All Articles: Wii
New Releases: Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded, DC Universe Online, Ghost Trick, More
Do you love RPGs? If you said yes, then you’ll definitely want to head to your favorite retailer this week.
On the DS, Square Enix plans to release the latest entry in the Kingdom Hearts series, Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded. And over on the PS3, Sony’s MMORPG DC Universe Online will cross over into stores (its coming to the PC as well).
Also available this week is Venetica (PS3, Xbox 360), an RPG where the Grim Reaper’s daughter hunts down a necromancer. And finally, there’s Prinny 2, the latest Disgaea spin-off from Atlus.
If RPGs aren’t your thing, Capcom will be releasing the latest game from the Phoenix Wright team, Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective on the DS
The full list of the rest of this week’s new releases can be found below. (more…)
Nintendo considers reprinting sold-out Super Mario All-Stars
While video game companies don’t usually understand the concept of “Limited Edition,” one company does for sure: Nintendo. Their limited run of the 25th anniversary Super Mario All-Stars that came out for the Wii on December 12th is impossible to find. That is, it’s impossible to find at its original suggested retail price of $29.99 and goes for as much as $80 right now on eBay (it’s currently hovering between $68 and $90 on Amazon). But we have good news – you can save all those coins you painstakingly collected. Nintendo’s director of public relations Marc Franklin told Wired.com that the company is considering “bringing this item back at a later date.”
It’s easy to see why the collection sold out so quickly – it’s not just an updated version of Mario’s first four adventures. It also came with a history booklet and an audio CD full of those nostalgic tunes. If you missed out the first time around, definitely get on this when it comes back. It’s a lot of bang for your buck – or I guess you could say it’s a lot of fire power for your coins.
God of War III, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood lead 2011 WGA nominations
The Writers Guild of America yesterday announced the nominees for the 2011 Writers Guild Award in Videogame Writing (but it’s a shame that no one at the WGA knows that “video game” is two words).
This year’s nominees cover some familiar territory as three of the six nominees are sequels to previous nominees: Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, Fallout: New Vegas and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II (the original Force Unleashed actually won in 2009). But don’t count out the three newcomers, including God of War III, Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands and Singularity.
The winner will be announced at a bicoastal ceremony (one in New York and one in LA) on Saturday, February 5. Congratulations to all the nominated writers, which you can find after the jump. (more…)
Michael Jackson: The Experience moonwalks onto PS3, Xbox 360 on April 12
Michael Jackson: The Experience was a big hit for Ubisoft this holiday season. How big? The game sold two million copies across the Wii, DS and PSP in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. But Ubisoft was quick to point out that those numbers don’t include Japan, “which has one of the largest and most passionate concentrations of Michael Jackson fans anywhere.”
The publisher also revealed that the King of Pop will be moonwalking his way onto the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 this April. The Kinect and Move-enabled Michael Jackson game will be released on April 12 in the US and April 14 in Europe. It will include several bonus tracks not found on the Wii version including “Blood on the Dance Floor” and “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You.”
Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot is very excited about the upcoming PS3 and Xbox 360 version of Michael Jackson: “As the leader in the dance game genre, our teams have worked enthusiastically to build an experience that recreates the magic worlds of Michael Jackson’s videos and performances. We’re looking forward to bringing Michael Jackson The Experience to Kinect for Xbox 360 and PlayStation Move so an even bigger audience can enjoy playing the game with their friends and family too.”
Donkey Kong Country Returns Review: Swingin’ Into Greatness
Watch out! Phew, that was a close one. Who’s throwing barrels, anyway? Oh wait, is that… Donkey Kong? He’s back! This time, he’s finally not flying a barrel jetpack, playing bongos, or brawling with other Nintendo characters. Do you know what this means? Donkey Kong finally has his own full game on the Wii! Now, dodging Nintendo’s legal department, it’s safe to say: It’s on like Donkey Kong! (more…)
GameFly reports 2010’s best, raises questions on 2011
Early Wednesday morning, GameFly released several Top Ten lists, documenting the rental service’s most popular titles of 2010. As expected, GameFly’s most-rented games closely match up with the most purchased games of 2010, logging titles like Take Two’s Red Dead Redemption and the latest game in Activision’s ever-popular Call of Duty series, Call of Duty: Black Ops. GameFly’s co-founder Sean Spector states: “The GameFly community is comprised of active and dedicated gamers and we view their preferences, requests and favorites as a great barometer for what’s hot in gaming.”
Though the aforementioned shooters dominated consoles in 2010, GameFly’s handheld rental numbers seemed to thrive with RPG titles such as Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep and Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies. Could this predict an emergence of the RPG genre exclusively among handheld systems, leaving consoles solely for action games?
The cross-platform list and all of the platform-specific lists can be found below. (more…)
THQ has the power (to make games based on Mattel toys)
Like two action figures that come together to form an even bigger action figure, THQ will raid Mattel’s toy chest in a multi-year deal to create games based on many of the company’s biggest properties.
THQ currently has multiple Mattel-inspired games in the works, with the first scheduled for release this Fall. The deal will ultimately result in new THQ-published games based on many of Mattel’s biggest toy lines, including Barbie, Hot Wheels, Fisher-Price, Monster High, Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots, Polly Pocket and He-Man: Masters of the Universe.
THQ wasn’t ready to talk about specific games on specific platforms, but they did confirm that the agreement allows them to create games for consoles (both disc-based and downloadable games), handhelds, PCs, mobile devices and social networking platforms. However, THQ did reveal that at least one game will support the publisher’s uDraw GameTablet on the Wii.
DS, Wii set new sales records in 2010
This is not news: The DS and Wii sold a ton of systems in 2010.
This is news: The DS and Wii sold a record-setting amount of systems in 2010.
While it seems like news outlets publish this story every year and just change the date, Nintendo has announced that the DS and Wii have set several new sales records in 2010.
The DS pushed its total install base to 47 million in 2010. According to Nintendo’s internal numbers, that’s a new record for a console or handheld in the US. Congratulations to Nintendo, but Sony put out a similar press release in 2009 claiming the PS2 had sold 50 million units in the US. We may never know which one actually holds the record, but they both have a huge library of classic games, and that’s all that really matters.
The Wii also set a record in 2010, becoming the only system to sell seven million units (or more) in three straight years. Nintendo’s little white machine (which added black and red variations in 2010) has sold 34 million units in North American since its debut in 2006.