensing issues (which hinder a VC port of Goldeneye), so I'd expect this to turn up in the not too distant future. Come on, Rare, do the right thing!
The 411 Games Crew
Mike Minotti's The SIXAXIS has all the news on Rockstar's brand new PS3 franchise, plus a new studio forming, and thoughts from the Heavenly Sword demo, which looks pretty darn sweet.
Disheartened that there's no Xbox-a-Go-Go in your life? Fear not, as Mike Minotti (from recent editions of The SIXAXIS) is here to save the day with the Full Circle: 360 News Report, for all your Microsoft needs. The debut edition features the announcement of Godfather 2, the brand new mindblowing Resident Evil 5 trailer and much more! Hold on a second…Mike Minotti is doing the Microsoft AND Sony news reports? Sheesh, I better watch my back!
Cory Moore's latest issue of Press Pause looks at all the special features of the Nintendo Wii! If you've yet to buy a Wii, read this and find out what you're missing out on!
David Redkey and Jay Bryant are the latest combatants in Tommy Coloma's Fact or Fiction. This week, topics include whether or not MGS4 will be worth the wait, video games as art, and the potential of All Pro Football 2008.
Is Pokemon evil? Damian Sarcuni tackles this challenging issue in this week's edition of Angry Gaming.
Vincent Chiucchi brings you a blowout edition of The Select and Start News Report this week in a special ‘E3 Aftermath' report. See exactly what's going on with your favourite games displayed at this year's E3, with Vincent's handy guide.
That's all from me this week! I hope to have my home broadband set up by the time next week's Nintendophiles rolls around, so…it'll be…better.
