Japan Gaming Guide

Wii owners in Japan will be able to browse the TV listings from next spring, via a new Wii Channel. The G-Guide system was just announced by Nintendo, who want to give people a reason to switch the Wii on every day, regardless of whether or not they are playing games.

Another new development is the facility to buy stuff for your friends on the shopping channel. We don’t have the details on this yet, but we think it means you’ll be able to purchase Virtual Console titles and send them to your friends as gifts. How popular this one will be, we don’t know – but could they be planning to expand the shopping channel to include more than games?

[Read, via the Tanooki]

Read the rest of this entry »

Rhythm action fans are going to get a treat next year as Samba de Amigo gets a long overdue remake. Scheduled for a Wii release in early 2008, Samba De Amigo won’t need to come bundled with Maracas – you’ll be able to shake the Wiimote in time with the onscreen action.

It looks like being a good few months for music fans – also in the release schedules are Singstar for PS3, Guitar Hero 3 and Rock Band for Xbox360.

[Read]

Our favourite crazy genius has just won another game design award. Nintendo’s flamboyant designer, Shigeru Miyamoto, has been handed the Economist magazine’s Innovation Award for Consumer Goods.The award reflects Miyamoto’s pioneering role in the games industry and his influence on products from the Mario series through to the Wii.

[Read]

Yes, we know there have been a lot of Wiimote peripherals lately, but we like this one. You can never have too much Wii Sports, after all, and with Wii Fit around the corner we need all the exercise we can get.
[Read]

Wiimote accidents. We’ve all had them. Some people bash them against walls, some hurl them into televisions, windows and loved ones. Some smash them in anger when the batteries fail in the middle of Wii Sports tennis. The list of dangers is endless. Fortunately, Nintendo love and care about you! They’ve already given us more secure wrist straps to stop us losing our grip, now we’re getting the gaming equivalent of a crash helmet. The Wii Jacket is a neat little garment to soften the impact of any collisions that may occur during play. It’s also completely free, so what are you waiting for?

[Read]

October’s Virtual Console release list is out. Some more good titles here. Our pick of the month is Treasure‘s classic shooter Alien Soldier on the Megadrive/Genesis. Fighting fans will want to check out the original Samurai Showdown on Neo Geo. Super Donkey Kong 2 is also worth a look, as is Yoshi’s Story on the N64.

Famicom (500 points)
Esper Dream (600 points)
Zanac
Famicom Detective Club: Lost Successor (600 points)
Downtown Story
Hanjyuku Eyu – Troubled Hero

Super Famicom (800 points)
Assault Suits Valken
Super Donkey Kong 2: Dixie & Diddy

Nintendo 64 (1000 points)
Yoshi’s Story

Megadrive (600 points)
Bear Nakuru III
Alien Soldier
Sonic 3D Blast
Dynablaster 2 Special (Bomberman) (700 points)

PC Engine
Genpei Toma Den (600 points)
Power Golf (600 points)
Esu I.II (800 points)
Super Brother (800 points)
Gradius II: The Ambition of Gofer (800 points)

Neo Geo (900 points)
Ryuko no ken – Fist of the Dragon Tiger
Samurai Spirits (Samurai Showdown)
Ragi

MSX
Eggy
Aleste

Eggy & Aleste have been about to be released for several months now, keep your fingers crossed.

Vanillaware showed off their new Wii fighter Oboro Muramasa Youtouden at the Tokyo Game Show, check out this video:

[Read]

SNK announced they’re working on a whole load of titles at the Tokyo game show. We can look forward to the following on console:

King of Fighters Collection (Wii, PS2, PSP)
Samurai Showdown Anthology (Wii, PS2)
SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1 (PS2, PSP)

and the following in the arcades:

King of Fighters XII
King of Fighters: Maximum Impact
Regulation A 2
Samurai Showdown Sen

Magician Lord will be coming to the Wii virtual console, with
Metal Slug 3 and Samurai Showdown 2 arriving on Xbox Marketplace.

[Read]

Nights:Journey of Dreams was playable on the Tokyo Game Show floor today. It also got a Japanese release date: December 13th. 1up got to try it. Their impressions were that the game looks nice, doesn’t control as tightly as the original and is fairly easy to play. Follow the link to read what else they thought.

[Read]

Hudson have announced they will be bringing six games to the imminent Tokyo Game Show, but have only named five of them. Siliconera are speculating it could be Wii Crossword, or a console Dungeon Explorer game. We reckon it might be Star Soldier R, as seen on Hudson’s caravan tour.

The games announced so far:

Wii
Deca Sporta

DS
Dungeon Explorer: Jashin no Ryouiki
Elemental Monster
Gachapin Nikki DS

PSP
Dungeon Explorer: Meiyaku no Tobira

[Read]