Category: Wii

Spider-Man zooms around New York in this trailer

Being Spider-man has its perks, I believe. Imagine swinging about New York City, grabbing breathtaking views from skyscrapers, and getting to your destination without having to go through any gridlocks. That’s what Beenox is trying to capture in the upcoming movie tie-in The Amazing Spider-Man. They have developed a context-sensitive system dubbed ‘Web Rush’.

Activating it will slow down time and let you select a route or course of action. Spider-man then pulls a wide variety of tricks to automatically perform that. It seems like a glorified context-sensitive menu, but hey, it should be fun, right?

The game is due out on PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, 3DS and DS on June 26. Check out the trailer below.

Epic Mickey 2 video goes behind the scenes

A new video for Epic Mickey 2 goes behind the scenes of its development. Game director Warren Spector touches upon the world of the Wasteland, and talks about the capabilities of the PS3 and Xbox 360, among other things.

The game is due out this fall on PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii.

FIFA 13 announced, promises major changes

FIFA_13Not wasting any time, EA has announced FIFA 13, the next release in the annual football franchise. And this time they’re offering a “revolutionary set of game-changing innovations.”

So, what does this hyperbole translate to? First off, the AI has been improved. They’ve also enhanced the dribbling system and have redone the Player Impact Engine. The career mode has also had some “major changes” in response to fan feedback.

The game is coming out on PC, PS3, Xbox 360, PS Vita, Wii, PSP, PS2 (!), 3DS, iOS, and other mobile platforms. It will also support Kinect and PlayStation Move.

Duke topples detectives on the way to the throne

The King is back, baby, and he’s number one right now. At least in the UK. Duke Nukem Forever sold enough copies of itself, following its resurrection by Gearbox, to topple L.A. Noire. The game hasn’t been received well by critics, though, as the PC version currently stands at 63 on Metacritics.

Other titles include inFamous 2, which opened at four. Another open-world title Red Faction: Armageddon dropped in at eight. Here’s the full list for the week ending June 11:

  1. Duke Nukem Forever
  2. LA Noire
  3. Zumba Fitness
  4. inFamous 2
  5. LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean
  6. DiRT 3
  7. Brink
  8. Red Faction: Armageddon
  9. Call of Duty: Black Ops
  10. Portal 2

No dual platform release for Skyward Sword

With the Wii U making its presence felt strongly at E3, many were wondering if The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword would be published on both platforms. Nintendo US chief Reggie Fils-Aime has quashed that dream, however, noting that “Skyward Sword was built to be played with a Wii controller.”

It should be noted that the company released both Gamecube and Wii versions of Twilight Princess, which was originally a Gamecube title, back in 2006.

Skyward Sword is planned for release this holiday season. Wii U still doesn’t have a princess to save.

Harry Potter gets another blocky treatment

LHP2_TeaserArt_RGB_FINALThe Lego madness continues in Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7, the final installment in the series. Set for release this holiday season on PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PSP, DS and PC, the game, as the title suggests, will explore the last three books.

There’s not much to say about it other than the fact that it’s going to include new family-friendly spells (what, no death curses?) and bonus content for kids of all ages. That, coupled with Lego humor and Voldemort looking all blocky, makes it an interesting title for everyone.

Enjoy the cheesy box art.

Rock Band 3 designer leaves studio, now working on “ridiculously cool project”

rockband3

Announcing his departure via Twitter and a blog post, Dan Teasdale, senior designer at Harmonix and lead designer on Rock Band 3, has left the studio and taken a position at Twisted Pixel Games, which is known for Splosion Man, The Maw and the upcoming Comic Jumper.

Teasdale notes that while Rock Band 3 has not been released yet, it is “design complete and on the final path to 0 bugs, GM and distribution.”

"I want to be able to help drive the vision and direction of a game," writes Teasdale. "But at the same time be hands on and physically implement and iterate on the low level of making games in a more substantial way than time affords me when working as a lead on multi-hundred person titles."

He adds that this is nothing that can be done easily on a AAA title with more than 200 people working on it. Teasdale will now work on a “ridiculously cool new project” which will have a “close knit superteam”.

Rock Band 3 is set for release this holiday for PS3, Xbox 360, Wii and DS.

Analyst: publishers reluctant to support Wii due to declining software sales

black-kuro-wii-juni-4-2009Gloom and doom for the industry continues, this time directed at the Wii. Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter noted that the Wii’s declining software sales is a bad sign for the system and its publisher support.

"Wii software sales were down 19% year-over-year and DS software sales were down 13%, while PS3 software sales were up 58% and Xbox 360 software sales were up 29%. We think this is remarkable, given growth in the Wii hardware installed base of 44% and growth in the DS installed base of 33% over the last 12 months.

In contrast, the PS3 installed base is up 60% and the Xbox 360 installed base is up 32% over the same period. Software sales growth mirrored hardware unit growth for both the PS3 and Xbox 360, but sorely lagged hardware unit growth for the Wii and DS.

In our view, this indicates that Nintendo’s customers either are not finding enough software to satisfy their needs, or need less software than the typical Sony or Microsoft customer."

Pachter added that publishers seem to be “reluctant to support the console as broadly as the other two.”

In other news: Rock Band “Clearwater” DLC, Puzzle Agent Demo, Dead Rising 2 in Australia and Eye of Judgment closing

A monster twelve-pack from southern rockers Credence Clearwater Revival will be gracing Rock Band next week. The tracks will be available starting July 11 and will cost $1.99 a piece of $19.99 for the whole pack. Below are the songs:

    Creedence Clearwater Revival Pack 01

    • "Bad Moon Rising" +
    • "Born on the Bayou" +
    • "Down on the Corner" +
    • "Fortunate Son (Original Version)" +
    • "Green River" +
    • "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" +
    • "Lookin’ Out My Back Door" +
    • "Proud Mary" +
    • "Run Through the Jungle"
    • "Travelin’ Band" +
    • "Up Around the Bend" +
    • "Who’ll Stop the Rain" +

    All tracks are original master recordings. Those marked with a + will also come to LEGO Rock Band.

Meanwhile, The Eye of Judgment players are out of luck as the PlayStation Eye-enabled game will have its online support ended on September 30. The game is now over three years old, and this closure is not a surprise considering the abysmal support it has received since its release.

The Aussies finally get a break! The country’s ratings board, the OFLC, has classified Dead Rising 2 for release with an MA15 rating. The good news? It will be released uncut and unedited. The game is due out at the end of September on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

Finally, a demo for Puzzle Agent can be found puzzling its way around the Internet. The 182MB download can be found on FileShack, AtomicGamer and the game’s official website.

Red Dead Redemption feels lonely at the top, beats Italian plumber and sweaty fighters

rdr lonely at the top

Red Dead Redemption continues its sales domination as NPD Group reveals the sales data for May 2010. The game has sold a combined 1.5 million units across the PS3 and Xbox 360. This has pushed the Italian plumber’s latest adventure down the gutter to third position.

Top Ten U.S. Console Games – Reporting May 2 to May 29, 2010

    1. Red Dead: Redemption (Xbox 360) – 945.9K
    2. Red Dead: Redemption (PS3) – 567.1K
    3. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii) – 563.9K
    4. UFC 2010: Undisputed (Xbox 360) – 221.1K
    5. UFC 2010: Undisputed (PS3) – 192.3K
    6. Wii Fit Plus w/ Balance Board (Wii)
    7. New Super Mario Bros Wii (Wii)
    8. Alan Wake* (Xbox 360)
    9. Pokemon Soul Silver (NDS)
    10. Skate 3 (Xbox 360)

Hardware sales was quite good, though numbers were down compared to last year. The best-selling console was the DS followed by the Wii. The Xbox 360 beat out the PS3 by a rather wide margin, and the PSP languishes at the lowly bottom.

U.S. Hardware Sales – Reporting May 2 to May 29, 2010

    1. DS: 383.7K (down 57.1K)
    2. Wii: 334.8K (up 57.6K)
    3. Xbox 360: 194.6K (up 9.2K)
    4. PS3: 154.5K (down 26.3K)
    5. PSP: 59.4K (down 6.1K)