Fire up your favorite song about kings and airships (Coldplay - Viva La Vida) if you have a Wii, because today is the day you get Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life As King!
Nintendo’s much anticipated Wii Ware service launches today with six titles, including the aforementioned FFCCMLAK. Wii Ware essentially allows for original games to be distributed digitally to your Wii, ala Xbox Live Arcade or the Playstation Network.
More platforms for games is always a good thing, especially if it means original Homestarrunner games.
The six titles are (divide by 100 to get actual dollar amounts):
Final Fantasy: 1500 Wii Points
LostWinds: 1000 Wii Points
Defend Your Castle: 500 Wii Points
Pop: 700 Wii Points
VIP Casino Blackjack: 700 Wii Points
TV Show King: 1000 Wii Points
When I heard that EA and Steven Spielberg were “teaming up” to create a video game, I have to admit that the announcement didn’t exactly get my panties wet. Though Spielberg is one of the great movie directors of our time, he has never been involved with the production of a video game. On top of that, Spielberg’s credited role as “Creative Director” is suspiciously nebulous.
Regardless of Stevie’s role in the game’s production, the fact remains that Boom Blox is actually a surprisingly fun game. Though it’s a puzzle game designed for the whole family/casual players, even hardcore gamers can extract some kind of enjoyment from it. EA LA have managed to develop some of the tightest motion controls seen on a Wii game. It’s safe to say Boom Blox would not have been possible on any other gaming platform at this time. Continue reading ‘Review: Boom Blox [Wii]‘
Doesn’t the above ad for Guitar Hero: On Tour disturbingly remind you of those oozinator commercials from a couple years ago?
Earlier this week, Activision announced an upcoming Nintendo DS version of their oversaturated venerable Guitar Hero franchise. It’s no secret I’m not a fan of Activision’s desire to milk the once innovative Guitar Hero series for all the short term money it can before tossing its charred husk into the infernal furnace of irrelevance, but I’ll admit the fret buttons add-on they’ve devised for the DS version looks fairly intriguing. I was expecting a touch screen equivalent, but having actual physical buttons will go a long way in simulating the “real” Guitar Hero experience. It looks a bit awkward to hold and strum though, much like reading a book one handed.
Some of the “new gameplay features,” though, are a little suspect.
Fans can also join together to play co-op mode using a local wireless network, or battle each other in a Guitar Duel using new Battle Items unique to the DS platform. For example, players must blow into the microphone to extinguish a pyrotechnics effects gone wrong, or use the touch screen to autograph a crazed fan’s shirt in the middle of their set.
Really? Blowing into the DS microphone “to extinguish a pyrotechnics effect gone wrong”? Such shenanigans might have been neat in 2005 for the launch of the DS when it was called Feel The Magic XY:XX, but in 2008 for a music rhythm game? No.
Looks like Nintendo of America is really printing that money now. Joystiq reports that last week’s mega-super-ultra-blockbuster release of Super Smash Bros. Brawl is the fastest selling US Nintendo title of all time with first week sales of over 1.4 million copies and first day sales of 875,000.
N’Sync still holds the first-day CD sales record with 1.1 million for No Strings Attached in 2001, but that was at the absolute pinnacle of the CD sales era for the music industry. Today, first day sales of even 200,000 would be considered a raging success. If Brawl’s sales numbers today are comparable to the glory days of the music industry, what’s going to be possible in upcoming years? Let’s not forget that gross revenue of Wii games are five times what music CD’s are.
