The official Japanese Pokémon site has recently confirmed what I, among other people, have predicted. No, not DawnSilver, and DuskGold, once again my guess for the next game’s title was wrong. But, yes that’s right, Nintendo is remaking Pokémon Gold and Silver for the Nintendo DS, they are calling the two titles Pokémon Heart of Gold and Pokémon Soul of Silver. They will be released in Japan later this year(the 10th anniversary of their original Pokémon Gold and Silver), no release date has been set in North America, but everyone is sure that it will come stateside. No other information has really been released, but if you look at what ninendo did to Pokémon FireRed and Pokémon LeafGreen, you can assume that Nintendo will add features from the current generation to the remakes. If any other news comes up, I’ll be sure to report them to you, so check back later.
Well, let us begin the catch-ups so be can go to business as usual as soon as possible. First off, on a personal note, the Mario carving sold, but the Yoshi chainsaw carving sold is still up for grabs. In late November, I also got an Xbox 360, bundled with Kung Fu Panda and Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures. I also recent bought Call of Duty: World at War.
Nintendo announced the release of the DSi. The new system is 12 percent thinner than the DS lite and the GBA slot is now gone. The new system will have an external 3 megapixel camera, as well as a front-facing camera, an SD slot, internal storage, and a DSi Shop(like the Wii Shop channel for the DS). The system was released in Japan on November 1, 2008, and will be released in North America in Spring of 2009.
Rather than Wii points, the DS and Wii will now have Nintendo Points. Once you buy the new points, you will have to chose whether you will use all the points for the DS shop system of the Wii Shop system; you will not be able to split the points between the new systems. The DSi will be somewhat, if not completely region locked.
Not much in terms of digital releases, although Mega Man 9 was released for the Wii, Xbox 360, and PS3World of Goo was also released as a Wii Ware title.
Some big games that where announced or gained a greater popularity with a future release during Game Influence’s down time include: No More Heroes 2, Resident Evil 5, Sin & Punishment 2, Sega’s The Conduit, Killzone 2, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, and games from the Wii remake program. The Wii remake program will release games from the Game Cube to the Wii, with updated controls. Games in the Wii remake program include Metroid Prime 1, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, Pikmin, Mario Tennis, Chibi Robo, and Pikmin 2.
Recently, Nintendo finally provided American with a service that Europe and Japan have had for quite some time, Club Nintendo. Club Nintendo launched December 15. Before the service’s launch, Nintendo confirmed that Club Nintendo allowed users to earn Coins for registering Nintendo products and completing surveys, redeem Coins for limited edition Rewards, earn a set amount of Coins each year to gain Gold and Platinum status, create a Family Account and invite members of your family to join, and register your newly purchased Wii console or Nintendo DS on Club Nintendo and extend your warranty.
Well, I’m sure I missed a lot of news, If I remember anything I missed, I’ll try to bring it up laiter.
Although it could be a hoax, It appears that the next true Pokémon title could be called Pokémon Platinum rather than Pokémon Opal.None of this stuff is actual confirmed, but it all seems legit. Apparently a scan has serfaced of the upcoming issue of CoroCoro. But some of my previous predictions may be true, It appears that Giratina will be in another form, some calling it the “Origin Form”. Some other rumors are coming in but I’m going to wait to post them along with my opinions until we get some better confirmations.
Notice anything special in the picture? The unmistakable new orange Pay And Play Logo is found in the corner of the Samba de Amigo boxart. Samba de Amigo is a party game that focuses on music. Hopefully the Pay and Play charge will be to pay for new music, and not for just for playing online.
Samba de Amigo is the only game I have yet to see with the little Pay and Play logo on the cover, so it may be the first Wii game to ship as a game that charges for online service. Game Stop list the game as shipping on “8/19/2008″, so will have to wait to see what the content is that requires the Pay and Play service.
Nintendo’s Wi-Fi Connection has always been free to use on the Wii and Nintendo DS. But it now sounds like Nintendo will be charging people to play online for some games. “Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection Pay And Play” is what they’re calling it. To avoid mix-ups, Nintendo will replace the blue Nintendo Wi-Fi Logo with a red “Pay And Play” Logo.
Now either Nintendo is planning for support for MMORPGs (which would justify a Nintendo needing money to support the large servers required) or Nintendo is getting greedy. I will not be paying for Online Games on the Wii, unless they charge like 2 points a month. How about you?
February 11, 2008 was the day Level 5’s Professor Layton and the Curious Village came out in the US. Since then, people that have bought this game have been having issues. The same issue has been occurring, you try to download the new puzzle Level 5 and Nintendo put out every week, and at half-way you get disconnected. Of course, in the Nintendo Tech Support Forums people were asking and telling the same exact thing, and thats when it was found out that it was not a problem with specific people, but with the game. Fortunately, this should be fixed, as an administrator over at the forum said he would look into it.
Hello, and thank you for reporting this. We are looking into the situation and will post a reply here when we know more.
Medal of Honor Heroes 2, has had some problems with inaccurate details on the box in couple of regions. First, when I bought Medal of Honor: Heroes 2, the box said the game offered a four player split screen and multiplayer arcade modes, which it did not, I wasn’t contacted for a refund, but then again I didn’t register the game. And I bought the game for it’s online, and not it’s multiplayer. Really the game’s main feature is the online multiplayer, and the Australian version of the game is being striped of that in addition to not having a four player split screen and multiplayer arcade modes. I can’t see the game being at all successfully in Australia as an only one player game. EA is offering a refund to those tricked into buying the game, after idiotically trusting the back of a video game’s description on its box.
Medal of Honor Heroes 2 for Wii does not support online functionality in Australia. We made an error in the documentation and marketing materials. We are very sorry to have caused confusion for our customers. We will provide a refund to anyone in Australia who wishes to return the game to EA because of the lack of online functionality.
I don’t know why EA’s making all these mistakes. I think there is only two possible reasons. Either this is all just a test of consumer’s willingness to keep a game after realizing they aren’t getting what they were promised, or there just idiots. EA, I’m waiting for your response.
The newest issue of Famitsu revealed some new information about Mario Kart Wii. We already know that players select karts and bikes, but we now learn that both modes of transportation have their own advantages and disadvantages. Bike can do “wheelies” to speed up, but that makes turning more difficult. You can even do mid-air tricks.
The game will have sixteen new tracks and sixteen tracks from previous titles. The game with have Ten multiplayer stages (thank G*d we moved from the regular four), four player split screen mode, sixteen players online (rather than the twelve previously announced). You Mii as a playable character can also be used in certain instances.
Following in the steps of Wii-Fit, Nintendo will be releasing a new Mario Kart Channel. The channel will contain information about global rankings (including time attack scores) and ghosts data downloads.
In pictures that have surfaced recently, a green “A” button and a red “B” button, suggest Game Cube controller support, maybe 8 players(probably not). But what about that wonderful wheel (or Whiil, as I like to call it)?
About(or exactly) half of the tracks in Mario Kart Wii (thinking that they’re set with that name, not something creative like Mario Kart Wiilay) have been listed. They are listed below.
“Mushroom Cup”
Luigi Circuit
Moo Moo Country
Mushroom Canyon
Toad Factory
“Flower Cup”
Mario Circuit (a Figure-8 with underpass)
Coconuts Mall
DK Snowboard Cross
Wario Mines
“Shell Cup”
GC Peach Beach
DS Yoshi Falls
SFC Ghost Swamp 2
64 Mario Circuit
“Banana Cup”
64 Sherbert Land
GBA Hey Ho Beach
DS Monty Town
GC Waluigi Stadium
The characters that have been confirmed (by way of released screenshots) are as follows: Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, Baby Peach, Boo, Bowser, Donkey Kong, Koopa Troopa, Luigi, Mario, Your Miis, Peach, Toad, Waluigi, Wario, and Yoshi. Who else can we expect, I don’t know, but characters to consider include Bowser Jr., Daisy, Poochy, Diddy Kong, Birdo, Tatanga, Dry Bones, Paratroopa, Klepto (Jango), King Boo, Petey Piranha, R.O.B., Shy Guy, Toad, Toadette, Hammer Bro., Blooper, Dixie Kong, Bob-omb Buddy, Cranky Kong, Tiny Kong, Goomba, Paragoomba, King K. Rool, Elvin Gadd, Snifit, Donkey Kong Jr. (what ever happened to him?), Pauline (time to see her again), Poochy, Toadsworth, Kamek, the Koopalings (which seems to have been wiped from Mario History and replaced by Bowser Jr.) and Pac-Man & friends (like in Mario Kart Arcade GP and Mario Kart Arcade GP 2). Speaking of Non-Nintendo characters, what about Sonic, he seems to be popping in a few of Mario’s games.
The original Super Smash Bros. had a thing called Multi-Man Mode were the player would fight the Fighting Polygon Team. Super Smash Bros. Melee saw the return of this mode with the Fighting Wire Frame Team. And on January 8 the DOJO gave us information on Multi-Man Brawl in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, were the opponents are now composed of the Fighting Alloy Team. All three of these modes have one think in common, a swarm of uniform enemies that the player must fend off. The Fighting Alloy Team is composed of Red Alloys, Blue Alloys, Yellow Alloys, and Green Alloys.
This mode is basically a survival mode and there is six ways to play. 10-Man Brawl, 100-Man Brawl, 3-Minute Brawl, 15 Minute Brawl, Endless Brawl, and Cruel Brawl are the ways of playing this mode, apparently identical to Super Smash Bros. Melee.
In 10-Man Brawl you fight until you have beaten 10 enemies, in 100-Man Brawl you fight until you have beaten 100 enemies, In 3-Minute Brawl you kill as many players you can within 3 minutes, in 15 Minute Brawl you kill as many players you can within 15 minutes, in Endless Brawl you fight until you die, and Cruel Brawl is the same as Endless Brawl just a lot harder.
A nice little addition to these mode is the ability to play with two players, and even to play with a friend online.
On January 9, the DOJO offered “Pikmin: World Map” for a trial listening.
On the same day, The DOJO introduced a new brawler, or brawlers, Pikmin & Olimar. How the two interact will be explain latter in this post.
On January 10, the DOJO gave us a look at Snake’s Final Smash, a move called Grenade Launcher. First Snake calls of Helicopter support, then Snake Jumps high and grabs the helicopter’s rope ladder and whips out his Grenade Launcher. He has 12 rounds and limited time to use them. After the “Final” Smash, snake then climbs back up to return to battle.
On January 11, the DOJO gave use information on Olimar and his accompanying Pikman’s special moves.
Olimar’s Standard Special Move is Pikmin Pluck, were(you guest it), Olimar plucks Pikman. plucked Pikman go to the back of a line formed behind Olimar.
Olimar’s Side Special Move is Pikmin throw, each Pikman has a different affect when thrown. There is five types of Pikman available to Olimar, including Red Pikman, Yellow Pikman, Blue Pikman, Purple Pikman, and White Pikman. Red Pikman have a High attack power, it’s attacks imbued with incendiary properties(what?), and immune to fire. Yellow Pikman have a range of attack slightly larger than the others, easily hits enemies, travels in slight arcs when thrown, and it’s attacks imbued with electrical properties. Blue Pikmin are strong when thrown and slightly more durable than average. Purple Pikman Do not fly far when thrown, slams into enemies instead of latching on when thrown, are slow, and have a high attack power. White Pikman are quick, light, and it’s poison does additional damage when latched onto opponent.
To do Smash Attack and certain midair attacks, Olimar need to be accompanied by Pikmin. Olimar’s Down Special Move is Pikmin Order, were Oilmar calls discarded Pikman, and is also used to shift a new Pikmin to the front of the line.
On December 24, the DOJO was told us that Wario will be to join in the brawl with his overalls, and not just his Wario Ware outfit.
On December 24, the DOJO offered “Sonic The Hedgehog: Angel Island Zone” for a trial listening.
On the same day, the DOJO gave as a look at Sonic’s Final Smash, a move called Super Sonic. Sonic receives power from the Chaos Emeralds and then performers his super fast move, don’t go to fast though, or his opponents will be able to dodge the attack(wait what?).
On December 26, we learned that we(or rather the characters we’re playing with) must use Trophy Stands to get a trophy of a specific enemy in The Subspace Emissary. After you find the Trophy Stand, you throw it at a weakened enemy(what is this Pokémon?).
On December 27, The DOJO gave us information on Coin Launcher. Rather than the easy put earned coins in and get a trophy from Melee, you have to work for your trophies.
On December 28, the DOJO reminded us to turn accept on for the Smash Service, were users receive goodies form friends and Nintendo.
On the same day, the DOJO was updated with information on a mysterious item called Dragoon from Kirby Air Ride. The Dragoon is composed of three items: the nosecone, hull, and tail. At first glance, they appear to do nothing, but when one player collects all three by beating them out of his or her opponents, the player can use the item as a one hit one-hit KO for a selected enemy.
After that entry, the DOJO took a little brake and returned on January 7. On January 7, it was confirmed that even more Meleestages would be making their way to the Brawl. These returning stages include: Yoshi’s Island, Corneria, Brinstar, Onett, and Rainbow Ride.
It’s possible to hook up four GameCube controllers, and four Wii-remotes and use them simultaneously, so Super Smash Bros. Brawl could support eight players. Well nothing at the DOJO leads us to believe that that’s the case, but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t happen. There no information that more than four players are even available in the games online modes. I think to myself, that shouldn’t be; with a game that is supposed to have everything taken into account, why wont more than four players be supported.
The only reason that this will not happen, other than the developers didn’t think of it, would be that Masahiro Sakurai would want all players to have a choice between any control scheme they prefer.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl will definitely require a system update check, so theres no reason that the update on the disc couldn’t add support for three more Wii-motes that would utilize the 15 player scheme for controller identification. So if you have seven Wii-motes, and four GameCube controllers you could have a total of eleven players, doesn’t that sound cool? Wouldn’t you want that instead of the player rotation system that in Brawl?
Our system has the capability for online voice chat, what it comes down to is finalizing the peripheral… I would not be surprised to see that capability come to this system.
It is possible, Could we see a VOIP Channel? You know to call your friends up and ask them for a game? One can only dream.
Today, the DOJO further explained the With Anyone component of Super Smash Bros. Brawl’s online play. If you want to play a game but don’t have any friends or don’t have friends online then you can just search the world for someone to play with. You can chose to play a Team Battle or Basic Brawl. There’s no rooms, you go directly to the character-selection screen. When you connect to someone, you’ll see their status at the bottom of the screen. You have 45 seconds to pick your character, before a random character is selected for you. Then you’ll be whisked away to the stage selection; The stage and items are determined by a lottery. While the game loads you Practice on Sandbag. then the game starts.
In With Anyone/Basic Brawl Names won’t be shown and messages won’t be sent. If you get cut off, your character will get taken over by the CPU without your opponents even knowing, which I think is pretty lame. it’s also worth noting that you can play the characters you unlock in battles.
