I can’t take this E3 anticipation anymore. Nintendo fans have a lot to look forward to, both in third party support and unnamed first party titles. The excitement always builds around E3, but this year, things seem to be bigger than ever. Are we ready for major disappointment or a pile of titles to be excited about?!
Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party is one of the few mini-game collections that I am looking forward to. I love the Rabbids, and I think the mini-games in the series thus far have been pretty fun. The inclusion of the balance board as a main method of control is a great way to expand the horizons of the series, and also make you look even more like an idiot. You thought the Wii alone made you look stupid…
I fell out of the Tony Hawk craze a long time ago, and I think more and more people are feeling the same way. EA took advantage of that, and stepped in with Skate, their fresh approach to the genre. Now, we are getting a chance to Skate It on Wii and DS. Balance board support for a skateboard game seems like a match made in heaven. The good news is, early impressions are coming with a heaping helping of praise.
MadWorld has already made a big splash with gamers, but I’m sure that the title will make even more waves at E3. No doubt, more blood, guts, violence, and ‘wacky’ comedy will be shown off, Perhaps some more press will get the time to try the game out for themselves. I know that I’ll be keeping a close eye on the project. The game has a very Killer7 approach to it, even if it is a lot more humourous.
Rock Band 2 Standalone Drums - Wii
Well, that’s nice for us with the Wii version of the game that…didn’t buy the bundled version?!
All-Star Cheer Squad - preview, screens
Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility Screens
Kidz Sports: Crazy Mini Golf Screens
Natsume Celebrates 10 Years of Its Popular Harvest Moon Series with 2 New Titles for DS and Wii
Away Shuffle Dungeon Draws Publisher
Aksys Games Announces Princess On Ice for Nintendo DS
UFC light heavyweight championship: Forrest Griffin def. Quinton Jackon, unanimous decision, to win title
Judges scores: Adalaide Byrd 48-46, Nelson Hamilton 48-46, Roy Silbert 49-46
Y! Sports scores: Kevin Iole scores it 48-46 Griffin; Dave Meltzer and Dave Doyle score it a 47-47 draw.
Round 1: Crowd is deafening and very much pro-Griffin as the fight begins. Griffin starts with a few low kicks. Jackson misses a right uppercut. Griffin’s punches are coming up short as crowd roars his name. Griffin lands a right to the head. Griffin lands a right inside. Griffin connects with a low kick. Griffin is setting the pace. Left to the chin by Jackson backs up Griffin. It probably didn’t land fully. Left and a right by Jackson. Griffin kicking a lot, mostly at Jackson’s legs. Hard combination by Jackson wobbles Griffin. Griffin backs up Jackson with a combination and a kick. They clinch on the cage. Jackson’s having trouble moving from the kicks. Left leg seems to be bothering him. Right uppercut from Jackson knocks Griffin down. Jackson lands several hard shots as Griffin is working his way up. Griffin lands two good knees to the midsection. Crowd is roaring as the round ends. Jackson’s round, 10-9
Round 2: Kick to leg really hrts Jackson. He may not be able to last. Griffin lands a few knees and takes Jackson down. Jackson is in big trouble because he can’t move on his left leg. Griffin is in half guard and firing a couple of elbows. Jackson is doing nothing as Griffin moves to side control. Griffin is going for an arm bar, but Jackson gets out. Griffin is still in a dominant position. Griffin throws a few rights to the head. Many in the crowd are standing. Griffin gets mount. Jackson could be in deep trouble. Griffin throwing more elbows as the crowd roars its encouragement. Griffin’s round, 10-8
Round 3: Jackson is walking a little better than he was earlier. They trade inside, but Griffin dances away from trouble. One good kick to the leg and Jackson will likely be in big trouble and in danger of being stopped. Griffin kicking at the leg. Jackson blocks a high kick with his forearm. Combination by Jackson connects. Left by Jackson backs up Griffin. Griffin lands a kick to Jackson’s bad left leg, but it doesn’t seem to do much damage. The pace has slowed greatly. Griffin misses a kick to the head. Griffin lands a pair of lefts. Jackson lands a right, but Griffin ducks away from the rest of the bombs. Griffin’s round, 10-9
Round 4: Jackson lands a combination, including a hard right. Jackson lands two right uppercuts. They go down and Jackson is in Griffin’s guard. Griffin appears to be cut on the right eyebrow. The crowd is chanting for Jackson. Griffin slaps on a triangle, but Jackson slams him to break it. Jackson again in the guard with Griffin looking to find a submission. Jackson lands a few punches to the head. Griffin nearly puts Jackson in an armbar. Jackson escapes and lands a combination of punches. They’re back on their feet in the middle of the ring. Griffin lands a left. Jackson lands a right that pushes Griffin back. Jackson is doing a good job of avoiding the low kicks. Big left and then a right by Jackson. Another good left to the head by Jackson. Jackson lands a left-right combination. Hard combination to the body by Jackson. Jackson’s round, 10-9
Round 5: Griffin is circling as the round opens and flips a jab. Jackson misses a wild right. Griffin is short on a combination. Griffin lands a kick to the injured left leg of the reigning champion. Right by Griffin. Knee in the clinch by Griffin. Left-right by Jackson. Right to the body by Jackson. Right to the chin by Griffin. Jackson’s title reign seems to be slipping away. He needs to make something happen. Griffin is fighting a smart fight. Jackson connects with a right inside. Jackson lands a hard combination. There is a minute left and the crowd is roaring. Jackson lands a left. Griffin lands a low kick. Griffin is dancing away as Jackson charges in. They clinch as the bell sounds. Griffin’s round, 10-9 – Kevin Iole
Mir is one of the coaches on Season 8 of The Ultimate Fighter and speculation has begun that Mir’s hairdo is a result of something that occurred on the show.
Filming concluded last week and the season will begin airing on Spike TV in September.
Give in to the lure of the Dark Side in the next major Star Wars game. You'll take on the role of Darth Vader's secret Sith apprentice, Starkiller, running mysterious errands for the Jedi Lord while wielding incredibly destructive Force powers.
Why It's Hot: It's the missing link. Set between the end of Episode III and the beginning of Episode IV, The Force Unleashed sees Starkiller tracking down the few Jedi who lived through Emperor Palpatine's Jedi purge, lending new insight into Vader's relationship with the Emperor and functioning as a sort of bridge between the two film trilogies. That's awesome, and so is the game's tech. Thanks to a trio of cutting-edge technologies, you'll toss stormtroopers, rebel soldiers and even entire Tie-Fighters around like ragdolls, turning the galaxy far, far, away into your personal Jedi stomping ground.
Why It's Not: Think this is your chance to bust out your spot-on Star Wars kid imitation by waving your Wiimote around like a lightsaber? Not quite, padawan. Though you'll be able to swing your sword using gestures, The Force Unleashed is not a saber simulator. Another strike against the Wii version: it's being developed by a different studio (as is the DS and PSP) and isn't powered by the same fancy technology as the 360 and PS3 versions. The Force might not be with this one...
No blood for oil? Yeah, right. Take to the jungles of Venezuela as a mercenary-for-hire in this hard-hitting, free-roaming action bonanza. A political coup sparked by a crazed, oil-rich tyrant has turned the country into a war-zone, which means plenty of opportunities for career advancement.
Why It's Hot: Combining the open-world antics of Grand Theft Auto with the immense firepower of a small army, the first Mercenaries was a runaway hit on the PS2 and Xbox. This sequel is being developed by the same core team at original developer Pandemic Studios -- always a good sign -- and if our hands-on time was any indication, it sure looks like bigger, stupider fun than ever before.
Why It's Not: At its worst, "open-world gaming" also means "unfocused tech-demo." It isn't easy giving gamers the freedom to do anything while forcing them to follow a story. Pandemic has pulled it off before, but can they do it again?
Help the morally-ambiguous squad of Bad Company score some serious loot by doing a little private recon in an Eastern European country. Fully-destructible environments and a legitimate single-player campaign breathe new life into an old battlefield.
Why It's Hot: Combine the open-ended beauty of Battlefield with the ability to blow up pretty much everything and you get a game that's truly hard to dislike. Though the franchise isn't known for its single-player campaigns, Bad Company has been lauded for its fun, quirky solo mode. With massive maps supporting up to 24 simultaneous players, its multiplayer ain't too shabby, either.
Why It's Not: It's one thing to deliver a decent single-player game, but it's another entirely to craft smart bad guys: the enemy A.I. is a bit dodgy, to put it mildly.
Bring home the gold in the official game based on the Beijing Summer Games. Organize your daily schedule and customize your national team as you compete in a wealth of events.
Why It's Hot: It's big, that's for sure. Where past Olympic video games featured perhaps a dozen or so events, Beijing 2008 offers a hefty 38, including less obvious choices like Judo and Kayaking. The ability to play online matches could actually make it feel a little more like the real thing. Plus, it's roughly $1200 cheaper than hopping a flight to China.
Why It's Not: Name the last truly great game based on the Summer Olympics. If you blurted out Track & Field, you get a medal (Epyx's Summer Games would have counted, too.) Unfortunately, those both came out just in time to celebrate the L.A. Olympics in 1984; in the twenty-five years since, it's been one Olympics video game disaster after another. That's not a good track record.
Rock it in your pocket with the first portable version of the groundbreaking music game. Featuring an innovative Guitar Grip attachment and all the gameplay from its console cousins, On Tour delivers a very big sound in a very small package.
Why It's Hot: What's not to like? It's Guitar Hero on the go! The Guitar Grip puts your fingers right on the frets, while the built-in guitar pick stylus lets you strum the touch screen like a real guitar. Most of the game's 25 licensed songs are master tracks, not covers -- and best of all, the thing works.
Why It's Not: What's not to like? Uh, a few things, if you believe the mixed reviews. Some critics feel the Guitar Grip isn't particularly comfy, while other have complained about the sound quality and how the relatively short set list skews too heavily towards popular music rather than rock classics. No one said rock 'n roll was easy.
When you look past the flashy presentation, you’ll realize that this game is simply a decent, fun, and challenging vertical shooter. Nothing more, nothing less. It’s up to you if you want to indulge in what it has to offer, be it the insanely tough gameplay or the ludicrous translation. But if all else fails, it can teach you one thing: Laughing out loud is the basic trait of an International Ninja. Think about it.
There’s no doubt that you can become addicted to both PC and console gaming. People have been known to lose days of their lives glued to the glow of a monitor or TV screen. Having said that, just which platform can get a tighter hold on you? I would have to argue that the PC has the worst addictive nature, considering the constant connection to the internet that you have. Sure, you can play online with other consoles, but the PC is open to so much more in the online world. Either way…don’t get sucked in!
A portion of a Siliconera post…
They have two things in their E3 lineup you won’t be able to guess, one announcement that floored me…
We have no idea of the platforms or titles, but feel free to start guessing! You guys are usually pretty good at piecing this stuff together!
100% needless, 100% awesome.
There’s still hope for this game to come to America…right…right? I am so happy I picked up my Euro import of Tingle’s Rosy Rupeeland. Seriously, you guys are missing out on quite a unique adventure.
Kojima did it earlier today, now it’s time for you to pony-up! You are only allowed 5 games, across all platforms that ever existed. Yep…5 measly games that you would pick as your favorite gaming experiences…ever. Doesn’t seem very fair, does it? Well, that’s okay…it was never supposed to be fair. The idea for this post was spawned front Kojima’s picks, and then furthered by the gang at ONM. You can check out one ONM staffer’s choices at the link below, but that doesn’t let you off the hook!
