Bomberman explodes on WiiWare and the Nintendo Wii

Thanks to Hero of Legend for pointing out a common misconception about Hudson’s Wii Bomberman game in the comments. When the title was announced Famitsu pinned it as a WiiWare title, in fact they still do. However, Hudson’s WiiWare page lists four games: Star Soldier R, Joysound, Tetris and Bomberman with a spring release date.

The Bomberman game with Mii support and online play for eight via Nintendo Wi-Fi comes out in June. Glancing through Hudson’s Wii release schedule they have another Bomberman game also called Bomberman scheduled to come out in June. It appears the Bomberman title we previously mentioned is actually a retail game, which makes actually makes more sense. I was wondering how Hudson could pack single player stages and online play in such a tiny amount of space.

So what about Bomberman WiiWare? Yes, there is still a Bomberman WiiWare game and John Lee from Hudson explains, “It's coming. Details are still being finalized. It will be different than Bomberman Live. But it's still the classic Bomberman, if you catch my drift. It's probably one of the few classic games we are bring out on Wii Ware, but digital download is really where Bomberman shines.”

Source: Siliconera

Xbox Drops 500 Limited Edition GTA IV 360s

Microsoft added to the buzz leading up to the anticipated release of Grand Theft Auto IV by dropping a limited run of 500 GTA-branded Xbox 360 Elite systems and a briefcase full of peripherals today. We got our hands on number 170 out of 500. More pics after the jump.

The guys at Xbox took an Elite system and, using automotive-quality paint, touched up the sides of the 360 with the GTA IV box art and a serial number.

Not a bad way to welcome the first title in the franchise that didn’t drop as a Sony exclusive. Rockstar is also producing exclusive episodes for 360 users available for download this fall. Hopefully it involves Bill Gates and Warren Buffet rolling up on GTA IV’s featured hitter Niko Bellic.

The game finally drops on April 29. Unfortunately, the limited run of GTA IV 360s ain’t available in stores.

Source: Complex

Another new mysterious Nintendo Wii system update is avaialble

And yet another Wii system update is now available.

There was only a new update made available on on the 20th March in preparation for WiiWare, but there is no word on what this latest update is for or contributes to the state of play.

Namco looking into Nintendo Wii-arcade linking

Filed under: NewsNamco Bandai seems to have come up with a solution to their problem of (possibly) Nintendo Wii-fueled arcade downturn: involving the Wii in the arcade.

According to a very sad Asahi Shimbun report about closing arcades, Namco is now planning games that will allow data to be shared between the cabinet and the Nintendo Wii - we assume by Nintendo Wii Remote data transfer.Home/arcade integration from Namco is not terribly surprising, since Tekken 5 actually has PlayStation 2 controller ports on the cabinet.

No, the really interesting thing about this story is trying to figure out what Namco Bandai is going to design for play on both the Wii and in the arcade.

The news article is pretty interesting in other ways, as well: it goes into possible reasons for arcade business slowdown other than the Wii ... like the economy.

Source: Video Game Top 10

Ubisoft games acquire Tom Clancy name for video games, related products

Ubisoft makes Tom Clancy-branded video games such as Splinter Cell, Ghost Recon and Rainbow Six.

French video game maker Ubisoft said it acquired intellectual property rights to the Tom Clancy name for use in video games, books and movies.

Ubisoft now expects to have a net cash position of about 130m eur at the end of its fiscal year, down from a previous forecast of about 150m eur.

Ubisoft will make additional, unspecified payments for the Tom Clancy rights in each of its next two fiscal years as well, Ubisoft said in a statement.

Royalty savings generated by the acquisition are expected to have an average positive impact on Ubisoft's operating profit of at least 5m eur per year.


Source: Thomson.com

Guitar Hero three legends of rock Rock Icon website

Watch the crazy people perform on stage - Guitar Hero three legends of rock Rock Icon

http://www.releaseyourrockstar.com/en

Namco Bandai head-to-head with THQ in cheerleading games

After the announcement from THQ of a cheerleading game for the Wii and DS, Namco Bandai has announced they're also bringing a cheerleading game to the Wii in the form of We Cheer.

Seemingly in the same series as their earlier-announced skiing game We Ski, Namco trademarked the name We Cheer with the US Patent and Trademark Office this week.

THQ's All Star Cheer Squad title has been announced to support the Wii Balance Board, but there's no word on any details for We Cheer's support of the peripheral, or a release date for any region so far.

Gibson Sues Game Stores in 'Guitar Hero' Spat

Dude, this is so not metal: Gibson is suing Wal-Mart, Target, Toys "R" Us, Amazon.com, K-Mart, and Gamestop for selling Guitar Hero, the overwhelmingly popular game from Activision .

The reason? Because Gibson claims that the controller used in the game is in violation of one of its patents, according to the Associated Press. The patent in question seems a little iffy: "...simulate participation in a concert by playing a musical instrument and wearing a head-mounted 3-D display that includes stereo speakers," it reads in part.

The company had already sued Activision, and has extended its suit to protect its intellectual property, according to the company: "In Gibson's lawsuit, it states the company 'has been damaged and will continue to be damaged by the aforesaid infringement unless defendants are enjoined, preliminarily and permanently, from selling and offering for sale infringing products ...'" the AP reported.

Naturally, those retailers that have responded have said the suit is without merit. Activision stopped just short of indemnifying them, though, which would have offloaded all legal liability onto Activision's shoulders.

Next generation games review for XBox 360 Playstation and Wii - Gran Turismo 5 - Prologue - Rainbow Six Vegas 2 +

Next generation games review

Screaming down a hairpin, taking out the trash and playing tennis with a hedgehog and a monkey, I have been working my thumbs to bone tracking down some of the best games soon to hit the shelves.

Gran Turismo 5 - Prologue

Decent exclusive PS3 titles have been fairly thin on the ground so far, but finally we are starting to see some of the games we were promised when the machine launched.

Power sliding onto Sony's PlayStation 3 console comes the oft-delayed Gran Turismo 5 - Prologue.


The full version of the game is due out in 2009 in the UK and late 2008 in the US and Japan but a cut-down version is being released in late March to whet the appetite of the franchise's fans.

In the early version there are 71 motors to choose from and high-definition visuals that make previous incarnations of GT look like the crude scrawls of an infant.

Rainbow Six Vegas 2

PS3-exclusive titles might be a bit thin on the ground, but there are plenty of games which are available for both the PS3 and Microsoft's XBox 360.

This game rather explosively falls into this category, and has set its laser sight on Call of Duty 4's crown as top first-person shooter.

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six team is back for another pop at taking out the bad guys in Sin City. The plot behind this shooter makes the Die Hard movies seem cerebral, and basically involves dispatching hordes of balaclava-clad bad guys.

But it is the ability to direct your AI-controlled team to do your every spec-ops bidding that makes this title so much fun.

Sega Superstars Tennis

This is another all formats title for those who will be left with a headache after all those screeching tyres and booming guns. Perhaps the cartoonish charms of Sega Superstars Tennis will soothe their aching head.

In this game, classic Sega characters such as Sonic the Hedgehog and the big-eared simian from Monkey Ball limber up for a tennis title with a twist.

Characters can perform special moves, obstacles can be introduced to the court, and the whole thing feels a million miles away from most of the dark and gloomy titles dominating contemporary gaming.

Wii Fit

If Nintendo has its way we will all be cancelling our gym memberships and getting fit with the help of its videogames console and a weird bit of plastic that you stand on.


With the aid of the balance board peripheral, Wii Fit puts the user through a series of exercises in the comfort of their living room.

Stand on the board and the Wii measures how much exercise the user is doing.

These exercises range from Yoga tasks, to weird imaginary hula hoop competitions, to daily fitness tests that can be saved and the progress viewed via the power of onscreen diagrams.

More on this BBC story here

Rock Band Gets Music Store Update

Harmonix gives Rock Band a major software update, plus an in-game Music Store.

Like Rock Band but hate some the quirks that impeded your game play and made wailing away to Ozzy not as intense as it should have been?

Well, Harmonix said it was listening, and Thursday it came through with a major software update for the title as well as the introduction of a slick in-game Music Store for the PS3 and Xbox 360.

The Music Store will be accessible from the main menu, and an overview over at Game|Life Thursday describes the Rock Band Music Store experience as fast, easy to navigate and full-featured.

You will also be able to preview songs before you buy them, and can check out the difficulty level broken down by instrument before buying as well.

As for the nitty gritty software update, here's just a sampling of what Harmonix says is only the beginning of a series of bug fixes planned for Rock Band:

- Faster loading of downloaded content. You download list is now going to be cached, meaning it only needs to load up once, not every time the system is turned on.

- PlayStation 3 microphone latency issues have been addressed, somewhat. This is not a 100% solution to the PS3's microphone lag with some setups, but it should work in some situations, Harmonix said.

- Fan cap revision -- Increase on number of fans possible. Easy allows travel across Atlantic, Medium has a wider range of venues and Hard players (on the Xbox 360) can unlock the "One Million Fans" achievement.

Joystiq has a pretty extensive list of what's left in the Rock Band update.

In related news, Harmonix reps also said Thursday that more than 6 million Rock Band songs have been downloaded so far by its musically inclined fan base. The Music Store should go a long way toward doubling that figure.