We don't know why Nintendo doesn't like colors. We do. Nothing makes us gayer than seeing a beautiful rainbow of colorful consoles.
News Blips:
• Nintendo officially racist; won't be releasing black Wii in America. The true colors of Nintendo were revealed today when the company confirmed the Japan-only black Wii will not be coming to our shores. Tis a dark day for U.S. Nintendo fans. [GameDaily]
• Tony Hawk Ride also officially racist; nixes fake black skateboard for fake white one. The true colors of Activision Blizzard were revealed today when Tony Hawk Ride developer Robomodo confirmed the previously black skateboard peripheral will now be white. Tis a light day for fake skateboard fans. [GI.biz]
• World of WarCraft iPhone app lets you hang up on reality. In case your life isn't consumed enough by Blizzard's massively multiplayer online role-playing game, you can now download an official WoW iPhone app that lets you check your gear, in-game news, and other stuff that is way more fun than conversing with people in real life.[Kotaku]
•Lego Indiana Jones 2 allows two blockheads to create levels together. If you're sick of the Lego games, well, make your own -- Lego Indiana Jones 2 will allow two people to create their own levels simultaneously. Well, if you can actually agree to let your partner create stuff without knocking their crap down first. Not that we'd do that. *Whistles peacefully* [Joystiq]
• Prototype sells a lot, DS sells more than a lot. The June videogames sales numbers were just released and, big surprise, the DS sold a lot (766, 500 units). Prototype was the top game of last month selling 419, 900 units. And, weirdly enough, Wii Play was not on the top ten list for the first time in forever. Guess everyone in America has a second Wii-mote now.
Seems like everything is coming to the iPhone these days. Name a game and it's probably already on Apple's fancy yap device. Come on, name something! Actually, don't do that -- our point will likely be ruined. But, seriously: The iPhone is getting a ton of cool stuff. Like, say, the Valve classic Portal. Or so it would seem:
Oh, that Nintendo -- they think they're soooo creative. What with their creation of the megapopular Wii and DS. And the fact that they're responsible for the '80s console boom. So yeah, we get it, Nintendo -- you have some pretty innovative ideas. Sometimes. But apparently not when it comes to coming up with original music for sickness-inspired puzzle games.
It's surprising for us to hear developers thinking about sequels before their first game has even shipped. Hell, that'd be like Hollywood greenlighting a sequel before they release the first flick. And we all know that'd never happen.
News Blips:
• New Tony Hawk Ride sequel already in the works? Nah, ya don't say! Yep, it's true -- the president of developer Robomodo says the studio is already thinking about creating a sequel. Hopefully the next one will come with a fake skateboard that actually has fake wheels, too. [IndustryGamers]
• Gross: The Witcher director's cut will have naked boobies. File this one under "Yucky, no thanks": The upcoming director's cut of the PC game The Witcher will allow you to -- god, it's terrible to say this -- see naked breasts. Grody! Um, can you excuse us for a sec? We have to take a shower after reporting such filthy garbage. [Shacknews]
• Orphaned videogame IP's taken in by caring developer. Now that Vivendi Games is no more, a ton of old gaming series are without a home. Except for a few thanks to developer Rebellion -- the studio (currently making Aliens vs. Predator for Sega) picked up the rights for Evil Genius, Ground Control, Empire Earth, and the Lords of the Realms/Lords of Magic series. Glad to see there's at least some decency in this business after that vulgar update above. [Big Download]
•Pokemon x-ray machine scans all your bones. In American, our x-ray machines are booooring! But in Japan? Well, they're also kinda boring, too -- it's just a machine that snaps pics of your insides. But at least a few hospitals over there are getting spiffy Pokemon-branded x-ray machines. Why? Well, we're, uh, yeah -- it's Japan. [Kotaku]
Hit the jump for some video blips, including a Watchmen trailer, costume-changing in Champions Online, silly Japanese-inspired commercial, and...more.
We're pretty impatient that we...ah, screw that sentence. It was taking way too long to write. This one is shorter. Ditto. So that's why we dig design website Greyscalegorilla's Five Second Project series where folks whip up cool videos that are, yep, five seconds in length (anything longer and we wouldn't even bother). Man, that sentence was long...
So the current Five Second Project theme? Old Videogames. There's currently over a 100 videos posted, but there's no way in hell we're gonna post 'em all. That'd take forever. Instead, check out one of our favorites [via Offworld]:
If you still have some seconds to spare, there's a few more after the break (you're lucky we even took the time to post them!).
Special editions are pretty cool, we'll admit. But we think game companies should also provide sucky editions, too -- broken boxes, buggy games, limited edition used pieces of QA tester gum. Y'know, something especially crappy.
News Blips:
• Modern Warfare 2 Prestige Edition is excessively enlightening. If you remember from a few days ago, Modern Warfare 2 is actually a Call of Duty game. That means publisher Activision Blizzard is going to pimp this war game hard. How hard? Well, you can choose three different versions of the game: 1) Bare bones retail copy, 2) Hardened Edition with a metal case and art book, and 3) The ridiculous Prestige Edition that comes with working night vision goggles. Perfect for night stalking. Not that we know anything about that. Ahem. [Kotaku]
• 2K to Big Daddy: "Are we there yet?" Big Daddy: "URRGHH!" Sorry, kiddos -- BioShock 2 has been delayed until 2010. [Shacknews]
• Videogame being made to coincide with a movie -- who'd thunk it? It appears as though developer Double Helix (currently making Front Mission Evolved for publisher Square Enix) will be creating a Green Lantern game to accompany the movie that's currently slated to film soon. This is a brilliant idea. Seriously, more publishers should really think about doing this. [GamesBeat]
• Nintendo reminds itself to thank fanboys via collectible calendar. Club Nintendo, the rewards program for purchasing Nintendo products, has unveiled the free (well, technically) stuff you can get for buying tons of crap. Gold members get a 2010 calendar, while Platinum members can choose between a Mario hat or a code to play against Little Mac's bike-stealing trainer Doc Louis in Punch-Out!! Wii. While cheapskates like us get an unlimited edition of loneliness. Sigh... [Joystiq]
Hit the jump for some video blips, including a look at the bad guys of Batman: Arkham Asylum, old-school fantasy platforming in Trine, Ms. Pac-Man is a whore, and...more.
We all have silly fantasies about our favorite videogame characters beating the crap out of each other at some point, right? Well, we do. Sometimes. When we're not dreaming about winning the lottery. Or discovering where da gold's at. So we were pretty stoked to see the newest entry in Monty Oum's Dead Fantasy series.
The crazy-talented animation pro has been wowing fanboys ever since his first video, Haloid, pit Halo's Master Chief against Metroid's Samus Aran in an insanely over-the-top 10 minute battle.
His newest series pits the chicks from Dead or Alive vs. the chicks from Final Fantasy. Don't ask why, either. Just watch and say, "Damn!" “Oh, snap!” and “You go girl!" at opportune moments:
Oh, and if this isn't weird enough for you, we have just the thing after the break.
We're glad Tomb Raider is getting a reboot. It's about time Lara Croft got a permit for entering those damn tombs.
News Blips:
• Lara Croft plans to turn herself back on via reboot. Over the weekend, some leaked shots and details of a Tomb Raider reboot spread across the Internet. It's just what you'd expect, too: reworked everything (combat, story, etc.). That's it, really. Wait, we feel like we're missing something. Oh, that's right: boobs. [Joystiq]
• Dragon Quest 9 sells more than 1 copy and less than 2.24 million copies. Hey, did you know that the Japanese love questing for dragons for the 9th time? If not, you're obviously not one of the 2.23 million people who bought Dragon Quest 9 last week. If this game totally bombs, we're blaming you. [Kotaku]
• Analyst predicts Korea is gonna be pissssssed. Activision Blizzard has said it will try to ship out Korean favorite StarCraft 2 this year, but analyst Arvind Bhatia told the Wall Street Journal that he thinks that probably won't happen. Way to ruin the lives of these guys, Blizzard. [GI.biz]
• Blah blah blah blah -- that's the sound Star Wars: The Old Republic makes. BioWare's upcoming massively multiplayer online role-playing game based on the Star Wars universe is going to be big. Not in world size, though. Big in excessive blabber -- a new article on the game's official website talks about how the script is as long as 40 novels. Yikes. There better be a frickin' CliffsNotes code. [Joystiq]
Hit the jump for some video blips, including cool Uncharted 2: Among Thieves gameplay, lots of backflips in Wet, a beady Big Daddy, and...more.
We don't blame Activision Blizzard for changing the name of Modern Warfare 2. Though we would have preferred Call of Duty War Game 2010.
New Blips:
• Mind blown: Modern Warfare 2 actually is a Call of Duty game. You might want to sit down for this one: Activision Blizzard has confirmed its wannabe Call of Duty game really is, get this, a Call of Duty game afterall. Dammit. Now we actually may have to play it. And like it. [Joystiq]
• Reggie says we won't get the Wii Vitality Sensor until we slip our fingers inside. Everyone is making fun of the bizarro Wii Vitality Sensor doohickey that Nintendo unveiled at this year's E3. Except for us, of course! We see sooooo much potential for the device. Yeah. Seriously. We do. But Nintendo head honcho Reggie Fils-Aime thinks all you nasty doubters (seriously, stop being so jaded!) will "get it" once it puts you to sleep entertains the holy hell out of you. [Eurogamer]
• Eidos wants you to score Batman: Arkham Asylum 90% or higher...or else. You can't review it, apparently. Rumors are spreading that Eidos is putting a steep embargo on UK publications that don't A) Give the game a cover and B) Score it 90% or higher. Sounds ridiculous, but, damn, we really want to play the game early, too. And, luckily, enough we just raised our highest possible review score to 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. Sigh -- if we only had a game to give that to... [Kotaku]
• This sounds practical: Pay $300 to control a $15 game. We always like a good deal, and nothing sounds better than paying for a super deluxe $300 dual joystick to be played with Sega's upcoming $15 Xbox Live Arcade port of its classic mech fighter Virtual On. What's that? This isn't a good deal? Um, well tell us this: How many other games can you play with this controller? Exactly. Err, uh, nevermind. [Kotaku]
Aww, we just want to punch artist Eidson Yan in the face. The talented scribbler has been doodling up cutified versions of almost every Street Fighter character, similar to the other Scribblenauts-related art we posted a while back. Just check out the original World Warriors from Street Fighter 2 [via Tiny Cartridge]:
If you think men in karate guis are OK, but fancy something a wee bit more fashionable, say, characters sporting bracelets, belt buckles, and horn-tooting cats, why, you're in luck! Here's the Final Fantasy 7 cast:
And if this still isn't enough, there's even more cuteness after the break. But, just to entice you, here's a taste:
Gaming sales are pretty great, right? Of course. Though we've noticed big titles that don't sell get their price dropped later on. So if you kids are smart, you won't buy any game you want until it goes on sale 6-12 months down the line. Yeah, we're money-saving geniuses.
News Blips:
• Buy crappy and overstocked games for cheap. Gaming retailer GameStop is putting on a small, no, sorry, HUGE, sale for the summer. How big? Well, you can get games like this for 20 bones. Yeah, huge. [Joystiq]
• New Mortal Kombat movie proves there is a god. We were afraid the long-rumored third Mortal Kombat movie would never come out, but the actor (who we refuse to believe is playing a part) portraying Scorpion says the flick will start filming this September. Maestro, cue that infectious techno beat. [GameSpot]
• Germans are gonna love this one: Carcassonne coming to DS. Popular German board game Carcassonne is on its way to the DS later this year. Oh, and in case you haven't played the real version (don't tell the Germans!), it's also on Xbox Live Arcade. Now if only someone would make a DS version of this board game. [Kotaku]
• Fighting Fantasy is neither a fighting game nor a fighting Final Fantasy game. But in the DS first-person role-playing game Fighting Fantasy: The Warlock of Firetop Mountain there is, uh, fantasy fighting (why the hell didn't they just call it that?). It's apprently based on a book series in England, too. But we're not British nor do we know what a "book" is, so how would we know? [1UP]
Hit the jump for some video blips, including more WW2 fighting in Battlefield: 1943, Spartan-like warriors in Star Wars: The Old Republic, Hello Kitty Mario and Luigi, and...more.
The iPhone has a lot of games. Just thought we'd tell you.
News Blips:
• iPhone offers 13,000 ways to procrastinate. Apple announced that the iPhone currently has a whopping 13,000 games in its App Store. We want to play more, but we're still stuck on the "Woo" game -- any help? [Joystiq]
• PS3 games too fat, get stuck in the Intertubes. At this year's E3, Microsoft announced that it will be releasing full downloadable Xbox 360 games through Xbox Live. Sony, however, won't be doing the same with the PS3 just yet. Mostly because of the bloated size of Blu-ray. We have a solution, though. [IndustryGamers]
• Square Enix Europe is like Eidos without the Eidos. Role-playing game pros Square Enix bought Tomb Raider publisher Eidos earlier this year. Only now Eidos is no longer. Instead, it will now be named Square Enix Europe. Square Enix Antarctica still under negotiations. [MCV]
• Future music games may not need consoles; TV still important, though. Rock Band makers Harmonix imagine a future where music games can simply plug into TVs and play. Hopefully in this same future Triangle Hero exists. [VideoGamer]
Hit the jump for some video blips, including a Assassin's Creed 2 video doc, space battles of the gratuitous nature, Mega Man vs. Metroid, and...more.
• Want a new Kid Icarus? Hold your halos. Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto told Nintendo Power that he is asking impatient Nintendo fans to "wait, please" for the next Kid Icarus. OK, let's try this out: waiting. Waiting. Ah, to hell with this. [GoNintendo]
• CliffyB into waving arms, just wants to care about it. Outspoken Gears of War designer Cliff Bleszinski says he's thinking of ideas for Microsoft's spaz-happy Project Natal doohickey, but believes he will stick with traditional controllers for the near and distant future. Yeah, like pushing a button is as fun pantomime-sawing the air. Joysticks are for babies. [Develop]
• Tecmo Koei worried wannabe ninjas will suck for real mimicking fake ninja movements. Tecmo Koei CEO Kenji Matsubara told CVG that he's worried translating the complex movements of his company's action-packed games like Ninja Gaiden and Dynasty Warriors will be difficult for both Microsoft's Project Natal and Sony's Wiinis Stick. And completely unrealistic, too -- no man will ever be able to simulate the breast physics in Team Ninja games [CVG]
• BioWare wants us all to just talk it out...for a really long time. The guys behind blabber-happy Mass Effect tell GI.biz that they fancy a future with no violence at all. Um, what's their boggle? We've seen the future, and Demolition Man proves violence does indeed solve everything. But the three seashells idea needs to get flushed. [GI.biz]
Hit the jump for some video blips, including an innovative streaming service with a ridiculous name, grilling burgers in Madden, Devo fighting Space Invaders, and...more.
