Walmart has some great online-only specials that have just appeared on the website. The only catch is, there’s no knowing how long these deals will last. The site specifically states that it is while supplies last, but it doesn’t mention how many of each item are available. So if you see a deal you like, better pounce on it quickly.

There are six video game deals that go along with this online special. Five out of six relate to Nintendo systems or products for Nintendo systems, and the other sale pertains to an Xbox 360 item.

Let’s look at what online specials Walmart is selling:

• Make your own DS Lite value bundle with a DS Lite (you choose the color), Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures and one of four Nintendo Expression Accessory Kits for $149.00. The page also gives you the option to add on an additional game, but the additional game will full price.
• Wii Fit Plus with balance board and DreamGear 5-in-1 fitness bundle for $119.00.
• 2 Wii games for $30. You can choose from 33 titles, which include Cooking Mama: Cook Off, Lego Batman, Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures and Lego Star Wars: Complete Saga.
• Wii with Wii Fit Plus with balance board and $25 gift card for $299.00.
• Wii Rock Band 2 or Rock Band Track Packs for $20 each. You can choose from Rock Band 2, AC/DC Live: Rock Band Track Pack, Rock Band Metal Track Pack, Rock Band Track Pack: Classic Rock, Rock Band Track Pack: Volume 1 or Rock Band Track Pack: Volume 2.
• Guitar Hero World Tour Band Kit for Xbox 360 for $79.00.

Site [Walmart]

Full Story » | Written by Jenni Lada for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

When Midway filed bankruptcy, one of the potentially lucrative licenses it had was the right to make games based on TNA Wrestling. When Warner Bros. bought the company it picked up the rights to several Midway games but PWInsider said the TNA game wasn’t one of them.

PWInsider’s TNA sources said the rights may bounce back to TNA since Warner Bros. wasn’t interested in purchasing them. TNA officials won’t comment on what, if anything, is happening with the game. TNA Impact sold one million units with reviews being just so-so.

Still, wrestling games have a built-in fan base and TNA is still basking in the publicity glow of a partnership with wrestling legend Hulk Hogan. Wrestling needs more competition in terms of programming and video games, so here’s hoping something works out.

Read [PWInsider] Also Read [Baltimore Sun]

Full Story » | Written by Brian Allen for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

Epic Games is making a breakthrough in the games community by offering one of the most acclaimed game engines, the Unreal Engine 3, free to the public.

Now anyone can get their hands on this technology by downloading the UDK, or Unreal Development Kit.

The Unreal Engine 3 has been used in blockbuster first-person shooters including the Gears of War franchise, Unreal Tournament 3 and Rainbow Six: Vegas 2. It has also been adapted for other genres including RPGs (Bioshock and Mass Effect) and action games (Mirror’s Edge).

The UDK offers advanced tools including a physics engine, video encoding, particle effects, destructible environments, audio encoding and an AI system.

Although the UDK is targeted mainly at the development of games, other areas including design, architecture and construction can also benefit from the engine, so there’s much to like here for everybody.

This really got me excited and if my PC wasn’t a piece of junk I would be toying with the UDK right now. Epic Games has taken a huge step in the right direction by putting this engine on the hands of what could potentially be a huge crowd. I’m sure this will drive forward the development of games and I can’t wait to see what the modding community can do with this.

The minimum requirements for the UDK are:

• Windows XP SP2 or Windows Vista
• 2.0+ GHz processor
• 2 GB system RAM
• SM3-compatible video card
• 3 GB Free hard drive space

Read [, Fighting, Shooter, Puzzle, Strategy, Updates, Nintendo Downloads

There’s a large assortment of downloadable games available today for Wii and DSi owners. There are three new WiiWare games, two Virtual Console classics and three DSiWare games. Not too bad.

Most of the games released seem geared towards younger gamers though. All three WiiWare games, “Aha! I Got It!” Escape Game, Carnival King and Family Card Games, and the DSiWare title Battle of the Giants: Dragons - Bronze Edition are clearly geared towards kids. Don’t let that turn you off though - take a thorough look at the descriptions and catalogs on your Wii and DSi before you make any decisions.

Gamertell’s Nintendo Download picks for the week are R-Type (Virtual Console) and Viking Invasion (DSiWare).

WiiWare

“Aha! I Got It!” Escape Game
Price: 500 Nintendo Points / $5
Publisher: Ateam Inc.
Genre: Puzzle
ESRB Rating: “Everyone”
Players: 1
Description: Milo has gotten a puzzle room for his birthday, and in order to escape from said room, he has to solve all of the puzzles. This means you point and click around the entire room and use the remote to solve all of the puzzles.

Carnival King
Price: 700 Nintendo Points / $7
Publisher: Incredible Technologies
Genre: Mini-game Collection
ESRB Rating: “Everyone” for Mild Cartoon Violence
Players: 1-2
Description: A mini-game collection where players visit the Arcadia, Dreamland and Lagoon Parks and play various carnival games.

Family Card Games
Price: 500 Nintendo Points / $5
Publisher: Aksys Games
Genre: Card Game
ESRB Rating: “Everyone” for Mild Suggestive Themes
Players: 1-2
Description: You can play Daifugo, Speed or Memory card games alone, against one other friend or against three other players online.

Virtual Console

Fighting Street
Price: 800 Nintendo Points / $8
Originally Appeared On: TurboGrafx 16 CD-Rom
Publisher: Capcom
Genre: Fighting
ESRB Rating: “Everyone 10+” for Mild Blood and Violence
Players: 1-2
Description: A port Street Fighter. You pick either Ryu or Ken as your fighter, then face off against other characters in an attempt to prove you’re the strongest and best.

R-Type
Price: 500 Nintendo Points / $5
Originally Appeared On: Sega Master System
Publisher: Sega
Genre: Shooter
ESRB Rating: “Everyone” for Mild Fantasy Violence
Players: 1
Description: A side-scroller where you go through eight levels trying to power up your ship and gun and attempt to stop the Bydo Empire.

DSiWare

Battle of the Giants: Dragons - Bronze Edition
Price: 800 Nintendo Points / $8
Publisher: Ubisoft
Genre: Action
ESRB Rating: “Everyone 10+” for Mild Fantasy Violence
Players: 1-4
Description: As a Bronze dragon, you must reclaim the bronze gems and beat the Salmu dragon. This means you must travel through 10 different areas. You can also customize your bronze dragon and have it fight against other players.

Sparkle Snapshots
Price: 500 Nintendo Points / $5
Publisher: Nintendo
Genre: Other
ESRB Rating: N/A
Players: 1
Description: A program that lets you edit the photos you take with the DSi camera by adding in frames, extras, stamps, outfits and such. It also includes a shutter timer, allows you to factor in lighting and set the lens type used for the shot.

Viking Invasion
Price: 800 Nintendo Points / $8
Publisher: BiP Media
Genre: Strategy
ESRB Rating: “Everyone” for Mild Fantasy Violence
Players: 1
Description: A tower defense style game where you have to build up your defenses against vikings. There are three levels of difficulty to choose from, two modes to play through (Campaign and Survival) and over 10 levels to play through.

Image Source for R-Type screenshot: Retro Gamer

Site [Nintendo]

Full Story » | Written by Jenni Lada for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

If you haven’t got any plans for tomorrow (November 1, 2009) and you’ve either got a Wii or have friends with Wiis, you may want to take a quick trip to your local Target. The store is going to have a one week Wii game sale. When you purchase two $49.99 Wii games, you’ll get a third game for free. Yes, we’ve seen this promotion before, but Target’s is noteworthy because it applies to 80 Wii games in stock. As you can see from the ad scan image at the right, games like Wii Sports Resort, Super Smash Bros, Bakugan, Drawn to Life, Rabbids Go Home and Spore Hero are among some of the applicable titles.

The other major video game promotion in this week’s Target ad starts November 3, 2009. If you go in and purchase the $199.99 Band Hero bundle for the PS3, Xbox 360 or Wii, you’ll get a $20 Target gift card to go with it.

Seems like this could be becoming an annual event at the retailer. Kotaku reported last year on October 31, 2009 that Target was offering the exact same promotion.

Nice to see that the retailer is keeping up deals like this to help people prepare for the holiday season. While the Black Friday 2009 deals will undoubtedly be spectacular and perhaps even better, not everyone wants to rush out on the busiest shopping day of the year.

Read [Vertical Wire] Via [Joystiq] Also Read [Kotaku]

Full Story » | Written by Jenni Lada for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

The Los Angeles Times reports that earlier this week (October 29, 2009) a Sacramento jury awarded $16 million to the family of Jennifer Strange, who died in a ill-fated 2007 radio contest that asked participants to “Hold Your Wee for a Wii.”

The mother of three died from water intoxication after chugging bottles of water without urinating for hours during the “Morning Rave” show on Sacramento’s KDND-FM in an attempt to win a Nintendo Wii console.

During the broadcast, one of the DJs mentioned the 2005 death of a college student during a hazing ritual in which he which he was forced to drink water without urinating. Also, a listener called in and warned the DJs of the hazards of water intoxication. Entercom Communications Corp., the company that owns the radio station, fired 10 people in the wake of the deadly prank.

Entercom said it will not contest the judgment.

Read [Los Angeles Times] Also Read [G4]

Full Story » | Written by Brian Allen for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

When your friendly neighborhood delivery person (hey Tim) comes to your door with a wooden crate in tow and you didn’t order anything, you know it’s going to be fun.

It’s been a while since I’ve received notable swag from a game company - I blame the economy - but this one proved to be especially interesting.

Prying open the nailed down wood lid to the small wooden crate revealed a dozen plush (read: stuffed) SqueeBalls Party creatures. Each is about 6 to 8 inches tall and variable widths. They feature large eyes and, as my almost-3-year-old can attest, they are “so cute.”

SqueeBalls Party by Aksys Games and PDP is a family party game that stars twelve wacky toys. You control the cute and creepy SqueeBalls in minigames including bowling, golf, cooking and a bunch of other button-mashing tasks. It’s rated “Everyone” with cartoon violence and is currently available for Wii, DS, Xbox 360, iPhone and iPod Touch.

Site [SqueeBalls]

Full Story » | Written by PJ Hruschak for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

The Nintendo Wii has pulled off quite a coup becoming the exclusive home to a game that promises to change everything you think you know about Mickey Mouse.

Disney’s corporate mascot wasn’t always the happy, smiling doormat we’ve come to know him as. When Walt Disney first created him, he had a playful but mischievous streak that got him into trouble. That’s the Mickey Mouse legendary game creator Warren Spector loves. When Disney officials approached him about redoing Mickey in a video game, he was shocked to find they wanted to bring that mousy miscreant out of the mothballs.

According to a statement released by Junction Point, his video game studio, Spector said:

“Mickey is an adventurous and rambunctious mouse. I want to bring his personality to the forefront, place him in a daunting world and connect his spirited character with video game players worldwide. Ultimately, each player decides for him - or herself what makes Mickey cool.”

The story is that Walt Disney’s first creation, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, lives with other retired characters in the Cartoon Wasteland. It’s a paradise created by the sorcerer Yen Sid (spell that backwards for the joke). Oswald grows a little resentful when he sees Mickey becomes the most famous cartoon in the world. To make things worse, on an unplanned visit to the Wasteland, Mickey accidentally spills some magical paint that creates a being called the Phantom Blot.

Years after his goof-up, Mickey gets pulled back into the Wasteland to see the horror he inadvertently created. Whether he cleans up his mess as the lovable hero or as a dirty rat will be up to the player. Paint and thinner are the weapons that eliminate your toon enemies and you will use waves of the Wii-mote to fling the paint about.

This is one of the projects to watch in 2010 for a couple of reasons. It’s a game with the potential to brilliantly use the Wii’s unique controls, which is something many games strive for and fail at. Also, it’s the re-imagining of perhaps the most well known fictional character on the planet. With the creator of Deus Ex at the helm and the Disney mythology in the sandbox, I can’t wait to see the finished product. Epic Mickey is slated for a fall 2010 release.

Site [Epic Mickey]

Full Story » | Written by Brian Allen for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

Hey everyone! This is a momentous day for Important Importables. Today marks the 100th column. Who’d have thought, right?

Anyways, to celebrate today, I’m listing my 100 all time favorite games that you can only get by importing. These are titles that aren’t available in North America, and you have to import from either Japan or Europe if you want to play them.

Remember, this isn’t a comprehensive list and is based on my personal picks. It’s a general guide to some great games you should be aware of. It’s also a bit biased in terms of systems, because it was formed based on games that I’ve either played or taken an interest in over the years. So, since I’ve imported quite a few DS games and that’s one of my favorite systems, there’ll naturally be more DS games represented.

If there’s a great import game you know that isn’t on the list and should be, tell the world in the comments. Also remember, many consoles have region protection! If you have a Game Boy, Game Boy Color, DS, PSP or PS3 you should be region-free, and if you have a Dreamcast you can buy or make a special boot-disk which makes your console region-free.

Dreamcast

• Bomber HehHe: It’s a puzzle game with some action elements. The goal is to place bombs to take down buildings.
• Capcom vs SNK 2: A fighting game, of course. The first one did get a US release, but this one didn’t.
• Cosmic Smash: It’s sort of like Arkanoid/Alleyway, in that you have to destroy blocks. Except you’re playing as a human trying to smash them with a ball, and racing against the clock.
• DUX: A side scrolling shoot-em-up (the Dreamcast was known for them) that has the distinction of being one of the most recent DC releases. It came out in 2009.
• Last Hope: Pink Bullets: Again, one of the more recent DC releases and shoot-em-up. It’s an updated and adjusted version of the Neo Geo game Last Hope.
• Napple Tale: Arisia in Daydream: A platformer where a girl named Arisia is tasked with returning the lost seasons to Napple Town.
• Pop’n Music: A fun, bright and colorful music game.
• Princess Maker Collection: You get Princess Maker 2 and Princess Maker 3 in one game.
• Rainbow Cotton: A shoot-em-up (cute-em-up) that’s the first 3D entry in the Cotton series.
• Puyo Pop Fever: It was the last Sonic Team DC game, but was never released outside of Japan.
• Any Sakura Taisen game: They’re all fun blends of visual novel, strategic rpg and dating sim games.
• Shenmue II: Only Europe and Japan got the sequel to Shenmue. I recommend importing the European version, since it’ll be in English.
• Shinseiki Evangelion: Ayanami Rei Ikusei Keikaku: Think Princess Maker, only with Rei Ayanami from Evangelion as the potential princess. Its also available on the DS, PC and PS2.
• Wind and Water: Puzzle Battles: A recent Dreamcast puzzle release.

DS

• 100 Classic Book Collection: Basically an e-reader program with 100 classic books built in and an additional 10 that can be downloaded. It’s available in Europe, but not North America.
• Arabian’s Lost: An otome/RPG where the main character is an Arabian princess of a land filled with thieves, gamblers, assassins and crooks who must earn 10 million in 30 days to keep from being trapped in an arranged marriage. Its also available for the PS2.
• A.S.H.: Archaic Sealed Heat: A strategic RPG from Nintendo that was supposed to come to North America, but never did.
• Daigasso Band Brothers / Daigasso Band Bros. DX: A music game where you play songs using the DS face buttons. You can also create your own songs in both games and download songs in the sequel.
• Dokidoki Majo Shinpan!: A somewhat-perverted game which has gained fame and notoriety for the fact that players touch girls on the touch screen to determine if they’re witches.
• Freshly-Picked Tingle’s Rosy Rupeeland: An RPG starring Tingle from the Legend of Zelda series and revolves around his quest to get money and get to Rupeeland. It received a Japanese and European release, but never appeared in North America.
• Game & Watch Collection 2: A Japanese Club Nintendo promotion that includes the Game & Watch titles Parachute and Octopus.
• Game Center CX: Arino no Chousenjou 2: The sequel to Retro Game Challenge. Since the first game wasn’t a huge seller in North America, we probably will never see an English version of the sequel.
• Hirameki Action: Chibikko Wagyan no Daiki na Bouken: This is a side-scrolling action game where players guide a little dinosaur with a mighty roar through levels.
• Idolm@ster: Dearly Stars: The first Idolm@ster game where players act as the idols instead of a faceless producer. It’s also the first game in the series with a male idol (though he’s in disguise as a girl).
• Itadaki Street DS: A monopoly-esque board game from Square Enix starring characters from Super Mario and Dragon Quest. It also has Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection support so you can play online.
• Jump Ultimate Stars: A Smash Bros style fighting game with 300 characters from 41 Shonen Jump mangas. Unfortunately, it’ll never get a worldwide release due to licensing issues.
• Kanji Sonomama Rakubiki Jiten: A Japanese-English dictionary that’s perfect for people studying Japanese. A few Game&Watch games are also hidden in it.
• Katekyoo Hitman Reborn DS Flame Rumble X: Mirai Chou-Bakuhatsu!!: A 2D fighting game starring the characters from the manga/anime Katekyoo Hitman Reborn.
• Ketsui Death Label: An impressive shoot-em-up from Cave.
• Love Plus: A Japanese dating sim that’s gained a massive following in a short period of time. It takes place in real time and players are actually able to date, then marry, one of three girls they choose.
• Meccha! Taiko no Tatsujin DS: 7-tsu no Shima no Daibouken: A Taiko no Tatsujin drum game that even has an adventure/story mode.
• NANA: Live Staff Daiboshuu! Shoshinsha Kangei: A life sim based on the Nana manga/anime/movie where the player can make a life in Tokyo and try to get a job with one of the two bands from the series.
• Ochaken no Daibouken: An adorable and enjoyable platformer starring the Ochaken dog and Ochaneko cat characters.
• Otometeki Koi Kakumei Love Revo DS!!: A hilarious and occasionally touching otome simulation where the main character is a fat girl trying to lose weight so she can get a boyfriend.
• Any Ouendan game: They’re like the Elite Beat Agents game, only better.
• Sigma Harmonics: A Square Enix adventure RPG where players must time travel to prevent murders and preserve the present.
• Slide Adventure: Mag Kid: An action/puzzle game where players attach a peripheral and slide the DS around to make the main character, Mag Kid, move.
• Soma Bringer: A gorgeous action RPG from Nintendo that may never get a worldwide release.
• Tales of Innocence: A good DS entry in the Tales of series that Namco Bandai never released outside of Japan.
• Tales of Hearts: Again, another good DS Tales of entry. It’s available in two versions - one with CG cutscenes and one with animated ones.
• Tokimeki Memorial Girl’s Side 1st Love and 2nd Season: These two DS games are otome life sims where players guide a girl through high school and hopefully help her find a boyfriend.
• Vampire Knight DS: A DS otome simulation with visual novel elements that is based on the Vampire Knight manga/anime.
• Xenosaga I + II: A DS adaptation of the first two Xenosaga games.

GameCube

• Doshin the Giant: a god/life simulation where players determine how Doshin interacts with island natives. It was available in Japan and Europe.
• Kururin Squash: An action/puzzle game where players must navigate through mazes.

GBA

• Any bit Generations game: They’re a nice variety of stylish, simple puzzle and action games.
• Densetsu no Starfy: The first game in the Legendary Starfy series.
• Densetsu no Starfy 3: The last Starfy GBA game and the first where Starpy is a major character.
• Fire Emblem: Fuuin no Tsurugi: The only GBA Fire Emblem game not released in English. It’s the first GBA Fire Emblem, but the sequel to the Fire Emblem GBA game released in North America.
• Genso Suikoden: Card Stories: Suikoden II with card battles.
• Mother + Mother 2: The original Mother and Mother 2/Earthbound in one cartridge.
• Mother 3: The RPG Earthbound sequel. It’s main character, Lucas, appeared in Smash Bros Brawl.
• Rhythm Tengoku: A music game and the prequel to Rhythm Heaven.
• Super Mario Ball: A Super Mario pinball game.
• Tales of the World: Narikiri Dungeon 2: A Tales of mash-up action-RPG. It’s mainly about fetch quests and quick missions.
• Tomato Adventure: An adorable Nintendo RPG designed for beginners. It has some elements found in the Mario & Luigi RPGs.

PC

• Any and every Touhou game ever released: They’re fantastic shoot-em-up (cute-em-up) games.

PS2

• beatmania IIDX 16 Empress: A fantastic music and rhythm game.
• Bleach: Blade Battles 2nd: A fighting game with the Bleach characters.
• Espgaluda: A Cave shooter that’s a prequel to ESP Ra.De..
• Fate/stay Night: Realta Nua: An all ages version of the popular visual novel Fate/stay night.
• GuitarFreaks & DrumMania Masterpiece Gold: The original guitar and drum music video game. This is one of the best entries in the series.
• Melty Blood: Actress Again: A fighting game starring characters from the visual novel Tsukihime.
• Namco x Capcom: An RPG with action and strategic elements that has characters Namco and Capcom games making cameos as either allies or opponents.
• Nana: A life simulation game based on the Nana anime/manga where the player moves to Tokyo and gets to interact with characters from the series.
• Tales of Destiny Director’s Cut: A PS2 remake of the PS1 classic Tales of Destiny, with additional content.
• Tales of Symphonia: A PS2 port of the GameCube game with additional content.
• Tian Xing: Sword of Destiny: A hack-and-slash game Devil May Cry fans would love.

PSP

• Audition Portable: A portable version of the PC MMO. The gameplay is similar to the Bust-a-Groove games.
• Any Bleach Heat the Soul game: Great PSP fighters starring Bleach characters.
• Breath of Fire III: A PSP port. It was released in Europe, so you can import it and play it in English.
• Dragon Quest & Final Fantasy in Itadaki Street Portable: A PSP port of a PS2 game with extra characters. It’s a monopoly-esque board game with characters from Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy.
• Hatsune Miku Project Diva: A Sega music game starring the Vocaloid Miku Hatsune that lets you import your own .mp3s and create your own songs and music videos.
• Idolmaster SP: Available in three versions, Perfect Sun, Missing Moon and Wandering Star, it was the first portable version of Idolm@ster.
• La Corda d’Oro: A PSP port of the PS2 and PC otome/simulation where players attempt to become a great violin player and win competitions while also making friends or possibly finding a boyfriend.
• Macross Ultimate Frontier: An action game that lets players fight pretty much every battle in the Macross anime series.
• Maplus: Portable Navi and GPS Receiver: turns your PSP into a GPS.
• Parodius Portable: A port of the side-scrolling shooter.
• Persona 3 Portable: A port of the PS2 game Persona 3 with a second storyline where the main character is a girl. It’ll probably get a US release, but for now it’s Japan-only.
• Princess Crown: A port of the VanillaWare Saturn game that’s the spiritual successor and prequel to Odin Sphere.
• Princess Maker 4 Portable: A port of a Princess Maker game that’s very similar to the cult classic Princess Maker 2.
• Suikoden I + II: The PS1 games on one UMD.
• Tales of Eternia: A port of Tales of Eternia/Tales of Destiny II. It’s available in English in Europe.
• Tales of Rebirth: A port of the PS2 Tales of game that never made it outside of Japan. It isn’t available in English.
• Tales of VS.: A fighting game featuring characters from the Tales of games.
• Twinbee Portable: A port of the classic shoot-em-up.
• Ys VII: The latest entry in the Ys action-RPG series. It may see a US release, but for now it’s Japan-only.

SNES

• Der Langrisser: A strategic RPG with multiple endings based on decisions the player makes.
• Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu: The fourth Fire Emblem game and regarded as one of the best. It introduced the romance/relationship element into the series and is multigenerational - if two characters get together in the first part, their child will appear in the second.
• Live a Live: A Square Enix RPG with seven storylines that unexpectedly all end up being connected.
• Sailor Moon: Another Story: An RPG inspired by Sailor Moon with an original storyline that has become a cult classic and is unexpectedly spectacular.
• Seiken Densetsu 3: An entry in the Square Enix Mana series that was never released outside of Japan.

Wii

• 428: Fuusa Sareta Shibuya de / 428: In a Blockaded Shibuya: A highly acclaimed visual novel. It’s been ported to the PS3 and PSP.
• Captain Rainbow: It’s an action/adventure game from Nintendo where a character named Nick, aka Captain Rainbow, goes around helping people on Mimin Island trying to either grant his wish or the wishes of islanders. It features many little known or forgotten Nintendo characters.
• Disaster: Day of Crisis: An action/adventure game released only in Australia, Europe and Japan. Players help Raymond Bryce, who works for the government, survive and save people during natural disasters and stop a terrorist group called SURGE. It will likely never receive a US release.
• Sukeban Shachou Rena: A mini-game collection featuring cats working at Cat Queen, Inc. Your goal is to start out as an entry level cat. You work your way up to the head of the company and earn respect of the CEO, Nekopunch mascot Rena.
• Taiko no Tatsujin Wii: The Taiko drum game series comes to the Wii.
• Zero:Tsukihami no Kamen / Fatal Frame IV: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse: The fourth entry in the Fatal Frame series.

Xbox 360

• Idolm@ster: The original Idolm@ster game, where players help an idol, or group of idols, become a success.
• Death Smiles: A new Cave shoot-em-up with a gothic theme.

COMING NEXT WEEK: Important Importables takes a one-week break, but will return November 13, 2009 to talk about Atlus’ Shin Megami Tensei series.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Last weekImportant Importables looked at six Japanese gadgets that exist only to be adorable.

Site [Play-Asia] Site [YesAsia] Site [NCSX] Site [Himeya Shop] Site [Strapya World]

Full Story » | Written by Jenni Lada for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

The big rumor of the day is that Nintendo is planning to release the Wii 2 in 2010 and the newer system will include a Blu-ray drive.

The rumor comes courtesy of French language site Logic-Sunrise which cites a “very stable source” (at lest that’s how Yahoo’s BableFish translates it). It also indicates that Nintendo may be waiting to announce the Wii 2 until one month prior to the system’s release.

The Wii 2 features and other bullet-list items listed in the post include:

• A Blu-Ray drive (to help discourage piracy)
• Support 720P and 1080P for videos and games
• 2010 simultaneous worldwide release
• Some type of trade-in program for Wii owners to upgrade to the Wii 2

Again, these are unconfirmed rumors based on a foreign site. MaxConsole indicates that the rumor suggests Wii 2 will be available the third quarter of 2010 although the French site does not appear to mention Q3.

The closest ting to a confirmation is Shigeru Miyamoto’s interview with Popular Mechanics where he talks about the next Wii (not necessarily the “Wii 2”) as being “more compact and perhaps even more cost-efficient.”

I’m waiting for an official comment from Nintendo concerning this Wii 2 rumor.

Update: Nintendo’s official, although not surprising, response via a PR representative is: “We do not respond to rumors and speculations.”

Read [Logic-Sunrise (French)] Via [MaxConsole]

Photo: From Logic-Sunrise (likely an illustration).

Full Story » | Written by PJ Hruschak for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

The industry seems sharply divided on how much of an impact digital downloading will have on the future of game sales.

There has been speculation about whether the next Xbox or PlayStation will even feature any kind of disc drive. EA Sports President Peter Moore doesn’t think it’s time to put away the plastic cases and shrink wrapping just yet.

At the recent Berkeley Digital Media Conference, Moore gave his take:

“[The industry is] at least a decade away from saying goodbye to a physical disc. The more important question is what does the next generation of console look like?”

The talk of all digital gaming also gives rise to a question: What becomes of games such as Guitar Hero which have plastic peripherals as an important part of their gameplay?

Moore used this opportunity to take a few potshots at fellow gaming superpowers Activision Blizzard and Nintendo. Moore said if gaming did go digital, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick would be sitting on half the world’s plastic. Moore called Wii Fit‘s peripherals “bathroom scales” while talking about how much better he believes EA Sports Active is.

Moore, formerly of Microsoft, said that company will get to whatever the future of consoles is first.

Oh no, he didn’t! Are you listening, Nintendo and Sony?

Read [Kotaku] Also Read [Industry Gamers]

Full Story » | Written by Brian Allen for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

Title: Ju-On: The Grudge
Price: $29.99
System: Wii
Release Date: October 13, 2009
Publisher (Developer): Xseed Games (Feelplus)
ESRB Rating: “Mature” for blood, violence
Pros: Some decent “scares,” jump right into the gameplay, quite immersive (for a while).
Cons: Rigid and awkward controls, ridiculously short, no checkpoints on levels, blocky graphics, linear, pointless battery system, no story to drive the game
Overall Score: One thumb sideways, one thumb down; 68/100; D+; * 1/2 out of 5

Ju-On: The Grudge is faulty on many levels - and I’ll discuss these below - but I’m willing to forgive many of them because of the subtitle “Haunted House Simulator” thrown across the box.

Have you been to any of the haunted houses that spring up in wooded areas and old schoolhouses at this time of the year? Ju-On gave me more scares than they do, so I at least have to give it credit for that.

Although, I want to clarify that being scared and being startled are two entirely different things. When a movie or game unexpectedly runs a cat in front of you with a really loud screech just to make you jump, that’s being startled. When a movie or game has you so frightened that you’re hiding under the afghan, barely able to peek out through the holes to look at the screen, that’s being scared.

Ju-On: The Grudge startled me on occasion. It never scared me.

When a Person Dies…

If you’ve seen the Ju-On movies (or it’s American counterpart titled The Grudge), you know the routine. If someone dies violently in a house or something, all who come into contact with its spirit will also die violently and the cycle continues. I’m not sure if that’s what happened in this game.

In each level, you play a character in a different location: abandoned factory, abandoned hospital, abandoned apartments, etc. Each level begins with a character name and most display the same family photo. Okay, so we assume these are all family members about to face the same terrible circumstances but that’s it on story. You don’t know why you’re there, you just are.

On each level you’re only usable object is a flashlight. This is permanently on and always frustrating because it uses batteries like a Hummer uses gas. Considering each level can be finished in under 25 minutes, that you have to find and replace four or five batteries per level is absolutely ridiculous. I get the sense of urgency that this creates, but why have that at all? The game is supposed to be about exploration, and if you’re forced to tear through each level for fear of being trapped in the dark (and promptly killed), you don’t have time to trigger all the frightening moments.

...With a Deep and Burning Grudge…

Even worse, in order to unlock the fifth and final level to complete the game, you’re going to have to play through the previous levels multiple times in order to find all the hidden objects, facing the same ghosts and dealing with the same bad batteries. I’m assuming this was done in an effort to prolong the game, which can easily be completed in two to three hours. Forcing you to replay levels can push it up to around 10, perhaps, but you won’t do that. It’s not worth it.

Making matters worse, the game crawls at a terribly slow pace and the flashlight control is horribly unresponsive. You use the WiiMote to point the flashlight at the screen and, to control direction, you press the B button. Hit down on the D-pad to back up. That’s easy enough to learn but annoying to use. The flashlight never seems to go where you want it to, making it cumbersome to even turn around or line up with a door so you can open it. This is acceptable when you’re exploring an area for the first time but it’s a game killer if you have to go through more than once.

If you want to play that fifth and final level, I highly recommend using a walkthrough so you can find all those hidden objects the first time.

After a couple levels, you know what’s going to happen. The triggered events never really change much and they’re telegraphed by the sound of the game disc being read. “Oh, the Wii’s clicking, here comes and yep. There it is. Doll fell from the sky. Scary.”

I’m also not sure I get the “scare meter” at the end of the game. Sometimes it calls me a sissy, sometimes it tells me I have no emotions. I’m never sure why. The two-player mode, in which player two conjures up random “scare moments” with the press of a button is fun for a bit, but both you and player two will quickly get bored with it.

...A Curse is Born.

Some elements of Ju-On: The Grudge do work. First, by making the screen so dark, you have no choice but to play it at night with the lights off; there’s simply no way you can make it through this game with any sort of glare on your screen. I think I like that decision.

Second, it really can be pretty spooky, especially early on. The creepy girl from the movies is used throughout and, although you’ll likely get bored with her hair, the use of that guttural clicking noise in the WiiMote’s speaker is quite effective.

Also, I’ve learned that horror “movies” are much harder to get through when you’re the one holding the flashlight. I had my wife try it and she couldn’t deal with the tension. However, she enjoyed watching me play it for a while. Either she couldn’t handle being the one facing the threats or she hated the control/battery system. Either way, objective achieved, Xseed!

Or something like that.

There’s no way I can recommend someone purchase this game, at least not at $30. With only four short levels (five if you’re persistent), it would’ve made more sense as a 1,000-point WiiWare download or a $4.99 iPhone game.

I do, however, highly recommend you rent it. Ju-On: The Grudge is certainly more effective than the majority of the horror movies out there there today (I’m looking directly at you, Saw). You’ll get your money’s worth out of an evening rental, provided you pay attention to those three words on the box: Haunted House Simulator.

This is not a game. Like horror movies and haunted houses, it’s simply a way for a teenage boy to scare his girlfriend into sitting a little closer to him on the couch and hopefully lead to a little bit of lovin’ when it’s over and that deserves some respect.

Site [Ju-On: The Grudge] Read [Gamertell]

Full Story » | Written by Kirk Hiner for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

In an interview with Popular Mechanics, gaming legend Shigeru Miyamoto talked about what he feels will be the natural evolution of the Wii and its various control devices.

They have the technology. They can rebuild it and make it better, cuter and, yes, smaller than before.

“With both the Wii remote itself and Wii Motion Plus, what we’ve been able to do is introduce an interface that is both I think appealing and at the right price for a broad audience. And while we don’t have any concrete plans for what we’ll be doing with hardware in the future, what I can say is that, my guess is that because we found this interface to be so interesting, I think it would be likely that we would try to make that same functionality perhaps more compact and perhaps even more cost-efficient.”

Nintendo’s evolutions in motion control has been one of the biggest stories of this console generation. It’s doubtful we’d be seeing the runaway cuteness of Xbox avatars or Sony and Microsoft’s pushes to include more motion control in games if the Wii had been a sales flop. It’s also curious to see how much more “cost efficient” they can be.

Miyamoto also notes that part of the shift in current gaming culture is the number of gamers that are now parents, so they fully understand the media their kids are enjoying.

I’m guilty as charged there. It is an incredible feeling to see my young sons pick up the controller and realize they’re actually controlling what’s on the screen.I hope to be gaming with my grandkids and, from the looks of things, Mario and Zelda will still be going strong even then.

Read [Popular Mechanics] Via [The Guardian]

Full Story » | Written by Brian Allen for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

Bundles include:

• 2 Samurai Swords


• 2 Table Tennis Paddles
  
• 1 Golf Club
  
• 2 Remote Bases
  
• Port access allowing for Nunchuck and MotionPlus Adapter
  
• Safety lock
  
• Compatible with: All Sword, Tennis and Golf titles for Wii

• 2 Samurai Swords


• 2 Remote Bases


• Compatible with: Wii Sports ResortTM, Red Steel 2, No More HerosTM2, and any other sword title

• 2 Tennis Rackets (1 red, 1 blue)


• 2 Remotes Bases


• Port access allows for Nunchuck and MotionPlus Adapter


• Safety lock


• Compatible with: Grand Slam Tennis, Virtual TennisTM2009, Wii SportsTM Tennis, Mario PowerTM Tennis

Full Story » | Written by Jessica Moen for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

Two of Discovery Channel’s most popular series, Man vs. Wild and Deadliest Catch, are being turned into video games. Discovery Communications is working closely with publisher Crave to adapt both series.

Man vs. Wild is a survival series featuring British adventurer Bear Grylls. In this series, Bear pits himself in inhospitable locations using only basic tools to survive, create a shelter and find his way back to civilization. The upcoming Man vs. Wild game will not feature Bear but will present the player with similar situations as the ones portrayed in the show and will require them to use the skills taught by Bear and his guidance to survive.

Deadliest Catch documents the lives of crab fishermen working in Alaska. The series follows several fishing boats as they endure dangers and rough weather working in the Bering Sea during the King Crab season. Although there is already a game based on the series, Deadliest Catch: Alaskan Storm, the publishers wanted a more accessible version where players manage a fishing boat and face the dangers of the sea in the fight for profits.

I really like both series and find them interesting and, in the case of Man vs. Wild, somewhat educational. These games could provide an alternative to the classic genres like role-playing games and first-person shooters and bring some innovation to the consoles. I just hope they don’t follow the example of previous efforts like Lost: Via Domus which just butchered the series in an effort to make a buck.

The Deadliest Catch video game will be released Spring 2010 for the PS3, Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS. Man vs. Wild will be released by the end of 2011 for PS3, the Wii and the Xbox 360.

Read [Reuters] Also read [AOL Television]

Full Story » | Written by Christian Morlotte for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

Square Enix has just announced the preorder offers for Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers, which seems appropriate since the game will be out December 26, 2009. Like most companies, there isn’t going to be one set preorder deal. Depending on where you order your copy of the game, you may be privy to one of three different incentives.

If you’re looking to save a little money, the preorder at GameStop. You won’t get any special memorabilia, but you’ll pay $44.99 instead of $49.99. It’s a nice alternative if you’re low on cash.

People who love the music from the Final Fantasy series should head to Best Buy. You’ll pay full price for the game, but you’ll get a CD sampler that includes tracks from the game’s soundtrack. Since Square Enix hasn’t revealed yet if the soundtrack will be available on iTunes, this is a good way to guarantee you’ll get the music.

The final preorder deal is available through Amazon and may just be the best of the bunch. Amazon is currently charging $44.99 for Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers preorders and is including a Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers 2010 calendar.

I’d say, go with Amazon. Since it’s over $25, you’d get free shipping. Plus, it’s $5 off and you get the calendar to go with it.

Read [GoNintendo] Site [Amazon] Site [Best Buy] Site [GameStop]

Full Story » | Written by Jenni Lada for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

Nintendo’s Wii Fit Plus has been granted endorsement from the United Kingdom’s Department of Health. In a move that has surprised many, now Wii Fit Plus will be allowed to use the logo of the Change4Life campaign in its advertisements and stores - and probably on the product itself - beginning next year (2010).

The Change4Life campaign is a program sponsored by the UK’s government aimed at promoting an active lifestyle and a healthy diet. Now Nintendo will join other major companies including Pepsi and Cadbury providing funds to support the campaign. 

This announcement comes as welcome news for the video game industry, often accused as being responsible for kids leading a sedentary life, which leads to obesity and other health problems. Wii Fit Plus‘s innovative mechanics have attracted children and people of all ages resulting in a more active pastime that can be practiced without leaving one’s home. 

It’s great to see how video games are starting to become part of everyday life and how people keep coming up with new and better ways to apply them to other fields outside of entertainment. I’m sure that news like this will help end the notion that all video games are evil and a waste of time. Who knows, maybe in a couple of years instead of hitting that boring treadmill we will be able to get the same workout from a video game.

Nintendo’s Wii Fit Plus was released October 4, 2009, in North America and will be available October 30, 2009, across Europe.

Read [BBC News] Also Read [Telegraph] Also Read [Gamertell] Site [Change4Life]

Full Story » | Written by Christian Morlotte for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

Title: LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias
Price: 1,000 Wii Points (US$10)
System: Wii
Release Date: October 19, 2009
Publisher (Developer): Frontier Developments Ltd. (Frontier Developments Ltd.)
ESRB Rating: “E” for mild fantasy violence
Pros: Gorgeous visuals, unique environmental puzzles, excellent use of Wii controls and a cute (and somewhat touching) story.
Cons: Too short and too easy.
Overall Score: Two thumbs up; 94/100; A; **** out of 5

LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias is a charming little game. I hesitate to say that because it calls to mind singing mice or scruffy puppies with hearts of gold but that’s what Winter of the Melodias is: charming.

It’s also a gorgeous game with some good puzzles, a nice dose of adventure, and fairly unique combat that’ll appeal to gamers of all types.

The Wind Beneath My Toku

The game continues the adventure of the young boy Toku initiated in last year’s LostWinds. You don’t play entirely as Toku, however; you’re also Enril, a wind spirit charged with helping and protecting Toku. The two characters are effectively split across the two Wii input devices: move Toku directly with the Nunchuck, and flick the WiiMote as Enril to lift Toku, slow his descents, fend off enemies and manipulate the environment to his advantage. It’s a wonderful control scheme that pulls you right into the game…you feel like you’re part of the world of Mistralis, not just guiding people through it.

The story of Winter of the Melodias is light but effective. Toku’s mother, Magdi, has gone missing. Setting off to find her, Toku learns she has been cursed by a mysterious enemy who has applied the same curse to the people of Melodia City. Their kingdom has been plunged into an eternal winter and it’s up to Toku and Enril to lift the curse in time to save Toku’s mother.

The story is told through journal entries and conversations with the various characters Toku encounters along the way. These written-word scenes are fairly brief, but were still quite touching, especially those between Toku and his ailing mother. Never sappy or heavy-handed, mind you, just honest. You want Toku to do well, here. These are people worth saving.

The Toku, My Friend, is Blowin’ in the Wind

Toku’s adventure takes him through some gorgeous environments, most of which he’ll visit numerous times, either to complete the game or simply to find all of the collectibles. Each screen is a puzzle of getting from point A to point B, which you must solve by flicking the WiiMote to create wind gusts to lift Toku over obstacles, tornadoes for higher lifts or to drill through dirt and rock and vortexes to trap and throw snowballs and rocks. Some are a simple matter of jumping to the right area, while others involve a complex combination of moving rocks onto levers, lighting torches to reach brush that must be burned away, and even changing the season to freeze rivers or thaw ice walls.

Along the way, you’ll also be fighting glorbs, which are exactly what they sound like: little masses of oil, more or less, that stick to you and drain your health. Your only defense is Enril, who can flick them away with wind gusts or burn them with torches. There is a variety of glorb incarnations—fire, ice, and even birds and crab-like creatures—that are more effectively dealt with when using the environment as opposed to just blowing them aside.

Toku’s Like the Wind Through the Trees

Of course, most of this was in the original LostWinds, so what’s changed? Well, first of all, nothing really needed to be improved. These are WiiWare games, after all, and are therefore quite short. Both entries can be complete in under five hours, so more of the same still wouldn’t be enough. But you do now get the ability to create the aforementioned tornados that are key to solving the game, as well as create storm clouds that can be used to move water from one location to another.

With these new capabilities come improved controls over the original. Although there will still be annoying moments where the gestures are unresponsive for no apparent reason, this happens far less often than in LostWinds.

The developers were also wise to add a map this time, making it much easier to find your way to your goals. The drawback to this is that it dramatically shortens the game, as you spend less time wandering around aimlessly. It’s also much less frustrating, however, so that’s a trade-off I’ll accept.

You Lived Your Life Like a Toku in the Wind

I can’t fault a $10 WiiWare game too much for being short but I will dock it a bit for being perhaps too simple. The puzzles are quite easy to figure out by just observing the screens for a bit although the developers did keep things fresh by starting the game out with a heavy reliance on heat and ending it with two-person puzzles as you guide the King of Melodia City back home. Also, there’s only one real boss battle of which to speak, although it’s certainly a good one. I did get stuck once or twice and I died once or twice, but was rarely challenged beyond that.

These complaints, however, didn’t in any way hamper my enthusiasm for the game. It’s a joy to play. The visuals are gorgeous and serenely animated, accented by some wonderful soundtrack music worthy of a CD release (I was reminded of Bruno Coulais wonderful score for Coraline throughout).

LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias offers a engaging trip into a wonderful little world that manages to be quite - I won’t say addictive - compelling. It’s light enough for casual or puzzle gamers but hard core gamers looking for a momentary diversion from the Metroid Trilogy or Dead Space Extraction won’t do much better.

I would say that I’d love to see what Frontier could do with a larger budget and a release for store shelves but I’m afraid that would pull them away from the simplistic charm and beauty of LostWinds and that’s not something I want to risk losing.

Site [ LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias]

Full Story » | Written by Kirk Hiner for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

Hey Gamertell readers. The weekly Nintendo Downloads update has been absent for a while. Did you miss it? Well, its back!

This week, if you own a Wii, you can get into the Halloween spirit! Two of the four games released are guaranteed to get you in the holiday mood. I’m talking about Ghost Mansion Party and Zombies Ate My Neighbors. If you’re going to get one, go for Zombies Ate My Neighbors, its one of my personal favorites.

No Halloween-y games on the DSiWare store though. You’ll have to make do with last week’s Domo games.

Gamertell’s Nintendo Download picks for the week are Tales of Monkey Island: Chapter 3 and Zombies Ate My Neighbors.

WiiWare

Ghost Mansion Party
Price: 1,000 Nintendo Points / $10
Publisher: Gameloft
ESRB Rating: “Everyone” for Mild Cartoon Violence
Players: 1-4
Description: It’s a board game that will most likely be appreciated by younger children. The goal is to completely explore a haunted mansion, exorcising the ghosts. You can work with the people you’re playing with, or against, it doesn’t matter. As long as you manage to clear out the house for the original ghostly resident, Fazzy.

Tales of Monkey Island - Chapter 3: Lair of the Leviathan
Price: 1,000 Nintendo Points / $10
Publisher: Telltale Games
ESRB Rating: “Everyone 10+” for Comic Mischief, Language and Mild Suggestive Themes
Players: 1
Description: Actually, Gamertell has a review of this episode! It’s for the PC version, but the differences are negligible. This chapter continues the Tales of Monkey Island adventure, where Guybrush Threepwood has been swallowed by a gigantic manatee while searching for La Esponge Grande so he can save Elaine from LeChuck’s Pox. It’s a point and click adventure game that relies solely on the remote.

Virtual Console

Zombies Ate My Neighbors
Price: 800 Nintendo Points / $8
Original Appeared On: SNES
Publisher: LucasArts
ESRB Rating: “Everyone 10+” for Cartoon Violence
Players: 1-2
Description: This is my personal recommendation. If you’re going to get one Nintendo download this week, this is the one to get. It’s essentially a run-and-gun game, not unlike the Contra titles, presented from an overhead view. You play as one of two teenagers named Zeke or Julie, and must rescue your neighbors from all sorts of monsters (zombies included). Thankfully, the monsters seem to be weak against water pistols. There are 48 stages and six bonus levels. Save all 10 of your neighbors in each level and stay alive if you want to progress and survive!

Golden Axe
Price: 900 Nintendo Points / $9
Original Appeared On: Arcade
Publisher: Sega
ESRB Rating: “Teen” for Blood and Fantasy Violence
Players: 1-2
Description: We’ve had run-and-gun today, now it’s time for hack-and-slash. This game may look familiar, but it’s not. See, the Sega Genesis version of Golden Axe is on Virtual Console already. This is the arcade version, which actually came first. The story’s the same though. You choose the warrior, amazon or dwarf to try and cut through tons of enemies to reach Death Adder and bring him down. There’s also co-op multiplayer, if you’re having difficulty doing that alone. Quick tip: The Genesis version of Golden Axe is 100 points / $1 cheaper and basically the same thing.

DSiWare

PictureBook Games: The Royal Bluff
Price: 500 Nintendo Points / $5
Publisher: Nintendo
ESRB Rating: “Everyone”
Players: 1-4
Description: A strategic board game on your DS. You basically try to decide the number of colored chips your opponents have laid out, and call them on it. The goal is to try and earn the most points.

Sudoku
Price: 200 Nintendo Points / $2
Publisher: EA
ESRB Rating: “Everyone”
Players: 1
Description: It’s the number puzzle Sudoku on your DS. Can’t get any more descriptive than that. There are five levels, plus you can add in your own puzzles you’ve found in newspapers, magazines and books to boost the number you can do on the go.

Image Source for Zombies Ate My Neighbors screenshot: GamePro

Site [Nintendo]

Full Story » | Written by Jenni Lada for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

While watching horror movies on Halloween is a perfectly acceptable way to celebrate the holiday, it’s also a hands off approach. You’re a spectator, not an active participant in the action. You could always go out to a good haunted house, but those can be far away and quite expensive. Perhaps the best approach would be to gather a handful of your closest friends and have a horrific video game marathon. The beauty with the horror game marathon is that it has the thrills and occasional scares of a horror movie marathon, but also the excitement and personal involvement of a haunted house.

Here’s how to set it up right. Invite only a handful of people over. A number between three and five is perfect, but anymore than seven and it may not be as frightening. Where ever you’ll all be playing the games will have to be dark, save for the light of the television screen. A few candles wouldn’t hurt as well, but make sure they’re set up so they don’t drip, cause a mess or perhaps burn your place down. If anyone has to leave the room, set it up where there are no other lights on, and they have to take a flickering, ready to burn out flashlight, to light their way.

If you have enough time, you can also set up some optional decorations. I’m not talking about the stuff you can find at Walmart or your local dollar store. Try to purposely arrange things in your home or room that look otherworldly or out of the ordinary. Make sure a coat rank has a sufficient number of coats so it looks like a menacing individual in the moonlight. If there’s a scary tree outside your window, leave the shades open. If you ever had a furby or incredibly creepy American Girl doll, now’s the time to leave it in a shadowy corner, watching. Another tip - if there are creepy household noises that you can amplify, do so. Or, claim that you’ve never heard that sound before.

Now, for the games. I’d recommend going with a five hour, five game marathon. From 9pm to 2am works well. You can adjust the schedule as you like though. Also, if you don’t have five games, perhaps just one or two really good, scary ones, then focus on the games you do have and use the marathon to try and complete them in a single night. In case you’re wondering how to proceed, here’s four schedules PS2, PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii owners could use.

PS2 owners

9pm - 10pm: Clock Tower 3
10pm - 11pm: Silent Hill 3
11pm - 12am: Rule of Rose
12am - 1am: Fatal Frame
1am - 2am: Fatal Frame 2

Note: The PS2 had a wide selection of horror games. If you don’t think the schedule above would work for you, some good games you can substitute in are Haunting Ground, one of the other Silent Hill games, Siren, Fatal Frame 3 or a Resident Evil game.

PS3 owners

9pm - 10pm: F.E.A.R.
10pm - 11pm: Resident Evil 5
11pm - 12am: Siren: Blood Curse
12am - 1am: Silent Hill: Homecoming
1am - 2am: Dead Space

Xbox 360 owners

9pm - 10pm: Left 4 Dead
10pm - 11pm: Clive Barker’s Jericho
11pm - 12am: Silent Hill: Homecoming
12am - 1am: Condemned: Criminal Origins
1am - 2am: Dead Space

Wii owners

9pm - 10pm: LIT
10pm - 11pm: House of the Dead: Overkill
11pm - 12am: Resident Evil 4
12am - 1am: Dead Space: Extraction
1am - 2am: Ju-on: The Grudge

One final note, should you make your own schedule, try to arrange the games in order of scariness. Leave the most unnerving and frightening game for last. And also, bear in mind, that the schedules above are just suggestions, and don’t cover all horror games available for those systems.

Also Read [Gamertell]

Full Story » | Written by Jenni Lada for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

Good news for Ignition Entertainment! Marvelous Entertainment has once again given the company the opportunity to bring a stunning new Wii game to North America. Ignition has just announced that it will be translating, localizing and releasing Arc Rise Fantasia, a RPG from Luminous Arc creators Image Epoch, in summer, 2010.

Conversely, our heartfelt condolences go out to XSEED, which was supposedly going to be working on the North American release of Arc Rise Fantasia. This marks the second instance where Marvelous Entertainment has taken a title from XSEED and given it to Ignition instead. The same thing happened previously with Muramasa: The Demon Blade.

Like most RPGs, Arc Rise Fantasia follows the adventures of a group of talented individuals who set out to save their world. In this instance, a mercenary named L’Arc and his friends set out to destroy Contaminant Dragons that are starting to invade the Meridian Empire. The problem is that Contaminant Dragons must be dispatched with great care, as when one dies, it releases an extraordinary amount of toxins and pollutants. It did pretty well in Japan, and received a 32/40 score from Famitsu.

Is this news honestly a surprise to anyone? XSEED hadn’t been talking much about Arc Rise Fantasia back when it was part of the company’s catalog, and there was never a definite release date announced. Ignition Entertainment did a wonderful job with Muramasa, so I’m sure Arc Rise Fantasia will be a joy as well. Personally, I just glad we’re hearing something about Arc Rise Fantasia! The Wii needs more RPGs and, since we hadn’t heard much about it, I was worried the North American release was going to be canceled.

Read [Kotaku] Also Read [Gamertell] Also Read [NeoGAF] Via [GoNintendo] Site [Arc Rise Fantasia]

Full Story » | Written by Jenni Lada for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

The NPD Group, a market research company in North America, has just released sales data on Dead Space: Extraction for September, 2009. And, while Dead Space: Extraction was only out for five days of NPD’s September reporting period, the news still isn’t good. From September 29 to October 3, 2009, Dead Space: Extraction sold only 9,000 copies.

While there’s still hope that EA and Visceral Games’ Mature-rated, first person shooter could sell well in October, and perhaps even over the 2009 holiday season, chances are it won’t see the success of the previous Dead Space game. Just as a brief example, the Xbox 360 version of Dead Space, which launched October 13, 2008, sold 193,000 units in October, 2008 according to NPD data.

Visceral Games seems quite disappointed by the sales figures so far. That is, if you go by posts from a Visceral staff member going by the name “codecow” on the NeoGAF forums. As GoNintendo reported, the staff member turned up at NeoGAF lamenting the sales of Dead Space: Extraction and stating that EA’s marketing decisions could have a direct impact on the kinds of games EA makes for the Wii. Codecow’s first comment comes in at post 350 on page seven, and fellow NeoGAF members go on to discuss his comments on the following page.

Since Wii owners just aren’t buying Dead Space: Extraction in the droves EA and Visceral expected, why not tell us why you didn’t, or maybe even did, buy the game in the comments. Perhaps the Resident Evil on-rails Wii shooters are enough to satisfy your FPS urges. Or maybe you were hoping Dead Space: Extraction would be something more than it was. Personally, I’m more of an RPG gamer, and if I do play shooting games, they allow you to freely explore environments and areas.

Read [Edge Online] Via [Joystiq] Also Read [NeoGAF] Via [GoNintendo] Also Read [Gamasutra] Site [NPD Group]

Full Story » | Written by Jenni Lada for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

Back on September 1, 2009, Nintendo made a benevolent announcement. All Wii owners would henceforth be able to download the Internet Channel, which was previously $5/500 Wii Points, for free. It was a wonderful announcement, and all the people who didn’t feel like paying $5 for an internet browser, myself included, rejoiced and took advantage of the deal.

But what about the people who did pay for the browser? Nintendo made a promise that day that should make them happy - that by the end of October, 2009, it would provide a voucher that would allow people who paid for the Internet Channel to get a free, 500 Wii Point NES game from the Virtual Console shop. It isn’t quite the end of October yet, but Nintendo has made good on the deal.

Nintendo has sent out a Wii update that informs all Wii owners that, if you actually paid for the Internet Channel, you can now get a free NES game. Any NES game that costs 500 Wii Points, that is. There’s only one catch - users eligible for the deal must cash in by December 31, 2009.

If you’re at work or school and want to start thinking about what game you should get, you can always check out the Nintendo site, where it lists all of the games currently available on Virtual Console. Or, you can keep reading and check out the list of some of the best 500 Wii Point NES Virtual Console games available that Gamertell has compiled for you.

Here’s a quick sample of the great 500 Wii Point NES games available:

• Final Fantasy
• Pac-Man
• Ninja Gaiden
• Gradius
• Galaga
• Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse
• Zoda’s Revenge: Star Tropics II
• Mega Man 3
• Super Dodge Ball
• Clu Clu Land
• Mega Man
• Wario’s Woods
• Punch Out!! Featuring Mr. Dream
• Super Mario Bros. 2
• Double Dragon
• River City Ransom
• Yoshi’s Cookie
• Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Shinobi
• Mario Bros.
• Metroid
• Zelda II: The Adventures of Link
• Excitebike
• The Legend of Zelda
• Ice Climber
• Kid Icarus
• Star Tropics
• Bubble Bobble
• Ghosts’n Goblins
• Super Mario Bros.
• Donkey Kong
• Donkey Kong Jr.
• Super Mario Bros. 3
• Castlevania
• Castlevania II Simon’s Quest
• Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos
• Adventure Island
• Kirby’s Adventure

Of course, you also take a risk of bricking your Wii, if you partake in the offer. Remember, the Wii firmware 4.2 update turned some Wiis into useless bricks.

Read [Joystiq] Also Read [Gaming Union] Also Read [Gamertell] Site [Nintendo]

Full Story » | Written by Jenni Lada for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

Preorder items quite often determine where someone will actually pick up a certain game. When it comes to the forthcoming Wii on-rails shooter Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles, players have a choice. They can go with the ever-so cool, but slightly impractical, zombie face t-shirt preorder that is only available at GameStop stores. You can pull the shirt up over your face to create an impromptu zombie mask. Or, you can go take the more subtle approach and preorder at Game Crazy so you can get the Raccoon City Police money clip.

Preorder items quite often determine where someone will actually pick up a certain game. When it comes to the forthcoming Wii on-rails shooter Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles, players have a choice. They can go with the ever-so cool, but slightly impractical, zombie face t-shirt preorder that is only available at GameStop stores. You can pull the shirt up over your face to create an impromptu zombie mask. Or, you can go take the more subtle approach and preorder at Game Crazy so you can get the Raccoon City Police money clip.

Both items have their obvious pros and cons. The zombie t-shirt is a t-shirt that turns you into a zombie. However, you’d probably have to wear another shirt under it to unleash your inner zombie (especially if you’re a woman who doesn’t want to flash people), you can’t wear it all the time and it could be difficult to see through the shirt when you’re using it as a costume, leading to possible accidents.

The Raccoon City Police money clip is a subtle money clip with the Racoon Police logo on it that can used at any time. But, its greatest failing is that it isn’t a zombie t-shirt. Since there are far fewer Game Crazy stores than GameStops, it also means that the money clip will likely be the rarer, and more collectible, of the two items.

Of course, if you like Game Crazy’s preorder offer, the real trick is going to be finding a Game Crazy store that’s still open on November 17, 2009, when Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles is released.

Image Source: Game Crazy.

Read [Destructoid] Also Read [Gamertell] Product Page [Game Crazy] Product Page [GameStop]

Full Story » | Written by Jenni Lada for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

One of the best reasons to join Club Nintendo has been declared “Sold Out.”

The Game & Watch Collection is a Club Nintendo exclusive DS game that collects and improves upon three classic 1982 Game & Watch handheld games: Oil Panic, Donkey Kong and Green House.

Before Nintendo was in the handheld game business it was in the, well, handheld game business. Game & Watch games were ye olde all-in-one 2-D games with a mini monochromatic LED screen and a few buttons encapsulated by a plastic shell. You’d move an avatar across preset positions on a screen by pressing buttons. They had a very stop-action feel to it and were incredibly addictive (and repetitive). Some even had two screens with a top section that flipped down (very, very much like the DSi and DS Lite).

The nostalgic Club Nintendo release slightly improves upon the graphics of each of the games (don’t want to destroy that original stop-and-go feel) and sounds. It also includes built in alarm clock feature.

I’m not exactly certain when Club Nintendo ran out of G&W but it was certainly one of the - if not the - first items to go. Other rewards include Hanafuda Cards (800 coins), Animal Crossing and Mario Party Playing Cards (500), hat-shaped Mario Nintendo DS Game Rack (600), three different card and stylus sets (600 each), Nintendo DS Lite Case (Silver, 400), Wii Remote Holder (300) and The Legend of Zelda 3-Poster Series (350).

To get the game you had to earn 800 Club Nintendo coins which was done by registering eligible purchased Nintendo games, downloads and hardware. It was previously only available through the Japanese Club Nintendo (for 500 points). Now you’ll have to try and find it on eBay, Craigslist or some other game trading site where it can easily go for more than $40.

Read [Gamertell] Site [Club Nintendo]

Full Story » | Written by PJ Hruschak for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

Those black Wiis are certainly attractive. So slick, shiny and new. It makes it all the more disappointing that North America is one of the only regions so far that won’t be seeing it.

Nintendo just announced today that a limited edition black Wii bundle is going to be released in Europe. This means Japan is no longer the only region to get that special color system. However, it doesn’t sound like it is going to be a permanent member of the Nintendo lineup. It will only be available in a limited edition Wii Sports bundle. It’s essentially a normal Wii, only Wii Sports Resort is included, as well as one black motionplus accessory. The remote and nunchuk that come with the bundle will also be black, to match the console.

A price hasn’t been announced yet, but release dates have. If you live in England, Scotland or Ireland, you’ll be able to get it November 6, 2009. The rest of Europe has to wait until November 20, 2009. Europe will also be able to purchase the black remote, nunchuk and motionplus separately, starting November 20.

There’s one more perk Europe gets too. Not only do Europeans get the black Wii, and the black controllers, but they’ll also be able to get the black classic controller pro. It’ll be sold separately and be available November 20, just like the other black Wii controllers.

It just doesn’t make sense to me though. Why Nintendo? Why tease North Americans with the fetching black remote, motionplus and nunchuk, and not give us the matching console to go with it? It just isn’t fair. Those Wii skins third parties are selling just aren’t enough.

Nintendo must be planning to bring the bundle to North America, and maybe even Australia, as well. Perhaps the company is just waiting until the holiday season draws closer to announce it. Maybe it’ll be a Black Friday surprise.

Remember - Wiis aren’t region free. So if you really like the look of the black Wiis and have to have one, be ready to also import Japanese or European games to play on it.

Read [Eurogamer] Also Read [Aussie-Nintendo] Also Read [Gamertell]

Full Story » | Written by Jenni Lada for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

Even TV hosts aren’t immune to Wii remote and accessory malfunction. On October 16, 2009, the Home Shopping Network uploaded a clip of one of their Wii sale segments to its YouTube Channel. The video is pretty mundane, initially. They’re hocking a $329.90 Wii with Wii Sports and 15 accessories. What a bargain, considering you can go to your local store and get one for $199.

Anyways, it’s business as usual until the host starts really getting into the Wii Sports tennis game. He’s doing pretty well. He’s got his tennis racket accessory clipped onto the remote, and keeps remarking how he’s doing better. He sets himself up for another flawless serve.

Then the tennis racket accessory detaches from the remote and slams into the LG flat screen TV.

Fast forward to the five minute mark for hilarity in action.

The two hosts finally recover and stop laughing around the six minute mark. Unfortunately, it doesn’t happen again. A shame. I was really hoping he’d swing the remote with the baseball bat accessory attached and go for a repeat.

I feel sorry for the host. Really, I do. If the HSN is charging $329.90 for a Wii, imagine how much they’ll charge the guy for ruining the TV!

Image Source: HSN YouTube video

Read [Joystiq] Site [YouTube - HSN’s Channel]

Full Story » | Written by Jenni Lada for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

Even though Nintendo dropped the suggested retail price of the Wii system to $199.99, that doesn’t mean you can’t get it for less.

Sam’s Club today (October 19, 2009) just sent out an email circular that is promoting the system for $194.88 (US), a smidge less than the asking price. The sale page is, in usual retail fashion, promoting it as a much bigger price drop, stating “Now only $198.88. Was $244.86.”

The “Delivery” link on the site’s product page indicates that this is an online only deal, so you will need to add in shipping.

Since I let my Sam’s Club membership lapse ages ago (the site does often offer a free one-day pass to email subscribers), I cannot confirm that this deal is available in stores, too. If you see it at that price in your local Sam’s Club, please let us know.

The other notable online-only sale item listed in the Club Insider email is a 42 in. Vizio 120Hz 1080P LCD HDTV for $748.14 with (for a limited time) free shipping. Also, on the “New and Last Chance” sales page there is a Xbox 360 Modern Warfare 2 Limited Edition Console listed for $398.88 (will be available November 10, 2009).

Read [Gamertell]

Full Story » | Written by PJ Hruschak for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

One of the most popular icons and characters in Japan is a brown haired girl with yellow ribbons in her hair named Haruhi Suzumiya. People mimic the opening dance from her anime, dress up like her, collect toys that look like her character, read about her and even play video games where she is the star.

Thanks to companies like Bandai Entertainment, Little Brown Books and Yen Press, people in North America can start to read and watch Haruhi Suzumiya’s adventures. However, no video game publisher has taken a chance on her eclectic games.

Before we look at five video game adventures, lets take a brief look at what Haruhism is all about.

Who’s Haruhi Suzumiya?

Haruhi Suzumiya’s the star of a series of light novels, manga volumes, anime, movie and video games. The series began in June, 2003 with the light novel The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Pay close attention to the title, because it’s the start of a trend. All the Haruhi Suzumiya media are titled in a similar manner. Two manga series followed shortly after in the spring of 2004 and winter of 2005. The anime series The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya ran in 2006, and was expanded and rerun in 2009.  Another manga series began in 2007.

Right now, the new run of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is going on with additional episodes, there’s a new spin-off manga called The Vanishing of Yuki-chan Nagato and a movie, The Vanishment of Haruhi Suzumiya is being prepared for a 2010 release.

Haruhi Suzumiya is an etcentric high school girl with an interest in the extraordinary. In order to find these strange phenomena, like espers, aliens, robots and the like, she creates a school club called the Spreading Excitement All Over the World with the Haruhi Suzumiya Brigade, or SOS Brigade. She convinces/badgers/drags her classmate Kyon, the only person she talks to, into joining. Three other people, Yuki Nagato, Mikuru Asahina and Itsuki Koizumi, also end up joining as well. It turns out that the three other people didn’t join because they’re interested in the supernatural.

Instead, Yuki, Mikuru and Itsuki join because they are supernatural. Apparently, Haruhi somehow holds, or developed, the ability to change reality at her will, and the three of them have been sent by different organizations to monitor her and sort-of keep her in check. So, out of everyone, Kyon’s the only normal person. He also tends to be narrator for the events.

So, each form of media deals with a new adventure that Haruhi and the SOS Brigade gets into. Currently, the following Haruhi Suzumiya media is available in English in the U.S.:

• The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya: Complete Collection DVDs of the anime series.
• The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya manga volumes 1-4 by Nagaru Tanigawa.
• Haruhi Suzumiya Yearkbook: A Guide to the Many Moods of Haruhi Suzumiya fanbook by Kazuhisa Fujie
• The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya, the first two volumes in the original light novel series by Nagaru Tanigawa.

The video games of Haruhi Suzumiya.

Not surprisingly, the success of the Haruhi Suzumiya series has spawned a number of video games. Here’s a brief overview of what’s available, in chronological order. Keep in mind, the games all contain quite a bit of fanservice.

Suzumiya Haruhi no Yakusoku aka The Promise of Haruhi Suzumiya (PSP)
This is essentially a visual novel/adventure game with occasional mini-games thrown in. This game follows the part of the light novel/manga/anime where the SOS Brigade is creating The Adventures of Mikuru Asahina. It’s the only Haruhi Suzumiya video game to not have an original storyline. Mainly it’s a visual novel, but there are some mini-games. Warning to importers: Text heavy!

Suzumiya Haruhi no Tomadoi aka The Perplexity of Haruhi Suzumiya (PS2)
This is essentially a visual novel/adventure game with occasional mini-games thrown in. Haruhi wants to make a video game, and gets the SOS Brigade involved. There are quite a few different games you can make, like an RPG, card game or Princess Maker clone. Warning to importers: Text heavy! Also, the PS2 isn’t region-free, so this only works on Japanese PS2s.

Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekidou aka The Excitement of Haruhi Suzumiya (Wii)
Dance along with Haruhi Suzumiya and the SOS Brigade. Haruhi’s found a flier for the dance competition, and has decided that she and the SOS Brigade are entering. There are Story and Free Play Modes. Remember, the Wii isn’t region-free so don’t buy it unless you have a Japanese Wii.

Suzumiya no Heiretsu aka The Parallel of Haruhi Suzumiya (Wii)
Yet another visual novel adventure game. Haruhi’s won a cruise trip, and she’s bringing the SOS Brigade with her. Once they set sail, a number of improbable and unusual adventures take place. Warning to importers: Text heavy! Also, like I mentioned before, the Wii isn’t region-free.

Suzumiya Haruhi no Chokuretsu aka The Series of Haruhi Suzumiya (DS)
This is an adventure game, along the lines of Lux Pain or Phoenix Wright. Haruhi, Kyou and the SOS Brigade use the summer to investigate the school’s seven, unexplained mysteries. Warning to importers: Text heavy!

COMING NEXT WEEK: Important Importables looks at five Japanese gadgets which exist for no other reason than to be absurdly adorable.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Last week Important Importables suggested 35 video games you could play on Hello Kitty’s 35th anniversary.

Site [Play-Asia] Site [YesAsia] Site [NCSX] Site [Himeya Shop] Site [Strapya World]

Full Story » | Written by Jenni Lada for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

Nintendo has just announced a new color of Wii remotes, motionplus and nunchuks - black. It’s good not only for people who want to show a little individuality, but also for people whose white controllers are dirt magnets! I bet families with young gamers are going to love this.They aren’t in stores yet, but on November 16, 2009 they will be.

Here’s how you’ll be able to buy them. The remote and motionplus will be packaged together and cost $49.95. The nunchuk will be available on its own for $19.99. A white remote alone currently costs $39.99 and a motionplus costs $19.99, a total of $59.98, meaning the black remote and motionplus sold together are a nice deal. If a lot of games start requiring motionplus, then people will probably turn to the black remote and motionplus instead of the copy of Wii Play that comes with a remote.

Could a black Wii be far behind? Nintendo has already released a black Wii in Japan. It’s available either alone or with the Monster Hunter Tri bundle. And it’s kind of tacky to have different color accessories without a console to match. Perhaps we’ll see black Wiis in North America in time for the Winter holidays.

Read [Nintendo Everything] Also Read [Gamertell]

Full Story » | Written by Jenni Lada for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

Atari announced late last week (October 9, 2009) that it is planning to release a series of games based on the Weinstein Company’s reality series, Project Runway.

According to the corporate press release - which first mentioned a series of games and then went on to describe a singular game - gamers will play as an aspiring fashion designer who will have to complete challenges similar to those on the TV series. The yet-to-be-named game will induce voices from the series and utilize the Wii Balance Board accessory so that players can “become the model and strut their creations down the runway.”

Promised features include an interactive garment studio, a fashion career mode, hair and make-up studios, a Wii Balance Board-compatible catwalk and a fashion photographer mode.

The weekly TV series, currently airing on Lifetime (formerly on Bravo) and hosted by super model-producer Heidi Klum and fashion consultant Tim Gunn, features a group of fashion designers who create various outfits under strained circumstances. One winner is selected at the end of the progressive elimination series based on a competitive three- or four-person fashion show and is typically awarded money, a photo spread in a magazine, opportunity to sell their collection and prizes from the sponsors (often a car).

The game(s) will be developed by Tornado Studios and is expected to be available Spring 2010.

Read [Associated Press]

Full Story » | Written by PJ Hruschak for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »