Sims 3 Heading Over To Consoles This Fall

Last years best-selling PC franchise is heading over to consoles later this year. The game will becoming to the Wii, PS3, Xbox 360, and the Ds, all of which are scheduled for a fall release.
 Skimming through EA's press release tells us that The Sims 3 for consoles will include all-new features make it easier than ever to mess with life as players can unlock the ultimate “Karma Powers” for instant control and unleash them on their Sims. Players can help their Sim “get lucky,” bless them with “instant beauty” or be deviant and curse them with an “epic fail.”

Now this isn't the first Sims game to make it onto consoles, but it defiantly seems like this is going to be one of the most complete "Sim experiences". Keeping with The Sim's casual appeal, the Xbox 360 and PS3 version will come with a "single-use serial code" that will allow gamers to share achievements with friends through Facebook.

Side Scrolling Goodness In Super Mario Galaxy 2

Nintendo has just released a marketing video for Super Mario Galaxy 2, but there's a little twist with this one.
The video is entitled Transmission 2, which seems to be a part of multiple different transmission videos uploaded to YouTube by Nintendo.

You can click on the "Prev Feed" and "Next Feed" buttons, and you'll be directed to a another Super Mario Galaxy 2 clip. Although it seems that the next video in the "Transmission" series will be posted April 25.
Every time I see something new about Super Mario Galaxy 2 I get more excited for the game's release next month. I'm pretty sure that Super Mario Galaxy 2 will end up in my top 10 games of 2010 list, but I don't want to jump to any conclusions just yet.
If you just as excited about Super Mario Galaxy 2 as me, I'd suggest you pre-order it here at Amazon.com. You'll not only get the game shipped to you on release date, but you'll also get $20 credit to any game you purchase from Amazon after Super Mario Galaxy 2!

Monsters, Hunters, And Loot Oh My!

It's time for North America to fall to yet another craze from Japan, this time it's Monster Hunter Tri.
Monster Hunter is a very cool mix between MMORPGs like World of Warcraft, and loot based games like Diablo and Torchlight.
As the title suggests, you hunt many different types of monsters throughout the world in order to complete quests and get tons of cool loot.

I'm very excited to go try this game out, especially to see how Capcom has handled the Wii's online multiplayer. Apart from that I always enjoy a good loot-whoring game, so Monster Hunter Tri is right down my alley.

Yet Another Creative Platformer Coming To The Wii

The Wii has defiantly been picking up speed with its WiiWare releases, and it doesn't plan on stopping anytime soon.
Dream Box Games just showed off its first trailer for their game, RoBox.

I'm really digging the game's art style, it seems like a mix of Machinarium and Braid, both of which are fantastic games. Apart from RoBox's art, the gameplay also looks like a ton of fun. I'm glad to see that developers are finally getting to put more quality games on Nintendo's WiiWare channel, and I hope that it's going to keep going like this for a while.

2010 Is The Year Of "Hardcore" Wii Games

Slowly by surely, the Wii has been getting less attention from gamers all over, due to the fact that most believe it has become a pure "casual" gaming console. Sure there have been a couple games like Zelda, Smash Bros, Mario Galaxy, and The Conduit which have scratched the "hardcore" itch. It's no secret however, that the Wii is marketed more towards the "casual" crowd, rather than the "hardcore".
However, Miyamoto says that 2010 to be a totally different story.

                                                                         I'm sure he'll be happy
"I really want many households to be able to have a hands-on experience of Mario Galaxy 2. I didn't have any involvement in Metroid Other M, but it is on its way. And also we are working on the New Legend of Zelda for Wii. So from this year to the next, I hope that the hardcore-type gamers are really looking forward to the multiple Nintendo titles on Wii. And also, we are working on the [new] Pikmin."

I'm glad to see that Nintendo is looking to deliver some great new games to their "hardcore" audiance, as it's something most gamer's have been looking forward to for while.

New World Map Replaces The Super Mario Galaxy Hub World

Throughout Mario's life, he has traveled all over different world, into other dimensions, and even into outer space. During his adventure Mario usually has a "hub world", or some other type of over-world map which is used to travel to and from different levels. Super Mario Galaxy 2 however, is going to try and change things up a bit.
Game Informer met with Shigeru Miyamoto to talk to him about Super Mario Galaxy 2, and how this new map will help the player travel in and out of different galaxies.

"We want players to focus on the joy of the action instead of getting to each game course," he said. "We wanted to make it as accessible as possible and as easy as possible for the players. Also, because we're going to incorporate a number of different stars, and conquering all the stars is going to be one of the most challenging missions for the player," Miyamoto added, "we want [players] to understand as easy as possible where they should go next and which places they should go back to in order to get access to the remaining stars."
It makes sense that Super Mario Galaxy 2 is going to try and streamline certain parts of its game, in order to allow a more casual feel. Miyamoto made sure to say however, that Super Mario Galaxy 2 will not be an easy game, the hardcore fans will still have a long adventure in front of them to collect all of the stars.

Nintendo Announces Next DS System: "3DS"

This was really unexpected. I was about to go to sleep when sudden announcement of Nintendo's next DS system hit the web. The "3DS" will give the user 3D visual effects without  the need for 3D glasses, while still being compatible with DS and DSi games.

Furthermore, this new device will be shown at this years E3, and we can expect a release date between April 2010 to March 2011.
The question isn't whether its do-able, the tech is readily available, but I think the better question is: Do we want this? I really don't know why Nintendo would want to make the leap into the 3D hand-held market, but I guess someone had to do it. Right?

On top of all this news, you shouldn't forget that today many top journalists/video game bloggers got their review copies of the DSi XL. The DSi XL isn't even out for the general public, but Nintendo is already deep into development of a newer DS.                                                      

Picture from Kotaku

I'm a bit shocked, but like I said in an earlier post, big companies need to think ahead of the current market in order to stay competitive.
If you want to read more, I have linked bellow the Japanese, and the English documents revealing the 3DS.
Japanese Info
English Info

New Zelda Might Use Nintendo's Vitality Sensor

Last at E3 Nintendo showed their newest Wii accessory, the Wii Vitality Sensor. Everyone's reaction was pretty much the same, just a big "WTF?!?!". At the BAFTA video game awards last week, Shigeru Miyamoto, said that it's very possible for the newest Zelda to use this Vitality Sensor.

“Whenever we are going to use any new device it is possible to expand the appeal to those who are new to the videogaming world. At the same time, however, it is also fun to think of ways in which we might apply that new technology to existing forms of gameplay,” he said, “just like the way we are working on the new Legend of Zelda together with Wii Motion Plus.”

I'm not sure how I feel about all this vitality sensor stuff, I need to get some hands-on experience with this thing to really form a good opinion. I'm sure we'll hear more about the Wii Vitality Sensor at E3 later this year, until then, I'm going to keep trying to think of ways this thing could actually make games better.

Pikmin 3 Is In Development

http://teamtwie.blogspot.com/2010/02/pikmin-was-designed-for-high-school.htmlA magazine from the UK, Official Nintendo Magazine, posted a pretty awesome "tweet" yesterday.
 "ONM is at the BAFTAs! Miyamoto just told us Pikmin 3 development is "well under way".

I'm sure I'm not the only one excited for some game-play designed for Japanese school girls, who's with me!?


...hello?...anyone?...




:(

New Zelda, Metroid, Mario and More from Nintendo in 2010

A little while ago Nintendo announced some of their titles for 2010, assuring us that Nintendo will hold a better year this time around than 2009.

Nintendo of America Executive Vice President came out to say this earlier:
“We all benefit if we can keep a pretty steady pace, so the development teams have worked hard to make sure that we’ve got a full lineup this year. If you compare the first half of 2010 with the first half of 2009, it’s night and day. And from some of the things that Mr. Iwata has talked about, and that we will talk about at E3, like Zelda, you know that we’re going to have a good back half of the year, as well.”
I for one am excited again to own a Wii, I hope to see more of Nintendo's AAA titles this year, and a little less of the Wii Fit/Motion Plus stuff.

Super Mario Galaxy 2 Set To Release On May 23

Nintendo's favorite mascot is going back into space, and we'll all get to experience it again on May 23. The long awaited sequel to Nintendo's hit Super Mario Galaxy has officially gotten a release date, and its not too far off.
Along with a release date, Nintendo has also released a new trailer for Super Mario Galaxy 2, which looks even better than the first.

Watching this trailer I got all happy and bubbly inside, Nintendo has sure mastered the art of nostalgia with this new trailer, and I can't wait to get my hands on Super Mario Galaxy 2!

GAME Lists A New Rouge Squadron Game For The Wii

The British version of Gamestop/EB Games, a retailer called GAME, just listed a new Rogue Squadron game for the Wii. The game is listed for £29.99, which is interesting considering GAME doesn't list Virtual Console games. If this listing is correct then it could either mean a remake, or a brand new title in the series. Considering the price point, I wouldn't be surprised to see a remake with Wii controls, the treatment that Pikman got.

The entire Rogue Squardon series is one that enjoy a lot, and I'm pretty excited to see a one coming our way.

Pikmin was designed for High School Girls...

Some pretty interesting news came from Japan today. Shigeru Miyamoto, from Nintendo, has been known to put a lot of his personal life into his video games, and many people suspected he was an avid gardener due to his love the Pikmin, turns out, that's not the case. Miyamoto gave some insight as to why he decided to make a game targeted towards High School girls,

"Every once in a while, you want to make something that high school girls can get into."

Well, that logic seemed to have worked out pretty well considering the success that Pikmin has had over the past years. Now if only they'd just get around to officially announcing Pikmin 3.