news/reviews/previews

some man prob the most voted or best seller like super smash bros brawl

no, sakurai sed 2 the best of his knowledge there will be no, voice chat, chat, downloadable content or secret downloadable stages, tough luck

Pokemon Ranch Update
New character details
by John Tanaka
February 25, 2008 - Nintendo (well, Pokemon actually, as that's the name of the company that publishes Pokemon games in Japan) has updated the Everyone's Pokemon Ranch website with a few new details on the upcoming Wii Ware killer app that doesn't have Final Fantasy in the title.

In case you weren't around at the announcement of the Wii Ware program last year, Everyone's Pokemon Ranch (in Japanese, Minna no Pokemon Bokujou) is a downloadable Wii Ware game that lets you interact with your Pokemon. The game will feature connectivity with Pokemon Diamond & Pearl, allowing players to view and spend time with the Pokemon they've collected in the DS titles.

This isn't just a lifeless Pokemon management tool, though. Nintendo has given the game a set of characters -- well, one at least. The ranch where you raise your Pokemon was built and is owned by Yukari, a girl who happens to be a friend of Mizuki, a character from the Japanese Diamond & Pearl.

As you've probably guessed from the screens, Pokemon Ranch offers more than just a spreadsheet style view of your Pokemon collection. Once you've transfered your Pokemon over from Diamond & Pearl, your Pokefriends appear on Yukari's ranch in full 3D. They'll dance, parade around, and show off all sorts of other animations. Yukari herself will also interact with the Pokemon, as will your Miis.

One way that you'll be able to interact with your Pokemon is by taking pictures. Take a shot, and you can save it to SD for transfer to a PC, or you can send it to friends.

Those who do just want a means of managing their Pokemon will find it as well. The game will accept up to 1000 Pokemon that you've caught in Diamond & Pearl. A few screens have shown a ranch full of nothing but Pikachu, so it appears that you're free to use this tool however you please.

In Japan, Pokemon Ranch will launch with the Wii Ware service this March. We expect an international release to follow soon after.

cool weird though

EA to buy Take-Two.

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EA has recently announced that they intend to purchase Take-Two, the developer made famous for their work on the Grand Theft Auto series, for approximately $2 billion USD.

Apparently EA isn't the only one who wants to make the purchase. Viacom was rumored to have offered the software giant 1.5 billion USD before them. The CEO of EA John Riccitiello has stated that "there can be no certainty that in the future EA or any other buyer would pay the same high premium we are offering today."

"Take-Two's game designers would also benefit from EA's financial resources, stable, game-focused management team, and strong global publishing capabilities," he concluded.

So how do you feel about this? A possible EA-Take-Two partnership? Hopefully, this doesn't have a huge effect on Take-Two's games. I will keep you updated.

New Wii Update 3.2E released.

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Nintendo has just released a new System Update for the Wii consoles. Here is a letter from Nintendo.

Dear Customer,

Nintendo would like to inform you that a Wii Menu update is now available. Select the Update button on the right to update your Wii Console.

From this version of the Wii Menu onwards, Wii System Update will be displayed in the Disc Channel when you insert a Wii Disc that contains an update for the Wii Menu or for a Channel on the Wii Menu.

If the update contained on the Disc is not necessary for your Wii console, the Disc Channel will be displayed normally.

Note: if you have already updated your Wii console since 26 February 2008, you do not need to update again.

Nintendo

The part in bold most likely is referring to games like Mario Kart Wii, which includes a Wii channel that allows you to check Wi-Fi rankings of other people from around the world. More Wii games in the future will most likely be using this feature. What are Nintendo planning?

For those who own Wii's, get the update now. It seems that you won't be enjoying Mario Kart Wii's online modes to the fullest unless you do.

Slush_Man50(Admin) wrote:

EA to buy Take-Two.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

EA has recently announced that they intend to purchase Take-Two, the developer made famous for their work on the Grand Theft Auto series, for approximately $2 billion USD.

Apparently EA isn't the only one who wants to make the purchase. Viacom was rumored to have offered the software giant 1.5 billion USD before them. The CEO of EA John Riccitiello has stated that "there can be no certainty that in the future EA or any other buyer would pay the same high premium we are offering today."

"Take-Two's game designers would also benefit from EA's financial resources, stable, game-focused management team, and strong global publishing capabilities," he concluded.

So how do you feel about this? A possible EA-Take-Two partnership? Hopefully, this doesn't have a huge effect on Take-Two's games. I will keep you updated.

NOOOOO dont do tht EA ull ruin everything!!!!!!

indeed u will!

im talking about EA sudashi jeez

not u EA, they think they can take gta from take two, i wont let'em!

Nintendo of Europe confirms the long-rumored communication option.
by Matt Casamassina


February 26, 2008 - Nintendo fans still hoping that the arrival of Mario Kart Wii will herald the beginning of voice chat support on the company's home console will have to put those hopes on hold for a while. The publisher's European subsidiary confirmed in an official Mario Kart Wii posting that players will only be able to communicate with each other via text chat, and not during matches.

"You can create rooms for friends to join and even text chat while you're waiting for other racers," Nintendo of Europe revealed.

Very likely, Mario Kart Wii will support a USB keyboard to communicate -- most of the Wii Channels do this already -- but we expect the majority of gamers will use a good old-fashioned Wii remote to input messages, such as "Bozon, you suck!' and "Craig, you're terrible!" or even, "How the hell is Casamassina so damned good at this game?" (The latter message will probably take some time using the Wii remote, but the importance of the statement should not be ignored.)

Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World
You saved the world in the acclaimed GameCube RPG. Are you ready to save it again? New gameplay details and Wii screenshots.
by Matt Casamassina


February 26, 2008 - Four years ago publisher Namco released the GameCube role-playing game Tales of Symphonia, developed by celebrated Team Symphonia. The cel-shaded RPG told the story of the unlikely hero Lloyd Irving, a boy charged with the considerable task of uniting two conflicting worlds, Sylvarant and Tethe'alla -- a challenge much easier written about than done. On his epic quest, Irving met and befriended a colorful cast of characters, fought off hordes of enemies via a unique, flexible battle system, and eventually accomplished his goal of collapsing the worlds into a single unit. But if you thought that was the end of the story, it's time to think again.

The Wii exclusive sequel, Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, picks up only two years after the original game and the "new world" in question, rests in ruins. So what went wrong? What is happening to the changed lands? And where's Lloyd Irving? These are just a sampling of the questions that Namco's latest RPG poses. In addition to a brand new tale designed to continue the timeline of the universe, Dawn of the New World features old and new characters, a more fleshed-out battle system, and a fresh monster recruitment feature to boot. The game is currently being localized for a stateside release this fall and Namco was kind enough to shed new light on the RPG experience and offer up several exclusive new screens.


Lloyd Irving and Emil.Something has gone wrong with the unification of the worlds. There should be balance. Peace. But the climates are out of tune -- deserts have frozen over, massive lakes dried up -- and nobody is certain why. To make matters worse, the people of the Sylvarant and Tethe'alla are at odds with one another and war looms. You play as the 16-year-old blonde boy Emil Castagnier, described by Namco as indecisive, whose parents were recently killed. One day Emil hears a calling and follows it into the mountains, where he meets Marta Lualdi, a 15-year-old tomboy whose mother was also killed in the unification of the two worlds. In a surprise twist, the characters learn that it was Lloyd Irving who was indirectly responsible for the deaths of their loved ones. "Emil believes that his parents were killed by Lloyd Irving. It's a significant aspect of the story that will be addressed as players make their way through the game," explains localization manager Minako Takahashi." Together, they embark upon a quest to discover the truth behind the hearsay and also to bring balance back to the land.
This is, of course, the most basic summation of the storyline powering the new game. It is important to note that as you play, you will meet a healthy cast of old and new characters, including Irving, Colette Brunel, Genis Sage, Raine Sage, Zelos Wilder, Regal Bryant, Sheena Fujibayashi, and Presea Combatir. "The returning characters from Tales of Symphonia will show up throughout the story. You have the option to place these characters in your party and have them fight alongside you," says Takahashi. There are just as many never-before-seen characters to behold. (And as an aside, you can include up to four different characters, a mix of humans and monsters, in your party at any given moment.)


One of the stylish cut-scenes in the game."The story starts with Emil living with his aunt and uncle in Luin, after the death of his parents," says Takahashi. "There he encounters a girl named Marta Lualdi, who is on the run. Marta possesses the Ratatosk core -- the lord of all monsters -- so there are plenty of people chasing her wherever she goes."
Tying into this storyline development is the duo's ability to capture, breed and use monsters in battle – a first for the Symphonia games. Details are scarce on the monster system, but you will be able to choose from more than 200 unique creatures, feed them to make them stronger and eventually evolve them into different forms. "This is a major component of the game and introduces a fun new collection element as well as a lot of new possibilities in battle," clarifies Takahashi.

The battle component has been enhanced in Dawn of the New World. Now, it feels much more real-time, enabling you to move in all directions around the battle field while executing powerful unison attacks which make use of a new elemental alignment system. "The battle system has evolved from Tales of Symphonia -- there is more strategy involved now with field element attributes and a new aerial combo system," adds Takahashi. And if you played the GCN original, you will undoubtedly be happy to discover that four separate people can again control characters during battles.

Namco says that Dawn of the New World boasts a handful of visual enhancements, too, although in screenshots released so far it's difficult to say if this is true. From what we can tell, the game still runs in standard 4:3, although we've got our fingers crossed for a widescreen option. When quizzed on the subject, Namco reps were unwilling to divulge details regarding how the game utilizes the functionality of the Wii remote, except to clarify that you can navigate the game world by selecting "the location that you want to go on the world map with the Wii remote or the directional buttons." Gesture systems? Advanced pointer control? Right now, the studio isn't talking. Even so, Dawn of the New World looks perfectly suited to satisfy the RPG craving that fans of the original outing have felt.

"Dawn of the New World allows fans to return to one of the most popular RPG worlds ever on Nintendo hardware, so we hope players are looking forward to the prospect of reuniting with and learning more about their favorite characters. We're excited to be one of the first big role-playing games on the Wii and think the game has a lot to offer to longtime series fans and those who are new to Tales or even RPGs in general," says Takahashi.

We've posted exclusive new screenshots of the game in motion in our media section.

visit http://wii.ign.com/objects/951/951711.html 4 screens and videos

cool man cant wait ssbb is almost here

How Much Would You Pay for Wii Fit?
The IGN readers have spoken.
by Bozon

February 26, 2008 - As part of our ongoing poll system on IGN, we tallied the votes of just over 6,000 Wii readers in regards to just how much they'd pay to purchase Wii Fit. Nintendo hasn't given any final price to the product yet, but mentioned that the game would be "under $100" during last week's Game Developers Conference. What is the highest price you would pay? The results are in.

With a total of 6116 people polled, we found that the majority of players wouldn't go above $49.99 for Wii fit, as 27.6% (1692) of the answers fit in the lowest price point available. The next highest amount of readers sat at the $79.99 price point, with another 22.5% (1377). From there the numbers decrease, with 18.9% (1159) going with $69.99, 15.9% (975) weighing in at $59.99, and just 7.4% (457) going with $89.99 and $99.99 respectively.

Take those numbers even further and you find that only 14.8% of readers will purchase the game if it's more than $89.99, leaving the other 85.2% looking elsewhere for their Wii gaming. Of course things change when you add in the casual market and Wii's amazing appeal to the non-gamer, but there's certainly something to be said when less than 15% of game site patrons would purchase Wii Fit for more than $80 bucks. Whether or not Nintendo will pay attention to these trends, however, is anyone's guess.

Wii Fit takes over the world when it releases on May 19, and we'll have continuing coverage up until release.

Pokemon Ranch Update
New WiiWare game details and screens.
by John Tanaka and Matt Casamassina
February 26, 2008 - Nintendo (well, Pokemon actually, as that's the name of the company that publishes Pokemon games in Japan) has updated the Everyone's Pokemon Ranch website with a few new details on the upcoming WiiWare killer app that doesn't have Final Fantasy in the title.

In case you weren't around at the announcement of the Wii Ware program last year, Everyone's Pokemon Ranch (in Japanese, Minna no Pokemon Bokujou) is a downloadable WiiWare game that lets you interact with your Pokemon. The game will feature connectivity with Pokemon Diamond & Pearl, allowing players to view and spend time with the Pokemon they've collected in the DS titles.

This isn't just a lifeless Pokemon management tool, though. Nintendo has given the game a set of characters -- well, one at least. The ranch where you raise your Pokemon was built and is owned by Yukari, a girl who happens to be a friend of Mizuki, a character from the Japanese Diamond & Pearl.




As you've probably guessed from the screens, Pokemon Ranch offers more than just a spreadsheet style view of your Pokemon collection. Once you've transfered your Pokemon over from Diamond & Pearl, your Pokefriends appear on Yukari's ranch in full 3D. They'll dance, parade around, and show off all sorts of other animations. Yukari herself will also interact with the Pokemon, as will your Miis.

One way that you'll be able to interact with your Pokemon is by taking pictures. Take a shot, and you can save it to SD for transfer to a PC, or you can send it to friends.


Those who do just want a means of managing their Pokemon will find it as well. The game will accept up to 1000 Pokemon that you've caught in Diamond & Pearl. A few screens have shown a ranch full of nothing but Pikachu, so it appears that you're free to use this tool however you please.

In Japan, Pokemon Ranch will launch with the WiiWare service this March. We expect an international release to follow soon after.

i didnt write this! ign did! remember! not ME!

Help Dirty Anime Girls Clean Up in New Wii Game
Idea Factory attempts to attract male players with new brand.
by John Tanaka
February 26, 2008 - When Idea Factory announced Cleaning Battalion: Clean Keeper late last year as the first entry in its male-oriented "Lupinus" brand, were expecting a game where you use the Wiimote as a vacuum cleaner or a bottle of Windex.

Of course, this is Idea Factory and all, so we expected anime chicks. But good lord! Have you seen those screenshots? Why is there a little girl with eyes half the size of her head eating a banana while she takes a bath. And what about that girl who's bending over and sucking on an ice cream bar? Her eyes are huge too... but that's not all that's big!



Just one scene from Clean Keeper
At first, this doesn't seem to have anything to do with a game about keeping things clean (although we totally would buy a game where you get to scrub hot anime chicks down). However, it turns out that these girls happen to be a major part of the game's storyline. This isn't just a cleaning sim. It's also a love sim!

In Clean Keeper, you play as Kurou Manamoto, a second year high school student. Unfortunately, you skipped out on class the day that everyone got assigned extracurricular club activities, so you ended up as head of the cleaning club.

One day, while cleaning the hallways, you meet Mary, a cleaning spirit. She tells you of a sinister plan that a particularly evil organization has hatched to utilize the powers of the Dirt Devil to dirty up the school.

This looks like a job for the knights of cleaning, the Clean Keepers, anime chicks who've formed a contract with fairies like Mary. It's up to Kurou to find other fairies hidden about the school, and also seek out partners for them.

Those girls in all the steamy shots are the Clean Keepers. In case you need a name to go with your filthy mental fancying, there's Fumie Kuraki, who rarely goes to class, instead opting to stay in the library; Akira Fuyumori, the jock type; Mariko Kasugano, a nice girl who's been going to school with you since junior high; Kyoko Natsukawa, who appears to have trouble playing catch ball; and Ruri Akiha, the silent type who's got skills at bushido.

The other group of ladies that you're seeking out are the fairies. Unlike the normally proportioned (aside from the eyes) students, the fairies are portrayed in chibi style -- that is, with giant heads about the size of their bodies. Idea Factory has revealed five so far: Maria, Aria, Anya, Kyan, and Chirasu.

Clean Keeper has the expected adventure sequences, where you go about school engaging in moderately interactive conversation bits with the girls, but the real reason this game is on the Wii instead of the PS2 is because of the battle parts. In these parts, you select one of the girls to be your partner as you face off against bacteria and dirt. Switching off between attack and defense modes, you use the Wiimote to directly control items for your dirt busting activities. The actual items, which include whips and brushes, vary depending on the girl.

Only Japan can handle a game filled with half naked anime chicks who team up with fairies to fight bacteria, so those with a Japanese Wii can exclusively look forward to Clean Keeper on April 24 when the game hits Japan.

Developed by: Design Factory

Genre: Adventure
Release Date:
US: Import only
Japan: April 24, 2008

Text Chat confirmed for Mario Kart Wii

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At first it was rumored that Mario Kart Wii would support some kind of chat feature. Now it's confirmed, Mario Kart Wii will support a text chat feature that allows you to chat to your rivals before you kick their butts on the track.

According to Nintendo, you can "create rooms" in which you can chat to other players before you begin a game. There was no word as to whether or not this will support a USB keyboard, but it wouldn't be surprising if it did.

Also confirmed on the side are new details regarding the Mario Kart Wii Channel, which you can use to view the ranks of other players from around the globe. In addition to this, "you can take part in events organised by Nintendo in the Mario Kart Channel," according to the Nintendo Website.

Text chat defiantly seems like a better route to take than voice chat. Hopefully compatibility with a USB keyboard will be included. I shall keep you updated.

cool man why is it that the wii has no talk chat and the ds has one like in pokemon d/p

i posted mario kart stuff alredy

yeah we all know

Following the worldwide success of Resident Evil 4, Capcom will be giving Wii owners a chance to sample another entry in the series, Resident Evil 0. The latest issue of Famitsu reports that a port of the game is on the way and will be released to Japan this summer. International releases will presumably follow.

Expectedly, Capcom is giving the game full Wiimote controls. While not providing official details, the magazine speculates that you'll now be able to play with one hand, suggesting that Capcom may be using the Wiimote to make RE0 into a point and click adventure of some sort. The magazine also notes that the Wii version of RE4 supported the Classic Controller, so perhaps we can look forward to standard controls as well.

In case you're unfamiliar, RE0 was originally released for the GameCube as the fifth entry in the classic zombie franchise, following Resident Evil, RE2 and RE3 for the PlayStation, and Code Veronica for the Dreamcast and PS2. Players switch off between Rebecca Chambers and Billy Coen as they experience the events leading up to part one of the series.

cool

i also think the resident evil games are coming out on xbox 360 and ps3

re5

yer will be good hopefully, maybe some online capabilities would be awsome