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PopCap and TAITO bring “Pop Tower” to Japan

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Only in Japan, would they call their next generation mobile gaming platform “Pop Tower TM“. So named, because of the partnership between PopCap Games and TAITO Corporation (TATIO(R)) of Square Enix Holding Co subsidiary. PopCap are world leaders in social and networking games; with smash hits such as Bejewled, Zuma and Chuzzle. The dedicated service will go live, in Japan, early next year.

Specifically Pop Tower will aim to showcase modified or otherwise ‘custom social adaptions’ of the above games and other from PopCaps’ back catalog. As can be expected, premium offers are available as will be the option for more network play with friends, as well as the obvious additional content ‘exclusive’ to Pop Tower. This is breaking ground for the Tokyo office of PopCap games who just this year also agreed to bring their first multiplayer game service: PopCap World, to Korea. PopCap continues to dominate the market in both Japan, China and Korea.

Other good news is that while TAITO are used to casual and arcade games from way back in the beginning of arcade machine development, they have held up well in a market now dominated with online, social and networking games.

James Gwertzman, PopCap’s Vice President for Asia/Pacific, said:

Social games on mobile devices looks set to dominate gaming worldwide and Japan is already ahead of the curve. PopCap is about identifying the curve and getting ahead of it. It’s not about being “trendy” or “first”; it’s about being the best; taking the talent and time to create something genuinely innovative. The Japanese game market is the second largest in the world, but historically, few Western companies have succeeded here.

PopCap believes the way to succeed globally is to think and act locally. We’ve set up a local team in Japan, and are very excited to collaborate with TAITO, one of the most dynamic Japanese companies in the social mobile space today. Our ambition for Pop Tower is to bring the best of PopCap – core game franchises like Bejeweled and Zuma – to Japanese customers; and hopefully make some discoveries about the mobile social space that we can then share with gamers internationally.


Their first iPhone app: Bejeweled 2 has built on the success that the Bejeweled franchise in general is heralded as kick starting the social gaming trend. The number of subsequent adaptations are enormous. We can only assume that PopCap have named their platform ‘Tower’ because of the model for menu access and file storage and networking (imagine one person at the top with an exponential number of contacts and data spreading out underneath in a ‘tree’ )

Mr Akihito Shoji, TAITO’s Senior Vice President of Content, said:

With Bejeweled and a host of other successful properties, PopCap Games is a casual gaming giant. The social game market is undergoing remarkable growth, and we have high hopes for this partnership. Mobile social game are a critical part of our overall strategy, with much of our resources devoted to the design and management of games that are not only fun pastimes, but also foster interaction and communication between players. We’re confident that our mobile social market experience and PopCap’s strong casual properties is a winning combination, and one that will deliver a whole new experience to the game users.

Developed by TAITO under the supervision of PopCap’s Tokyo office, Pop Tower is due to launch in early 2011 on GREE, a leading Japanese social network.

Cosmonaut Celebrates the Anniversary of 5 Spots Party With HUGE European Contest!

It has been a year since Cosmonaut Games released 5 Spots Party and to celebrate, the developer is giving away two copies of their first WiiWare title each day for the whole month of November.

This contest is exclusive to the European Region. To enter it is rather simple as well.

STEP 1: To be a @CosmonautGames follower in Twitter

STEP 2: Write this twitter message: “@CosmonautGames I want my free copy of #5SpotsParty”

Optional Step: Let us know you tweeted the message! Every winner who comes from this site will be awarded 100 extra cube points to their Capsule Computers account which can be used for more chances to win prizes and games with the Cube Point system. Just link to your tweet in the comments below for that extra entry. Don’t forget to be following @capsulecomputer for this bonus portion as well.

The winners will of course just need a European Nintendo Wii system to claim their prize.

Cosmonaut will draw two names each day, and since the contest is going on now, I strongly recommend any of our European readers to get in on the action and enter to win 5 Spots Party for the WiiWare.

So that being said, get out there and GO WIN!

Smurfs Village out now on the Apple iPhone

La Laa La Laa La Laa !! The Smurfs ARE BACK !! Sing a HAPPY Song !!

Capcom has just released Smurfs Village for the Apple iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad available for FREE from the App store.  For all you Smurf fans out there you’ll be glad to know that Capcom have made sure the game is based on the original cartoon and comic art. 

The Story goes likes this :  Gargamel found the Smurfs’ village and scattered the Smurfs far and wide. With Papa Smurf’s guidance, it’s up to you to build a new village for the Smurfs to call home.

Players begin the game with only a single mushroom house and a lone plowed plot of land. From there, things quickly progress, allowing players to build specialized houses, elaborate gardens with colorful crops, bridges to span running rivers, trodden paths, and more.

Features:
– Creativity is your only limit, build a complete Smurfs’ village from scratch
– Play with your favorite Smurfs including Papa Smurf, Smurfette, and Jokey Smurf
– Play mini games like Greedy Smurf’s Baking Game, Papa Smurf’s Potion Mixing Game, and Painter Smurf’s Painting Game and unlock additional bonuses
– Connect with friends through Facebook and send gifts to your friends’ villages
– Play offline… manage your village anytime without having to connect to the internet.
– Retina display graphics

I can’t wait to kick Brainy Smurf out into the forrest as he’ll probably annoy the crap out of me as he did in the original caroons !! 🙂 

As Smurf Villiage is Free there is no harm in trying it out.  Click on the link here to be taken straight over to the App Store.

Stay tuned for our review of the game very soon.

Need for Speed – Full Power Ahead

Need for Speed Hot Pursuit is speeding ahead and closing in on its November 16, 2010 release date.  What better way to celebrate than to release a video with British cops and racers trying to outdo each other?  Actually, there may be a better way, but lets not get into that.  Also, enjoy another video showing off what happens when Need for Speed goes on tour. Suffice it to say, we all need lives with more sports cars, beautiful women and parties by EA.  How to get that happen is, unfortunately, an entirely different manner. Let us know how much in need you are for the game!

[pro-player width=’530′ height=’253′ type=’video’]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjOCLMWH9_I[/pro-player]

[pro-player width=’530′ height=’253′ type=’video’]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHCJHFw6WBk[/pro-player]

Free MS points – bing rewards

Alright, look, I know this is nothing new, but I just got shown this tonight so I figured I would make a post about it for those of you who aren’t aware.  If you get the Bing toolbar (only works in IE as far as I can tell, so take note firefox/chrome users) you can accumulate bing points, which can be redeemed for various things, one of which being MS points.  100 bing points=100 MS points.

Go here and download the toolbar.  Install it, link it to your windows live ID thats linked with your gamertag, blah blah.  Once all of that is done, load up internet explorer and you should see the bing toolbar with your points flashing in little tab in the toolbar called “rewards”.  Click that tab, go to current offers within that tab and there should be a bunch of ads that you can click on for more points, usually 12 each.  You should another 60 or so with that.  Also within that current offers tab, at the top, it should tell you that for every 2 searches or so (some its 2, others its 5, I haven’t been able to figure out why its different) you get 1 point, up to 12 points a day.  That means you just need to search 26 times to get another 12 points a day, equating to over 100 points a week.  It doesn’t have to be anything big, I just search each letter of the alphabet.  In order to redeem your points, go back into your rewards tab and at the bottom of it should be redemption center.  Click on gift cards and MS points should be floating around somewhere in there, 100 bing for 100 MS.

Don’t believe me?  Go try it.  Act fast, apparently the points you get for searching used to be higher, somewhere like 15 instead of 12, so who knows how much longer this will last until it becomes negligible.

Possible Gran Turismo 5 Conspiracy

Gran Turismo 5 Regular Edition Box Art

Is there possibly a Gran turismo 5 conspiracy going on in the world? First off the head MAchismo of Gran Turismo, Kazunori Yamauchi says “the GT5 discs are being stamped as we speak. He said it to Jolopnik here. Then there have been been sightings of Gran Turismo 5 disc copies in europe. The uber-fan site GTplanet has pics of it here

Now rumors may be one thing but I like solid proof and this is as close as it can get than the real copy being in your hands. The game was delayed to an unspecified date of next year. Maybe a end of the month release is in the works? Lets hope so.

Nintendo Trademarks Phrase “It’s On Like Donkey Kong”…

Yes, you heard that right, Nintendo has now trademarked the famous phrase “It’s on Like Donkey Kong” in celebration of the release of Donkey Kong Country Returns next week. Back in the ages of arcade, the phrase was started as a competitive way of trash talking your foe and now that Nintendo owns the phrase for Donkey Kong Country Returns, I would expect it to be used more than ever.

I remember when everyone used that phrase when I was growing up, then our teachers started to use it and it became about as cool as “the bees knees” but with all respect for the king of swing, I will accept the return of the lingo. Donkey Kong has declined comment about this rebirth of 90’s culture, but Diddy was available to give us this bit of commentary on Nintendo’s latest trademark.

“Hooo Haa”

There you have it. Donkey Kong Country Returns Launches next Tuesday the 16th in the states and the 21st in Europe. For more information you can check out the official site at http://donkeykong.nintendo.com.

MotoGP 10/11 confirmed for March release

Earlier today Capcom announced that they are bringing MotoGP 10/11 to the PS3 and the Xbox 360 sometime in March of 2011. After being developed by Monumental Games MotoGP 10/11 will be giving players all the content that is available from the MotoGP series of 2010, and will be also provide update DLC for free when the 2011 MotoGP series begins.

MotoGP 10/11 will be bringing five different modes of gameplay for players to experience, such as: Championship, Time Trial, Challenge, Career and Online Mode. The online mode is especially impressive by being able to support 20 different racers at once each competing for the number one spot. If you are interested in racing with a friend you will have that opportunity in Career mode for the first time as well. This is accomplished by an easy jump in system that places your friend in a split screen and allow you to team up.

More has been changed other than the game modes however as MotoGP will now sport an improved physics engine and handling system that will make the authenticity level reach a height that players have never seen before. Put this together with the ability to customize your bike and racer to fit your style perfectly. You can even switch on an assisting mode if you happen to have trouble with racing itself.

Nintendo’s Hydroventure Gets Dated For a Christmas Release…

Not too long ago, we brought you news on Nintendo’s Fluidity, an action/platformer/puzzle game that was announced for the WiiWare. Nintendo has apparently scrapped the name and released quite a bit of new information on the title which will be launching the 24th of December in Europe. Now titled “Hydroventure”, the physics based water platformer is looking quite impressive.

Here is a look at the Official Press Release detailing what to expect from the game:

Set in an illustrated magical book called Aquaticus, Hydroventure combines a true-to-life physics engine that takes on the characteristics of flowing water, with innovative and intriguing gameplay.

Players must navigate their way across multiple chapters to rid Aquaticus of a corruptive goop called the “Influence”, solving puzzles along the way in order to find Rainbow Drops scattered around the world. Using the three forms of water – liquid, ice and cloud – players can transform to continue on their adventure, for instance become a cloud to float to hard to reach areas, then make the cloud rain to return to a liquid state, or turn into ice and stick to surfaces..

Players can “tip” the world left to right to move the water in a realistic motion, depending on which direction players angle their Wii Remote. By balancing the Wii Remote in just the right position, players can move lumps of ice, pools of water or liquid laden clouds through each level. Shaking the Wii Remote will also make the water jump over obstacles and help players to complete tasks and challenges.

Fear not, if all this splashing about sounds like a tidal wave of tricky combinations to learn, the game offers detailed tutorials that introduce basic game controls. Once you have mastered the fundamentals, utilise special powers which can be acquired to take on increasingly difficult enemies.

Beware though, as the finite amount of water acts as it would in real life and can be split, trapped or even evaporate. If the water reserves get low, players can refill their supplies by collecting water found throughout levels. Water however will be lost if it is hit by enemy attacks, and if the water touches arid or hot surfaces, such as sand or lava, things might get steamy and it could be game over.

In order to clear up the goop, players must search each of the four chapters – Countryside, City, Mountain temple and Seaside – for Rainbow Drops. To access later chapters of Aquaticus, players will need to find these Rainbow Drops to progress and restore the book to its former, colourful glory.

There are over 80 Rainbow Drops which can be found by exploring each level and using six different unlockable abilities. For example, in order to increase their speed when in cloud form, players can use a gust of wind to propel them forward or hitch a ride on a passing hot air balloon with the aid of suction power. When under attack, clouds can be charged up to launch a lightning bolt to destroy enemies and interact with electrical equipment in the levels. In liquid form, players can squirt water onto higher platforms or transform into ice form and stick to walls and platforms for a few seconds to reach their goal.

I don;t know about all of you, but when Nintendo develops an original title, I expect a lot. This one looks to fully live up to any expectations though as from the innovative control scheme to the magical world of Aquaticus Nintendo painted a picture with in their press release, this is my most anticipated WiiWare title for the remainder of 2010.

Hydroventure will debut with a demo and full version of the game on December 24th at 1200 Nintendo Points for Europe and I imagine that Nintendo of USA will release a pending date very soon as well which I am thinking will be near or the same date as the European release.

Madden NFL Football Announced as a Launch title for the 3DS…

As we grow closer to the release of the 3DS, more and more developers are announcing titles that will launch with Nintendo’s latest platform. EA has now announced that Madden NFL Football will be one of the first from the developer for the 3DS. One thing that surprised me with the Nintendo DS’s library was that there wasn’t too many football games on the system, which is fine for the most part, but sports fans are now off to a great start with this upcoming release.

Now to go over the modes and features of the title. Players can throw down in 11-on-11 football, or a more fast paced game of 5-on 5, as well as season mode. Of course the game will be using the 3D technology and with “Spotlight Moments” and “Call Your Shots” the system’s technology and touch-screen can be fully utilized. The “Call Your Shots” feature will allow players to draw their own plays on the touch screen and watch them come to life in the game.

Three Modes that will be available are Gameflow, Classic, and Arcade, each playing different than the next. GameFlow automatically selects the best play for the situation based on real NFL team gameplans; streamlining play calling and shortening overall game length for a more accessible experience. Classic play call allows users to experience the full depth of selecting formations and individual plays, while Arcade play call simplifies options through a more concentrated playbook.

Madden NFL Football will also bring each of the 32 NFL teams and stadiums to life like never before with a presentation optimized for viewing in 3D, including 3D specific cameras that provide new levels of depth, making Madden NFL Football the perfect on-the-go game for every football fan.

I am not normally excited for Madden titles, but I am so ready for the 3DS that this will be one I will have to check out for sure as it looks to be a heavy hitting launch title. For more information, check out the official website at http://maddennfl.easports.com/