The eShop has caught it’s stride as of late as Nintendo have been offering a ton of support for for the service as of late, with quality titles being release week after week. Things are only looking up for 3DS owners though, as on March 15th, Sonic the Hedgehog: Triple Trouble, Shinobi and Dragon Crystal will mark the debut of the Game Gear’s debut on the Virtual Console.
If that wasn’t enough, Nintendo have also elaborated on a handful of upcoming releases we will see hit the eShop in the next coming months.
Ketzal’s Corridors – a fast-paced, Aztec-themed action-puzzle game with brilliant 3D graphics and head-to-head multiplayer options. The game lets players race against the clock in 96 shape-matching missions and three multiplayer modes.
Colors! 3D – Nintendo 3DS users of any artistic skill level create and share 3D drawings and digital sketches.
• Punch-Out!!Featuring Mr. Dream (March 8th) – The classic boxing game from the NES returns, featuring fan-favorite characters like Little Mac and Bald Bull.
• Fun! Fun! Minigolf TOUCH!from Shin’en (March 8th) – Use your personalized Mii character to play 81 challenging holes in exotic locations around the globe.
• Zombie Slayer Diox from UFO Interactive (March 22) – A samurai guitarist must use his superior musical chops to defeat zombies in this unique rhythm-action game.
• Arc Style Soccer!! 3Dfrom ArcSystem Works (March/April) – This easy-to-learn, customizable soccer game lets players use photos of their own faces and play wirelessly with friends.
• Rhythm Thief & the Emperor’s Treasure from SEGA (freedemo version, April 19) – Download a demo version to feel the rhythm and beat of the mystery in this spellbinding adventure game.
• Crush3D from SEGA (free demo version, available now) – This unique platform game gives you the ability to change perspective from 2D to 3D as you try to solve brain-teasing puzzles.
Not bad at all. So what do you think? Snagging Sonic, or are you going to wait for Ketzal’s Corridors and the other original titles?
The Japanese are known for doing some crazy things and taking merchandising the absolute extreme, so it should come as no surprise that you can now purchase Dragon Ball branded orange soft drink across Japan to quench your thirst for muscle bound explosion machines who happen to be filled with orange drink.
You can check out the official website for the drink of Super Saiyans here. If you happen to be stopping by in Japan and looking to quench your thirst by drinking from the decapitated body of one of your favourite Dragon Ball heroes and villains, you should certainly do yourself a favour and pick up a can of Dragon Ball, it’s for men with balls of a dragon and it will most certainly (definitely not) give you the power to do a Spirit Bomb on the moon.
So what are you waiting for? Grab a can of decapitated Z warrior today and become as a Super Saiyan (becoming a strong as a Super Saiyan is not a real effect of consuming this drink).
From Dust was this rather interesting god simulator released on digital platforms last year, will be getting released for the Google Chrome as a browser based game in April 2012.
From Dust was a strategy title where you take control of a rather ancient civilisation and have your way with their lives and basically…play god. From Dust will be released as a browser game and will allow players to play it anytime and anywhere from by just opening a separate tab for it on the Google Chrome browser.
The Google Chrome version will retain the HD graphics and introduce some new controls. You can check out the first trailer and screens below.
What’s better than the age old time-killer Solitaire? Having PopCap put their own spin on it, of course. Today, PopCap have launched Solitaire Blitz for Facebook, which will let users try to match cards and collect treasures as fast as they can, with full bragging rights included.
Much like all the other Blitz titles, Solitaire Blitz will have a 60 second timer and has players rush to match cards in an up-and-down sequence, unlocking silver which can be used to get boosts for even higher scores. Decks also display a 20th century art and literature theme, and there is even a fully orchestrated soundtrack that players can get lost into as they get sucked in to the addictive gameplay.
“We’ve taken the world’s most well-known card game and created an exciting new social version using PopCap’s incredibly popular time-based Blitz mechanic made famous by Bejeweled Blitz and Zuma Blitz,” said Scott Willoughby, marketing manager for PopCap Games. “We’ve evolved a traditionally solitary pastime into a friendly, shared experience that’s fun for all ages.”
Now go, play until your eyes burst and collect all your loot before your friends catch on. You can find the new app here and check out how the game works in the trailer below.
Any real fan of racing games will tell you how important the soundtrack can be to set the intense fast paced action and really give atmosphere to the whole experience. Namco Bandai, not wanting to be left out of the mix, have revealed a powerhouse of music with a heavy bass and electronic influence that will feature in their upcoming racer Ridge Racer Unbounded. The soundtrack will be a mix of licensed music from well known established artists as well as giving some emerging talent a little bit of exposure, and will include tracks taken from throughout the franchise history, plus some new compositions.
The licensed music on the soundtrack of Ridge Racer Unbounded comes courtesy of Grammy award winning dubstep producer Skrillex, featuring the tracks “Kill Everybody” and “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites”, as well as The Crystal Method and Noisia and The Upbeats. Other artists included on the monster soundtrack include the ultra respected Scratch Perverts, Unknown Error, OVERSEER, RuN RiOT and Ever Never.
Franchises such as Ridge Racer which have stood the test of time are never complete without that touch of nostalgia that allows older games to rekindle the excitement of their long lost youth. Ridge Racer Unbound has stayed true to its roots, including musical scores from throughout the franchises 18 year history. Hiroshi Okubo, responsible for the games audio from its inception, along with his team have also produced some new tracks to fully compliment the already packed sonic selection of tracks.
Ridge Racer Unbound looks amazing so far from the screenshots and Namco Bandai have stated that it will also feature complete vehicular and enviromental destruction. Theres nothing like crashing into a building at 200kph only to bounce off with no damage to either vehicle or structure. Also featuring a City Creator, players will be able to design their own city tracks and upload them online, challenging others to tackle their creations.
Namco Bandais Ridge Racer Unbound will be available for all Australian and New Zealand gamers from 29th March. For more information on the game please visit
The new Audio Presets Community portion of the Turtle Beach website has been unveiled to gamers around the world. Players that own the Turtle Beach series of products will have access to this area that allows players to share preset audio equalizer levels with each other for many popular titles.
The XP500, XP5 and the Delta headsets will now be compatible with a ‘Advanced Sound Editor (ASE)’ software suite run on a PC for on the fly tweaking and modification of the players audio experience. “Titles for which presets are currently available on the site include The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Batman: Arkham City, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Battlefield 3 and Uncharted 3, amongst many more.”
So be sure to check out the Turtle Beach Presets community for access to these services.
Namco Bandai Games have released two new character trailers for the forth coming and much anticipated anime fighting game, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations. The two trailers focus on the storylines of two fan favourite characters. Those two characters being Zabuza the dangerous swordsman and Jiraiya the former sensei of Naruto.
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations is the latest instalment of the long running Naruto fighting game series and for the first time crosses over between both Part 1 and 2 of Naruto, featuring characters in their younger and older forms.
You can check out both trailers for Naruto Generations below. The game is set for release on the 29th of March for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. Be sure to let us know what you think in the shoutbox and comments section.
Ubisoft have today released a teaser trailer for their upcoming iPhone and iPad racing platformer MotoHeroz. The trailer can be seen below and features some in game footage of the game alongside some extra details of the games features.
MotoHeroz takes the thrill of racing games and mixes it with the charm of platforming games into what is undoubtedly a unique blend of genres. It is set to race it’s way MotoHeroz style onto the iPhone and iPad on the 15th of March.
Check out the trailer below and let us know what you think of MotoHeroz in the shoutbox and comments section.
EA Sports have announced the release of the Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13 demo, available now to download for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 via the PS Network Store and Xbox Live Marketplace.
Gamers will once again have the opportunity to pack their clubs and head to the Augusta National Golf Club in the game as well as take a sneak peek at The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Resort, the host of the 2012 PGA Championship. Holes 14, 15, and 16 at the Augusta National Golf Club and the opening three holes
Check out the trailer that goes with the demo down below and go forth and download the demo now and get swinging!
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13 will be out on March 27th for PS3 and Xbox 360.
Tekken 3D Prime Edition Developer: Arika and Namco Bandai Games Publisher: Namco Bandai Games Platform: Nintendo 3DS Release: 23/2/12 Price: $32.29 – Available Here
Overview
Tekken 3D Prime Edition brings the King of the Iron Fist tournament to a Nintendo console for the second time, this time in full 3D. Primarily being a game for the home console, it’s interesting choice to bring Tekken back to a Nintendo handheld – even Yoshinori Ono (producer of Street Fighter) thought it was an odd choice (at least in the advertisement for the game). With a nearly 10 year franchise behind it, just how much punch does this portable fighter really have?
Story
Tekken fans will know the basic story surrounding the King of the Iron Fist tournament and know the back-story to characters along with their inherent rivalries. Those new to series may be a bit confused by the story, in that there is no integrated story line. The booklet contains no back-story to the cast of 41 characters, and the only means of connecting to any back-story is the film, Tekken: Blood Vengeance, which also comes on the cartridge.
The story of Blood Vengeance takes place between Tekken 5 and Tekken 6, and doesn’t really fit into the timeline or gameplay of 3D Prime. Instead, the film just acts as somewhat of a novelty – allowing players, or rather 3DS owners, to watch a decent 3D movie on their device. For a detailed review of the movie plot, you can always read our review of the cinematic release of Blood Vengeance here. Given that Tekken does have a rich back-story, it would have been nice if it was better integrated in to 3D Prime – easing in new comers to the series and bringing something new to fans.
Gameplay
Tekken fans may notice slight absence from the gameplay modes available to 3D Prime players – that being the lack of a tournament mode. This reflects the story of the game, which as I noted is oddly absent from the cartridge. There are a few main single player modes of play for Tekken, practice, quick battle and special survival. Special survival allows players to fight against a number of characters using one health bar – first 5 enemies, then 10, then 20 and so on. The more characters there are the progressively harder each individual becomes. Milestones are made throughout the survival campaign in the form of special matches, where the enemy will need to be hit a few times to cause any damage. Winning these is rewarded with Tekken Cards, which I will come back to later. Quick battle features two rounds against different levels of opponents, ranging from 1st-9th Kyu and then Dan. The more difficult they become, the more unlikely you are to play as it decreases your winnings and gives to a poor win to loss ratio – which can be seen by players you encounter online.
In terms of functionality, Tekken 3D Prime works wonderfully. I’m not sure if I am totally taken by the addition of combo buttons on the touch screen but I do enjoy the “shift” button function of the right and left shoulders. Not to mention the highly customizable button mapping, which allows placement of favourite combos on the touch screen. There are a wide range of combos to master in order to obtain victory, and the ability to move completely with the in three dimensional space, side stepping in a circle, really makes use of the 3D capabilities of the device. Don’t let the lack of single player game modes phase you too much, if you strip Tekken 3D Prime down to it’s core fighting mechanics, it’s a fantastic game.
Multi-player
Single player fighting games can only go so far. Versing the same AI over and over, upping the difficulty just to test yourself can become as tiresome as actually fighting 40 people back to back with only one health bar. Sadly, Tekken 3D Prime, while it may have a wide selection of characters, doesn’t allow you to use them online as much as a fighting game should. The online multi-player has the most painful lag I’ve ever experienced – making it slightly unfair for new comers who may just sit back in awe as their character gets pummeled in slow motion – without ever having a chance to defend themselves or fight back.
The street pass function is based on sharing 700 cards. It’s possible to equip three to your profile for sharing when out and about, but sadly I have not met anyone else with a 3DS in a long time. This also makes local multi-player games a little difficult too – I can only hope it has a lot less lag then its online counter-part. While some of the drawings are pretty cool, there isn’t all too much to do with this street pass function and I have a feeling you can unlock all 700 cards on your own by playing survival mode.
Visuals and Audio
Visually, 3D Prime is a work of beauty. If the movie acted as a pure novelty, think again. Having used part of the game cartridge to house a movie meant having to increase the game to 60 FPS, which runs beautifully in 3D. Having three dimensions adds real depth to the title, and matches the ability to move through the whole space. The environment is fully interactive, player’s can slam their opponent to the ground, breaking it or even falling down in to a second level. The background music always fits perfectly with the environment, with a few randomly placed humour soundtracks thrown in – for example the fields with yodeling music. The voice acting is fantastic and supports the character design well, which should be noted has not been changed significantly from previous Tekken titles. This is a level of detail I am usually used to in full-scale adventure games, not handheld fighting games. Bravo Namco, bravo.
Overall
Visually stunning, boasting some of the most remarkable 3D I have seen on the 3DS, with a soundtrack to match, Tekken 3D Prime Edition is indeed a fantastic title for the 3DS. However, for Tekken fans it may be slightly disappointing. The fighting mechanics are fantastic, but the serious lack of single player options coupled with the poor multi-player mode means this title is in serious danger of infrequent play. 3D Prime will be great fun while it lasts; my only concern is just how long will it last?
