1P Start

Everyone knew it was coming, but Harmonix has officially announced the arrival of Rock Band 2… in September! The name of the sequel appears to be Rock Band: Opening Act. I’m really hoping they change the name, since an opening act isn’t the pinnacle of rock success. Anyway, In a talk with IGN, Harmonix Lead Designer Dan Teasdale divulged a few details about the sequel, but what’s interesting are some of the questions he didn’t really answer.

You can read the whole article for yourself, but here’s a quick run down of all the most important facts:

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When Wii Fit was released in the states last month, not only did it sell out within days, it also prompted a new wave of fitness freakery and another way of people to attempt to lose weight. While some will doubt the ability of what is essentially a video game, to help you lose weight, one blogger’s experience with the game is nothing but positive.

Kris Abel, a blogger writing for CTV, details his experience with the game in the six weeks since he bought it, and reviews the software at the same time.

The most interesting and intriguing part of his post is where he tells of his Wii Mii’s response to him reaching his weight-loss goal of 16 pounds in six months in just six weeks.

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So the big thing on the internet is a chick who is wearing underwear playing a boring Nintendo Wii game. Uh, yeah like I can’t find something much better than the Wii

In case you haven’t seen it yet, here’s the original video:

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Nintendo has always been the games company that puts fun above all else, sometimes at the expense of innovation, graphics, and moving the game industry forward. In that sense, you could say that Nintendo is the casual gamer to the hardcore gamer folk at Sony and Microsoft.

This generation has seen the casual gamer tag being applied to the Nintendo consoles more than ever, because both the Wii and DS have a much wider range of appeal than their competitors the PSP, PS3 and Xbox 360. But despite being inherently and unashamedly casual in their intent, I thought Nintendo would at least respect the more hardcore amongst us. But it seems not after comments from Nintendo of Europe managing director of marketing Laurent Fischer prove.

In an article about Wiiware, the downloadable games store for the Wii which features hundreds of small but highly playable games, NextGen.biz revealed that Fischer referred to the storage space problems on the Wii by saying how “geeks and otaku” were the only people who would want the issue addressed.

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After the success of Rock Band it was almost a matter of time before serious talk of Rock Band 2 emerged and it has! Through a couple of online surveys we’ve been getting some hints at the creation of the new game. The first survey asked participants about a possible price point. The second survey was a little more interesting as it asked participants which of two possible box art samples was more appealing. Here’s the first:

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In news that made me as giddy as a school girl, LucasArts is thinking about re-releasing some of their classic adventure games on the Nintendo Wii. Lucas Arts is quoted as stating:

“We have looked at it,” admits Norris. “It is something we are continually looking at - new venues to put out our library of games on. We’re not announcing anything about that because honestly I don’t know anything about it.”

“The cart size of the DS makes it impossible to put out ports of any of our old graphic adventures,” claims Gullett. “There’s literally not enough room on those carts to put the games out.”

“It could still happen,” rallies Gullet. “We’ve got a lot of pride in our heritage and it’s definitely something we’re still leaving open.”

If there was any way possible to do so, it must be done. Newer generations should be exposed to games like Day of the Tentacle and Full Throttle (I still have my Corley Motors T-shirt). Hell, there’s even licensed games like Sam and Max Hit the Road or Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis that need to see the light of day again. The Nintendo DS would be a fantastic platform for these kinds of games, but if the cartridge is too small then there’s not much you can do about that. The Nintendo Wii would be a decent way to play these games considering their point and click interface, so why aren’t these available as downloads on the Wii Virtual Console yet?

Thanks to: Gaming Today

Wii Fit has been out in the US for almost two weeks now, and has sold extremely well so far. In fact it has sold so well that the problem now facing potential fitness freaks is trying to find a copy of the game.

Online and offline retailers are already reporting shortages, and many people keen to get hold of a copy of the game to maybe kick-start a fitness regime are finding themselves out of luck. The incredible success the game enjoyed in both Japan and Europe has now definitely been repeated in the US.

The Nintendo Wii itself is still in short supply, even though it has now been out a year and half and you would think everyone who wanted one would have already got hold of one. But Wii Fit has increased the demand. The console may be cheap compared to it’s rivals the PS3 and Xbox 360, but the game is certainly anything but.

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At the beginning of last month, rumours emerged of Microsoft developing a Wii Remote style controller for the Xbox 360 in an attempt to grab a piece of Nintendo’s obviously huge market. The company has already started this strategy by releasing the Xbox Arcade pack, a cheap and cheerful package to appeal to casual gamers everywhere.

In case you’ve been living under a rock for the past couple of months, here’s a short rehash of the rumours. MTV News (not who I’d normally look to for gaming news, or any other news for that matter) reported that an inside Microsoft source has revealed the plans for an almost exact replica of the Wii Remote. It looks almost identical, although is thought to have a microphone included for future games similar to Singstar.

At the time, Microsoft refused to comment on the speculation, as they do with almost every rumour, but Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has chosen to speak out.

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Wii Fit is due to be released in the USA this week, first in the Nintendo World Store on May 19th before being available everywhere on May 21st. The game, which is already available in Europe and Asia ships with a balance board peripheral which allows gamers to do exercises, and yoga, and even weight themselves using the software.

The game, or lifestyle device as some are more accurately calling it has already divided opinion. Hardcore gamers more in to their first person shooters and RPGs have written it off as not even a game, and the Wii itself as not a true player in this generation’s console war. While others thinks the Wii and games such as Wii Fit are bringing more people in to gaming, and opening up the hobby to a more diverse range of people.

Wal-Mart were even marketing the game as the perfect Mother’s Day gift by offering $10 gift card to anyone who pre-ordered the game by May 10th. A Teacher in Canada even tested the game out as a possible alternative to more traditional forms of exercise, with surprising results.

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There is a big debate currently raging over whether Wii Fit, the fitness simulator and computerised exercise trainer already out for the Wii in Japan and Europe, and due out in the U.S. soon, could ever be a viable option for real exercise. That game, combined with the massively popular Wii Sports, means kids can potentially get a wide ranging session of exercise all from the comfort of their own home, and playing their games console.

Greg Chin, a teacher at Archbishop Joseph MacNeil in Edmonton, Vancouver, decided to test the games out to see how much of a good workout they actually gave his class full of junior high school students.

He had them compare real exercise with playing Wii Sports, and came up with some interesting results. While he won’t know the results in full until next week, he has already noted that some of the kids heart rates reached 170 beats per minute, only 10 beats off the 180bpm expected of someone at that age taking part in a proper workout.

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Nintendo are having a good year. That’s a slight understatement but it’s the main thrust of the latest press release to come from the company’s headquarters, as it reports a massive surge in profits for the last twelve months.

Net profit rose 47.7% to a record high over the last fiscal year, after the phenomenal success of the Wii and DS, both of which have exceeded expectations, and beaten all rivals in their field.

The net profit for the Nintendo group as a whole was ¥257.34 billion, or $2.5 billion. So just a slightly successful year for the Kyoto, Japan based company then.

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As a gamer living in the UK I’m used to being treated as a second class citizen by games companies.

We in Europe tend to be the last to get consoles released, with the possible exception of Australia, and some games don’t even ever make it here. If they do, they tend to be priced extortionately higher than they are in Japan and America.

So it is with Rock Band. It’s taken six months to get here, it’s only initially being released on the Xbox 360, with PS2, PS3, and Wii owners having to wait until summer at the earliest, and it’s going to cost an absolute fortune.

Harmonix has made the ludicrous decision to up the retail price of the full package, that’s a copy of the game, a microphone, a guitar and drums, from the $169 it sold for in North America to £180. That’s the equivalent of $330, or double the price.

The company has spent the last few days trying to justify and explain the decision, but whatever excuses they may come out with, I just can’t see how such a differential in price can ever be justified.

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Microsoft has seen sales of the Xbox 360 falling badly over the last few months, with 2008 proving so far to be the year of the PS3, and the Wii of course. So what to do? Why, try and steal your competitor’s market of course.

We’ve already seen the Xbox 360 getting dropped in price, and the Arcade pack released in order to cater to the less well off consumers who snapped up the Wii in droves.

Now, according to a company source talking to MTV, Microsoft are also going to muscle in on the motion control elements of the Wii and are busy developing a Wii Remote style controller for the Xbox 360.

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What in the hell is going on. Too many people already stuck on Call of Duty 4, Halo 3, and whatever people with PS3’s play ? Everyone prepping for Grand Theft Auto 4 ? Well I hope you are enjoying your “next gen” games you already have.

This week in releases is reminding much of last weeks. Not much to see here. The biggest release, “Portal” .. has already been out for quite some time. Now it is coming as stand alone release, woohoo. It is taking the cake (which is a lie, har har) this week as the best game for these releases. Seriously, check the list yourself below, nothing can top portal.

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Firstly, apologies for not getting the New Releases up on Sunday as I usually do. I have had a wedding, a birthday, and even a concert (go Mars Volta!) to go to in the past 3 days, so I have been quite the busy bee.

However, I don’t think anyone has missed much having no release list, as I can count the amount of releases this week on one hand (and a few toes). No ‘HD’ ‘Next Gen’ gaming going on here, it is Wii, DS, PS2, and the PC fighting for who can release the worst game. My bet is on the PS2 only because they should stop making games for the system already! As far as why there is no games, I am guessing because of things to come.. Mario Kart… Grand Theft Auto.. etc. Companies know you are probably saving your money for the big names so no use to put out competition that won’t sway you from the franchises. Now onto the very short list this week, after the break:

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