Gamertell

I was kind of hoping the following announcement wouldn’t come, but it has. Majesco and Cooking Mama Limited are crafting another entry in the Cooking Mama series - Cooking Mama World Kitchen for the Wii. This next entry will be a completely 3D cooking game, with all new recipes and mini-games mixed in.

Like in previous Cooking Mama games, Cooking Mama World Kitchen will involve selecting recipes, then attempting to cook them to perfection. New elements, aside from the 3D, include the ability to play as Mama in mini-games when she has to step in and save your recipe from failure. (The example in the press release involves Mama using her apron to catching a burger that was flipped too high and flew away.) Also the controls have been adjusted so that wiimote and nunchuk actions will feel more smooth and natural.

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GoLive2 will be releasing the Wiimote-esque Stix PC controllers in August, 2008. The Stix controllers look, and function, much like the Wii’s wiimote controller. It has a built in motion sensor to register movements and actions, and a touch screen interface for more complicated games. So instead of struggling with keyboard or mouse based controls, people can wave a remote at their PCs.

There are two different Stix models. The Stix 200 works primarily with 2D games you can play for free online. The Stix 400 is more comprehensive, as it can handle the online 2D online games and (supposedly) official “Games for Windows” games. A Stix 100 model is also shown on the official site, but the product depiction and description makes it sound like it could be Stix 200, only for kids. 

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To help celebrate the Fourth of July 2008, DirecTV is offering a free preview weekend of its Game Lounge interactive channel for the long weekend (July 2 through 6, 2008, CH 110).

The channel allows you to play casual style games through DirecTV service (so you have to be a subscriber) using your remote. There are currently more than 40 games available on the Game Lounge, including…

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It was an ordinary day. I was checking a site to add as a link to another story on Gamertell, when an unusual icon at the Square Enix Members site caught my eye. “Game Zone is now open?” I wondered, though not aloud as I was still at work and didn’t want to attract interest. I clicked through to find four mini-games, all promoting Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo’s Dungeon.

There are four flash games available, and all are pretty similar to the mini-games found in Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales, which was released on the DS a while back. There’s Chocobo’s Snowboard Glide, Chocobo Flight, Chocobo’s Balancing Act and Chocobo’s Classmate. All games use the mouse, and have happy perky Chocobo themes playing in the background.

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FROM APPLETELL - ByDesign Games has launched new game designed to make the casual crowd blush: Make Bouncy Bouncy. MORE »

I just found my mom’s birthday present. Nintendo has announced that, on September 8, 2008, Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir will be released on the Nintendo DS. The Big Fish Games title will require players to act as detectives, finding hidden items in painted scenes in order to discover who gets to inherit a million dollars.

So like the Mystery Case Files for computers, players will just have to find items from a list. The DS version adds some extra features though, that wouldn’t be possible for PC versions. The touch screen is used for searching, and the microphone will also be used throughout the course of play. Also Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir will be the first game in the series that will allow players to play the game with each other.

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Eidos Interactive has announced that Soul Bubbles, a unique Nintendo DS puzzle game from developer Mekensleep, is now available exclusively at Toys ‘R’ Us. Despite what’s being claimed at some other gaming news sites, however, this doesn’t mean Soul Bubbles will only be carried at Toys ‘R’ Us. Rather, the popular toy store is simply making the game available ahead of its July 1st release date. If you’ve already placed your pre-orders at Amazon or Game Stop, don’t panic. You’ll get it, just a few days behind everyone else. Or, you know, there’s still time to cancel that order and head down to Toys ‘R’ Us.

In Soul Bubbles, players use the stylus to draw bubbles, then deflate, cut or join them to other bubbles to navigate them through over 40 levels across eight environments. The bubbles contain lost “souls,” and you, as a young shaman, must guide safely through this series of increasingly treacherous and hostile worlds…

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It’s a good week for Nintendo products at Shop Goodwill. A lot today which has just come up on the site includes a working NES with the original box and package in nearly perfect condition. If that wasn’t enough, the system also comes with an extra controller, a light gun, the original manuals and 48 games.

The item is from the Chattanooga Goodwill Industries, in Tennessee. It was originally listed for $4.00 this morning (June 26, 2008), but has since risen to $46.00 (2:29pm CST June 26, 2008). That still isn’t too bad - it’s not even a dollar a game. The auction ends July 7, 2008.

The games included according to the listing are as follows…

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Nexon has opened up Mabinogi to more regions. As of June 20, 2008, people from Australia and New Zealand can now register and play the casual, life-sim MMORPG. Previously, Mabinogi was released in North America on March 27, 2008, after being available in Korea since June 2004 and both Japan and China since early 2005.

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If you’re an Aeria Games member who signed up for the free, MMO Pi Story‘s closed beta, then you probably received a special announcement email on June 24, 2008. (I know I did.) The closed beta is only open to people who are Aeria Games members and received the email invitation - so if you didn’t get it, you’ll have to wait until the open beta to play.

The lucky ones who did receive closed beta invitations can head over to the official Aeria Games site to RSVP. Just log in, and if you’re eligible for any of the current betas (Stone Age and Richman Online are also in beta periods), you’ll automatically be approved. You can then head to File Front or Gamershell.com to download the 355.03 MB game client. You’ll only be able to play if you’re on a computer running Windows 2000 or higher with DirectX 9.0 or later, so wait until you have access to a computer or laptop that meets the requirement to download.

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