CVG's top 20 Nintendo news items from Tetris to Zelda

There's something of a musical theme this month, with a nice spot of Mega Man remixing, some completely unexpected game-related songs and what we think is a professional Japanese Rhythm Tengoku concert.

Next time it'll be all food or cakes, if we can find enough of them. Or maybe shoes or scarves or papercraft or weapons. No promises, though.

Read full post here on CVG...

10 iPhone video games for Mother's Day

Ah, so that time of year has come around. Mother's Day is here again.

If you haven't got a prepared bunch of flowers already, you'd better either be praying or about to head out to search for some. I don't fancy your chances though.

If the worst comes to the worst though, why not give them some games instead. Of course, ideally we'd recommend flowers, chocolates and games as the trinity of elements that guarantee a happy mothering sunday, so don't use us as an excuse not head on down to the florist.

The iPhone has a whole host of mother-friendly games, whether she's already an avid game hoarder or if she turns her nose up at the idea of fingering a D-pad. We've rounded up ten of the best. Consider it a life line in case the florist runs out of flowers.
Read the full post here on Pocket Gamer...

Big Bang Mini - fireworks shoot'em up game on Nintendo DS

Big bang mini is a fast-paced shoot’em up that puts a new spin on classic arcade style gameplay, all wrapped around a fireworks theme.

Your objective is to navigate your ship through a brilliant array of lights, dodging intense streams of firework debris as it rains down on you.

Defeat waves of challenging enemies by deploying fireworks and performing combo attacks.

Use the stylus to create fireworks in order to deal with waves of enemies that loom overhead, miss and you’ll be forced to tackle another challenge, avoiding falling sparks created by your missed explosions.

Ship movement and shooting are independent of each other so you can launch shots from anywhere on the touch screen, regardless of where your ship is positioned.

As the game progresses your stylus skills are tested further as the shots you make which destroy enemies will explode in a colourful spectacle, but shots that miss explode when they hit the edge of the screen and rain down dangerous debris towards your ship.

Each level brings with it a new jazzy presentation, from the comic book style version of the New York to the watercoloured ghost village of Kamakura, where the darkness plays a role.

Another level played out over the night time Parisian rooftops has you slowing down for a few seconds to get a better shot at the enemies by slashing downward on the touch screen with the stylus.
The end of each level comes with a unique opportunity for would-be fireworks designers to make the Final Bouquet – a one-of-a-kind masterpiece that will proclaim your victory.


With over 90 levels to complete, Big Bang Mini offers players huge scope for its special brand of fireworks fun. In Versus mode you can challenge another DS owner to a shootout on one game card.

In Versus, you hold the DS sideways and shoot volleys of fireworks at your opponent on the other screen and the various power-ups and environmental hazards soon adds to the general chaos of the game.

Boasting bright and innovative visual games combined with the stellar music and quirky sound-effects Big Bang Mini is definitely one of the more desirable games currently available for the DS.

GAME: Big Bang Mini
FROM: SouthPeak
PLATFORM: Nintendo DS
PRICE: £19.99
RATING: E (everyone)

Nintendo release new Punch-Out!! video game info

The new video game shows some of the opponents you have to meet.

Your mission is to rise from the Bronx to become World Champion.

You may recognise some of your challengers.

• Glass Joe
• Von Kaiser
• Disco Kid
• King Hippo

Watch the trailer here and decide if you have what it takes to meet the challenge

Pokemon Creators talk to IGN - Which creator loves beauty contests? And who names their Pokemon after candy?

Last month we had the honor of speaking with Game Freak director Junichi Masuda and game designer Takeshi Kawachimaru, the creators for the upcoming Pokemon Platinum.

Earlier this week Nintendo gave us another opportunity to sit down with the creative force behind everyone's favorite pocket monster game. We got to ask them a few more questions about Platinum, and quite a few more questions about their personal experience with the Pokemon games.

Mr. Masuda has been with Pokemon since Day One on the original Game Boy providing much of the audio. He directed the original DS games Diamond and Pearl, and composed much of the music in the design. Mr. Kawachimaru has been designing Pokemon since Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire, and in Pokemon Platinum he served as the game's director.

Read the full post here on IGN...

Bungie to release Halo Mythic Map Pack on April 9th?

Kotataku are speculating on their site here...

The Bungie post can be found here - a good read for Halo fans...

Inching ever closer to the release of the Mythic Map Pack, we've got plenty to spout off about this week, from office reshuffling to our official Facebook page. If you came for a feast of information, break out the bib, there's bound to be crumbs this week.

Halo 3: ODST

It's been quite some time since we've issued any kind of progress report on Halo 3: ODST. Our lips have been zipped for good reason. Heads are ducked down and new builds are being kicked out at a blistering pace. More on that in a moment.

The studio underwent some changes this week, with one of our more auspicious spaces once reserved exclusively for playtesting the new hawtness undergoing an abrupt and violent gutting. No worries, it's been born anew, the interior retrofitted for a new and paramount purpose.

What was a once a swank lounge boasting more monitors than most people could dream of is now the Official Halo 3: ODST War Room boasting slightly less monitors than most people could dream of. The Halo 3: ODST Project leads are locked inside with and won't return to the studio's fold until the All Clear has been sounded, signaling the completion of ODST's post-production.

Read the full post here...

Grand Theft Auto IV PC Patch number 3 Released - Link here

The third patch for the PC release of Grand Theft Auto 4 is now available from FileShack.

Update 1.0.3 brings improved graphics and physics performance, greater user control over graphic settings, and the elimination of remapping restrictions for keyboard and mouse.

Full change notes follow

Version 1.0.3.0 - March 19, 2009

GRAPHICS:

• Interior Lights for ATI 1900 series cards:
  
• All light sources appear for users with 1900 series ATI cards. (ie. Pool Mini Game)
  
• ALT-TAB fixed
  
• Graphics Settings:
  
• Added menu option " OFF " for Reflection quality
  
• Added menu option " OFF " for Shadow quality
  
• PERFORMANCE:
  
• Physics optimizations to improve situations with heavy physics calculations (ie. 32 player races)
  
• Graphical Performance Optimizations
  

MULTIPLAYER:

NAT Type detection
Detect if user has a " strict " NAT and displays message for user
Voice chat is received even if your microphone is turned off

CONTROLS:

• Keyboard / Mouse
  
• Remapping restrictions removed
  
• Allow Enter, Backspace, and Arrow keys to be remapped by user
  
• Allow multiple mouse buttons to be mapped
  
• Enable/Disable DirectInput in Menu
  
• Users can now activate/deactivate Direct Input devices from "Controls" menu.
  
• If commandline "-usedirectinput" is active, it will override pause menu setting.
  
• Use 2 direct input devices simultaneously (ie. Wheel and Gamepad)
  
• Users can now use 2 different controllers at once, including 1 XInput and 1 Direct Input device.
  
• Added more Direct Input / XInput device support
  
• Saitek P380/P480/P580/P990
  
• Saitek PS1000/PS2700/P3200/P3600
  
• Gravis Eliminator Shock gamepad
  

SECURITY:

• Detect modified files and prevent users from entering multiplayer if found
  
• Game will prompt with a message after blocking user with modified data files from entering multiplayer
  
• Should prevent multiplayer access from cell phone and GFWL join in progress
  

VIDEO EDITOR:

• Scroll Bar improved response
  
• Tweaked to respond better to keyboard inputs
  
• Sped up load times for users with many clips
  

TITLE UPDATE 2 FIXES:

• Return of Hot Dog Stands and other props
  
• Missing hot dog vendors, fences, gates, pylons should be present throughout the world.
  
• Scrolling signboards
  
• Activate missing scrolling signboard text (ie. highway signs, Star Junction, Clock Tower Sign)
  
• ALT-TAB pauses game during cutscenes
  
• Cutscenes should now pause and resume correctly after an ALT-TAB task switch. Audio remains in sync.
  

GENERAL ADDITIONS / FIXES:

• Mismatched MODO/Perseus Clothing
  
• Fixed a bug when Niko mixes clothing from Perseus and Modo
  
• 360 Controller Texture
  
• Controller image should be visible in Controller Configuration screen
  

Source: ShackNews

Bug delays Xbox 360 Grand Theft Auto IV DLC Midnight Club Los Angeles South Central but PS 3 goes ahead...

A statement from Rockstar advises, "The Xbox 360 version of Midnight Club: Los Angeles South Central, set to release on Xbox LIVE and PlayStation Network today, has not yet gone live on Xbox LIVE due to an unforeseen bug in the title update.



"We are currently working as quickly as we can to resolve this issue, and we will notify everyone as soon as the DLC is made available. Thank you for understanding and your patience. Please note that this issue does not affect the DLC on the PlayStation Network – it is currently live and available for download."

Entropia PC video game granted banking licence by Sweden

Online game Entropia Universe has been granted a licence to be a bank.
Issued by the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority, the licence means the game can be more closely tied to the real world finances of players.
Mindark, the developers of the game, said it aimed to launch a fully-functioning in-game bank within the next 12 months.
At current exchange rates, 10 PED (Project Entropia Dollars) are worth one US dollar.

Unlike many other online games, which charge a monthly subscription fee, the software for Project Entropia is free to download and install.

Read full post here on the BBC

Microsoft to turn Xbox 360 into more than a console....

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has spoken of how well Microsoft’s Xbox business has been doing, and has hinted at a broader future for the 360.
Speaking during a media conference in New York (as covered by MediaMemo.com), Ballmer said that the Xbox business was doing “great”, describing it as both an “incredible asset” and “opportunity”.

According to the transcription, Ballmer spoke of how the Xbox business had “turned the corner”, and that with a big base of subscribers and the upfront costs paid, Microsoft had a real opportunity to turn the 360 into “more than a console”.

Ballmer didn’t specify how exactly this would be achieved, but suggested that gamers would “see that 12 months from now.”

In recent times, Microsoft has spoken of wanting to unify ‘the three screens’ of mobile, television and PC. It could be in reference to that – or it could be something else entirely.

Whatever it is, it seems like Microsoft won’t be talking about it until it’s good and ready. Our guess is that we may hear something at E3, although as soon as anything happens, we’ll let you know.

Source: Gamer