Archive for March 7th, 2008
March 7, 2008
Another Thursday, and another new game from THQ coming to Nintendo’s platform. Though the publisher took last week off, recent Thursdays have seen THQ announce original properties Battle of the Bands (nee Band Mashups), Deadly Creatures, and Big Beach Sports, all exclusive to Nintendo’s Wii. Today, the publisher continued its focus on bringing new franchises to Nintendo’s platforms, revealing All Star Cheer Squad for the Wii and Nintendo DS.
Billed as “the first-ever cheerleading video game,” All Star Cheer Squad will be developed by Florida-based Gorilla Systems and will give players a taste of competitive cheerleading. Hoping to lend some real-world credibility to the virtual game, THQ has signed on Bring It On choreographer Tony G as chief consultant for the project.
Players will assume the role of a cheerleader, where they must learn “the latest cheer action and top routines,” with the ultimate goal of becoming cheer-squad captain. THQ also promises a highly customizable experience, with players able to define the look and style of their character as well as create their own cheers.
In addition to the obligatory Wii Remote and Nunchuk, the Wii version of the game will make use of the Wii Balance Board. It’s the first US-developed game to do so, and it’s only the second non-Nintendo title compatible with the peripheral, after We Skui. The Wii Balance Board will be packed in with Nintendo’s anticipated fitness sim Wii Fit on May 19. All Star Cheer Squad is currently slated to arrive this fall.
March 7, 2008
The gameplay found in the original Destroy All Humans! may have been so-so at best, but it was able to overcome this shortcoming with a fiendish sense of humor that used 1950s sci-fi to satirize Cold War paranoia. The second installment did its best to mimic what made the first so funny, but couldn’t produce quite as many laughs thanks to a lack of focus in its storyline. This downward trend in quality continues with Destroy All Humans! Big Willy unleashed, which relies on a quickly tiresome flood of sexual innuendo to mask the fact that the human-destroying action has gone stale.
The Zap-O-Matic isn’t the funniest weapon in the game, but it’s pretty effective.
Big Willy Unleashed takes its name from the chain of fast-food restaurants Pox has opened in his newfound quest to take over the Earth through good old-fashioned capitalism. The twist here is that Pox uses the scores of dead humans that have been piling up throughout the first two games (a result of his partner in crime Crypto harvesting human brains for DNA) as a cheap alternative to beef in his hamburgers. Heiress-turned-activist Patty Wurst (rhymes with “Hearst”–get it?) is out to expose Pox’s Soylent Green-inspired business practices, so it’s up to you as Crypto to stop her and her cronies. From there, the plot spirals out of control with a smattering of halfhearted ’70s pop-culture parodies that rarely illicit more than a faint chuckle.
Although the plot may be all over the place, one consistent theme throughout the game is the constant repetition of Big Willy-related double entendres. Whenever Pox sends Crypto on a mission to protect his restaurants from anticannibalism activists, he always mentions how his Big Willy is not to be touched, or how they’ll feel the wrath of his Big Willy, and so on. It’s a little funny at first, but the joke is repeated to the point where it becomes a groan-inducing routine.
The series’ trademark humor may have taken a nosedive, but the action remains much the same. You’re given a pretty nice assortment of Furon weaponry to aid your task of obliterating select groups of human life. These options include old standbys such as the Zap-O-Matic and the Anal Probe, but new options are thrown into the mix, such as the Zombie Gun and another that shoots balls of lightning like grenades. Like much of the humor in the game, these weapons offer some amusement at first–turning people into zombies to distract police is a nice ability, and we never tire of seeing the phrase “Anal Probe Upgraded!” flash across the screen–but the simplicity of running, shooting, running, shooting becomes rather monotonous after a short time.
Destroy an entire city with the flying saucer within a few short minutes, but don’t expect much of a challenge.
Thankfully, Crypto doesn’t remain a pedestrian for the entire game; you now have a pair of vehicles to pilot. You can choose from the flying saucer featured in previous games and the newly introduced Big Willy mech suit. The vehicle sequences provide welcome variety to the combat, though they tend to make you almost invincible. In the saucer, you’ll mostly fly around while zapping buildings out of existence, taking care not to draw too much interest from escalating levels of local authorities. But if you do find yourself in a hailstorm of missiles, it’s pretty simple to restore your health by using your abduction beam to drain the energy from almost anything lying on the ground. Though simple, the saucer sequences are pretty fun–at least until you run into the occasional fetch quest. In an odd bit of self-referential humor, you’ll hear Crypto exclaim how much he hates fetch quests as the mission begins. It’s a funny way of breaking the fourth wall, but it doesn’t really mask the fact that, yes, it’s a fetch quest and, yes, it’s quite boring.
The Big Willy mech sequences follow the same trend of interesting but overly simple gameplay. You’re able to hop into any of the 25-foot-tall Big Willy statues that tower over each of Pox’s franchises to engage in mech-suit mayhem. With Big Willy, you can pick up giant objects such as cars and use them as weaponry to smash helpless citizens. These same citizens also restore your health when you snatch them up and toss them into your mouth like they’re pieces of popcorn. For sheer brutality alone, it’s quite a bit more amusing to pilot the Big Willy, but the two vehicles don’t really feel all that much different. They control the exact same way: You use the Nunchuk to move around, and twist the remote side to side to turn the camera. Combined with the fact that the saucer is fixed pretty low to the ground, these vehicle sections really blend into each other.
Vehicular navigation doesn’t take many risks with the Wii Remote’s motion-sensing abilities, and that’s a fairly common theme in the game. The remote is used most often to control the camera, which thankfully includes three levels of responsiveness. It does a fairly nice job of mimicking the standard dual-joystick control scheme and never becomes much of an issue in the game. But beyond that, the Wii Remote’s abilities are kept in check pretty often. When you want to engage Crypto’s PK abilities (which include hypnotizing and bodysnatching), you’ll need to defeat a quick minigame that involves shooting brain-shaped targets on the screen. You can also use the remote to swing objects you’ve picked up in the mech suit with an overhand motion, but that’s really about it. Overall, this is a game that could be played easily with a traditional controller.
Visually, Big Willy Unleashed doesn’t impress. It really shows its roots as a series that began on last-generation systems in 2005. Not much seems to have been done to improve the graphics, and furthermore, there’s an ill-conceived bloom-lighting effect that gives certain textures a sort of blurry, tie-dyed look. On top of this, the sound feels very off. Whereas the first game in the series featured great voice acting and lots of creepy, theremin-filled sci-fi music, this one lacks the same punch. The new voice actors filling in the roles of Crypto and Pox sound like poor impressions of the originals, and the disco-filled soundtrack fails to produce the same charming atmosphere found previously.
Wield taxi cabs like blunt objects when you take control of the Big Willy mech.
Finally, there’s the ability to enlist the help of a friend to take part in multiplayer. Your options are pretty limited, though; you can go head-to-head against another player in an effort to hold as many beacons as you can within a set time limit, or you can work side-by-side to defend a Big Willy restaurant from waves of troops. This tacked-on multiplayer doesn’t add anything to the experience and only continues the general theme of disappointment established by the campaign. It would be tough to recommend such an underwhelming sequel right out of the gate, but if you can find it down the road on sale, it might be worth it for the few chuckles it offers.
March 7, 2008
Aussie gamers are no strangers to long delays between a game’s release in the US and Australia, especially when it it comes to Nintendo titles. Fans of the eagerly awaited Mario Kart Wii can rest a little easier now, as Nintendo Australia have announced that the game will be gracing our shores on April 24, seven days before the US.
Mario Kart Wii will retail for A$99.95 and comes bundled with the Wii Wheel, a steering wheel-shaped shell for the Wiimote. If that’s not your thing, players can also control their karts by using the Wiimote horizontally, Wiimote and numbchuck combination, via a classic controller, or even plug in their old GameCube controllers. Controller schemes aside, the game features 16 new tracks on top of 16 old tracks from previous Mario Kart titles, as well as online support for Nintendo Wi-fi connection.
Nintendo Australia are yet to announce dates on their other big games this year–Wii Fit and Super Smash Bros. Brawl–but this is certainly a start. Check back to If Its Games AU for a full review of Mario Kart Wii soon.
March 7, 2008
While Activision’s Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock can’t match MTV Games’ Rock Band for sheer quantity of downloadable songs, it has the competition soundly beat in the freebies department.
Activision celebrated the announcement of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith by making one of the classic rock group’s biggest hits, “Dream On,” available as a free download. The company also celebrated Christmas by releasing “We Three Kings” as a free track, and provided Xbox 360 owners with a complimentary version of the Halo 3 theme song.
Today Activision announced plans to double the amount of free content it has released for Guitar Hero III to date, as the publisher will celebrate St. Patrick’s Day later this month with a free downloadable track pack of songs by Irish punk band Dropkick Murphys for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game. The three songs included–”Famous for Nothing,” “(F)lannigan’s Ball,” and “Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ya”–are all master recordings pulled from the band’s latest album, The Meanest of Times.
Gamers who can’t wait for a free fix (or just don’t feel right rocking out to the bodhr
March 7, 2008
The 2007-2008 NCAA college football season offered innumerable massive upsets, Cinderella runs, and smashed records, with the storied season culminating in the Ohio State Buckeyes seemingly falling into the BCS National Championship game–and the controversial two-loss LSU Tigers promptly trouncing them and making off with the coveted crystal trophy.
Darren McFadden.
So, ready for next season? EA certainly is, as the publisher today confirmed NCAA Football 09 will greet the marching band on July 15 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation Portable. Looking to spread the cover-star love this year, EA has decided to grace the boxes of the individual editions of the game with separate athletes. Leading with the Xbox 360 edition, EA has named University of Arkansas tailback Darren McFadden.
With 4,485 yards in 37 games, McFadden holds the distinction as the University of Arkansas’ all-time leading rusher. Among the speedy power back’s many awards and distinctions, McFadden has been selected for the First Team All-SEC three times, been named the SEC coaches and AP Offensive Player of the Year in 2006, was the first sophomore to receive the Doak Walker Award for best college tailback two years running, and is a two-time Heisman Trophy runner-up.
As for what EA Tiburon will be bringing to the table this year, NCAA Football 09 will feature an all-new “break away animation engine.” The new mechanic will give players the ability to interrupt special moves on the fly, which EA hopes will give gamers more of a responsive, dynamic feel to the onscreen action.
EA plans to unveil the PS3 cover athlete on April 24, with the PS2 and PSP stars to be named in early May. The Wii cover will feature the winner of the NCAA Football 09 Cover Mascot Challenge, which will be announced on March 18. To keep tabs on the various cover stars, keep an eye on EA’s official NCAA Football 09 Web site.
March 7, 2008
To date, Apple’s efforts to bring gaming to the iPod has met with mixed success. Despite partnerships with such high-profile companies as Electronic Arts, Harmonix, Sega, and Namco, the limitations of the multimedia handheld’s clickwheel as a controller have proven difficult for developers to overcome.
A Spore-infected iPhone.
Photo: News.com
Today, though, Apple announced it is bringing games to its most coveted handheld, the iPhone. At a conference today live-blogged by If Its Games sister site News.com, CEO Steve Jobs announced that his company was opening up its own iPhone software developers’ kit (SDK) and application programming interfaces (APIs) outside Apple for free. This move will allow all sorts of companies to begin designing applications for the white-hot communicator, which Apple hopes to sell 10 million units of by year’s end.
Naturally, game publishers will be among the developers wanting to tap the iPhone market. Apple rolled out two major companies–EA and Sega–to show what they could do in just two weeks with the development kit. EA managed a herculean feat, adapting the Mac version of Will Wright’s long-in-the-making, evolutionary/civilization building/space exploration game Spore. Sega trotted out a new edition of Super Monkey Ball, which had to have its graphics upgraded for the iPhone.
Apple also showed off Touch Fighter, which it billed as the “the first official game for the iPhone.” Developed in just two weeks, the space combat game lets players control an X-Wing-like fighter ship by using the iPhone’s internal accelerometer. The person demonstrating the game used his iPhone like a steering wheel, precluding the need for any thumbpad, control stick, or buttons.
Touch Fighter in action.
Photo: News.com
While free to download, the iPhone SDK is not without cost. According to Jobs, Apple will take 30 percent of all sales from the iPhone’s App Store, the sole means of uploading and downloading third-party applications to iPhones. However, for its cut, Apple takes care of hosting, distribution, and retail duties, freeing developers from such chores. (Free applications will be hosted and distributed for free.) The App Store, which News.com said was reminiscent of the iPhone’s Wi-Fi Music Store, also completely circumvents iTunes, allowing direct download to iPhones via Wi-Fi or AT&T’s Edge wireless network.
March 7, 2008
In August, Australia-based Fuzzyeyes Studio revealed it would be parlaying its time spent making games about the fast-food industry into Edge of Twilight, a stylized, postapocalyptic third-person action adventure then slated to arrive for the Xbox 360 and PC at an undetermined point in the future. Today, Edge of Twilight took on a bit more focus when SouthPeak Games announced that Fuzzyeyes will be creating a PlayStation 3 version of the game as well.
As with Codemasters’ recently announced Damnation, Edge of Twilight will run with a steampunk aesthetic. Players will navigate a mechanized fantasy world in which society is divvied up into separate dimensions of night and day. Players will assume the role of an ostracized bounty hunter named Lex who must find his place in a world lorded over by the industrialized Atherns and the spiritual Lithern.
Gameplay details remain elusive, but Fuzzyeyes has previously said that Lex will have different abilities depending on whether he is in the night or day realms. SouthPeak also noted today that the game would benefit from the publisher’s license of Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 3.
For more on Edge of Twilight, check out Fuzzyeyes’ official Web site for the game.
March 7, 2008
Reuters - At first blush, THQ’s “Frontlines: Fuel of War” seems like just another entrant in a recent string of military-themed shooter video games. But a few tricks could set it apart enough to turn it into a sorely needed success for THQ, which struggled last year with lackluster reviews and poor sales.
March 7, 2008
AP - Apple Inc. wants the iPhone to become a business e-mail gadget
March 7, 2008
IGN has had yet another play on Mario Kart for the Wii. They report back that there\’s a whole heap of things to do and see in Mario Kart Wii and they have only just scratched the surface. BUT, the speed difference, open roads and Mii integration makes the title feel less hardcore than the old oversion and as such acts a bridge title for the harcore and casual gamer segments.
March 7, 2008
The latest review scores are in from Nintendo Power and the two highest scoring Wii titles are Bully (8.5) and Sega Superstars Tennis (8.0). The worst performing Wii title for the month was Baroque, which received a dire score of 3.0.
March 7, 2008
THQ CEO Brian Farrel has revealed that they have a unique game in development for the Wii called \’All-Star Cheerleader.\’ Few details were revealed, but the title of the game makes it pretty obvious what its about. It was revealed however, that the game will feature support for the Wii Balance Board. I always wanted to be on top of the pyramid…..
March 7, 2008
Chief executive of THQ Brian Farrell has said that Wii hasn\’t won the console race yet and is confident that the Xbox 360 and PS3 will enjoy overall success in this hardware cycle. “The way we\’re thinking about this cycle from a high level is, the Wii at that lower price-point had a lot of momentum early in the cycle,” said Farrell. “But as Sony and Microsoft come down the price curve those two should accelerate, and there\’s a lot of firepower left in their arsenal.”
March 7, 2008
We\’ve heard of a few video game related marriage proposals before, but this one went the extra mile as a gamer created a homebrew title for the DS specifically. The title was a version of Bejewled which when it hits a certain score, the screen clears and a ring drops down. You can see more of the proposal at Xanga.
March 7, 2008
A cool game called The Starry Night Navigator has been announced in Japan that teaches players about stars and constellation. The games cartridge will incorporates six-axis motion control, which should make the game all the more interesting. Its apparently only scheduled for release in Japan, but hopefully we\’ll see more games with this tech installed.
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