Nintendo say Wii can download complete Nintendo DS games

Speaking with the New York Times, Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aime has offered a little more info on the Wii's ability to interact with the DS.

While we already know that the Wii will be able to download and transmit DS demos to the handheld, we now also know that you'll soon be able to download full games to your DS.

While discussing the demo download feature, as well as DS DLC (like Japan, the US version of Professor Layton will feature extra downloadable puzzles), he tells the paper that gamers will be able to download "complete games" to the DS via the Wii's upcoming Everyone's Nintendo channel.

No further info is provided, on the channel's Western launch or what kind of "complete games" he's talking about, but does this mean the Game Boy and/or Game Boy Advance might about to be added to the Virtual Console's lineup?

Japan Wii owners can already download DS demos on their Wii.

Source: Kotaku http://kotaku.com/

$4.5 million for Play-for-cash MMORPG publisher

IGG Obtains Series A Financing

IGG Inc., (www.igg.com) a world-class MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) provider, announced today the completion of a $4.5 million round of Series A funding led by IDG Technology Venture Investment (IDGVC Partners).

Dedicated to serve worldwide players with the best interactive online games, IGG Inc. launched its first MMORPG in May 2006. Since then, IGG has successfully released and operated 6 MMORPGs through www.igg.com. With over 3.5 million registered users as of Q3 2007, IGG has established its reputation as a world-class publisher meeting the demand of players of different ages and favors in both North America and Europe.

Besides publishing a portfolio of numerous licensed games running the gamut from action to fantasy, IGG also grows a talented development team to design and develop its own games to contribute to the interactive MMOG world. The new funds will be used to expand global sales and marketing, to implement strategic plans, and to further the development of more innovative and entertaining games. Furthermore, the funds will be used to market games in more regions and for player of different languages. IGG believes that, by growing together with the global business and technology partners as well as the royal users, it will become a key player in the online gaming world in the foreseeable future.

Best cellphone game award for The Incredible Machine

Vivendi Games Mobile's The Incredible Machine Wins "Best Casual Mobile Game" At Spike TV's 2007 "Video Game Awards"

Hit Title Also Nominated for "Mobile Game of the Year"

Vivendi Games Mobile, a division of Vivendi Games, has been awarded “Best Casual Mobile Game” at the 5th Annual Spike TV 2007 “Video Game Awards” for its classic brain teaser The Incredible Machine for mobile. The Incredible Machine was also nominated for “Mobile Game of the Year.”

“We are extremely honored to once again be recognized for the high-quality and creativity of our titles and take home such a highly regarded mobile award from Spike TV,” said Paul Maglione, president of Vivendi Games Mobile. “Beyond winning, we are thrilled that such an established organization is recognizing the importance and popularity of mobile games.”

The Incredible Machine for mobile, which was launched in Europe in May and in the USA in August, has received rave reviews and accolades from fans and press. IGN.com bestowed the game with an “Impressive” rating and interactive viral videos of the game continue to receive thousands of views per day from fans. The popular video, featuring Farah McDaring, a new superheroine, demonstrates how The Incredible Machine mobile game helps Farah solve real-life obstacles. To view the interactive video, visit www.incrediblemachinepresents.com.


Maria Pacheco, vice president of Marketing for Vivendi Games Mobile, accepted the Spike TV 2007 Video Game Award and gave a brief acceptance speech. “We are thrilled that this classic puzzle game has made such a huge come-back and winning this award reinforces Vivendi Games Mobile’s objective of developing state-of-the-art games and designing innovative marketing campaigns that take mobile gaming to the next level.”

Based on Sierra Entertainment's hit PC game franchise from the 1990s, The Incredible Machine for mobile is a favorite of puzzle game enthusiasts everywhere. The objective of the game is to solve up to 80 distinct "real world object" puzzles requiring the construction of a "Rube Goldberg" contraption, using more than 60 different objects such as ropes, pulleys, balloons and other props arranged in the proper sequence to achieve the mandated task. Consisting of 60 brain-teasing levels and 20 bonus levels to unlock, The Incredible Machine features real-time physics and rich, colorful animation bringing to life the game's truly "Incredible Machines."

Vivendi Games Mobile’s SWAT Force® won “Best Wireless Game” at last year’s Spike TV Video Game Awards.

Three more classic video games released on Nintendo Wii shopping channel

Three New Classic Games Added To Wii Shop Channel

This week's classic game additions offer brilliant fantasy and crackling action to help you ring in '08. So if you haven't made any New Year's resolutions yet, allow us to suggest a few: pop more bubbles, battle more medieval beasts and try to save the universe a little more often.

Three new classic games go live at 9 a.m. Pacific time. Nintendo adds new games to the Wii Shop Channel every Monday. Wii owners with a high-speed Internet connection can redeem Wii Points to download the games. Wii Points can be purchased in the Wii Shop Channel or at retail outlets. This week's new games are:

BUBBLE BOBBLE (NES, 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone, 500 Wii Points):
BUBBLE BOBBLE's release in 1986 introduced the two bubble dragons, Bub and Bob, and brand new play mechanics, with players defeating enemies by trapping them in bubbles and then popping them. Although the puzzle-action game can be beaten by clearing all 100 rounds, it also contains secret elements such as not being able to get the "true ending" in single-player mode; hidden commands that lead to secret rounds; and a ton of different items. These elements are some of the game's most memorable and important features. Each round even has different air currents that are not visible, so bubbles rise in unpredictable patterns. Aspects like forcing players to understand and utilize these different patterns while playing help make this a revolutionary game that is fun to play anytime.

Light Crusader (Genesis, 1 player, Rated E for Everyone-Animated Violence, 800 Wii Points):

Each day, more good townspeople of Green Row have been mysteriously disappearing, and beleaguered King Weeden summons the knight Sir David to investigate. Armed with his wits and his sword, Sir David must find the cause of this strange evil and save the citizens of Green Row before things get any worse. Take the role of the brave knight in this action RPG and get to the bottom of the mysteries of Green Row as you fight enemies, solve puzzles and use your best combination of brains and brawn to save the kingdom.

TOP HUNTER (NEOGEO, 1-2 players, Rated E10+ for Everyone 10 and older-Cartoon Violence, 900 Wii Points):
Take on the role of either Roddy or Cathy, bounty hunters in this side-scrolling action game set far in the future when humans have colonized space. But all is not well: Space pirates called the Klaptons are making their way through the galaxies, wiping out peaceful settlements along their path. This disgraceful behavior leads to them having a price on their heads, so now Roddy and Cathy must travel through four distinct worlds on a mission to defeat their leader, Captain Klapton. Both characters have retractable arms-used to grab enemies or other objects in the scenery-that can then be thrown at others to destroy them. Also, be on the lookout for rings or levers to pull, as this might reveal special bonuses. Further adding to the mix, the game uses a unique system where the action happens on two planes, with the player switching between them at will. Can you prove yourself worthy of the Top Hunter name and help save the universe?

For more information about Wii, please visit wii.com.

Costco US selling Nintendo Wii bundles

If you weren't able to get your hands on a Wii this holiday season and you just can't bear to buy into the whole "rain check" thing, then may I suggest you beat feet down to your local Costco. Kotakuite Thomas K. sends in this pic from his local Costco taken just this very morning.

The bundle goes for 344.99 and include the Wii, an extra nunchuck and remote and a copy of Brain Age for the Wii.

So, fly my faithful readers and grab that Wii that you were so viciously denied.

Source: Kotaku

Nintendo Wii Hacked to run Homebrew Software

Watch the video here ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5YB1Mmx7E4

At this last weekend's Chaos Communication Congress, a group of hackers demonstrated a hack for the Wii which allowed them to run software of their own design natively on the system.

This is the first official demonstration of this kind of hack on Nintendo's Wii.

The hack itself - as explained in the above video - is quite complicated and probably far above the average Wii gamer, but it demonstrates the future potential for the system to run code that Nintendo never intended it to. While the technique is basically just a proof-of-concept at this point, expect to see Linux ports and rudimentary homebrew software for the Wii popping up throughout 2008.

The importance of this event is difficult to overstate.

The Wii is a wildly popular system manufactured by a company who is notoriously protective of their secretive hardware. The fact that a group of amateur hackers were able to crack the system's encryption proves, yet again, that despite any attempts to dictate how your hardware should be used, once you've sold it to consumers, it's completely up to them what they want to do with it.

With the hack still in its infancy it presents no danger to Nintendo of draining the company's profits through the unauthorized duplication of software, but you can be sure Nintendo is eyeing this hack with great scrutiny.

Source: Wii Nintendo http://wiinintendo.net/2007/12/28/the-wii-officially-hacked/

Text: Wired http://blog.wired.com/games/2007/12/wii-hacked.html

$1 million goal passed by Child's Play

The videogame chairty Child's Play had a really good year. It seemed like gamers and game makers did their best to get behind the cause, and that has paid off. The Child's Play Web page reports that they were able to beat their goal of $1 million in donations.

Not only did we break the million dollar mark, but we decimated it with our new total of $1,135,000! This significant achievement made this holiday season a happier, brighter one in our fifty partner hospitals. To everyone who has contributed to this amazing milestone, thank you!

The hospital wish lists are still online, and some have seen new items added. While we try to get lots of new games and more to the children in time for the holidays, the hospitals have a need for equipment year-round. Likewise, we will continue to accept donations through Amazon, PayPal and the mail until next year’s fundraiser kicks off.

They say that a final update will be released in January.

Source: Destructoid

EA video games release dates for 2008

25 January
Burnout Paradise
on PS3 XBox 360

22 February
FIFA Street 3
on NDS PS3 XBox 360
Need for Speed ProStreet
on PSP

February
The Sims 2 FreeTime
on PC
The Sims Castaway Stories
on PC

March
Ninja Reflex
on NDS Wii

Quarter One
Army of Two
on PS3 XBox 360

Spring
Command and Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath
on PC XBox 360

Autumn
Tiberium
on PC PS3 XBox 360

Alchemic Dream to assist Xivio.com's online world

Xivio.com, a 3D virtual world and social community, has partnered with online game specialists Alchemic Dream, Inc., to give the site’s members a richer online experience through in-game monitoring, assistance and support.

Xivio is a 3D Flash-driven application that allows users to access all of the site's features without need of software downloads or additional computer configuration. Members can log into Xivio.com at any computer and have complete access to content and online protection tools.



Alchemic Dream will provide email support, chat moderation, in-game events, community management, localization and marketing of the site.

In September 2007, Xivio.com introduced two revolutionary online safety features through a patent-pending Open Ratings System and Parents' Zone.

With simple-to-understand grading tools, TV-style ratings are assigned to any piece of content (photos, music, videos and journal entries) throughout the site. In the Parents' Zone, a child's security settings are managed from an easy-to-use control panel which can be applied to multiple site accounts.

“As we look to expand Xivio.com’s offerings, we needed to find a partner who could assist us with the most important part of our site – the members who use it regularly,” said David Wisotzky, Xivio LLC.
President/CEO. “Alchemic Dream is a leader in MMOG management and their extensive expertise in this area makes them a natural fit for our future goals.”

BOMBERMAN LIVE NEW YEAR'S BASH TOURNAMENT & SWEEPSTAKES - US ONLY

U.S.-Only Leaderboard Tournament Has Top Prize of 100,000 Microsoft Points

udson Entertainment, the North American publishing arm for Hudson Soft, today announced the “Bomberman LIVE New Year’s Bash Tournament & Sweepstakes,” in which U.S. players will compete both for bragging rights and for prizes, including a 1st-place prize of 100,000 Microsoft Points. Registration begins at 9:00 a.m. PST on December 31, 2007 and ends at 8:59 a.m. PST on January 13, 2008.

In the “Bomberman LIVE New Year’s Bash Tournament,” players will drop bombs with reckless abandon. They will attempt to get the most frags on the “Weekly Ranked Friendly Fire Leaderboard” which records performance in the new “Friendly Fire” game mode on any map. This new mode is available only by downloading the “Bomb-Up Pack 3” add-on pack for Bomberman LIVE from Xbox LIVE Marketplace. The tournament begins at 5:00 a.m. PST on January 6, 2008 and ends at 8:59 a.m. PST on January 13, 2008. Concurrently, people will be able to enter the “Bomberman LIVE New Year’s Bash Sweepstakes” by simply registering at the official registration page. (http://www.hudsonentertainment.com/tournament_register.php?tournament_id=1)

“Our goal with Bomberman is to bring the fantastic gameplay to a wider fanbase.” said John Greiner, President and CEO of Hudson Entertainment. “We start off the new year with a big tournament in Bomberman LIVE on XBLA, then move into new Bomberman Land releases on the Wii, DS, PSP, and mobile. We have lots more planned to bring even more fans into the community in 2008.”

For Registration, Official Rules, and more information, visit Hudson’s website.