During Nintendo’s Pokemon Direct conference among the revelation of the newest installments in the long running franchise Pokemon X and Pokemon Y was the revealing of the game’s new protagonist.
The new protagonist can be seen above in male form. The female form of the protagonist was shown briefly but not in a clear enough manner to get much of an idea of design. The male wears a red cap with sunglasses seated on top of them and a blue-ish tracksuit like attire.
What do you think of the new Pokemon protagonist? Let us know in the comments section below.
Nintendo have just dropped a major bombshell in their Pokemon Direct conference. They have announced two new Pokemon games for the Nintendo 3DS.
The two new games are titled Pokemon X and Pokemon Y, both games will be with completely 3D graphics and feature the most immersive and grand world ever in a Pokemon game.
The battles are reminiscent of the Pokemon Stadium games, being in complete 3D. Nintendo will be releasing Pokemon X and Y across the world in October 2013 simultaneously. That’s right a same day release for these games.
You can watch the Pokemon Direct conference below this article.
We will keep you up to date as more information comes to light on these games. Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
An Anime series with a strange name, Gyo Tokyo Fish Attack, has been licensed by Hanabee here in Australia. The Anime series features a rather strange premise in that it seems as though fish on mechanical legs have taken over a portion of Japan. However the story follows the main character Kaori who has to rescue her boyfriend Tadashi.
Gyo Tokyo Fish Attack will be releasing on both DVD and Blu-Ray and is based on the Manga of the same name. As a horror Anime, you can expect it to be quite spooky. The story is created by UFOTABLE and will be interesting to see where this release goes.
Be sure to check out Hanabees official site for more info.
The newest Anime publisher here in Australia, Hanabee, have just announced their launch details for the second part of their Bodacious Space Pirates release. This release is sure to be an excellent followup to the first halves release.
Bodacious Space Pirates is directed by the same guy that directed Ninja Scroll and is animated by the same team that animated Fairy Tail, Satelight. Much like the first release, Part 2 will be launching on both Blu-Ray and DVD formats and will feature both Japanese and English dubs. The second part will be concluding the story over the course of 13 episodes.
There will also be a bunch of Special features and Extras. These will include: Teaser trailer and clean openings and endings.
Be sure to check out our announcement article for the first release. Also make sure you check out the official site for more info.
Fan favourite: Bakemonogatari has been licensed by the Anime distributor here in Australia known as Hanabee. In light of this license, Hanabee have shared with us some details about this upcoming release here in Australia.
What’s interesting about this release is that the series will be launching with a really nice collectable package as well as a seriously cool hardcover book. From what we can tell, the first part will be releasing in March while the second part will be releasing in April.
The following special features and extras have been confirmed so far: Commentary, TV Spots and clean openings and closings. Looks like a good release.
For those of you that have not heard of Bakemonogatari, it is a supernatural series following the character Koyomi Araragi. Also involving a crab-god, a girl that is as light as a feather as well as a snail that can never return home, Bakemonogatari looks like a series that you should be sure to watch.
Be sure to check out the official site for more info. Part 1 launches in March.
Nvidia just announced that they will be entering the handheld market with their console called The Shield. A variety of industry figure-heads have weighed in on the new handheld console, among the commentators were the top dogs of Ubisoft and Epic Games, both of whom expressed excitement and interest over the machine.
Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot sees great potential in the handheld:
“Ubisoft is always excited about new hardware developments, and Shield promises to bring both mobile and PC gamers a great new gaming experience. Seeing the PC version of Assassin’s Creed III run on the device is a great example of this, and further strengthens Ubisoft’s long-standing relationship with Nvidia.”
Co-founder of Epic Games Mark Rein talked up the tech side of the console:
“With Shield, Nvidia brings an uncompromising, high-performance console experience to mobile devices. Amazing games including Real Boxing and Hawken, which utilize the latest Unreal Engine technology, look fantastic on Project Shield. This is just the beginning, and we’re truly excited to see what more Unreal Engine developers will do with so much horsepower in such a compact gaming device.”
It goes without saying that the specs of this handheld are impressive, but does that matter much at the end of the day? What do you think of the Nvidia Shield? Is there reason to be excited? Let us know in the comments section below.
The Samurai Action-Adventure series, Hakuoki, has been licensed by Hanabee here in Australia. Hanabee have shared with us a bunch of details about this upcoming release of theirs.
For those of you that haven’t heard, Hakuoki is based on a game on the Playstation and Nintendo platforms with the same name. The story follows the Shinsengumi, a special police-force that recruits the main character, Chizuru Yukimura. However it seems like the Shinsengumi have some secrets that will come to light throughout the series.
The release will be in DVD format and will be releasing with both an English and Japanese audio track. At the moment Hakuoki has been announced to be releasing with clean opening and closing animations only at this point.
Hakuoki is animated by Studio DEEN and looks like it’ll be an awesome series. It comes out in March. Be sure to check out the official site for more info.
Satoru Iwata, President of Nintendo, has come out and made a statement in regards the reports that the Wii U has sold poorly since its launch in November 2012.
Iwata responded to these claims saying;
“At the end of the Christmas season, it wasn’t as though stores in the U.S. had no Wii U left in stock, as it was when Wii was first sold in that popular boom, but sales are not bad, and I feel it’s selling steadily.”
When asked about the confusion of two versions of the console he had this to say;
“It was the first time Nintendo released two models of the game console at the same time … and I believe there was a challenge with balancing this, specifically, inventory levels for the premium, deluxe package was unbalanced as many people wanted that version and couldn’t find it.”
What do you think of Iwata’s comments on this situation? Let us know in the comments section below.
Overview
Family Party: 30 Great Games Obstacle Arcade sounds exactly like all of those titles most of you see everyday for the Nintendo Wii, awaiting to be bought by a clueless mother – wanting to recapture that magic of Wii Sports for her kids. Yeah, there is something to be said about the term shovelware, as some titles are worthy of the name, while others tragically get deemed part of the cash-in crowd and become forgotten in the process. This is the Wii U though. Shovelware this early? Well, there is a first time for everything, and sadly, this clunker is one that doesn’t even realize what console it’s playing for. Why do I say that? Here is our review.
Gameplay
With mini-game compilations, you know what you’re getting. Family Party: 30 Great Games Obstacle Arcade is no different, as it has 30 different mini-games, wrapped into one package where multiple players can join in together and play. Normally when I review these types of games, I like to look at everything involved and detail each mini-game as it’s own product. Sadly, this title’s offerings are either over in minutes, or have been padded in length to create an illusion of a much more fulfilling experience.
That alone really isn’t the “one great flaw” within this game. Obstacle Arcade starts out swimmingly, presenting the player with four different locations to take their friends to, where you will then partake in the mini-game madness within. Then you are asked to have each player pick their name. This alone is something we don’t think about, as it’s just a name, right? Well, that might be the case most of the time, but no matter what name you enter, Family Party completely ignores it and tries to have you play as some generic boy or girl, while calling you a default name of someone you know nothing about. This may work in Mario, but Luigi, Peach, and the gang are all established characters – and these lifeless and hollow husks just don’t cut it as playing the lead for any one person. Making matters worse is the overly excited teddy bear that acts as the mascot, who tries to be a lovable host, but displays no charms attached in order to do so.
Challenge Mode starts us off within the main course (the other being Freeplay, offering one time quick trips to the games you have already unlocked), where all players involved will pick a zone and play mini-games at random. The player that has the most points from winning bouts will be declared the winner at the end, but that is only if they can stand the mediocrity on display. Family Party utilizes WiiMotes for all of the main games within, and features bonus games that allow one player the self-proclaimed privilege of using the Gamepad to play. Yes, that is a problem in itself, but we will get to that in a moment.
The Wiimote centric mini-games include the likes of horse racing, maze exploring, and other various themed activities, but come off as mostly broken or flat out boring affairs. For instance, there was one game that sort of functioned where all players must use the Wiimote pointers to drag a dot in a maze without touching an electric wall. There were a few bells to ring to get points along the way – but honestly, this mini-game felt as if it would have been released 15 years ago during the early days of flash. A good number of the mini-games also rely heavily on waggling to progress (most of the racing events), and the detection for even that simple function is not even all there.
Once a game is won, a wheel can be spun to select a bonus round, where the winner will get to use the Gamepad. My first experience with this was an asteroid blasting game. The Gamepad user had to touch asteroids before they hit Earth on the screen, while the other players had to take control of paddles with the Wiimotes and knock them to the planet. The Wiimote player’s role in this game was almost non-existant, as it was no fun trying to even hit an asteroid, with little to no indication of what do actually do and just a colored strip of debris determining who was hitting what asteroid. The Gamepad user didn’t get to have much fun either, as all they got to partake in was an uninspired tapping of rocks to prevent the other player’s shots from hitting Earth. That is the general idea of what to expect from these bonuses. The saddest part about this set-up is that Family Party doesn’t even reward the winner with something special, as the Gamepad portions are just generic and usually broken offerings.
Even though my first few games were terrible, I kept looking for that gem. We all know that there is usually one or two decent mini-games in these types of compilations – but that just never came to be. All 30 of these offerings fail to deliver any entertainment, and feel as if they were made for the original Wii and just plastered on the Wii U at last minute due to the lack of full Gamepad support for the entire package. I hate to say it, but this obstacle arcade is one with no redeeming qualities whatsoever, as every mini-game feels unfinished, lacking the polish and quick burst of fun that make party romps fun.
Visuals and Audio
If I had to praise anything within Family Party: 30 Great Games Obstacle, it would be that there is a lot of color. A lot of color, plastered on to ugly looking models with plain, boring backdrops. The Wii U may be a powerful piece of hardware – but none of it gets used here, as there are framerate drops, choppy animations, and graphical glitches in almost every mini-game. Sure, there are themes, but each are devoid of atmosphere or character. Sticking a few rockets and stars on a map and calling it “Space” just isn’t good enough.
The audio doesn’t do much to help the final product. The mascot narrates every mini-game, and repeats the same one-liners over and over while the players try to win. It’s sloppy, annoying, and another major issue with Family Party. Unfortunately, the soundtrack isn’t much better. Each song sounds lively enough, but unfitting with the theme for the zone at hand completely. I don’t want to act is if an amazing soundtrack is needed for a sub-par party game, but if you are going to aim for a younger market, make sure you use some tunes to grab those young ears – and not unlicensed drivel that does nothing to promote the fun this Family Party was supposed to be all about.
Overall
Family Party: 30 Great Games Obstacle Arcade advertises itself as a Wii U game with a budget price, but that in itself is a lie. Family Party feels like it was made for the Wii, ported to the Wii U, and rushed in extra features with the Gamepad just to make the cut onto the console’s early line-up. Wii games can still be fun, but not one of these 30 included mini-games are enjoyable, as each suffer from major problems, uninspired characters, and lackluster concepts as a whole. At first, I was insulted that this could have even seen a release, but there is one good thing about a game like this existing this early for a new console. Family Party: 30 Great Games Obstacle Arcade’s only merit is that is should be looked at by all other developers as what not to do this generation – and that is to completely fool and take advantage of a market that might be attempting to get their children a game with a low price-tag. Avoid this trash like the plague.
It’s that time of the month. After a nice dose of rewards last month, Nintendo have came back big yet again, delivering four more titles that you can spend those hard earned coins for. So what’s up for grabs?
This month, and all of the way til Feb. 10th, Mario Kart 64 can be purchased for 200 coins, which is also the same price for Punch Out!!! Featuring Mr. Dream for the 3DS Virtual console. For 150 golden chips, you can also cash in on the Game Boy version of Tetris on the 3DS, as well Snowpack Park for the WiiWare. Honestly, I thought the bigger rewards were to celebrate Christmas, but it seems Club Nintendo has some momentum built up, and now is the time to start taking those surveys and claiming your bounty.
