Archive for the ‘Wii’ Category
EA Sports Active 2.0 announced for Wii, PS3, iPhone. Includes heart rate monitor and leg/arm motion sensors
EA Sports Active 2.0 has been announced by publisher EA Sports for Wii, PS3 and iPhone release this Fall 2010.
Unlike the first game, this sequel won’t be exclusive to the Wii and will be released on the PS3 and iPhone. Although it won’t be supporting the PlayStation Move motion controller, it will use an all-new control method for wireless play.
This will be accomplished via new leg and arm straps with built-in motion sensors. In addition, the game will make use of a heart rate monitor to capture intensity, and a new online hub to track and share workout data. This will make working out simple and effective while allowing it to travel with you!
The new EA SPORTS Active 2.0 innovative wireless control system will give users complete freedom of motion, making it even easier to get a workout that delivers great results. Using innovative heart rate detection technology, the heart rate monitor will help users monitor intensity, providing constant on-screen monitoring throughout the workout and tracking user data over time to optimize performance.
The EA SPORTS Active 2.0 online hub will allow users to track and share all of their workout data, providing a centralized destination for all fitness, wellness and training needs. It will host a thriving online global community of EA SPORTS Active users who can share their fitness journeys, interact with workout groups and send messages to each other online to stay inspired and engaged. Users will also have the ability to download new workouts and exercises to their online connected PlayStation3 console to keep their workouts fresh and maintain motivation.
EA SPORTS Active 2.0 provides total body conditioning using progressive exercise in new prescribed programs. A three-phase, nine-week program provides a fitness roadmap to help keep users motivated and on track of their fitness goals. Additional mini-programs will also be available to add on, keeping workouts fresh and inspiring. The EA SPORTS Active personal trainer will walk users through their workout and provide continued encouragement with feedback to ensure an optimal workout experience.
“The launch of EA SPORTS Active 2.0 will define a new era of interactive fitness with the use of innovative motion sensor peripherals and a heart rate monitor that provide users with a fitness experience delivering real, measurable results,” said Tarrnie Williams, Executive Producer, EA SPORTS Active. “As the number one rated fitness program for the Wii, EA SPORTS Active proved itself as the industry leader and provided the foundation for our fitness franchise. The success stories we’ve received from our users show that EA SPORTS Active is changing lives and we’re so proud to be part of it.”
No comments »Sin and Punishment: Star Successor includes Japanese voice work
Nintendo will be releasing Sin and Punishment: Star Successor on June 17th (published by Nintendo of America) and the game is the long-awaited sequel to the Japanese-only Treasure-developed N64 original shooter. Thankfully the original game is now available on the Wii Virtual Console for us non-Japanese gamers. Thank you, technology!
One feature of Sin & Punishment 2 that will really make American fans truly happy though is the fact that the English version will include the Japanese voice track! This means that you can switch the voices from the American dub to the original Japanese cast, a feature that many fans of Japanese media prefer. Kudos to Nintendo for including this, especially on a Wii game (this feature was originally going to be included in the American release of FFXIII, but was cut cause it took up too much space on the disc).
And above you can see the official North American box art. Let’s hope the game sells well. We need more titles like this on the Wii!
Here is a trailer.
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 release date is June 8, 2010. Supports motion controller on Wii and PS3
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 will be released on June 8, 2010 for Xbox 360, PS3, Wii and iPhone announced publisher Electronic Arts.
One of the biggest additions to this years game is not only Motion Control support for the Wii and the Sony Move Motion Controller, but also the fact that the prestigious Ryder Cup will be featured for the first time in Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11. As such, Rory McIlroy will appear on the cover along with Tiger Woods, representing the Europeans.
Gamers will select a team and square off to try and bring home The Ryder Cup for their squad in Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 11 on all console platforms. The Ryder Cup is one of the last great sporting events to be founded in prestige rather than prize money. Choose from the U.S. or European squad and participate in the various competition formats – foursomes where players hit alternate shots, fourballs and singles which traditionally bring the biennial event to a close with players going head to head. When playing The Ryder Cup mode offline, gamers will have the option to swap matches, thus giving you the ultimate control over the outcomes of other matches.
The Ryder Cup, a competition hosted by Ryder Cup Europe LLP and the PGA of America, brings together the best American and European golfers in a team competition format, and the cover of Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 11 is a direct reflection of the tournament – as Tiger Woods denotes the U.S. team and Rory McIlroy represents the Europeans. McIlroy, hailing from Northern Ireland and currently ranked 9th according to the Official World Golf Rankings, has posted several impressive showings early in his professional golfing career. Last year, McIlroy had five top 10 PGA TOUR finishes including a third-place tie in the 2009 PGA Championship and made the cut in all four majors. As an amateur, McIlroy also has a strong history in team play events, which include appearances in the Junior Ryder Cup and Walker Cup.
“This is a huge honor for me to be the on the cover with Tiger Woods as I grew up idolizing Tiger,” said McIlroy. “The Ryder Cup has always been my favorite sporting event and the tournament is being played at The Celtic Manor Resort in Wales in 2010. Also, I’m hopeful to have an opportunity to represent the European team later in the year – it’s all very special.”
Not only will players have the ability to participate in team play but they will now be able to take a team online via the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. A first for the franchise, this all-new mode will allow up to 24 players to compete head-to-head as members of team. Team members can also talk strategy with their teammates over Xbox LIVE or PlayStation Network.
Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 11 on the Wii brings the links to your living room with two all-new enhanced swing mechanics while using the Wii MotionPlus. The Advanced Plus swing difficulty will read rotation and swing angle while the Tour Pro swing mechanic assesses rotation, swing plane and point of contact. The Tour Pro swing features an innovative first-person camera angle from the tee box to the putting green called True View. True View creates the most immersive and authentic golf experience in any video game – you are no longer watching the golfer, you are the golfer! This will also presumably be available in the PS3 version of the game.
Here is a trailer showing off the Ryder Cup.
Green Day: Rock Band release date is June 8, 2010
Green Day: Rock Band has a release date of June 8, 2010 announced publisher Electronic Arts and MTV Games.
It will be released worldwide on that date for Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii. The former two console editions will cost $60 while the Wii edition will cost $50.
The U.S. and Canada will be privy to a Premium Edition on the Xbox 360 and PS3 that will cost $70 (in Canada, other regions To Be Announced) and will include six additional downloadable Green Day tracks bundled in with the package. That’s in addition to special packaging and a voucher that allows you to export all the Green Day songs to your other Rock Band games for free. Which will normally cost $10.
And for those fans who might be wondering, the Green Day songs that are already available for download from the Rock Band store will be jazzed up to fit with Green Day: Rock Band’s visual style.
Green Day: Rock Band will include a total of 47 tracks from across the career of the band. The band’s three current members: Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tre Cool will also appear in the game as playable avatars. The game will also include the harmonizing feature that was debuted in The Beatles: Rock Band.
Fans of the band will also be delighted to hear that it will include 100 images from throughout the course of the bands career that players can unlock through the course of the game. And even better than that, the game will include 40 minutes of “rare and unreleased video” from the band that players can also unlock.
Here is the debut trailer for Green Day: Rock Band.
Jay-Z vs Eminem DJ Hero downloadable content release date is March 25, 2010
Jay-Z vs Eminem has been announced as the third DJ Hero DLC pack with a release date of March 25 on Xbox Live Marketplace, PlayStation Network and the Wii Shop Channel.
This third pack follows the previous two packs that included “Extended Mix Pack 01″ and “David Guetta Mix Pack 01″.
Naturally, as the name indicates, Jay-Z vs Eminem will have the two hip-hop artists that were connected with the launch promotion of the game, battling it out with several new mixes that combine their songs.
There will be three new mash-ups included in the pack and it will be priced at 640 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360 or $8 for PSN. While the Wii edition will have each song sold separately for 300 Wii Points each.
The new song mixes include:
1. “Shake That” by Eminem mixed with “Show Me What You Got” by Jay-Z
2. “Without Me” by Eminem mixed with “Encore” by Jay-Z
3. “Can I Get A…” by Jay-Z mixed with “Lose Yourself” by Eminem
Activision also went on record declaring DJ Hero to be the “highest-grossing new IP of 2009″ in both the United States and Europe. This despite the fact that the game didn’t live up to sales expectations upon launch, and didn’t blow up the way Guitar Hero did previously. However the game has apparently continued to sell steadily at it’s $120 price.
First Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands gameplay footage revealed
The first gameplay footage has been released for Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands.
The upcoming newest entry in the long-running franchise that takes the series back to its “The Sands of Time” roots while corresponding to the release of the upcoming film.
As you can see in the developer diary below, the game maintains the look and feel that players loved about Sands of Time, while offering a new visual fidelity that takes full advantage of the current-gen systems. While also offering epic battles against over 50 enemies at once, and giving the Prince a range of new elemental powers that allow him to manipulate the environment in new ways.
Fans of the previous games or the original trilogy will definitely want to check this new game out.
It releases on May 18, 2010 for Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Wii, DS and PSP.
New video game releases week 10, 2010
Here’s the list of this week’s game releases. The most popular titles this week are: Final Fantasy XIII on PS3 & Xbox 360, Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War 2: Chaos Rising on PC, Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition on Xbox 360 & PS3, Assassin’s Creed II on PC, Sam & Max 2: Beyond Time and Space on Wii & PC, and BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger on PSP. On the downloadable games front we’ve got the Wii Shop and DSiWare titles Final Fantasy II, Max & the Magic Marker, Dracula and more. As well as Scrap Metal on Xbox Live Arcade (updates Wednesday). No word yet on any PlayStation Network nor GameTap Gold games (both update Thursday).
Monday:
4 Travellers – Play Spanish – $8 (DSi Shop)
Dracula – Undead Awakening – $10 (Wii Shop)
Dracula – Undead Awakening – $5 (DSi Shop)
Elemental Masters – $8 (DSi Shop)
Final Fantasy II – $8 (Wii Shop)
Flips: The Bubonic Builders – $5 (DSi Shop)
Max & the Magic Marker – $10 (Wii Shop)
Tuesday:
Assassin’s Creed II (PC)
BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger (PSP)
Calling (Wii)
Chocolatier (DS)
Dream Chronicles (DS)
Final Fantasy XIII (PS3, Xbox 360)
Foto Showdown (DS)
Project Runway (PC)
Racquet Sports with Camera (Wii)
Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition (Xbox 360, PS3)
Sam & Max 2: Beyond Time and Space (Wii, PC)
The Daring Game for Girls (DS, Wii)
Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War 2: Chaos Rising (PC)
Winter Blast: Snow and Ice Games (Wii)
Wednesday:
Scrap Metal – $15 (Xbox Live Arcade)
Games Weather Report of Week 9, 2010
What were the best-selling games in America, Japan, and Europe last week? Thanks to Amazon online sales data here are the games that are the hottest. Think of it as a games weather report.
What follows is a listing of the Top 10 bestsellers per region, for all systems combined.
North America’s Top 10 Games:
1. Mass Effect 2 (Xbox 360)
2. Mass Effect 2 (PC)
3. New Super Mario Bros. (Wii)
4. Just Dance (Wii)
5. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Limited Edition (Xbox 360)
6. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Xbox 360)
7. Heavy Rain (PS3)
8. Wii Fit Plus with Balance Board (Wii)
9. God of War: Collection (PS3)
10. Wii Sports Resort with Wii MotionPlus Accessory (Wii)
Japan’s Top 10 Games:
1. Pokemon Ranger: Path of Light (DS)
2. Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer 4 – Eyes of God and the Devil (DS)
3. Wii Fit Plus – Set with Wii Balance Board (Wii)
4. New Super Mario Bros. (Wii)
5. Tomodachi [Friend/Mii] Collection (DS)
6. Resident Evil 5: Alternative Edition (PS3)
7. Demon’s Souls – The Best of PlayStation 3 (PS3)
8. God Eater (PSP)
9. Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep (PSP)
10. Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Reverie (DS)
Europe’s Top 10 Games:
1. Just Dance (Wii)
2. Heavy Rain (PS3)
3. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (Xbox 360)
4. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (PS3)
5. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (PC)
6. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Xbox 360)
7. BioShock 2 (Xbox 360)
8. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (PS3)
9. New Super Mario Brothers (Wii)
10. FIFA 10 (Xbox 360)
To recap the top games per system: Mass Effect 2 returns on the Xbox 360 and PC charts. Heavy Rain pours down on the PS3 chart. New Super Mario Bros. Wii jumps to the top spot on the Wii chart. New Super Mario Bros. DS returns once again on the DS chart. MLB 10 The Show debuts on the PS2 chart. And lastly, Grand Theft Auto Liberty City Stories returns on the PSP chart.
Sales data collected from Amazon’s US, JPN (PC) & UK / DE / FR websites.
On Wii Shop and DSiWare today: Final Fantasy II (Classic), Max & the Magic Marker (WiiWare), Dracula (DSiWare)
Nintendo downloads this week: Max & the Magic Marker for the WiiWare service imagines what would happen if your own artistic creation turned against you, while the Virtual Console service features a big dose of otherworldly action with the classic Final Fantasy II. Browse all the latest downloadable games for the Wii and Nintendo DSi systems to help keep your imagination fueled to the max.
Nintendo has now added these new/classic games to the Wii Shop Channel and Nintendo DSi Shop. The games go live at 9AM Pacific time. Users with a high-speed Internet connection can redeem Wii Points or Nintendo DSi Points to download the games. Wii Points can be purchased in the Wii Shop Channel. Nintendo DSi Points can be purchased in the Nintendo DSi Shop. A Nintendo Points Card can be purchased at retail locations or Amazon.com.
Where available, we’ve included videos of each of today’s games. Either for nostalgia’s sake or so you can see if any new game is to your taste.
This week’s new Virtual Console games is:
Final Fantasy II
Original platform: Super NES
Publisher: Square Enix
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) – Mild Fantasy Violence, Mild Suggestive Themes
Price: 800 Wii Points = $8
Description: Follow the dark knight Cecil – Lord Captain of Baron’s elite force, the Red Wings – as he embarks on a fateful journey riddled with trials, betrayals, friendship, loss and self-discovery. Plagued with uncertainty over his monarch’s motives, can Cecil turn away from the path of darkness and destruction?
This week’s new WiiWare games are:
Max & the Magic Marker
Publisher: Press Play
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) – Comic Mischief
Price: 1,000 Wii Points = $10
Description: One day Max gets a mysterious marker in the mail. Not knowing better, the first thing he draws is a wacky, purple monster. As soon as the marker leaves the paper, the monster comes to life and jumps off the paper and into another drawing. With the monster on the loose and messing with Max’s drawings, Max has no choice but to go after it. Armed with the magic marker, you must help Max track the monster through 15 inventive and challenging levels. You’ll need more than good will and quick reflexes to tackle the challenges ahead. Draw freely inside the game to help Max defeat enemies, overcome obstacles and solve puzzles. As you draw stairs, seesaws, balloons, surfboards and whatever else you can think of, your creations will interact with the physical environment, making every session unique.
Dracula – Undead Awakening
Publisher: Chillingo
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: T (Teen) – Fantasy Violence
Price: 1,000 Wii Points = $10
Description: Are you a vampire hunter? Are you ready to battle legions of undead foes including zombies, ghouls and werewolves? You’ll need to wield an arsenal of powerful weaponry while using your skill and intelligence. Uncover devastating firepower – machine guns, buzz-saws, flamethrowers and more – and choose upgrades for them as well as unique new perks for your character as your enemies increase in number and ferocity. You’re a tough customer, but beware – Lord Dracula is always on the hunt, and you are his prey. Enemies in Dracula have one thing in common: Undead, lycanthrope or mutant, they’re all after your flesh.
This week’s new DSiWare games are:
Elemental Masters
Publisher: lbxgames
Players: 1-2
ESRB Rating: T (Teen) – Animated Blood, Mild Fantasy Violence, Mild Suggestive Themes
Price: 800 Nintendo DSi Points = $8
Description: In this fantasy card game, stand your ground in a quest filled with magic and adventure, and experience a thrilling combination of strategy and role-playing. Choose your character, build up your army in your card deck and fight the mystical creatures of Elendior. With thoughtful use of your cards, you’ll obtain the monsters of your enemy and support your attacks by using arcane spells and the rules of dark magic. Dive into this captivating story in the quest mode or duel with your friends in multiplayer mode. More than 100 creatures in numerous maps are waiting for you.
4 Travellers – Play Spanish
Publisher: Agenius Interactive
Players: 1-4
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 800 Nintendo DSi Points = $8
Description: Whether played alone or together with friends, 4 Travellers can teach you new words in Spanish. The game is suitable for both young and old, and no previous knowledge is necessary. The more you play, the more your Spanish vocabulary increases. You can also play and learn with the game’s unique learning mode. The game is perfect to bring on your trip, with more than 240 carefully selected words included specifically for this occasion.
Dracula – Undead Awakening
Publisher: Chillingo
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: T (Teen) – Fantasy Violence
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points = $5
Description: Are you a vampire hunter? Are you ready to battle legions of undead foes including zombies, ghouls and werewolves? You’ll need to wield an arsenal of powerful weaponry while using your skill and intelligence. Uncover devastating firepower – machine guns, buzz-saws, flamethrowers and more – and choose upgrades for them as well as unique new perks for your character as your enemies increase in number and ferocity. You’re a tough customer, but beware – Lord Dracula is always on the hunt, and you are his prey. Enemies in Dracula have one thing in common: Undead, lycanthrope or mutant, they’re all after your flesh.
Flips: The Bubonic Builders
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: Not Rated
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points = $5
Description: Flips Interactive Books are the fun new way for kids to read. The builders are in to replace the girls’ toilet block, but they’re more interested in cups of tea and instant noodle snacks than doing any work. James suspects foul play, but Alexander and Lenny are doubtful until a strange accident hammers the truth home. How will the three friends stop St. Sebastian’s from being reduced to rubble?
Hotel Dusk and Trace Memory adventure series developer Cing goes bankrupt. Again DS game still on the way
Hotel Dusk, Little King’s Story, Trace Memory 2/Another Code R and Again: Eye of Providence developer Cing has officially gone out of business in their homeland of Japan.
The company apparently suffered liabilities totaling over 2.5 million dollars (USD).
This is sad news because the developer was a pretty talented one that made some unique and interesting games, even the games didn’t sell as well as they could have or should have.
I would hope that Nintendo may scoop them up anyhow.
Hopefully the upcoming Tecmo-published Again: Eye of Providence for DS and Hotel Dusk 2: Last Window (which may be published by Nintendo) will still see release outside of Japan despite this news.
Via NeoGAF
