Avatar: The Game for Wii is an exclusive all new game that is not a port and is being built from the ground up for Wii by Ubisoft Montreal, the Wii gets its own version despite also being on Xbox 360 & PS3.
In Avatar Wii you take control of a Navi tribe warrior in James Cameron’s fully realised world of fantasy meets reality, where the main mechanic of “stalk, strike, evade” are vital to your survival along with using the environment to your advantage.
While it won’t feature any 3D – stereoscopic effect the developers are making great efforts to push Wii’s capabilities as much as possible all within the limitations of the system.
The game will feature drop-in drop out co-op play for 2 players at any time which is again an exclusive feature to Wii.
It will support Wii Motion Plus for things such as third person combat, close quarters/ projectile based combat & also specific areas where you take to the skies riding on the back of a giant winged beast (ala Pranzer Dragoon style) with a buddy or by yourself with a bow in hand to take down enemy aircraft.
Lastly it will support the Wii balance board for when you take flight but other uses still unknown, as well as the Wii Zapper too, which again has not been explained.
The title still has a bit of development to go but will be ready to hit retail come winter this december!
Guestimated for a release in the first quarter of 2010, Monster Hunter Tri is the first Monster Hunter game to get a western release on a Nintendo platform.
The series has sold ten million for Capcom. It is big in Japan the same way ladies’ undercrackers in vending machines, Takeshi’s Castle and the Love Hotel concept are.
Monster Hunter Tri was released last year in Japan. It could be bought bundled with a black Wii and the new Classic Controller pro. It is well on the way to being that rare bird – a third party Wii title selling past a million copies, and this in Japan alone. So, we can see that this game is serious business.
You can play alone, locally with a friend or online with up to four players. It seems that you hunt monsters. Exploration is needed to discover the best way to kill your quarry. New weapons and armour are earned when you kill a monster, adding an RPG element to proceedings. Each world you enter shows more of itself as you become better equiped to deal with more difficult opponents. Classic Controller seems to be the way to play the game.
Nintendo World Report had hands on time with the English language version of the game at the recent Tokyo Game Show. It’s an interesting article to read. Read more »
Publisher: Deep Silver/ Format: Wii/ Genre: Survival Horror/ Players: One
Cursed Mountain is a survival horror set in the Himalayas. Developed by Deep Silver, who made games like Anno 1701 and Secret Files: Tunguska, it is down for a September 4th release.
The action takes place in the 1980’s (pre gps and mobile phone technology, to ramp up the sense of isolation) so we can look forward to power-dressing shoulder pads and Flock of Seagull haircuts galore.
We’re promised disorientation, meetings with people neither dead nor alive, a curse and the quest for a lost brother. Add in some Buddhist monks, snow and a mountain that becomes our enemy and its looking promising.
If nothing else, Deep Silver should be commended for taking survival horror and setting it in such an original location. The official website has some screenshots and videos to look at. The best of these are videos of people getting scared playing the game. Its worth visiting just to see these.
So in spite of a lack of fanfare it looks as if Cursed Mountain is worth keeping an eye out for in the next month.
Publisher: Square Enix/ Format: DS/ Genre: Role-Playing/ Players: One to Four
The European release date for Square Enix’s latest game in their Kingdom Hearts series was recently announced so I decided that some people might like to know more about the game as we near its release. The game is to be released exclusively for Nintendo’s DS system and it is set between the events of the first and second games in the series which both appeared on Sony’s Playstation Two system. The Kingdom Hearts series puts Final Fantasy characters and Disney characters together as they fight against the evil Heartless. In this game you discover the beginning of Roxas’ story who is a member of Organisation XIII that has been set up to battle the Heartless.
The battle system will be familiar to anyone who has played any of Square Enix’s Kingdom Hearts titles. You can lock-on to enemies and press the A button to attack.As you fight you will sometimes be able to pull off extra special moves as the ‘…Limit Break system from FFVII makes an appearance…’ (Robert Purchase: Eurogamer) Where the game will differ to previous games is the new inventory system. The system requires you to manage your items and special moves so they fit in a set number of squares. It’s kind of like what you’re find in Capcom’s Survival Horror game Resident Evil 4 for Nintendo’s Wii system as well as various other formats.
The game is divided into numerous individual missions like the mission mode in Square Enix’s RPG Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core for Sony’s PSP system. The missions in the game will vary in difficulty but all of them will be fairly short to in length. An example mission sees ‘…Roxas helping Aladdin to overcome a succession of heartless in a dimly lit town…’ (Official Nintendo Magazine Issue 46: Neil Long)
One of the games that I liked the most so far on the Wii is No More Heroes. Everything about it oozes style. Even the crap bits. It boiled down to a series of Boss fights. It made you do stupid tasks to get to those fights. But I love the way the characters look, the sword-fighting controls and the puerile sense of humor. Everything about the game is class.
It was from Grasshopper Manufacture, makers of Killer 7 on the Gamecube, and as such the bastard offspring of the mind of Goicha Suda. He’s known as Suda 51. Apparently Goicha in Japanese is five and one. Who cares, its a bonkers thing to call yourself. He’s one of the few conspicuous personalities in video games. Those people like Miyamoto and Hideo Kojima (Metal Gear) that you know have made a game. It’s odd that publishers get recognition for a game coming out. The Conduit is now referred to as “from Sega” instead of High Voltage – even that is a studio and not a bloke. Imagine buying the latest album from Atlantic records only to discover it was made by Led Zeppelin (that’s the music Moms and Dads listen to everyone); the idea is ridiculous. But so is the world of Video Games.
Gametrailers.com has the trailer for the sequel, known as Desperate Struggle, that was shown at E3 this year. In it you see Travis Touchdown (our hero) wielding double beam katanas. His friend Bishop from the comic book store is hassled by heavies and Sylvia Christel (that’s almost Emmanuelle in case you don’t remember the seventies) shares a visual sexual innuendo with Travis and his beam katana. Throw in a schoolgirl of questionable age, talk of revenge, Bishop’s possible death to cause that revenge (not confirmed) and Travis coming out of retirement and everything seems set to go.
Early 2010 is when the game is set for release. The first game was made in two versions. In Europe and Japan only the blood-free one was available. This time around we get the choice of bloody or not. Good.
Publisher: Capcom/ Format: Wii/ Genre: Action/ Players: One or two players
Capcom’s Spyborgs is a side scrolling beat em’ up in the vein of Streets of Rage but with a Ratchet and Crank vibe to it. The story goes that you are the Spyborgs which are a group of ‘…cybernetic crime busters, yet one of their number has gone rogue, betraying the noble cause by attacking his old HQ with a robot army.’ (Tom East: Official Nintendo Magazine) Your goal is to stop this rogue by fighting against his army and saving the HQ of the Spyborgs. Do not fear though, there’s no need to go it alone as you will be able to play the game with either a friend or an AI controlled companion who you can switch control to at any time.
As mentioned in my news article you can play as one of three different characters. The first character you can play as is called Clandestine who is a character build on stealth. She is ‘…armed with a katana, seriously speedy moves…the close-combat operative dealing damage up close…before dashing away when the enemy blows are about to rain down on her.’ (Tom East: Official Nintendo Magazine) The Next Character is called Bouncer who is the Spyborgs ‘tank’ unit that ‘…powers around on his metal knuckles, he’s a force to be reckoned with…’ The final character is called Stinger who is a ‘…weapons expert…best situated to firing guns from a safe(ish) distance.’
To control your character you use the Nunchuk’s Control Stick and press ‘…A to jump…’ (Shaun McInnis: Gamespot) You can launch various combinations of attacks by pressing ‘…B for a light attack and C for a heavy attack…’ buttons to launch different types of attacks on the enemies you come across and you can block their attacks by pressing the Z trigger. You shake the Wii Remote to unleash special moves which are more powerful attacks. There are also co-op moves which you and a second player or computer controlled character perform as a team. When you initiate one of these moves ‘the screen turns blue, everything runs is slow motion and both players are guided through some stylish remote waves…’ (Tom East: Official Nintendo Magazine) The better you perform in these quick time events the more damage you will deal to the enemy.
One of the best value DSiWare titles has to be Ugoku Memo Chou (Flipnote Studio in Europe and America), which is free. It has been a massive hit since it launched last December, and the game got an update on April 27th, adding some minor, but quite cool improvements on the original. As requested by forum member Octogonapus, here is a bit of information about the new update.
First of all, there are extra brushes, and there are also extra shapes with which you can erase things. This is great as you can get a bit more creative in terms of textures.
You now have the ability to edit your animation on two seperate layers, meaning your animations can be more complex, giving you more control over background and foreground sections.
You can also copy specific sections of your animations and paste them elsewhere in your creation.
You can send letters, containing animations to your friends, or ugo-mates, as they are called. Your ugo-mates, as far as I can tell have to be real life friends in order for you to be able to exchange stuff with them.
What really makes this cool though, is the community aspect that Nintendo have managed to integrate into the game, with the help of a company called Hatena. The special website allows you to share and view memos, and write comments. You can see how you rank along with other artists and the site is available anywhere you have access to a browser. I think this is an essential part of the game and something has has to be included when the game comes to other regions.
Also, here is a memo made by Nike. It’s pretty cool.
Publisher: Sega / Format: DS / Genre: Role-Playing / Players: One or two players
Recently Sega confirmed their next game in the anime series is going to be released on Nintendo’s DS System under the title Bleach: The 3rd Phantom. The DS already has two great Bleach games on it but this new one will not be a fighting game as the previous ones were. It will be a strategic RPG and features and a ‘…new and exclusive storyline…’ (Robert Purchese Eurogamer). The storyline ‘…has been created under of supervision of Tite Kubo, the author and creator of Bleach…’ (Tom East Official Nintendo Magazine).
The game’s world will be displayed in isometric style, but the fight will take in two dimensions. As you fight the enemies which include ‘…the Arrancar and Hollows…’ (Tom East Nintendo Official Magazine) and you will gain ‘experience from fighting…’. You will be able to use this experience to upgrade your abilities and powers as you progress though the game. The game will allow you to command ‘…an army of up to eight Soul Reapers’. Also included is the ability for two people to fight each other over Nintendo’s Wi-Fi Connection service. The games story ‘…sheds light on events that occurred before the anime’. It will revolve around two characters, the ‘Soul Reaper twins, Fujimaru Kudo and his sister Matsuri Kudo…’ but various other famous characters will be encountered ‘…such as Ichigo Kurosaki and Rukia Kuchiki…’ as well as brand new ones appearing for the first time in this game.
As you progress though the game and meet characters ‘…you can chat to them using an interactive dialogue system’ (Robert Purchese Eurogamer). These conversations will help you build ‘…personal relationships with the characters…’ (Tom East Nintendo Official Magazine). The relationship building will be required to unlock new characters that you can then control in the game.
Bleach: The 3rd Phantom is expected to be released in early next year and I will try to keep you informed on the game as new information is revealed.
Publisher: Altus/ Format: DS/ Genre: Role-Playing/ Players: One
At E3 Atlus showed off their latest game in the Shin Megami Tensei franchise. The franchise has a number of different forms such as the adventure games called Raidou Kuzunoha to the social RPG’s of the Persona series. The upcoming game is a hybrid RPG that combines elements from a variety of different types of gameplay. It also has a very dark and mature storyline which should keep you playing to see how it all ends.
The game is set in the city of Tokyo in mid-summer. The city is taken over by a mass of demons which the government tries to stop them from spreading ‘by quarantining the city, trapping the 17-year-old hero and a bunch of other school chums inside.’ (N-Gamer Issue #38) This is not the worst of it though, ‘the city’s going to be destroyed in seven days’ which is the time frame that the game takes place in. You carry a device called ‘COMP’ that will be used to ‘make contracts with Hell Beasts and use them in battle…a bit like Pokémon but with the ability to fight beside your captured creatures.’
The game also allows you to take part in a Demon Auction to obtain more monsters take you can then control as well as fusing ‘them together to create more powerful species.’ (N-Gamer) The battles themselves are fought on a grid with both teams taking turns to move and attack. When you come into contact with an enemy unit the view switches to first-person perspective and the battle plays out in a similar way to the Dragon Quest series.
In between the battles you navigate your way round ‘a map screen menu, you can easily chat up the locals, take a peek around, or ask your party members for input at almost any time’ (Lark Anderson Gamespot) There are two different types of missions that will appear on the map ‘Battle Missions’ and ‘Story Missions’. An important thing to note is that ‘each mission activated costs a half hour of your day, and some are available only within a certain window of opportunity.’
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor does not have a confirmed UK release date as of time of writing but I will try to keep you up to date as new information becomes available.
Publisher: Rising Star Games / Format: Wii / Genre: Role-Playing / Players: One
It was revealed recently that Tri-Crescendo’s latest work Fragile: Farewell of the Moon will be released in the UK. The developers Tri-Crescendo are Role-Playing specialists and their previous work includes the Gamecube game Baten Kaitos and more recently Eternal Sonata on the PS3/360. Fragile will be published by Rising Star Games who also published several titles on Nintendo’s Wii such as their RTS Little King’s Story and the Action game No More Heroes.
Fragile is set a post-apocalyptic future that is largely uninhabited. You play the character Seto and guide him through various environments that take the form of abandoned cities. According to Rising Star Games website Seto is ‘desperately lonely’ because he recently lost his grandfather so ‘after finding a letter’ (Alex Sassoon Coby: Gamespot) ‘he decides to search for other survivors’ (Rising Star Games) that may be able to help him discover the ‘truth behind the disappearance of all the people’ (Andy Robinson: CVG). As you move around the world you will have to fight various blob-like floating enemies using ‘sticks, crowbars and hatchets’ (Robert Purchese: Eurogamer). You will also have to shoot down evil-looking crows. You will also encounter various NPC’s that will ‘provide insight on people’s last days before the apocalypse’ (Tom East: Official Nintendo Magazine).
To control the game you use the Wii remote to operate the Seto’s torch that you use to stop ghosts from attacking you and a ‘Proximity Sensor to hunt down invisible ghosts’ (Tom East: Official Nintendo Magazine). According to the game’s preview in Issue 34 of N-Gamer Magazine you can also ‘hold the to your ear and the radio will speak through the remote speaker…’ and also explain how it is used ‘one puzzle sees you trapped in a game of hide-and-seek with a ghost sprog, tracking her to a locked storage by listening for her creepy giggles.’
Avatar: The Game for Wii is an exclusive all new game that is not a port and is being built from the ground up for Wii by Ubisoft Montreal, the Wii gets its own version despite also being on Xbox 360 & PS3.
Preview | Jason@WiiDS | 
November 2, 2009 1:50 pm | 
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One of the games that I liked the most so far on the Wii is No More Heroes. Everything about it oozes style. Even the crap bits. It boiled down to a series of Boss fights. It made you do stupid tasks to get to those fights. But I love the way the characters look, the sword-fighting controls and the puerile sense of humor. Everything about the game is class.
Recently Sega confirmed their next game in the anime series is going to be released on Nintendo’s DS System under the title 
At E3 Atlus showed off their latest game in the 
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