Well, now the word is out about Spyborgs. It seems that there’s a fair number of people on various sites and forums that see the game as being kiddy and childish. Initially I admit I was among them, though, in talking to Kevin and rewatching the trailer a few times I’ve since changed my mind. I’ve never played Ratchet and Clank before…

On the official Capcom messageboards, Christian Svensson (Corporate Officer/Vice-President of Strategic Planning & Business Development at Capcom) has stepped up and responded to a few of these attacks on Spyborgs.

Dark Void and Spyborgs are the two biggest titles our office is working on. To say that either of them isn’t an incredibly high priority for the company, with major resources against them would be a pretty big misunderstanding of the reality. The team working on Spyborgs is an all-star team of some of the best character action game developers in the world, backed by us. Have faith. This is a game that is incredibly thoughtful in its design, incredibly varied in its mechanics and will be incredibly fun to play (both alone or with a buddy/son or daugther/father or mother) when its done. The initial reaction here (Capcom boards) I swear is the EXACT reaction so many of you posters had when we first revealed Zach & Wiki. Somehow, Z&W is now a posterchild title for the Wii in your eyes. Mark my words… you will feel exactly the same way about the level of quality in Spyborgs when it is done.

…Again, this is a big, epic game. A far cry from typical Wii shovelware. You’ve heard my rants on that before… I won’t go through it again.

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s nice to see some new IP for the Wii. While this looks a little kiddy, I find it hard to judge the game without knowing much more about it. As long as it’s fun and it plays well, I’m all for it. Two-Player co-op is a huge bonus as well. There definitely needs to be more games that feature it.

SAN MATEO, Calif. — June 3, 2008 — Capcom® Entertainment, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games, today announced Spyborgs™, a new action game coming exclusively to the Wii™ home video game system from Nintendo. In Spyborgs, players take on the role of a diverse team of five bionic superspies in a fight to save the world from a group of dastardly villains. Wii gamers will be set to save the world when the game launches in 2009.

Read the rest of this entry »

Okay, yes it’s a GameCube game, but to many people it’s one of the greatest GameCube games. I won it on eBay last week, and it arrived nicely on my doorstep this morning.

I’ve got to leave for work shortly, so I won’t get a chance to play it until very late tonight (read: early tomorrow morning), but Tuesdays are my lone day off, so rest assured that tomorrow I’ll be playing it and will give you my own personal hype-report.

Not a huge week today for disc releases (with the exception of Lego Indiana Jones, which you guys don’t seem to want…). A couple of decent prospects for WiiWare, though.

Virtual Console

Ninja Combat, NeoGeo, 900p

WiiWare

Protöthea, UbiSoft, 1000p

Toki Tori, Two Tribes, 1000p

Disc Releases

Tuesday, June 3rd

Wii

Cabela’s Trophy Bucks

Kung Fu Panda

Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures

DS

Kung Fu Panda

Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures

Thursday, June 5th

Wii

The Incredible Hulk

DS

The Incredible Hulk

OMG. I know a lot of people out there aren’t as excited for the FFIV DS remake as they should be (get excited, dammit!). This should help a bit… a new trailer with english voice overs for some of our favorite characters! Okay, so it isn’t the BEST voice acting I’ve ever heard, but the guy playing Cecil is doing a fantastic job. Check it out the trailer, then go pre-order it! The more it sells, the more likely we are to get an FFVI remake.

First details are coming in about the next Wario game for Wii titled Wario Land Shake. It’s a 2D sidescroller, and you shake the Wiimote up and down to shake coins out of enemies. Erm, yes. It looks alright, but from early scans (check it out after the jump), the 2D doesn’t look to be super detailed. Apparently there’s only twenty levels too. I’m thinking it might even be a WiiWare game… we’ll have to see.

Read the rest of this entry »

A lot of Wii fans have been upset by Ubisoft’s recent announcement that the latest iteration of the Prince of Persia franchise, one of my personal favorites, is only arriving on the PS3, Xbox 360.  No Wii version.  Hell, the DS is even getting its own version!

But a rumour has popped up on the interweb that may mean we get a dose of Persian platforming.  The rumour comes from, you got it, Surfer Girl.  The rumour is suggesting that Ubisoft is indeed still making a Prince of Persia game on the Wii.  However, rather than a port or a full-on Wii version of the upcoming game, the Wii is apparently getting a spin-off of the new version.  Whether that means prequel, side-story, we’re not sure.  We have yet to see or hear anything official, but who knows.

If you were to ask me, though, I’d say it’s very possible.  For one, Surfer Girl seems to have been correct about her Ubisoft rumours for the most part.  Perhaps she has, or had, afew ins on the company.  Secondly, the company has openly said that they didn’t do what they could have or should have with the Wii’s last Prince of Persia game, Rival Swords, which was just a port of 2005’s The Two Thrones on Gamecube, PS2, or Xbox.  Right there, it sounds like they’re thinking of what they could have done with a Wii title.  And lastly, is this really such an outlandish move?  Would it be that surprising?  I’m not going to say this is definite, but it certainly seems likely.

The latest Prince of Persia game features a new Prince.  Well, he’s not ACTUALLY a Prince.  Waking up in a garden oasis after being trapped in a sandstorm, the Prince (for lack of a better word) and his mysterious new companion Elika need to try and stop an evil spirit named Ahriman from escaping the oasis and being unleashed into the world.  The current-gen games are being built off of the Assassin’s Creed engine, featuring a deeper combat system focused more on one-vs-one fighting, as well as a lot more involvement from your companion character compared to previous games.  The game also features a really neat looking cel-shaded art style.  If the Wii doesn’t in-fact get a version of this game, or something similar, this looks like it might be the game to get a PS3 or 360 for.

Lookin’ pretty good so far! I like the varied environments and gorgeous 2D graphics. Plus, it’s a hard to argue with an enormous prawn that has a hidden demon face. Or a giant talking crab. Man, this game looks sweet! It’s for DS, by the way.

Nintendo has issued a response to those users of Wii Fit who… how shall I put this delicately… put the balance board at risk of death-by-crushing. You’re probably aware by now that the balance board has a 150 kg (330 lb) weight limit, but what does Nintendo suggest to you, chunky readers, who sit heavily above that weight category?

“The maximum weight for both game and accessory is 330 lbs (150 kg), which is stated on the Wii Fit packaging. If this is a product that can not currently be used in your home, you may wish to investigate a possible return of the product to the retailer where you purchased it. Or perhaps you would like to give it as a gift to someone you know who would enjoy it. I hope you find these suggestions helpful.”

-NoA’s Jill Callahan

So, if you haven’t already snapped the board in half, you can return it or give it to “someone you know who would enjoy it” (read: somebody thinner than you.)

Today Ubisoft (they’re having a great day for announcements) announced the next installment of their Raving Rabbids franchise… Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party. When are they going to drop the Rayman name? It’s kind of pointless now.

Anyways, versions are being developed for both Wii and DS. Ubisoft didn’t say too much about either version, just letting it be knowne that the Wii game will use the balance board for a lot of it’s mini-games. Also, the title will feature spoofs on TV and pop culture. The previous two games were a really good time and ANOTHER game with balance board support is never a bad thing. You can check out the press release after the jump, but keep posted for more at E3.

Read the rest of this entry »