Tuesday, October 26, 2010

US Wiimote Sales Number 65 Million

While the Wiimote gets phased out next month in favor of the new Wii Remote Plus, Nintendo has released the sales figures for the four year old controller in the US, and the numbers are staggering!

A total of 65 million Wiimotes have been sold in the US alone. Just over 30 million of those were bundled with Wii system. Another 12.92 million were bundled with Wii Play.
Standalone White Wiimotes make up the majority of non bundled sales at 18.56 million, while the one year old black Wiimote has sold 2.44 million. Pink ones have sold 467,500 and blue ones stand at 462,500 units sold. Very impressive numbers all round.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

NBA Jam HD Heading to a Retail Stores in November

Boomshakalaka! Many gamers from the 16-bit days will remember the word being expressed by the enthusiastic commentator after a glorified dunk in the outrageously fun basketball game known as NBA Jam. While a HD remake was recently released on the Wii, there were rumors going round of an inferior downloadable version being released for the PS3 and Xbox 360, which would contain less modes and possible not have an online component. Those fears can be put to rest as EA has not only confirmed the game will indeed be playable online with all modes intact, but also be released in retail stores on November 17 for both the PS3 and 360 respectively.

It doesn't stop there. EA will also be releasing an online game update soon after launch, which will provide fans with additional game modes including Backboard Smash, Domination Free-for-All, Elimination and 21. It's disappointing the modes aren't available straight out of the box, but at least it will be provided at no extra charge. The update is scheduled for December.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Roster Patch for NBA Live 10 on the Way

After losing the NBA crown overwhelmingly to 2K Sports, EA decided to sit out this year. Good thing too, as NBA 2K11 received rave reviews with many claiming it to be the best basketball game ever made and some as the best sports game ever made. EA will really need to get their game together to topple NBA 2K12 next year.

Do you still prefer NBA Live and need an update? EA, has you covered. There's an incoming patch which will update rosters for the 2010-2011 season as well as a few other bits to keep you occupied. The patch is expected to be released on the 20th of October.
The new:

* All rosters have been updated to reflect the 2010-2011 NBA season
* The 2010-2011 rookie class has been included in the update
* There will be DNA Updates throughout the NBA Regular season. Expect the first update to arrive two to three weeks after the NBA regular season begins
* All the player ratings have been updated

The lacking:

* The new rookie class will not have cyber faces included in the update
* Rosters may not be 100% accurate with the first update due to NBA teams not having their rosters locked to 15 players. The rosters will be updated again to reflect the final selections made before the regular season begins.
* Jerseys will not be updated to reflect the 2010-2011 NBA season
* Stadiums will not be updated
* Player shoes have not been updated and there will be no shoe updates coming with NBA LIVE 10 this year.
* There are no scheduled gameplay updates included with the roster update
* Dynamic Season will not be updated
* NBA ELITE commentary will not be incorporated into the update.

Friday, October 15, 2010

Dig up your Dreamcast: NG:DEV.TEAM's Fast Striker comes this December and is announced for preorder today

Forget about the fancy, gimmicky graphics and the world building for a while to enjoy the old school shooting where speed, survival and bullets mean everything. Brought to you by NG:DEV.TEAM of Last Hope: Pink Bullets fame, Fast Striker will remind you why you fell in love with the genre in the first place.

From the publisher: FAST STRIKER is a 2D arcade shooting game with emphasis on scoring. You can choose between 3 game modes with different scoring systems.

This game features six stages of excellent 2D arcade game play with over 40 unique enemy types, super smooth 3D scrolling backgrounds, huge CGI bosses and it features the biggest Megabit count ever since the beginning of NEO·GEO™ games.

The Limited Edition contains an original sound track with full version themes, a special DVD case and a full color, 12 page art book.

Fast Striker run on your Dreamcast™, dig it out from your attic now. The games come this December.

ID Shows New Quake Arena Arcade Footage

Quake Arena Arcade was expected to be released in 2009 for the Xbox 360 on Xbox Live and with the lack of news, many assumed the game had been canned. However, those fears can be put to rest as ID has posted new footage clocking in at 10 minutes to keep the naysayers at bay. Featuring 45 maps, 30 of which have been taken from Quake III: Arena and the remaining 15 made especially for the Xbox Live release.Enjoy the footage of Quake Arena Arcade Early Build 1v1 Cliffside below:

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Heat up your winter - Taiko no Tatsujin Wii: 3 Yome! comes in December

The Taikos are here to spend the winter with you. They heat the season up with a festive air. Come grab your drumsticks and pound to the beat. For the first time in the series history, a total of four gamers can play together, letting you perform more intricate patterns of beats.

This time, the package comes with more than 70 songs, some of them are from famous J-pop artists such as EXILE and Kimura Kaela. People who enjoy anime music can play to the Studio Ghibli and Naruto theme songs. Even Monster Hunter and Hatsune Miku contribute their music to this game, so be sure to listen to the taiko versions.

Although you can play with your Wii Remote control and Nunchakus, its more fun, and realistic to play with the TataCon. For people who don't already own the accessory, be sure to grab the Bundle version. Taiko no Tatsujin Minna de Party * 3-Yome! comes this December.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Wii Remote Plus Priced

After confirming that a Wii Remote Plus (which includes inbuilt Wii Motion Plus), was on its way to the public soon last month, Nintendo has now provided the details of the launch of the new product. So far only the Japanese launch has been revealed and the Wii Remote Plus will come in a variety of five different colors, retailing for ¥3,800 or around US $46. Alternatively, it will be available as a bundle with Wii Sports Resort for ¥5,800 or US $70.
Hopefully this will increase support for the Wii Motion Plus, which has been sorely lacking. Even a recent Nintendo published title like Metroid M did not support the add-on. Currently, having to hold the Wii Motion Plus together with a silicon case is inconvenient when needing to recharge the batteries, the Wii Motion Plus remote should alleviate this.

Friday, October 8, 2010

Medal of Honor Banned from Military Bases

The new Medal of Honor game was banned from being sold on all U.S. military bases after receiving complaints from families and soldiers about the Taliban being a playable team in the multiplayer portion of the game.

EA caved in to the controversy and changed the name of the enemy to "Opposing Forces", likely in an attempt to have the game permitted to be sold on bases again and to alleviate some of the controversy. However, the name change did not result in the ban being lifted, with the military standing by their decision to keep the game from being sold on all bases.Small name change aside, Medal of Honor will be available on the 12th of October for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360...unless you're on a military base of course, than I recommend getting a copy from Play-Asia.com.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

3D Call of Duty: Black Ops

Looks like Treyarch and Activision have jumped on the 3D bandwagon now. The newest iteration in the biggest selling gaming franchise will support 3D right out of the box. I am of course referring to Call of Duty: Black Ops, the hotly anticipated title for this Christmas season.It's still not clear which platforms will support 3D, as "all" were mentioned, but I'm assuming the DS and Wii versions will of course miss out, while the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC versions will have the option. The only problem being the expensive 3D TV's and glasses holding the technology back, but it's good to see early support for the technology.

Monday, October 4, 2010

Yuji Naka wants a Dreamcast 2

Unfortunately, it's never going to happen, but Dreamcast and Sega fans alike probably got their hopes up when Yuji Naka, in an interview with CVG, talked about wanting to work on Dreamcast 2. It's strange that the topic is being brought up so many years later. "I'm hoping to work on Dreamcast 2".

"Of course Dreamcast was my baby back at Sega and I want to carry on making good games for the European market and one day I'm hoping it gives me the opportunity to work on Dreamcast 2"

"If I have the opportunity in the future I want to be involved again with hardware making"

"It would be ideal if I could become some sort of advisor working with the platform makers in future. I think if I can work really well with the platform makers then it's good for everyone, because I can then come up with totally new games."

"I do miss those old days when I was heavily involved in hardware making at Sega. I was involved in most of the consoles and controllers that Sega came up with."

After being part of the creation of so many bad Sonic games and mass of crappy Sega hardware, such as the Mega CD, 32x, Game Gear, Nomad, Dreamcast VMU (just to name a few), I'm not sure if anyone is willing to take his advice on board.