Archive for December, 2007
New video game releases week 1, 2008
Here’s a list of this weeks game releases. Since this is the last day of the year and the first week of next year there’s not much except for downloadable games. So we’ve got today’s Bubble Bobble, Light Crusader, Top Hunter on the Wii Virtual Console, as well as Metal Slug 3 on Xbox Live Arcade (updates Wednesday). No word on any PlayStation Store games yet (updates Thursday). Anyways, I hope you have a great New Years Eve and we’ll see you next year in 2008. I mean, tomorrow! 
Monday:
Bubble Bobble - $5 (Wii Virtual Console)
Light Crusader - $8 (Wii Virtual Console)
Top Hunter - $9 (Wii Virtual Console)
Tuesday:
Classic British Motor Racing (Wii)
Kawasaki Quad Bikes (Wii)
Kidz Sports Basketball (Wii)
Monster Trux Offroad (Wii)
Myth Makers: Orbs of Doom (Wii)
Rig Racer 2 (Wii)
Wednesday:
Metal Slug 3 - $10 (Xbox Live Arcade)
1 comment »The Best Games of 2007 on Xbox 360, Wii, PS3, PC, DS, PSP and PS2
Choosing “The Best Games of 2007” is no easy task. Here at VGB we’re still heavily playing all the top titles of the past year, we haven’t played through all and as a result not reviewed them yet. So I thought it best to take our time to play and review them all into next year and let Gametrailer’s videos do the talking of all the choices you have for each of the following platforms. Having played all the winners and most of the nominees I can safely say 2007 might’ve been one of the best years for gamers ever!
Find out which game is worth risking the Red Ring of Death for with our pick for the year’s best Xbox 360 title. The Best Xbox 360 Game = Halo 3.
Wave your Wii-mote with the greatest of ease in our pick for the year’s best Wii game. The Best Nintendo Wii Game = Super Mario Galaxy.
The next-gen powerhouse brings its A-game to this year’s competition with these hot titles. The Best PlayStation 3 Game = Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.
These are the games that kept gamers clicking away night after night! The Best PC Game = Half-Life 2: The Orange Box.
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On Wii Virtual Console today: Bubble Bobble, Light Crusader, Top Hunter
Today Nintendo adds new classic games to the popular Wii Shop Channel. The games go live at 9AM Pacific time. Wii owners with a high-speed Internet connection can redeem Wii Points to download the games. Wii Points can be purchased in the Wii Shop Channel or at stores like Amazon (see to your right).
What are you doing New Year’s Eve? Thanks to the Wii Shop Channel, you’ve got some outrageous new options. We’ve included videos of each of today’s games for nostalgia’s sake or so you can see if it’s for you.
This week’s new games are:
Bubble Bobble (NES, 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone, 500 Wii Points = $5): Bubble Bobble’s release in 1986 introduced the two bubble dragons, Bub and Bob, and brand new play mechanics, with players defeating enemies by trapping them in bubbles and then popping them. Although the puzzle-action game can be beaten by clearing all 100 rounds, it also contains secret elements such as not being able to get the “true ending” in single-player mode; hidden commands that lead to secret rounds; and a ton of different items. These elements are some of the game’s most memorable and important features. Each round even has different air currents that are not visible, so bubbles rise in unpredictable patterns. Aspects like forcing players to understand and utilize these different patterns while playing help make this a revolutionary game that is fun to play anytime.
Light Crusader (Genesis, 1 player, Rated E for Everyone-Animated Violence, 800 Wii Points = $8): Each day, more good townspeople of Green Row have been mysteriously disappearing, and beleaguered King Weeden summons the knight Sir David to investigate. Armed with his wits and his sword, Sir David must find the cause of this strange evil and save the citizens of Green Row before things get any worse. Take the role of the brave knight in this action RPG and get to the bottom of the mysteries of Green Row as you fight enemies, solve puzzles and use your best combination of brains and brawn to save the kingdom.
Top Hunter: Roddy & Cathy (NEOGEO, 1-2 players, Rated E10+ for Everyone 10 and older-Cartoon Violence, 900 Wii Points = $9): Take on the role of either Roddy or Cathy, bounty hunters in this side-scrolling action game set far in the future when humans have colonized space. But all is not well: Space pirates called the Klaptons are making their way through the galaxies, wiping out peaceful settlements along their path. This disgraceful behavior leads to them having a price on their heads, so now Roddy and Cathy must travel through four distinct worlds on a mission to defeat their leader, Captain Klapton. Both characters have retractable arms-used to grab enemies or other objects in the scenery-that can then be thrown at others to destroy them. Also, be on the lookout for rings or levers to pull, as this might reveal special bonuses. Further adding to the mix, the game uses a unique system where the action happens on two planes, with the player switching between them at will. Can you prove yourself worthy of the Top Hunter name and help save the universe?
Top 10 greatest rhythm games of all-time
The top 10 greatest rhythm games of all-time is a tough list to compile and will no doubt vary on personal tastes. This list focusses on games where a strict, rhythmic play style was enforced, and eliminating titles heavily influenced by music such as Rez, Lumines, or Everyday Shooter. The criteria also put a strong emphasis on music, quality of play, features, and longevity.
Check out the top 10 rhythm games list:
10. Bust a Move: Dance & Rhythm Action (1998, Enix, PSone)
9. Pump It Up Extra (2001, Andamiro, Arcade)
8. PaRappa the Rapper (1997, NaNaOn-Sha, PSone) & Um Jammer Lammy (1999, NaNaOn-Sha, PSone)
7. Elite Beat Agents (2006, iNis, Nintendo DS)
6. Beatmania III: The Final (2002, Konami, Arcade)
5. Pop’n Music 9 (2002, Konami, Arcade)
4. Guitar Hero (2005, Harmonix, PlayStation 2)
3. Beatmania IIDX 6th Style (2001, Konami, Arcade)
2. Dance Dance Revolution 4th Mix Plus (2000, Konami, Arcade)
1. Rock Band (2007, Harmonix, Xbox 360/PlayStation 3/PlayStation 2)
While Gametap’s list had tough criteria to meet, honorable mentions include some other great titles that had to be cut since it’s a top 10 after all. If you have access to any of these titles, they come recommend.
* Samba De Amigo (Dreamcast)
* Karaoke Revolution With Motown (Xbox)
* DJ Max Portable (PSP)
* Gitaroo Man (PlayStation 2)
* Shakka to Tambourine: Power Up! (Arcade)
Why you can’t play Wii Virtual Console games directly off an SD memory card
A Nintendo customer service representative was asked why you can’t play downloaded Wii Virtual Console games directly off of the SD Card. You know, instead of having to either delete games then re-download them, or save games onto the SD cards and then transfer them back later on. His answer clears up any confusion you might have and at the same time makes our cries for a Wii USB Hard Drive even louder, since it could easily fit under the Wii to replace the stand. Anyway, his answer was:
“I don’t know if you’ve transferred any games from your Wii memory to an SD memory card. If you have, you’re already aware that it can take a long time. The data access speeds for the SD memory card are so slow that running a game directly from a card would be full of delays. For fast data transfer speeds, it’s necessary to have the game data reside in the system memory.
As players continue to download Virtual Console games, the Wii console’s internal memory will fill up. However, it’s important to note that the actual downloaded game and the license to have that downloaded game on your Wii console reside in two separate areas of your Wii Internal Memory. The game resides in the Channels section while the license is kept in your Wii Shop Channel account.
What this means to you is that once you’ve beaten a Virtual Console game, feel free to delete it to make room for another game. If at any point you decide to play it again, access the Wii Shop Channel and download it again. It is possible to delete and re-download purchased Virtual Console games as many times as you like for free, even if you were to re-format the console. This will allow you to free up the space you need for game saves and new Channels indefinitely.
The only way to delete or lose the license is to delete your Wii Shop Channel account entirely, which would then delete the licenses of all the games you’ve downloaded,” quotes Nintendoeverything.
Why you can’t pay with exact change on Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox 360 group product manager Aaron Greenberg was asked why you can’t pay exact amounts for content on Xbox Live Arcade. His answer clears up any confusion you might have:
“The reason why we do that, the core reason, is around credit card transaction fees. If we do this in bulk, we don’t have to burden the consumer with the transaction fees, or ourselves or publishers. It’s about keeping infrastructure costs down and I know sometimes it’s frustrating because you end up with odd points, but we don’t have any plans to change that,” quotes 1UP.
First Street Fighter IV gameplay video and developer interview
In order to get a Street Fighter IV video scoop, 1UP traveled to Capcom Headquarters in Japan to interview Producer Yoshinori Ono. The editors also talk about the trip and provide hands-on gameplay impressions, they even mention online multiplayer might include worldwide tournaments and rankings, as well as the possibility of downloadable content in the shape for additional characters and stages. Although not confirmed, the game is expected to appear in Arcades and on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii.
Watch the first Street Fighter IV gameplay video and the developer interview to find out all about the 2.5D fighting game in the next 20 minutes.
Click on the bottom-right corner arrow to view it fullscreen.
If you don’t want to go through the entire interview and just see the gameplay, then watch Ryu’s fireball… Article continues »
Metal Gear Solid Saga 20th Anniversary translated video goes behind-the-scenes of the series
You might remember the Metal Gear Saga intro video we posted back in July. It celebrated 20 years of the Metal Gear Solid series by coming out with a video that features five chapters, one chapter for each game in the Metal Gear series (MGS3, MG, MG2, MGS, MGS2). In chronological order the video gave behind-the-scenes information about the games. Since Konami have been considering bringing the Metal Gear 20th Anniversary Collection package to America since July, it seems doubtful it’ll happen. As a result fansite metalgearsolid.org translated the Metal Gear Solid Saga video.
The timeline is of the events from the first Metal Gear Solid game and shows the Snake variants Naked Snake, Solid Snake, Liquid Snake, Solidus Snake and Old Snake.
Metal Gear Saga 20th Anniversary Video Part 1:
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New Banjo-Kazooie info reveals new multiplayer mode and more about the upcoming Xbox 360 platformer
UK developer Rare is currently hard at work on Banjo-Kazooie exclusively for the Xbox 360 (they are Microsoft owned after all). Fans of the series will forever call this game Banjo-Threeie (or Banjo-Kazooie 3, even if it’s the fifth game), but for the sake for this round of Questions and Answers, let’s reference it as just Banjo-Kazooie, since it’s been nearly eight years since Banjo-Tooie came out in 2000. Rare insider Gregg Mayles, the Creative Director of the Banjo series, took the time to answer seven questions about the 2008 platforming adventure.
Question 1: Will the next Banjo-Kazooie game take place after the events of Banjo-Tooie?
Answer: YES - But a lot has changed since 2000. What have Banjo and Grunty been doing for all these years?
Question 2: Is there any multiplayer component planned?
Answer: YES - Not like Banjo-Tooie’s though. No FPS sections, either. I think there are enough FPS games out there!
Question 3: Is this new Jiggy system gonna stray too far away from the old one?
Answer: YES and NO - The ‘not 100′ Jiggies are still used to progress through the game, but the way they are obtained and used is different. Also expect changes to the Notes and Jinjos (oops, I think I may have answered a couple more questions there!)
Question 4: A lot has changed since the original Banjo-Kazooie came out, which was almost ten years ago. Games today, in my opinion anyway, seem to stray a lot from core, simple gameplay elements and focus too much on other things. One thing I loved about the original game is that you guys got the story out of the way pretty much first thing. Witch is ugly, Witch needs to remove ugly, Witch steals cute little Bear-girl, game starts. After that, it was pretty much 100% game until you got to the end and knocked the old hag off her own tower. It was simple, and it set the player up with what they needed, a reason, to play through the game.
Not that story isn’t important, but when 40% of a game these days is spent watching rather than playing, it makes me wonder where the “game” part of “video game” went
Basically, the original game relied on much of its own charm. The lushness of the worlds, the characters, and the rich array of abilities and puzzles. So… my question is: Does this remain?
Answer: YES - Don’t worry, we may be introducing something different to the Banjo universe but this remains a Banjo game.
Question 5: You said the gameplay had evolved some time ago and it would not be like it was before. Have we seen this new style of gameplay in another game?
Answer: NO (Well, I don’t think so. Let’s just say you certainly won’t have seen it in a Banjo game!)
Question 6: Will there be any old levels remade in the game?
Answer: YES - But probably not how you expect!
Question 7: Will Grunty bring back her loveable rhyming again in this game?
Answer: Her silly comments will be a pain, yes the witch will rhyme again.
The Rarewitchproject should have more info in 2008.
Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword coming in March 2008. Demo out now on DS Download Stations
Tecmo has announced that Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword for the Nintendo DS will be released sometime in March of 2008. With the intuitive use of the DS stylus, Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword will let players control Master Ninja Ryu Hayabusa like never before. That’s right ladies, you get to touch him now. 
Developed by Executive Producer Tomonobu Itagaki and the Team Ninja development studio, Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword features beautifully rendered environments, fast Ninja Gaiden-style action, numerous enemies, and a new story. Various directional movements and taps with the DS stylus will activate Ryu Hayabusa to run, jump, attack, and cast Ninpo (Ninja Magic). Certain combinations of movements will allow players to perform special attacks like the “Izuna Drop” and the “Cicada Slash” which were made famous in the Ninja Gaiden console games.
“Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword brings a new level of gaming action to the Nintendo DS,” says Yoh Watanabe, Tecmo’s Marketing Manager. “There’s currently a demo available on the DS Download Station and I urge everyone to try it out and you’ll know what I mean.”
Here’s Itagaki explaining why the game’s on DS:
