Source: infendo.com
Being of big fan of last year’s Skate on Xbox 360 and PS3, I’m super-stoked (am I still in high school?) for Skate It on Wii, which uses the Balance Board. What’s more, the above trailer makes me feel like EA is pushing Wii graphics as they should have been at launch in 2006. Nice.
Anyone else excited for this game? Skate It arrives on Wii and DS next Wednesday.
Source: infendo.com
Hudson held it’s annual gamer’s day in San Francisco last month and two things are certain: the company makes a lot of money on Wii, planning a bevy of games for the system in the next few months, and the best one among them is easily Snowboard Riot for WiiWare.
By the numbers, Snowbard Riot supports 4-person online multiplayer, 2-person split-screen, both Balance Board and traditional controls, and features four tracks, according to Hudson. In terms of control, the game plays a lot like a Twisted Metal, Jet Moto, and Mario Kart in that you race around tracks with weapons power-ups, but it’s smaller in scope.
I was unable to try the Balance Board controls as they were not being demoed, but overall, I found the game to be a fun diversion, even if it plays slower than Excite Truck and is a little sluggish making wide turns. Still, the game has potential, depending on final price which I can’t imagine being more than $10-15.
Other games shown at the event included Bomberman Ultra for PSN, Fishing Master World Tour Wii, Help Wanted Wii (a Cooking Mamma-like game), Pit Panic Crew Wiiware (a crazy-looking mini-game), Pool Revolution: Cue Sports Wiiware (technically not shown, but announced), and Marble Saga: Kororinpa for Wii.
Release dates were not announced.
Hudson Entertainment Announces Snowboard Riot for Digital Download on Wii
A unique twist on snowboarding using weapons!November 11, 2008 – Hudson Entertainment, the North American publishing arm of HUDSON SOFT, today announced that Snowboard Riot, a distinctive snowboarding game unlike anything players have ever encountered will be coming to WiiWare. Snowboarding will reach new heights when players take to the slopes with action-packed racing utilizing weapons such as homing bullets and invisibility!
“Snowboard Riot is not your standard snowboarding game,” said Sabine Duvall, Vice President of Product Development at Hudson Entertainment. “A snowboarding game is a rush by itself, but when you add weapons, it becomes even more exciting. Add in online play for four people and you have the perfect game for both snowboarding and action-racing fans”
While snowboarding is already an exhilarating activity, nothing can prepare players for Snowboard Riot. Battle with up to 4 boarders using the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection to race online and blow away the competition. Weapons such as mines and turbo are available to give players an edge fighting it out on the mountain.
Gamers have several control options, as they can use the Wii Remote and Nunchuk or the Wii Balance Board to carve their way to victory. Just like a real snowboard, players can lean left and right on the Wii Balance Board, providing a realistic snowboard experience. Boarders can also choose from four characters to bomb the slopes, and can customize their look with Oakley apparel and goggles to improve their performance.
Snowboard Riot is rated E for Everyone by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB).
Source: videogamesblogger.com
Tetris Party is a downloadable WiiWare version of the uber-popular and addictive puzzle game. Featuring online support that allows up to six players from around the world to face off or go at it in two-player co-op on the same playfield. Of course you also get the 15-level traditional single player marathon mode.
There are 18 game modes in all, with 10 never-before-seen single- player and multiplayer variations of Tetris. These include modes that use the unique point-and-shoot capabilities of the Wii Remote, as well as the recently released Wii Balance Board.
If you haven’t played Tetris DS yet, rearranging blocks has never been this exciting in these Tetris multiplayer modes.
Tetris Party producer Tony Tran discusses the miracle of Wii Balance Board controls in WiiWare Tetris.
To be honest, I yawned. All other modes look like great fun, though.
Source: infendo.com
In addition to the solid traditional Tetris game we’ve come to expect, Tetris Party boasts a total of 18 game modes, 10 of which were developed as entirely new modes of play just for Tetris Party. With play types like Duel Spaces, Shadow mode, Stage Racer, Field Climber, Co-op mode, and Wii Balance Board support, even veteran players have something new to look forward to. These play modes bring an astounding amount of interesting, fun, and exciting gameplay to what could have otherwise been a very plain WiiWare title. I caught up with Casey Pelkey, VP of Marketing at Tetris Online, it seemed to me that Tetris Party almost has enough content to warrant a disc release. I wanted to know more.
“People do want to see more out of a game,” Pelkey said about WiiWare titles, “The thing is that the game is definitely deep enough to be a package product, but we were committed to WiiWare from the beginning.”
As Mr. Pelkey and I spoke about the game’s development, it became clear that Tetris Party could have easily filled out a disc release.
“Hudson really hit a home run, and the best part was they left out more stuff that wasn’t put in this game, and that just means there is an opportunity for more stuff in the future.”
With a core game mode aimed to please even the most diehard Tetris fan, 18 modes of play, and online play of up to six players via Nintendo Wi-Fi , Tetris Party is not only shaping up to be one of the best values on WiiWare this fall, but also probably the best value for a Tetris title to date. If you are any kind of a puzzle fan, this game will be a steal when it is released later this month for 1200 Wii Points.
Head past the break for pictures and the rest of my preview.
Remember how I said Party defies convention? Player, meet Duel Spaces, a new game mode where you do the exact opposite of what you thought Tetris was all about. Playing on a double wide field, players take turns placing tetraminos in attempt to capture dead space.
In Shadow mode, 1-4 players must place blocks only within the visible silhouette in to create an apple, simile face, or hey, maybe Bomberman! Turning the core game on it’s head, Party let’s you use tetraminos to create, rather than destroy.
Prepare to be challenged with the new stage racer mode, where you must navigate a falling Tetris block through a nearly bottomless pit of obstacles, ledges, and terrifyingly small passageways. This great new challenge forces players to learn advanced moves in order to proceed.
Help the little guy in Field Climber, as you build a path for your stick figure hero to collect flags and climb to the top of the playing field.
Conscript a friend in the new cooperative mode, work together to clear a double wide playing field.
Call it exercise with the Wii Balance board. Tetraminos movement is controlled by leaning left or right, and can be rotated with squat.
Tetris party will be available in Fall, 2008
Source: videogamesblogger.com
In their very new search to invade the small screen, the Raving Rabbids could not of course miss a media event such as the Olympic Games. But with the way in which they are doing it, one wonders if they are not a little nuts on the side…
Once more, the Rabbids are in phase with sport news. Ubisoft’s troublemakers take part in the Olympic Games, and more precisely the 100 meter and hammer throw. Another parody that fans of Ubisoft’s large ears will undoubtedly appreciate.
With all that commotion you’d almost forget there’s a new Wii Balance Board-supported Rabbids game coming to the Wii (and DS). Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party’s release date is set for November 11th, 2008.
Source: infendo.com
Joystiq has a quirky, one-off post up tonight about something they overheard at E3 in the Ubisoft booth.
“This is, basically, the first game that you play with your ass.” — Ubisoft’s Adrian Lacey, discussing Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party.
I’m sure some of you are saying it’s something we could all do easily with our feet (come on, peeps, live a little), but brilliant nevertheless.
Source: videogamesblogger.com
Remember that Rayman Raving Rabbids 3 teaser that showed the Rabbid inspecting a Wii Balance Board? Well, it’s been renamed to Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party for Wii and will include the first ever game with ass-controls!
Yeah, you heard me right. The game mainly supports the Wii Balance Board for its 65 new minigames, where the Rabbids try and take over everything on television over the course of a week. Some of these minigames will have you bobsledding down a hill while moving your ass around on the Wii Balance Board to control movements. The game will also have 8-player ’round robin’ multiplayer and feature online leaderboards.
The categories include: shaking, precision, dexterity, balance, rhythm, combos, acting, and stepping.
Some of the other minigames include:
* Xtreme Sports channel (wildebeest minigame, ass-controlled).
* Fashion Rabbidz minigame (poses on the Wii Balance Board).
* Shooting segments — destroy movie sets.
* But no more FMV shooting segments.
Watch the first Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party gameplay trailer that shows the cow-sled catching mad air!
I don’t know what it is about those Rabbids, but Jean Claude Silly had me bursting out in laughter. So goofy.
Source: infendo.com
The curious-sounding Kombo has the scoop:
During Ubidays 2008, Ubisoft revealed that its upcoming snowboarder, Shaun White Snowboarding, will be coming to Nintendo Wii. More exciting, the publisher revealed that the game will support Nintendo’s Wii Balance Board. Although members of the press were not allowed to play the game at the event, an Ubisoft representative was on hand to demo the setup. The game is played with both the Balance Board and Wii-mote, using the latter to control tricks.
Foot controllers, here we come?
Source: infendo.com
Bob was a big guy. Manly. Six foot four and full of muscles, or so the song goes. He doesn’t really “get” what Nintendo is trying to do with the whole “Blue Ocean” strategy. He owns a Wii, though, and has enjoyed it so far. When he saw the shrinking stack of WiiFit boxes at a local retailer Wednesday, he plunked down some money to buy one.
Bob and I got to talking at a pub last night before a screening of the atrociously, almost offensively awful Indiana Jones: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and eventually the conversation drifted away from local microbrews and onto WiiFit.
“You know what? It kinda just works,” he told me. He said the line like he was shocked his mouth uttered the words so openly. He and his wife, both mid to late 20’s, had spent the previous evening going through the initial set up of Wii Fit, and ended up “playing” the title well past whatever hour they had arbitrarily deemed acceptable for a video game.
I’ve also spent the last 48 hours “playing” and dissecting WiiFit. Amazon dropped it off on Wednesday, and being the geek that I am I had it torn open and battery-packed before I got through the door. I did some yoga. I balanced myself *almost* perfectly. I noticed a little sweat starting to form on my brow.
And you know what? I was also surprised. WiiFit and the Balance Board works, it turns out, just fine indeed.
Various reviewers have taken a few different approaches to WiiFit in the run up to its launch on May 21. Some have kept diaries; others have straight up reviewed it as they would have BioShock or Grand Theft Auto IV; and others still, like IGN, are embarking on an exhaustive scientific fitness regimen to see if — and this is contrary to everything Shigeru Miyamoto has ever said about the game — it does, in fact, melt away the fat and tone your buttocks into a shape worthy of an apple bottom label.
I’ll do none of those things here. With the spirit of Miyamoto at my side, I established a few simple parameters that I think (or hope) will be enough to sway you one way or another. I just played the game and recorded what happened, and devised a silly little test, which I’ll get to in a second.
From what I’ve read thus far from WiiFit’s designer, Miyamoto, the idea came about because his own personal training had created conversation and fun within his family around a subject that was decidedly un-fun until that point in time. The test for Wii Fit was simple: Was it fun? Was it believable? Would we really want to play months on end, as was intended?
(Winded) Partner in Yoga Crime
In that vein I recruited an able-bodied partner, my girlfriend, to get as many opinions into this review as possible. It was a blind review for her. I just sat back and watched, mentally taking notes as she did yoga poses (a yoga student, she is); I did strength training; and then I capped it all off with a rather robust skiing and ski jumping adventure.
As someone who only started playing video games again with the Wii (Sports, Kart, Twilight Princess), her pallet was clean, so to speak. She also knew a thing or two about legitimate yoga poses. I figured that was a pretty good clean slate to start with. While some of the naming was different with Wii Fit, I can honestly say she was impressed with the initial poses (although some were not entirely accurate). The fact that not all are immediately available were a sore point, and I can see this being a downside for many users who approach Wii Fit with existing strength training, yoga and fitness knowledge.
Ninty, I realize what you’re trying to do with unlockable carrot and stick content, but give us experts the expert treatment. Next time, ok?
Now I’m not going to say yoga floored the gf, but it did get her noticing a tweak here, a stretch there, and a slight sweat by the end of a few poses. For the Wii Fit doubter, I say this: the game will make you sweat and get active, especially as you up the reps per exercise.
I basically sucked at yoga, and my balance was way off for my left side. After a scolding from my female trainer, I moved on. The cool thing was it wasn’t the game that was messing up, it was me, and I could see it being displayed on screen in real time.
Final ruling on yoga? Fun, but limited unless you’re willing to stick with it and accumulate the points necessary to unlock content. I would have also liked to string the exercises together into a routine right off the bat, as it’s done in yoga classes already. But that’s what fitness is all about, isn’t it?
Walking the Plank
The “games” I was most excited for with Wii Fit were the Strength Training ones. I go to the gym a few times every week for weight training, and I hoped Wii Fit would provide an additional light day for those busy weeks when I can’t make it as often as I’d like.
I started with what I figured was the most demanding beginner exercise, the push up and plank (again, you have to unlock the rest–and I was wrong about it being the hardest, by the way). You basically do just that: push ups into a side plank, hold, and then repeat on the other side. A few reps and the cycle is done.
Throughout the exercise, I could “feel the burn,” as they say. I don’t do a lot of planks, but I’ve heard it’s a great exercise, so I’m glad Wii Fit will now demand I do them–and do them with good form–from time to time.
At the end of the reps, as it was with yoga, I was sweating. The pattern would continue throughout, from sit up pikes, to lunges (bad knees from sports, definitely the hardest for me), to torso twists. If you do these exercises correctly, you will notice some perspiration, I promise you. And that’s the idea! Add to that the fact that each exercise has little timer bells to let you know duration, etc., and it’s almost–dare I say it–a fun little fitness game!
Again, as someone who goes to the gym as part of a routine already, I wish there was at least the option to do more exercises right off the bat. I understand this is in there to keep people interested and help along beginners, but at least option.
Final fitness verdict on Strength Training? Fun, believable, and for now I can’t wait to make it part of my early morning routine before work. Adding reps and difficulty is sure to keep even the fittest of Wii players straining and sweating. The balance component adds an interesting side to strength training that I never consciously considered before.
It’s Downhill From Here, In a Good Way
When you need a break from the soulless white and blue of the yoga or weight rooms, I suggest a quick run and then a trip to the top of the ski jump.
Running in place, honest to Pete, had my heart beating faster by the time I finished the “short” course. Sad? Yes, but again this is a fun, believable way of turning a mundane cardiovascular exercise into something fun. For some reason I especially liked the other Miis form my console running with me. It’s the simple things, I guess. Now, can you cheat? It only uses the Wiimote, so yes, but anyone can cheat at fitness. Half the battle is overcoming the urge to cut corners.
After my “run” I took the chair lift up the Wii Fit mountain for a few slalom runs. I sucked, but again it wasn’t the game–it was my balance. After missing the umpteenth gate for the umpteenth time, I wanted to get back to the summit for more. By the third run I was much better, although I was still at 1/4 stars and had missed a few gates. If We Ski is a more robust version of this mini-game then I recommend it on the controls alone.
Ski Jumping was the best game, fitness or otherwise, however. Like Wii Sports tennis or bowling, the physics are just right, the controls responsive, and the learning curve extremely simple. It’s all about balance and launching up at the right time (but not in the air, as the software warns you beforehand). By my second run I thought I had the hang of it, but the game told me otherwise: 2/4 stars. My Mii, ski outfit and all, was crushed.
The great thing about the Balance Games is you can earn points here too. Final thoughts on the Balance and aerobic games? Some are tacked on (don’t require the board), but they fit into the game just fine.
Cool down
After playing Wii Fit the past couple of mornings and evenings, a slightly competitive streak has sprouted up between your humble narrator and his decidedly un-humble significant other. She’s bested me in yoga and I can’t seem to catch up, and she lets me know it. If you have a big family or an apartment full of fitness freaks, I can see things getting out of hand pretty easily. That’s the game side of Wii Fit showing through. Tomorrow I assume the fitness part is going to rear its ugly head in the form of sore knees and thighs.
There’s really nothing deceptive about Wii Fit. It’s not some gimmick parading around as a fitness tool, because as far as I can tell it gives you a slight workout and a good time to boot. There’s unlockable content that will have you, Wii Sports-like, coming back for more, although at this time I can’t say how long that will be. If you’re really into fitness, I don’t see it fading anytime soon. If you’re not the type to exercise, or enjoy games that feature exercise at their core, you will still have your work cut out for you. This is no magic pill, although it’s certainly an easier start to healthy living than joining a gym cold turkey on Jan 1.
There’s definitely a big beginner feel to the early exercises, and as an expert you’ll have to endure some repetition to unlock the extras. I don’t think that’s enough to derail Wii Fit from its mission statement: Fun with a fitness twist.
Oh, and one last gripe. This thing pics up dirt like nobody’s business (at right). Day two and mine’s filthy as sin. I guess maybe I’m just a pig pen. A pig with abs of steel!
Lastly, I hesitate to give this a “grade” because t’s really unlike anything I’ve ever “reviewed” before. Both non-gamer and gamer alike enjoyed the experience. Even BMI and weighing ourselves was fun, crazy as that sounds. As a fitness tool I’d say almost 4/4 stars. As a game, it’s pretty simple and might not last, but so far it’s been fun, so it’s a weaker 3/4. If you hate fitness, you’ll dislike this, but I recommend a demo if you can find one somewhere.
As for upgrade ability? Future fun? That’s a solid 5/4, easy.
Source: infendo.com
From Siliconera this morning comes word that Hudson’s upcoming online Tetris title could have a very interesting new feature.
Will Tetris for WiiWare have any new features other than Mii support or online play? Maybe drag and drop play like Dr. Mario & Virus Busters?
It features a number of new rules and items. Currently, we’re tossing around the idea of using the Balance Board. The game also supports 6-Player Wi-Fi battle.
Oh, and there’s the 6-player WiFi battles to consider too. Is it time for a Tetris resurgence?
