NESBuckle, Metroid: Other M, and The Last Story!!!

If any of you are lucky enough to be reading this in a part of the country, or world, that isn’t hot as balls, I hate you. Seriously, it’s ridiculously hot here in Atlanta. The grass in my front yard has taken on a healthy brown hue to them; I think it may be some sort of defense mechanism to aid in the battle against The Sun. I wish I had a defense system like that, or, at the very least, a pool. It would be freaking awesome if we had a pool; but, we don’t. Well, Mrs. Mike and I did buy a freaking awesome inflatable pool on the Fourth. It would have been even more awesome had we planned properly and given the water time to warm up a bit once we filled it so that we wouldn’t have had to sit in freezing cold water as the sun set. But who the eff plans ahead like that?
I’m not Japanese, but I do like the song, “I Think I’m Turning Japanese.” It’s so choice. Something else that is equally choice is the NESBuckle. You know the ones, the belt buckle that got a heaping dose of BadAssery from an old-school NES controller. As it turns out, the owner of NESBuckle.com has decided to pass the reigns of his empire to the highest bidder. If you’ve got a price that is right (and the reserve is set at somet like $6500), then you can be the new CEO of NESBuckle. It may not be that glamorous, but he does hook you up with the domain and everything you need to keep the “official” NESBuckle alive and kicking.
While you’re waiting to see if you have a winning bid or not, why don’t you check out the videos below. There’s an awesome behind the scenes video for the Queen of Badass’ next adventure, Metroid: Other M. We’re gonna follow that up with the premiere trailer for Mistwalker’s upcoming title, The Last Story. In case you’re not in the know, The Last Story is being made by the creator of Final Fantasy, so it’ll probably be all types of epic. BTW, once you hit play and realize that the videos are in Japanese, you’ll be amazed that my “turning Japanese” statement above wasn’t totally random. Yeah, I planned that shit out son!! Enjoy, and stay thirsty my friends.

 

More Minii Accessories On The Way!!

If you were someone who started getting excited at the prospect of the Mini Wiimote & Nunchuck from POWER A announced at E3, then you need to hold onto your pants ‘cuz it’s about to get Mini-Crazy in this bitch!!! GAMEON, the gaming division of Impact Global Solutions, announced a full line of Minii Wii accessories that they are marketing directly towards kids. They are in fact calling them “kid-sized”, so if you’re adult-sized stay the eff away!! They are going a step further than POWER A by releasing the full gamut of Wii accessories, including a Resort Pack which includes an oar, golf club, bow, and any other accessory you may need in WiiSports Resort. I’m interested in seeing how these look and feel; but I’m more interested in the battle for the Mini Wii market that GAMEON and POWER A are about to engage. Is there enough room for both sets on store shelves? I guess that depends on how “mini” they really are. (Side-note: Yes, I know how lame that joke was, I’m the one who wrote it. You don’t think I’m ashamed of it?? I could have deleted it, but I keeps it real with you guys…)



This post is going to be a bit short since I’m still recovering from the stressful past couple of weeks, so right up there I’m giving you some pictures of GAMEON’s line of Minii Accessories. If you’re the kind of person who likes their pictures to move and make sounds, which are what I call “videos”, then check out this featurette on upcoming family party game Guilty Party. It’s a mystery game from Disney owned Wideload Games, and it actually looks pretty fun. Enjoy, and stay thirsty my friends.

 

Family Guy returns to games

Activision picks up Fox cartoon for gaming treatment, release set for later this year on unspecified platforms.  
With the revelation that Tony Hawk and Guitar Hero would be going on an extended hiatus and True Crime: Hong Kong had been canned, Activision created some significant gaps in its release schedule. One of those gaps may be filled by the ample frame of Peter Griffin, as the publisher also confirmed today that it is readying a new Family Guy title for release this year.


The original Family Guy game didn't qualify as "freakin' sweet."
In an investor conference call today, Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg acknowledged the Family Guy project in a list of the company's licensed titles set for release this year, including new installments of Spider-Man, Bakugan, and the Cabela's hunting series. According to Hirshberg, Activision sees all of the licensed titles as "strong franchises with passionate niche audiences that can achieve repeatable and profitable success."

This won't be the first time the Fox cartoon series has found its way into games. In 2006, 2K games published Family Guy for Xbox, playstation 2, and PSP. Developed by High Voltage Software (Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude, Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law), the game featured the original voice cast of the TV series, including series creator Seth MacFarlane.

Activision did not announce a developer for its upcoming take on Family Guy. For more on 2K's effort, check out GameSpot's review.
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"Family Guy returns to games" was posted by Brendan Sinclair on Wed, 09 Feb 2011 17:41:59 -0800

NGP will 'easily best' North American PSP sales - Analyst

EEDAR's Jesse Divnich bullish on Sony's next handheld, advises publishers to jump on board with software support early.
Last week, Electronic Entertainment Design and Research analyst Jesse Divnich offered his best estimate for the price tag of Sony's Next Generation Portable, suggesting it would clock in around $300 to $350. Today he offered a few more expectations for Sony's second portable system, specifically stating that it should "easily beat" PSP sales in North America.


Not just huge overseas?
In a note to clients and publishers today, Divnich was optimistic about the NGP's prospects, particularly in North America and Europe, where he said the original PSP had relatively low adoption rates. If Sony can ensure the NGP arrives at a competitive price and with retailer and publisher support in line, Divnich expects the NGP "to handsomely surpass sales of its predecessor."

"Observers tend to forget that the PSP was incredibly successful at launch in North America, selling more units in its first year than the nintendo DS," Divnich said. "Long-term, however, concerns about Sony's digital strategy, lack of publisher incentive and piracy, ultimately resulted in a decreasing support from third-party publishers and a reduction in retail shelf space. EEDAR believes that the aforementioned problems of the PSP era will be resolved with the NGP."

As a result, Divnich advised third-party publishers to be early adopters for the system. He pointed to Ubisoft as an example, noting the success the publisher had with its initial lineup of games for the Kinect launch.

"While MotionSports and Fighters Uncaged may not have been noticed by all observers, both titles shipped-in over 500,000 units worldwide, and generated over $47 million in revenue combined," Divnich noted. "It is clear that Ubisoft benefited by being an early supporter of the Kinect and it reinforces the early supporter strategy."

If that weren't reason enough, Divnich noted that most successful new IPs are launched in the first 18 months of a system's life cycle. With console life spans growing longer, that could make such opportunities for new IP less frequent.

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"NGP will 'easily best' North American PSP sales - Analyst" was posted by Brendan Sinclair on Thu, 03 Feb 2011 14:19:07 -0800

 

Ubisoft's We Dare game is a "kinky challenge" for tweens

We're not really sure how to react to this, but Ubisoft is apparently coming out with a less than decent title for the kids. It's called We Dare, and simply put, it's sexy, quirky, and

 

Dirt 3 spinning out May 24

Off-road racing sequel hitting stores worldwide at the end of May.  
The Dirt franchise has lifted Codemasters to the top tier of racing game developers, ably assisted by the well-reviewed Race Driver: Grid, helping the firm win the Formula One licence to bring the pinnacle of motorsports back to consoles after a long absence.



I feel a bit lightheaded. Maybe you should drive…

The long-standing Colin McRae franchise started life in 1998 and gained the Dirt moniker in 2007. Since then the franchise has gone from strength to strength as Dirt has moved from a serious rally sim into a more extreme motorsports festival. Codemasters today confirmed that gamers would be able to see if this trend is to continue on May 24, when Dirt 3 will be released worldwide on the playstation 3, PC, and xbox 360.

Dirt 3 looks to continue the series' move away from pure rallying with the addition of the gymkhana discipline to the event list. This sits alongside traditional rallies, point-to-point races, rallycross events, and more primarily off-road activities in a range of vehicles.

The title was first shown off in a trailer that was released in conjunction with the X Games in August 2010. For more on the Dirt series, check out the GameSpot review of Dirt 2, the latest hands-on with Dirt 3, or the developer diary below.

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"Dirt 3 spinning out May 24 " was posted by Alex Sassoon Coby on Fri, 04 Feb 2011 04:29:54 -0800

 

Tech industry is world's most trustworthy, says new survey

Who do you trust to "do what is right?" Your answer to that question will depend on how you interpret it, though we don't think there's too much room for ambiguity with the latest results from Edelman's 11th annual Trust Barometer survey. It shows the tech industry a clear 10 percent ahead of the rest of the corporate world in terms of trustworthiness, with the automotive (another favorite of ours) and telecommunications (really?) sectors following up in second and third. The results come from the polling of 5,075 "informed" members of the public from 23 nations. We reckon all the companies involved in making the business of chipmaking quite so reputable should pat themselves on the back -- unless their names are Motorola, Samsung or Sony Ericsson, those guys' failures with Android updates haven't really contributed to the credibility of their industry at all.Tech industry is world's most trustworthy, says new survey originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Feb 2011 09:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink SkiddMark, The Car Connection, Autoblog  |  Edelman  | Email this | Comments

 

Michael Phelps pushing the limit on Kinect

Olympian swimmer set to make console debut this June; development handed off to Blitz Games.  
A little over two years ago, 505 Games announced that it was making a game starring Olympic champion Michael Phelps. The publisher went quiet on the subject after that, but the project resurfaced today with 505's confirmation that the Kinect-enabled Michael Phelps - Push the Limit will arrive on the Xbox 360 this June.


But will players be required to flood their living rooms?
505 Games also announced a new developer for Michael Phelps' console debut. Two years ago, the publisher's own LA studio was entrusted with making the game. However, today 505 referred to Blitz Games as the developer for Push the Limit.

Blitz already has some experience working with Microsoft's motion-sensing camera controller, having released The Biggest Loser: Ultimate Workout at the peripheral's launch last year. Gamers may also recognize Blitz Games as the studio behind Xbox launch title Fuzion Frenzy and a trio of Burger King promotional games for the Xbox and Xbox 360.

Michael Phelps - Push the Limit will cast players as an unknown swimmer working up the rankings in tournaments around the world. While Phelps will assist the player with advice along the way, he'll also serve as a competitor at the culmination of the career mode, an "Annual Games" tournament featuring the best swimmers in the world.

Phelps became a household name in the US after a dominant performance in Beijing's 2008 Olympic Games. The American swimmer won a record eight gold medals at the event, breaking seven world records in the process.
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"Michael Phelps pushing the limit on Kinect" was posted by Brendan Sinclair on Wed, 02 Feb 2011 10:41:36 -0800

Palm 'Think Beyond' teaser shows off glimpses of... something (updated with longer video)

HP and Palm aren't being shy about hyping up next week's big webOS event, and they're following up on that nod to our leak and CEO Leo Apotheker's comments with this "Think Beyond" teaser video. As is undoubtedly intended, we can't make much of the product from these brief glimpses of tapered curves, elegant switchgear, and what appears to be a charging connector -- but we'd like to think it's a tablet, because we are fundamentally very hopeful people. In any case, we'll see what Palm has in store for us next week -- and whether it can live up to all this buildup.

Update: We were just sent a longer version of the video, which we've swapped in above -- it shows a rear-facing camera and what's either a microphone or speaker grille. And is it just us, or is this thing looking pretty chubtastic or what? Original Palm video after the break. [Thanks, Raphael]Continue reading Palm 'Think Beyond' teaser shows off glimpses of... something (updated with longer video)Palm 'Think Beyond' teaser shows off glimpses of... something (updated with longer video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Feb 2011 17:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink   |  Official HP Palm blog  | Email this | Comments

NEWS: 3D Viewing Confirmed for Pokemon 3DS

You'll be catching 'em all in a whole new dimension.
During a Q&A session following last week's Investor Conference, Satoru Iwata confirmed that he had indeed indicated that a Pokemon title is in progress for Nintendo 3DS. With such an announcement, naturally, the the prominence of the 3D was in
question. In talking to Nintendo's investors, President Satoru Iwata
said in response to a question as to whether including 3D in a Pokemon game is contradictory to health warnings for children under six years of age, "Naturally, we expect 3D viewing to become one of the attractions
when the new Pokémon title is released on Nintendo 3DS, but a number of
other attractions, which do not depend upon the 3D aspect, shall also be
realized." 
read more...

Final Fantasy IV recounted on PSP April 19

Complete Collection of Square Enix role-playing game includes original Super Nintendo saga with visual overhaul in addition to The After Years episodic Wii epilogue.  
In 2007, Square Enix released revamped versions of Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II for the PSP to commemorate the role-playing game series' 20th anniversary. While the publisher opted not to honor Final Fantasy III in such fashion, Square Enix is back on board for the fourth installment, today announcing Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection for the PSP.


The After Years has never been available as a retail product before.
Set for release April 19, The Complete Collection will include Final Fantasy IV--with revamped visuals to take advantage of the PSP's widescreen format--as well as its epilogue, Final Fantasy IV: The After Years. The episodic series of downloadable titles was originally released in 2009 on the Wii; this will mark the first time it has been available as part of a retail product.

Originally released in 1991, Final Fantasy IV is better known by another name in North America. Because original publisher SquareSoft hadn't released the second or third installments in the series internationally, the company decided to release the game as Final Fantasy II when it hit North America later that year.

For more on the PSP package's source material, check out GameSpot's induction of Final Fantasy II into its Greatest Games of All Time collection, as well as the review of The After Years.

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"Final Fantasy IV recounted on PSP April 19" was posted by Brendan Sinclair on Tue, 01 Feb 2011 15:08:34 -0800