Just when you think the Wii might be done, Nintendo throw yet another curveball and announce yet another release. Well, sort of this time. Back at E3, Rhythm Heaven for the Wii was quietly announced. After quite some time, Nintendo have finally set a release window for the game, which is now titled Rhythm Heaven Fever.
If you played Rhythm Heaven on the DS, you should know what to expect as this title involves the same frantic, rhythm/action styled mini-games where players must use their ears to be successful. It’s honestly a bit sad that Rhythm Heaven fills so many bargain bins these days, and I really hope this new Wii release will get the series the respect it deserves. Either way though, Wii owners can rest easy knowing that Rhythm Heaven Fever will hit stores sometime in February.
We further our decent into Skyrim, play The Old Republic, we talk about the upcoming PS Vita launch and Sony’s crazy advertising, Microsoft is about to launch it’s new dashboard update and we have Spike hosting gameshow with diabolical trickery.
Cast: Alexis Ayala, Matt Vella, Michael Marr and Jessica Barabas-Bui
If anyone has a right to celebrate about sales from Black Friday, it’s Microsoft. Last week alone, 960,000 Xbox 360 systems were sold in the U.S., with 800,000 being sold in a 24 hour period. As many of you were probably aware, you couldn’t go anywhere last week without seeing some kind of sale on the system or the Kinect bundles, which definitely played a large role in these record breaking sales.
With nearly one million in one week alone, we should now start expecting to see even more coming from Microsoft in the next year as they will be sure to treat those new-found Xbox 360 owners with even more new features and titles over the next year to keep their 360s at the forefront of their gaming setups…or so we hope. Either way, congrats Microsoft, you win this one.
Don’t Fall Off Developer: Inlogic Software Publisher: EA Mobile Platforms: iPhone, iTouch, iPad (reviewed) Release Date: September 29, 2011 Price: $0.99 – Available Here
Overview
Don’t Fall Off is a game based on a little roly-poly animal, called Rollie funnily enough, who decides that he wants to take a trip around the world in a paper boat. Putting aside the kind of ridiculous context of the game, it seems like one of those incredibly addictive apps, so does it have the makings of one of those popular casual games that keep you coming back for more?
Gameplay
Don’t Fall Off makes use of the gyroscope function of the iPhone and iPad and that’s pretty much the only control you’re going to need to worry about, apart from every so often tapping the screen. There’s a small paper boat that you have to keep Rollie on, by tilting your device from side to side.
But that isn’t the only thing that you’ve got to deal with. Clouds come along every so often, and the raindrops are so strong that they make Rollie fall off the side of the boat. Poor guy, he’s like the Wicked Witch of the West. In a somewhat less Wicked Witch move, coconuts and lava also throw him off, which is quite understandable.
There are bonuses that help you out with protecting your Wicked Witch Rollie from those terrifying raindrops, such as the power to vaporize raindrops, sunshine and umbrellas. These pop up randomly on the screen, to activate them you touch them and then the sunshine gives you a short reprieve from those dang raindrops, and the umbrella protects his poor little head.
You are scored depending on how long you can stay on the boat, which is why there are no checkpoints in the game so you better get used to the first couple of levels.
In the beginning you are given little paperclips on the edges of your boat which stop Rollie from rolling off, which gradually lower in angle until he loses the training wheels completely and is allowed to roll around the boat at will. Not that you spend a lot of time taking advantage of the paperclips anyway, because after your first go around you shouldn’t need to use that crutch at all.
In regards to whether or not this is one of those apps that don’t need a complex storyline or gameplay to get you obsessed with it? Well, for me it fell a little short. The bonuses weren’t super interesting or that incredibly useful, I didn’t really care about getting them or not they were just something that turned up every so often. The controls were so easy that most people will be able to grasp them quite easily, but they’re almost too easy. There’s nothing with an interesting challenge there. I mean, sure, there’s the idea of beating people’s times, but the game needs more than just the competitive nature of people to bring you coming back again and again. There’s just that little missing element which leaves it falling short.
Visuals
Visually there really isn’t much to Don’t Fall Off. Rollie is a simply designed little circle animal of sorts and the only thing that changes is the background. And the backgrounds aren’t incredibly detailed either. If you’re looking for a visually stunning app you’ll really have to look elsewhere, although the stylised nature isn’t necessarily a bad thing,
Audio
The soundtrack sounds like something out of the Beach Boys, because you’re surfing the waves on a boat, get it? The soundtrack isn’t annoying or super in your face, it’s something that you can listen to pretty easily. Which is more than I can say for some apps. Unfortunately this seems to be one of the better aspects of the app at the moment.
Overall
Don’t Fall Off seems to have the ideas and feel of one of those popular casual apps that keep you coming back time and time again. However, it just doesn’t make the cut in terms of bringing the addictive nature that makes casual apps so damn popular. Don’t Fall Off still remains a game that you will give a few goes, but ultimately lose interest in because there just isn’t that much progression in the game.
But if you’re looking for an app which is easy to get going and can be done in short bursts (although you’ll be wanting for the short bursts to be long, since that’s the whole point of the game) and you enjoy tilt games then you may enjoy this game.
While many of you hardcore Mario fans in North America have to wait until December 7th to get your hands on Mario Kart 7, those in Australia and New Zealand will be able to get it a few days early on December 3rd. As many of you are aware, this Mario Kart lets players take to the streets of Mushroom Kingdom and race through several different tracks with many new inclusions to the series.
Also featured in Mario Kart 7 is the ability to take to the skies with a glider attachment or dive underwater to continue the race in the seas. Yes, this is yet another big 3DS release we have been waiting for and in barely under a week, Mario and all of his campy pals will hit stores worldwide.
However, we all know that apps are the way to go for a simplified experience. And thus, Dragon Shout has arrived. Coming to iOS as soon as it passes certification, this app will allow you to do a plethora of awesome stuff.
“The first version of the app contains an interactive map where you can drop annotated markers / journal entries down,” the developer told Touch Arcade. “For example, yesterday I played Skyrim and left a bunch of dragon scales and bones on the side of a mountain because they were too heavy.”
In the next update, the developer also promised social networkincorporation, with “marker sharing, party or app-wide chats, pictures, and more.”
Oh man, I always get excited when I see an indie game with cool ideas, a great soundtrack and some nice artwork. And that is precisely what the new game from Techtonic features. Titled Bust-n-Rush, this game has you running through procedurallly generated levels as you “Bust to Rush.” Coming soon to the PC and Mac, this is one game to watch.
Check out the trailer below and then let us know what you think.
People play video games on phones other than the Droid and the iPhone. Yes, we know its crazy, but ’tis truth! And those are the games that will now be rated by the ESRB. AT&T Wireless, Sprint, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular and Verizon Wireless have all agreed to use the ESRB rating system for their mobile games. In addition, Microsoft has also signed off on the agreement, thus meaning that all their gaming apps on the WP7 will be rated in a similar way to the way their Xbox 360 games are. Developers will be required to fill out a survey that asks them to rate their games and then an ESRB score will be assigned. The ESRB score for mobile apps will account for privacy and location based concerns.
However, Apple and Google have declined to go with the ESRB, as they already have an app rating system, albeit less recognizable than the ESRB ratings.
Overall, I strongly applaud this move and think it is a great move by the ESRB and phone companies alike.
Zumba is a craze sweeping the nation! Or that’s what my television tells me at 2 in the morning. Well, Zumba certainly swept the fitness game titles, selling more than 4 million copies and being the number one on the wish list of fitness gamers (and they just might happen to be females… so what?).
Zumba Fitness 2 builds on the foundation of the first one, with all new routines, music, customization features and 24 dance styles, more than any other game out there. The Zumba presenters Beto, Tanya Beardsley and Gina Grant are there to egg you on through all the new styles and venues. There is single song, full clas and multiplayer mode, with support for up to four dancers.
So get those hips swaying and those abs defining, cos that’s what Zumba is all about!
Zumba Fitness 2 is available on the Wii at the RRP of $69.95 or HERE for $40.32
We’ve seen a few screenshots of Tecmo Koei’s Dynasty Warriors Next for the PlayStation Vita but we have yet to see how the game is actually going to look in motion. Or that is until now when Tecmo Koei of Japan released the two videos you can see below which cover plenty of the action that we will be seeing when the title is released.
Unfortunately the title has yet to actually see a North American release date yet, but it is slated as a launch title on December 17th for the PlayStation Vita in Japan. You can see the two videos below and also see how the motion controls and touch pad will factor into gameplay once it is released.
