WiiWare Launch Titles

The US release of Nintendo’s WiiWare service is upon us (May 12) and the debut titles have been revealed. There will be 6 original titles available for download when the service goes live shortly.

Just in case you’ve been living under a rock, WiiWare is Nintendo’s download service which allows gamers to download original games to play on their Wii. This gives smaller developers there chance to make their mark on the current generation of gaming. Unlike the similar Virtual Console service, which offers retro games for download, prices will be determined individually for each game by the developer.

The games available for download from the get go are

• Defend Your Castle -500 Wii Points


• V.I.P. Casino: Blackjack -700 Points


• Pop -700 Points


• TV Show King -1000 Points


• LostWinds -1000 Points


• Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King
  -1500 Points

Nintendo Warned of Market Crash

Street Fighter II creator, Yoshiki Okamoto, has spoken of the dominance of the Nintendo DS and has warned Nintendo that they could be heading for a ‘crash of epic proportions’, similar to the market crash that Atari suffered and never recovered from.

The problem rests in Nintendo’s first party software domination across the Nintendo DS and the Wii. Okamoto says "looking at the way things are right now, it is a fact that first-party Wii games are the only titles selling well. But if the first-party titles are selling, third-party games should be able to sell too, so long as their creators have a good working relationship with Nintendo. I think the problem is a lack of understanding between third-party developers, like us, and Nintendo, and this relationship needs to improve for the games to improve. "

Okamoto is disappointed with the flow of low quality titles hitting the Nintendo DS and the many imitation titles, such as the copy-cat versions of Brain Training, that are polluting our gaming collections.

"All sorts of companies that have never made games before are getting involved. I mean, the cost of development is really next to nothing. And what about this flood of 'brain training' games? Can they really keep that up?” Gamers have been seeing an extremely high number of ‘non-games’ of late, which has turned into a new genre itself. Titles such as ‘Parent Training and Cooking Training’ have all followed in the ways of Brain Training in the hope of riding it’s success but according to Okamoto these will lead to Nintendo’s downfall.

Could high number of less than average games on the Wii and DS lead to Nintendo’s downfall?

Wii Fit US Reception Uncertain but DS Connectivity a Possibility

Nintendo is doing all it can to promote Wii Fit in the US as it prepares to release the game to Americans on May 19. Nintendo Mastermind Shigeru Miyamoto has been out in full force showing gamers how it’s done himself by pulling out some yoga moves as part of the promotion for Nintendo’s game that’s good for you.

Miyamoto has been impressed seeing the title sell over 2 million copies in Japan but is uncertain if it will see the same level of success in the US. He says that it is hard to predict due to the cultural and lifestyle differences between the US and Japan. As American families generally spend less time together what type of role the game will play may vary.

Miyamoto also suggested the idea of Wii Fit interacting with the Nintendo DS while he was showing off his sweet Wii Fit moves. He said he ‘flirted’ with the idea of DS and Wii connectivity with Wii Fit and has left the door open for that in the future.

When asked what the creative mind of Miyamoto would be working on next he confirmed he was working on the Wii some more, but recently had his burning desire to create another Pikmin game rekindled.

The Conduilt Impressing but Needs a Publisher

Socks were blown off when we saw the first video of The Conduit from High Voltage Games that showed off what the Wii is capable of in terms of graphical ability. The darker style game, aimed at a hardcore market on a console prides itself on anyone being able to play, will focus on alien cover-ups fuelled by government conspiracies. The game pushes the Wii to its limits with graphics gamers thought where impossible on the Nintendo system and utilises the Wii Remote to full capacity, but has one problem, it does not have a publisher.

The game takes place in modern day Washington DC as the player takes control of Secret Agent Ford who must find the truth about the Alien invasion. The First Person Shooter will put a variety of different firearms at Fords disposal and play in a similar fashion to games before it such as Medal of Honour and Halo 3. The game promises a high level of human like artificial intelligence and the ‘All Seeing Eye’ which "allows players to "reveal concealed objects and enemies, providing a deeper level of puzzle-solving."

The engine powering the game has been built by High Voltage Games from the ground up for the Wii and allows the console to create various graphical effects we have yet to see on the Wii. IGN have noted that ‘technical jargons’ included are "dynamic bump-mapping (via tangent space normals or embossing), reflection and refraction (via real-time cube or spherical environmental maps), light / shadow maps, projected texture lights, specular and Fresnel effects, emissive and iridescent materials, advanced alpha blends, light beams / shafts, gloss and detail mapping, seamless resource streaming, projected shadows, heat distortion and motion blur, interactive water with dual-wave channels and complex surface effects, animated textures, and more." While most readers won’t know what a ‘technical jargon’ is IGN made a note that many Wii developers don’t either.

CEO and founder of High Voltage Software, Kerry Ganofsky, said "We think it's a real shame that publishers and developers aren't taking advantage of the technical possibilities of the Wii platform. Most Wii games don't even look as good as the later day PS2 titles and that's a real slap in the face to consumers. We believe that third-party developers need to step up to the plate and deliver. The Wii platform is capable of a lot more than what consumers have seen so far. We're hoping to raise a new bar. Most of the games on the Wii look like crap.”

“We want to change that, so we've invested heavily in our Wii tech over the past year. We have real-time normal mapping, reflection and refraction, post process full screen effects, real-time shadows, projected lights and textures, specularity and fresnel effects, emissive and iridescent materials, interactive water, morphing, and much more all running with a rock solid frame rate on the Wii. Our goal is to be the most technically innovative Wii developer on the planet."

The game has been entirely self funded until this point as High Voltage Games now trying to prove to publishers that this game is well worth taking on.

We Ski Trailer

We Ski is continuing to impress and has followed up on its impressive screenshots with the first English gameplay video. The game will be controlled by the Wii remote, nunchuck and Wii balance board (optional) which looks like great fun!

Check out the First English We Ski Trailer!

Nintendo Crush Claims of New DS at E3

Hirokazu Hamamura, the publisher of the popular Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu, last week speculated that Nintendo could be releasing a new version of their Nintendo DS at E3 in July.

Nintendo of Japan have hit back in a press statement saying "We cannot comment on the specifics of what will be announced at E3, but at the very least there won't be anything like what Mr. Hamamura suggested, so would like to clearly deny this," said the representative. "We're having a hard time understanding what kind of evidence [Mr. Hamamura] had for saying this."

It is not surprising that Nintendo have crushed these claims but what is a little more unexpected it that Hamamura has now denied ever making the comments in the first place. Hamamura "believes it unlikely that Nintendo would release a new form factor or a successor model", was it a slip of the tongue and he in fact meant to say he didn't think there would be a new console, was it just a mistake in translation or is he now trying to cover it up due to Nintendo commenting back? Whatever the case it will be interesting to see what Nintendo reveal at the E3 summit to be held between July 15-17.

Wii Jets off to Korea

Almost 18 months ago, way back in 2006, the Nintendo Wii made its debut in the US, Japan, Europe and Australia and has since gone on to see phenomenal success and break every record in it’s path. South Korea has finally received the news it has been waiting for, as Nintendo of Korea have announced that the Wii will go on sale on April 26.

The Wii will cost 220,000 won (AUD$241, USD$224) while games will cost between 38,000 won (AUD$41) to 48,000 won (AUD$52). Launch titles will include Wii Sports (not included with console), Wii Play, Zack and Wiki, Fifa 2008, Rayman Raving Rabbids 2, Elebits, Namco Museum Remix, and Pangya Golf 2nd Shot, while Guitar Hero III will be available in May.

Those lucky South Korean gamers will get its own version of the Virtual console, they will only get NES, SNES, and Nintendo 64 games but will get reduced prices. That’s right they get their retro games cheaper only having to pay 400 points for a NES game, 600 points for a SNES title and 800 points for N64 games.

Nintendo of Korea has teamed up with Korean actor Won Bin to promote the Wii as seen in the picture above with Nintendo President Satoru Iwata

Mario Kart Cheaters Ruin the Fun

Online gaming is meant to be an enjoyable experience that puts your against real life opponents rather than boring AI computers that never seem to take risks. These games are unfortunately plagued by those who feel they’ll get a cheap laugh by ruining the fun for everyone else. Like its pintsized DS cousin Mario Kart on the Wii is the next online game to be spoiled by the so called hackers.

After being release in Japan and Europe late last week, all types of impossible times have been showing their ugly heads, as those cheating players have sky rocked to the top of the rankings.

Nintendo, not wanting to see the Wii version of its popular kart racer go the same way as the DS version have stepped in and taken action. The Big N has deleted all the records that defy natural abilities and blocked the method that cheaters were using to hack the game. Fortunately it looks like Nintendo isn’t going to take this lightly and will be monitoring cheaters attempting to spoil the game.

Famitsu Publisher Speculates a New DS this E3

It seems to be the case with Nintendo handhelds that the early adopter often ends up coming off second best as the Big N have developed a habit of updating and sliming down their portable consoles. Gamers with the DS lite are already showing off their sexy slim console compared to the larger ugly cousin nicknamed the ‘phat’ DS console. The publisher of the popular Japaneses magazine Famitsu

Hamamura's comments appear to be based on nothing more than general industry talk and speculation on his part, and as expected Nintendo offer no comment. Taking a look at the timeline Nintendo traditionally release a revised handheld ever 2 years, which would be this year.

Looking back, 1996 saw the release of the Gameboy Pocket, which was replaced by Gameboy Color in 1998. In 2001 The Gameboy Advance was upon us before it was updated and became the GBA SP in 2003. 2005 saw the release of the ‘phat’ version of the Nintendo DS which was updated and slimed down to become the Nintendo DS Lite in 2006 along with the GBA Micro. For those of you out of touch with the date it is now 2008, could the two year gap since the last revision of a Nintendo handeld mean Nintendo could have a surprise up its sleeve this E3?

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An artists rendition of a revised DS

Trauma Center 2 US Release Date and Trailer!

Atlus have announced that they will be bringing Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 to the US in their summer, a whole month before Japan. The sequel to the 2005 game, that made us all believe that we could easily perform surgery, will go on sale on the 1st of June in the US, while Japanese surgeons will have to wait until August 7 to get their hands dirty.

This is all well and good for America and Japan but of course like normal Australia is yet to receive a release date. Stay in touch with MyDS.com.au to see when you’ll be going under the knife for the second time. In the meantime checkout the lightning fast trailer.

Check out the Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 trailer!

1 Million Signatures to Stop Uwe Boll

Uwe Boll a name that makes gamers and movie buffs alike shiver in fear of what catastrophe of a film he has released on the world. The infamous director who turns videogames into 'you'd prefer a kick in the crotch than sit through 2 painful hours of this filth' bad movies has commented on a recent petition asking his to step away from the directors chair.

Regarding the petition which can be seen and signed here, which is already at 40,000 signatures, Boll said this will in no way de-rail his directing career, however something like 1 million signatures should do the trick.

While 1 million signatures is very unlikely, could this finally be the chance to end Uwe Boll's slaughter of videogames by attempting to make them into feature films?

The petition reads as follows,

To: Dr. Uwe Boll

We, the undersigned, respectfully ask that Uwe Boll give proper weight to the wishes of the video game community, the horror community, and the film going community in general and stop directing, producing, or taking any part in the creation of feature films. His distasteful handling of the subject matter and lack of acknowledgement of his failures simply cannot be abided any longer.

Mr. Boll has repeatedly shown a complete lack of comprehension regarding the videogames he has dragged, kicking and screaming, to the silver screen and his ham-fisted approach to horror has soiled future possibilities for anyone else who may attempt to bring videogames to film.

Guitar Hero DS Revealed!

More than a year ago Activision stated that they would be bringing their Guitar Hero Franchise to the Nintendo DS. After hearing little in the past year and seeing Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock make its way to home consoles DS gamers must have began to wonder if they were every going to get the chance to rock out. Activision have announced through IGN that they will finally be bringing out the portable version of the popular series later this year.

The DS version is named Guitar Hero: On Tour as speculated. The DS version will feature the same rhythm based gameplay as its console counterparts and will feature its own new Guitar Grip accessory, allowing gamers to play finger chords in a similar way to the console version.

The Guitar Grip will plug into the GBA slot (slot 2) and will allow players to put their hand through a strap for security as they hold the DS on its side like a book similar to Brain Training. The accessory will feature a storage area for the included pick stylus which will be used to strum the guitar stings via the touch screen. As the notes move down the screen players strum the guitar while holding down the matching fret, gameplay which veterans of the series will be all too familiar with.

Karthik Bala, CEO of Vicarious Visions the games developer talks about the DS version of the popular rhythm game. "We began prototyping ideas for Guitar Hero on DS in early 2007. We quite frankly didn't know whether it would be possible to bring the core essence of the franchise to handheld and have it actually work. It was 20-something gameplay prototypes that were built, all trying different mechanics and uses of the hardware. Some were pretty cool, others were total disasters!”

"At some point, we hit upon the idea of creating a peripheral that would have the fret buttons plugging into the GBA slot of the DS," he recalled. "We ripped apart an old GBA cartridge and did some electronics work on it to rig up a prototype device. As awkward and crude as that prototype was, that's when we knew we were onto something. We figured that attaching a full-size guitar or even a mini-guitar would be too awkward to play on the road, hence the design of the more compact Guitar Grip, which gives you the tactile sense of the fret buttons, with the touch screen depicting the strings of the guitar."

Activision is yet to release many more details such as the official song list, but it is known that the game will feature a single player career mode similar to that found in the console versions. Guitar Hero: On Tour will also feature co-op multiplayer and 2 player head to head battles.

Check out the teaser trailer!

Learn to parent DS style!

The next game in the training genre has emerged from Japan. Sukusuku Kosodate DS is one of very few games to be targeted to parents and that’s because this time around you are being trained on parenting. While you might want to consider some professional advice if you require a handheld gaming console to look after and in fact raise a small human the game does give 176 suggestions on how to entertain and play with your child.

Basing everything completely on the above screenshot (going left to right from the top row), it includes such classic parenting techniques such as scare the living daylights out of your child with a sheet on your head and then hugging them. Who could forget the timeless fold a piece of paper and crush it with your almighty dominating superhuman powers. Perhaps the only more entertaining game is the old hypnotise your little human with a bent pink stick, which you then proceed to put in your back pocket and have the future of your surname chasing you all around the house in a worrying perhaps even evil state.

Perhaps you should just show off your drawing skills with a monkey with one ridiculously long hair? It’s hours of fun for the entire family! To remember the good times and too have a little something to pull out at their 21st you should definitely consider forcing your child to put cat ears on its head and poke itself in the eye… priceless. Last but not least why would you even consider not placing your infant in some type of hovering semi-sphere world conquering device next to a cage containing what is possible an insane squirrel or the hypnotoad next to a questionably placed window?

These images alone make this a must have for any parent that have the best welfare for their children in mind! On a more serious note we’ll have some real information, not just my speculation from one screenshot, when it is announced.