News: June 2007 Archives

[Edited as of 27/06/2007] News over the past few days has stated that WWE (Raw, Smackdown & ECW) wrestling Superstar and legend Chris Benoit has been discovered dead at home with his Wife and son. Police have investigated and called in a double murder suicide.

As the central editing team and contributors of Den of Wii are all avid wrestling fans, it was appropriate to say that the Chris everyone knew will be missed, and that whatever happened between him and his family was a true tragedy. Our hearts and prayers are with the extended family of the dead and close friends, and we remeber his Wife and son with sadness.

Benoit is no stranger to many gamers and Wii fans for his starring role on all major WWE wrestling games on all formats in the last few years.

Epicenter Studios Announce Real Heroes: Firefighter!

A game to honour the real heroes of the real world? A moral step in the right direction for modern gaming? Just a kiddy flick? Patronising? It would seem it'll be up to the Wii gamer to decide when Real Heroes: Firefighter launches exclusively for the Wii in the summer of 2008.

Real Heroes puts players in the soon-to-be soot-stained boots of a rookie firefighter who has just been assigned to a busy metropolitan fire station. Players will undergo a 'baptism of fire' in an escalating array of emergency situations. It all sounds rather noble, doesn't it?

You want non linear game levels and destructable terrain? Epicenter claim that Real Heroes’ blazes will seem almost alive as they not only attack structures, potential victims and firefighters, but also cause unexpected changes to the environments that will suddenly alter a player’s options and strategies – no two scenarios will play out the same way. Success will depend equally on the player’s mastery of realistic firefighting tools and techniques and on the player’s ability to think and react quickly under pressure. So, if the cat falls into the toilet on one go, you may have to fish it out?

“Combining our unique fire tech with the specific strengths of the Wii was a natural choice for us as we designed Real Heroes,” says CCO Bryan Jury. “The Wii-mote makes spraying down fires with your hose, hacking down doors with your axe and prying victims loose from wrecked cars with the Jaws of Life an absolutely visceral game experience.”

“The Wii is a family-friendly console and we’ve designed Real Heroes with that in mind,” notes Epicenter CEO Nathaniel McClure. “Because firefighting requires a lot more than dousing flames, Real Heroes emphasizes non-violent, game-integral puzzles that mirror the challenges and on-the-fly choices firefighters actually face.”

“We are making every effort to create a game that is intense and engaging, but always respectful to firefighters who, we believe, are real heroes,” states McClure. Sounds like he's running for office!

Epicenter has secured initial funding for Real Heroes and will soon choose a publishing partner. Summer 2008 is the expected release window, so get ready to soak that skyscraper!

The console wars still rage, opinions bouncing off the walls like firey darts from every side. Content to build on what everyone, even the most grudging would admit to be a very strong start, Nintendo have updated the 2007 Wii game release list again with more entries and updates on exact release dates. Here's how it's all looking this week:

JUNE:
Resident Evil: 4 Wii Edition (Capcom) - 29th
Harry Potter & The Order Of The Phoenix (EA) - 29th
Scarface (Vivendi Games) - 30th
Mortal Kombat: Armageddon (Midway Games) - TBA

JULY:
Mario Party 8 (Nintendo) - 13th
Big Brain Academy for Wii (Nintendo) - 20th King Of Clubs (Oxygen Games) - 20th
William Pinball Classics (System 3) - TBA
Transformers The Game (Activision) - TBA

AUGUST:
Trauma Center: Second Opinion (Nintendo / Atlus) - 10th
Tamagotchi Party On! (Namco Bandai Games) - TBA
California Games (System 3) - TBA

SEPTEMBER:
Alien Syndrome (SEGA) - 7th
Super Paper Mario (Nintendo) - 14th
Dragon Blade: Wrath Of Fire (D3Publisher of Europe) - 14th
World Championship Poker Featuring Howard Lederer: All In (505Games) - 21st
Brunswick Bowling pro (505Games) - TBA
Cosmic Family (Ubisoft) - TBA
My Word Coach (Ubisoft) - TBA

Q3
Ratatouille (THQ) - Q3 2007
Toot & Puddle: Call Of The North (Zoo Digital Publishing) - Q3 2007

Nintendo has scored it big in Australia by passing the sales mark of 100,000 Wii units. This credential has made the Wii the fastest selling console down under, ever.

Rose Lappin of Nintendo Australia has said "Wii Sports is still performing very well as the primary vehicle to encourage non-gamers towards trying out the Wii experience".

The current Wii 100,000 sales mark has been accomplished quicker than that of the XBox 360 which took seven months to establish the same user base down under.

Rockstar's Manhunt 2 has recently been banned from a UK release after the BBFC refused to give the game a rating. In America it has received an Adults Only (AO) rating.

Manhunt 2 revolves around the story of Daniel Lamb - a scientist for an experiment named 'The Pickman Project' who is locked away in Dixmor Asylum after the experiment fails. Six years later, Daniel manages to escape and he wants revenge!

In regards to the ban, BBFC director David Cooke said that to issue a certificate to Manhunt 2 "would involve a range of unjustifiable harm risks, to both adults and minors, within the terms of the Video Recordings Act, and accordingly that its availability, even if statutorily confined to adults, would be unacceptable to the public".

David Cooke has further said: "Manhunt 2 is distinguishable from recent high-end video games by its unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone in an overall game context which constantly encourages visceral killing with exceptionally little alleviation or distancing. There is sustained and cumulative casual sadism in the way in which these killings are committed, and encouraged, in the game."

This decision hardly comes as a surprise after the previous Manhunt game sparked controversy when it was allegedly linked to the murder of teenager Stephan Pakeerah.

Rockstar still have yet to appeal against the decision. They can of course argue that the 'kid friendly' Wii already has other available and upcoming violent titles - such as Mortal Kombat Armageddon, Resident Evil 4, and Scarface: The World Is Yours.

One wonders if the exclusion of a game containing such an apparent morbid and negative theme is a loss for a console that wants to represent a positive and new gaming experience to families and gamers alike.

It has been said that the Wii is special because of the way it is controlled - the wireless remote controller and the nunchuk and classic pads which slot neatly into the remote, removing the annoyance of wires scattering across the room. So what could happen if the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 suddenly were able to compete with Nintendo in this area? What would happen if wireless became a real reality in gaming for every format?

Gametrak would happen, according to In2Games. "Not just only happen, but will change everything".

In2Games, a company which combines new game hardware with software to create new gaming experiences, has just confirmed details of substantial new money. They plan to use this cash injection of £7.4 million pounds to cement plans to release their wireless motion sensing controllers across PS3 and Xbox 360 formats.

Gametrak Fusion is the codename for the firm’s headline technology, which will launch with a selection of mini games for Xbox 360 and PS3, promising more to follow. According to In2Games, 'the Gametrak Fusion is a remarkable ultrasonic 3D motion sensing technology which delivers performance, control and flexibility far in excess of that offered by existing wireless peripherals'. A rather bold claim ... especially considering the Wii wireless technology. It's not clear if they are meaning to speak for every format or just the two they plan to produce for, though.

"We’ve had an extraordinary reaction to the technology since we began demonstrating the Gametrak Fusion prototype late last year,” says Elliott Myers (CEO). “Retailers, games developers, financial institutions and press - every single person we’ve shown it to has been excited by its potential. This investment ... will enable us to support the technology with an ambitious launch, bringing together titles from In2Games and our development partners as well as a wide variety of titles from third party publishers.”

It will be interesting to see what games the Gametrak Fusion will launch with, on what formats and if they plan to go all out and challenge the Wii technology as the current 'king of the wireless kingdom'. In those immortal words we used only yesterday, talk is cheap. We'll report more on this as we get it, but we're keeping an open mind.

After a week of fairly gloomy news swinging down the corridors of the media, it seems 411 have more to add. They report that Sega's Vice President Scott Steinberg thinks PS3 will ultimately win in the end due to a lack of depth to the Wii:

"I am a little concerned about the creative depth of the Wii pool. I'm not sure if they will top out in 2008 or 2007. The Wii will start to look really dated in a couple years when developers get more value from the 360 and learn more and more about the PlayStation 3...how much value can developers and creative folks get out of this wrist motion two years from now, or 5 years from now, or 10 years from now? How can they design products that aren't too derivative of what's already out there?"

It's an interesting statement; once again really attacking the control methods of the Wii as a gimmick. The problem with this is that what every other console has right now really isn't innovative at all. The Xbox has a fairly decent pad with lots of buttons, and the six axis pad from Sony? Let's not get started on that late in the day, last minute rush to try and have a tilt sensor in there. It's essentially a slightly rougher to the touch PS2 pad that's wireless and tilts, but doesn't move in 3D space. If the Wii doesn't have depth and it's all a gimmick, this would only leave the Wii with the same as the competition - normal controls.

So long as third party companies continue to publish games on the Wii, it will probably remain very strong. Obviously Sega could cause considerable damage if they were to pull support, but realistically a lot of their games are aimed at the Wii audience, so that seems unlikely in the near future. The Wii had people actually buying Mega Drive / Genesis games again! Seems to us to be a case of 'talk is cheap, and opinions are like belly buttons'.

Ronaldinho is one of the most recognised footballers in the world right now, up there with the Beckhams, Rooneys and Kakas. Some would say he puts them all to shame, whilst others simply want to be him.

If that's you (or your football mad little brother), then jump for joy! EA have placed Ronaldinho into your hands more than ever before on the Wii version of FIFA 08. He's now a Mii and even has his own game mode, Footii Party with Ronaldinho. With this, EA introduces party games - Table Football and Shoot Off – where you can play as your very own Mii to unlock Ronaldinho and take on the champ. Each Footii Party game is created as a multiplayer, social experience designed to engage and entertain fans of all ages.

Is FIFA becoming more friendly and 'touchable' with this Wii innovation? Will this draw more fans to the franchise? Undoubtedly the answer to both is a yes, but how far that will affect the sales of FIFA 08 remains to be seen. Most interesting will be to see if there's any discernable shift in what format FIFA fans decide to make their purchase on (since many gamers these days own more than one gaming format). Will former PS2 and Xbox FIFA fans be tempted to try the Wii version this time?

Ronaldinho; he say YES!

Today marks the launch of Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer on several formats, including Nintendo Wii. The game will be based on Marvel's famous family of superheroes in the Marvel comics as well as the big screen sequel flick, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer which launches today in cinemas (June 15th 2007).

Promising third person action and adventure, Rise of the Silver Surfer will challenge players to put a stop to the carnage caused by the intergalactic herald, the Silver Surfer himself, whilst never forgetting the threat to earth in the background that is the legendary Dr Doom.

"The Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer video game capitalizes on the capabilities of next generation platforms to bring fun new features to the franchise, such as seamless four player co-op and the radically unique Fusion Attacks," said Christoph Hartmann, President of 2K Games.

But what has Marvel got to say? “With Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, 2K is giving fans of the comic book series and movie franchise a great opportunity to continue the exciting superhero experience,” said Justin Lambros, Vice President of Interactive at Marvel Entertainment, Inc. “Gamers can relive the best moments from the film and also play through additional storylines exclusive to the game.”

Whether or not you liked the first flick, the Silver Surfer promises to bring a refreshing breeze to the film franchise as well as the game. Comic book fans are likely to want to catch this and with the Wii vastly outpacing the Sixaxis controller for PS3 in terms of ability to translate 3D motions in space into gaming control, if you're going to get a version of this game, get the Wii version. Comic book hero titles are always about fun and game play, never about graphical prowess. Whilst the Wii looks nice enough to pull off a good looking action adventure title, the playability of the title on the Wii is likely to outstrip the other formats simply because of the Wii's innovation. Watch for the review as soon as we've played it to death!

A success on the DS and a right romp in other territories; another collection of mini game madness is set to arrive in Europe & the UK on 20th July 2007.

Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree isn't a DS game repackaged for the Wii like several others have been. The games and challenges are new, so if you already have the DS version then you won' feel cheated out of your £35 as you numb your way through all the same stuff that you already paid for once. Hopefully this will be the way of the future and we won't see any more cases of rereleasing identical titles on the Wii which have already seen DS release.

The mini-games are divided into five categories: Visualise, Memorise, Analyse, Compute and Identify and contain a variety of activities. These range from bursting numbered balloons in order to arrange pieces of a train track to allow the train to reach a specific area.

Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree allows players to send and receive student record books with friends who also own the game, using their internet connection and Wii. Players will then be able to compete against them in Mind Sprint mode.

With MTV calling the mini games available here 'different enough' to be worth a purchase despite the array of mini games already available on the Wii through titles such as Wario Ware, it's probably a good time to set aside a pay packet for this one and start swotting up on your old grey matter. Ten year olds ... watch out! This time it shall be different. I'll win ... you'll see!

Already Mario Party 8 is being recognised by many sources in the media as a successful addition to an already flourishing brand of interactive board games, using the Mario characters we know and love to make our way through board game levels of mayhem and chaos in the form of mini games.

Everyone's got a favourite Mario Party mini game of all time, which they wish was in every version of the game (Mine is Bumper Balls! - Ed). The last version included microphone mini games on the Game Cube, allowing players to shout out numbers etc. Unfortunately the mic itself was very low quality and basic, especially considering Sony's excellent Singstar mics that were available in the same generation.

However, the latest Mario Party title goes beyond sound and button pressing. This time, you can row your boat in sync with your friends to win coins. You can lunge for a ball, and generally incorporate movement into a game which always has been and always will be not about the single player, but getting a bunch of friends into the room with you and having a right old time of it!

So far the fun element of the Wii has proven a stonking success, but the true benchmark of Nintendo multiplayer madness has yet to be revealed. When Mario Party finally arrives this June 22nd, the real test will go forward to the waiting public and we'll see exactly what the best of Nintendo crazy party action can do with the Wii's new abilities. We're excited by the prospect of four player mayhem in Mario Party style - roll on 22nd!

Today we are graced with three new blasts from the past on the virtual console (VC). The line up for this Friday consists of:

Balloon Fight (NES 1987) - 500 points
Adventures of Lolo (NES 1991) - 500 points
Dead Moon (Turbografx) - 600 points

This cranks up the number of games on the European & UK virtual console to 99. Since the US catalogue is over 100 titles now with Legend of Zelda 2 (NES) marking the 100th entry, it could mean Europe & the UK may also have a special entry lined up for next week!

It's becoming almost predictable now that every other news article in the gaming section of the popular press discusses the Wii's progress as the leading machine in the current generation.

This week is no exception, with new figures emerging from Japan to suggest that there, the Wii is outselling Sony's PS3 by more than five units to every unit sold. These are very dominant figures and coupled with the DS success, is seeing Nintendo strongly positioned globally with shares closed up 0.5 percent at 42,800 yen, Sony showing only 0.4 percent at 6,870 yen. Nintendo have also seen a roughly 400 per cent growth in the last two years, with Sony trailing that at only 75 per cent.

The worse news for Sony is that the gap appears to be growing; according to Japanese site Enterbrain, in April the gap was four Wiis to one PS3, and now in May it has risen to more than five to one.

EA have recently spoken about Europe, calling it a key territory in the console wars and that hardware sales here will decide what happens globally overall. Sony on the other hand, have tipped their machine to succeed in 2007 with a flow of games they say will push the format to the top of every gamer's must have shopping list. If they are serious about this however, we'd suggest they do something about the dropping of the cheaper 20 gb version of the machine, and the overall stinging price tag. Games alone do not a great console make, especially with the Xbox 360 already dominating a demographically similar niche in the games market to the one Sony seek to rule.

Even the Gaurdian newspaper talked this week of Bill Gates being influenced by the Wii technology, and how developers are literally scrambling to get their materials out on the Wii as soon as possible. It seems Nintendo have come from behind to shock everyone into stunned silence at the moment, but this year will be the key to who wins in this generation.

A new site for lovers of Wii has been launched, with an aim to get gamers playing each other online more often, issuing challenges and winning coins. What do coins mean, everyone?

Coins means prizes!

WiiWasHere allows you to create a profile quickly, after which you can add all your Wi-Fi codes to the system. With a single username, your friends will have access to all your Wi-Fi codes. Any WiiWasHere user can create a challenge in their own time zone, which will be converted for their friends living in different time zones, so everyone will know exactly when the challenge is taking place. You can create as many challenges as you want, likewise, you can join as many challenges as you want.

You can award achievement coins once a challenge is over. Rate your fellow challenge participants according to who you favor most. Once all participants have rated everyone, an average rank will be awarded to each player as well as achievement coins. Collect as many achievement coins as possible for bragging rights, and you might be awarded prizes at the end of the month.

The idea of this seems to be to collect everyone together for Nintendo gaming in one place, and get us playing and competing more often. This should mean getting the most out of your games and hardware, as well as making new friends and learning new stuff from other gamers online. Potentially it could also make the site owners a lot of money ... but we don't want to be cynical for the sake of it. Also, it takes time to play all these people and encouraging too much screen time in front of the telly or even DS screen needs to be tempered with a call to play responsibly, as with all things. Hopefully, the new site will encourage their customers/users to play responsibly.

http://wiiwashere.com <-- The addy!

Those looking forward to voice-played games such as Boogie and High School Musical may be interested to know that the Wii-mote has been recently reported to conceal a ‘hidden microphone’.

This news originally started through a CNN article that shows an in depth look at the inside technology of the ‘magic wand’ remote, along with a description of how the inner technology provides a unique gaming experience.

The inside component known as the Audio Translator Chip was described in the
article: "This translates analogue input such as human speech into a digital data stream. The feature is unused now, but will probably be employed in future games".

Whether or not this is an independent feature or something that is used in conjuction with a possible microphone (where the nunchuk would normally be attached) remains to be seen. Certainly it raises interesting questions for future Wii titles and further innovation in gaming with the lil' white box.

Quotes taken from: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/storysupplement/wiiremote/index.htm

Console wars have been with us since Game Boy and Game Gear went head to head (and looking back, what a hoot that was), the humble NES and Master System, and other quirky boxes of fun that were floating around in the early days of computer gaming.

But never has it been about so many dollars as it currently stands. The world video games market is worth a staggering sum; everyone wants a piece of that pie but most of all, the top three competing firms want the lion's share. But all's never fair in love and war; Sony's Jack Tretton (President & CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America) had this to say about the Wii:

"The controller is innovative, but the Wii is basically a repurposed GameCube. If you've built your console on an innovative controller, you have to ask yourself, Is that long term?"

It's interesting that Tretton believes the remote controller is the real threat from the Wii towards his Playstation empire. Interesting because let's face it; Sony backpedalled big time to try and combat the Wii-mote, releasing their own tilt sensitive joypad controller (which strangely resembled a late developed, PS2 joypad) to replace the boomerang model that was previously on all of their show shots. It had no tilt sensor; and in developing quite late they have also lost the rumble unit in the new one which does tilt. Unlike the Wii remote though, it doesn't detect in 3D space. It can tilt, and that's it. After using it, I didn't feel I was touching anything especially new, nor could it really add to my gaming experience.

At the end of the day, it's not the remote that makes the Wii so special; it's the target audience and who the Wii is being sold to. It's also the price point and lower tech spec, which means Nintendo are making pure cash hand over fist when they sell units, unlike their competitors who often lose money for hardware sales.

With the DS and Wii, Nintendo have tapped a market who were not previously buying any games at all. New money has poured into the gaming industry and Ninty have the lion's share at the moment. It's going to take a big shift in Sony and MS thinking to change that, and it won't have anything to do with clever joypads.