Pure Nintendo

Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff DS

By James Higginbotham • May 1, 2008

TORRANCE, Calif. May 1, 2008 — Leading video game developer and publisher Tecmo® today announced TECMO BOWL®: KICKOFF, exclusively for the Nintendo DS™. Based on the most popular Tecmo Super Bowl™, KICKOFF will deliver to long time fans and newcomers easy to employ controls, fun, huge plays and exciting cut-scenes. The classic, over-the-top, all-American football game enables players of all levels to engage in a fun filled, fast paced, arcade style of football.

“We are extremely excited to bring back everyone’s favorite football game to the Nintendo DS,” said Ryan Gilbo, executive producer, Tecmo, Inc. “KICKOFF is packed with everything that fans wanted to see in this revival. No other football game will ever compare to TECMO BOWL as this is the game that started it all.”

Read More

Rubik’s World – The Game Factory snatches Rubik’s Cube for Nintendo DS and Wii

By James Higginbotham • April 30, 2008

SANTA MONICA, Calif. – May 01, 2008 – The Game Factory, an international publisher of family-friendly and casual videogames, today announced it has signed a licensing agreement with Seven Towns Limited to publish Rubik’s World, a 3D puzzle game experience for the Nintendo Wii™ and DS™ systems, both inspired by the Rubik’s Cube.

“The Rubik’s Cube is one of the most well known icons in the gaming and entertainment industry,” said Henrik Mathiasen, president of the Game Factory. “We’re honored that Seven Towns Limited has chosen us to take the Rubik’s experience to the next level with Rubik’s World. We feel confident that we have created a concept for the whole family that is innovative, challenging and addictive, offering a new twist in the puzzle genre while keeping the Rubik’s Cube core values alive.”

VC Top 20

By James Higginbotham • April 30, 2008

1(1) – Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES) 2(2) – Super Mario Bros. (NES) 3(12) – River City Ransom (NES) 4(3) – Mario Kart 64 (N64) 5(4) – Super Mario World …
Read More

Alone in the Dark – dev diary 2

By James Higginbotham • April 30, 2008

We were so impressed by the legacy of Alone in the Dark we wanted something very ambitious and very innovative, so the first proposal was in fact maybe a little bit too ambitious and too innovative, which meant it looked very risky to a producer. And we had a difficult start – the project was killed once, and after that we were so motivated to make this game, we worked on it and came back with a technical demo and a proof of concept of all the most risky elements, and Atari said OK let’s take the risk, and since then we’ve had full support to develop the game. Pre-production started in 2003 then full production started 2 years ago in early 2006. The team built up very fast and today there is around 120 people working on the game.

The main source of inspiration for this game was the narration, that’s to say finding the best way to create the perfect narration for this type of game. At Eden we were all addicted to the new TV series like 24, Lost, Prison Break. We thought about this and said, hey, maybe there’s a new way to tell the story in a game. The length of the game is close to 10 up to 15 hours of gameplay and narration and so it’s not the same pace as a movie which is around 2 hours. Lots of games try to copy the narrative structure of a movie, but it fits better with a length of a TV season, so we had the idea to split the game into an episodic structure.

Etrian Odyssey Dated For Europe

By James Higginbotham • April 30, 2008

Do You Dare To Enter The Enchanted Labyrinth?

Create a legend with Etrian Odyssey for Nintendo DS

This summer, prepare to undertake a dangerous journey into the unknown! Discover hidden secrets and lost treasures from the depths of the mysterious Yggdrasil Labyrinth in Etrian Odyssey, an enthralling new fantasy RPG for the Nintendo DS. Combining classic dungeon exploring, old school ‘pen and paper’ style map drawing, ferocious and inspired enemies and an absorbing universe, Etrian Odyssey will reawaken the imagination of every player and launch them into a magical world of quest and combat. Etrian Odyssey launches across Europe on 6th June 2008.
Read More

Amazon Top 10

By James Higginbotham • April 29, 2008

All

01. Wii Fit*—Nintendo (Wii) 02. Mario Kart w/ Wii Wheel—Nintendo (Wii) 03. Grand Theft Auto IV—Rockstar (Xbox 360) 04. Grand Theft Auto IV—Rockstar (PS3) 05. Grand Theft Auto IV …
Read More

GameFly

By James Higginbotham • April 29, 2008

Overall top 3

1. GTA IV 2. Mario Kart Wii 3. Iron Man

Wii 1. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo EAD, Nintendo) 2. LEGO Indiana Jones (Traveller’s Tales, LucasArts) 3. Super …
Read More

KIEV WELCOMES UBISOFT’S NEWEST STUDIO

By James Higginbotham • April 29, 2008

Paris, France – April 29, 2008 – Today Ubisoft announces that Kiev, Ukraine, has been
chosen as the location of its latest internal development studio.
The studio represents Ubisoft’s third studio in Eastern Europe, and the fifth new studio to swell
the group’s ranks in the last few months.
The Ukraine has long been of interest to the game industry and has numerous gaming-related
companies in operation across the country. Home to over 100 of the country’s 300 IT
universities and institutions, and with over 7000 graduates in software-related disciplines
annually, the city of Kiev was quickly determined to be a promising location for a new Ubisoft
studio. A core team of 12 developers, led by Vitalii Blazheiev, has already contributed to the
PC version of Blazing Angels®: Secret Missions of WWII. The team plans to have 50 people in
the studio within the next 12 months.

Read More

Nintendo Power June Summary

By James Higginbotham • April 29, 2008

We posted the review scores from the issue (just look a little below) here is the rest of it.

News:

Sonic Unleashed Wii (holidays) Time Hollow DS (August) MySims sequel …
Read More

The Conduit:
-Washington D.C. is under attack by aliens
-The All Seeing Eye, reveals hidden locations, monsters, items
-High Voltage was going to show the trailer which ign thought looked cool, but High Voltage wants to delay the public release of the trailer to make the trailer better and fix up its issues.

Gyrostar :
-Looks like Tempest
-$7, Wii-Ware Launch title
-Visuals look better on a larger screen