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Siliconera is hosting some new Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz screenshots for the upcoming Wii game. The shots capture some of the various mini-games that the player will encounter, but nothing from the main game. The game should be a launch title for the Nintendo Wii, and hopefully will erase gamer’s memories of the travesty that is Super Monkey Ball Adventure.
Read More 
| Siliconera
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Bargain Bin Gaming #1: From Russia With Love for PS2, Xbox & Gamecube
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Action, Electronic Arts, Nintendo Gamecube, PlayStation 2, Reviews, Third Person Shooters, Xbox,
With months to go until the rest of the next-gen consoles are released, and a relatively slow summer release schedule, I’ve found myself spending more time searching around on forums like Cheap Ass Gamer and going back to look at old reviews for game-buying ideas. Especially given the fact that most of this generation’s PS2, Xbox, and Gamecube games will still be playable on the PS3, 360, and Wii, respectively, there’s no reason to not go sorting through your local game store’s bargain bins for some of the great titles you may have missed. With that in mind, we’ll be hosting a new feature here on Playfeed, currently dubbed “Bargain Bin Gaming”, where we’ll look at whether any of those $19.99 and below titles are worth your hard-earned pocket change.
Here are the two main ground-rules I’m setting for the first issue, and we’ll see how this goes:
1) I will not pay more than $19.99 for any game I review. However, this does not have to be the “standard” MSRP for the game. Well-publicized sales, like Circuit City’s past 4th of July weekend inventory blowout, are perfectly acceptable ways to get gaming deals. If I find a mint copy of Final Fantasy X-2 for $1.00 at a yard sale though, that doesn’t count - I want you, our readers, to be able to pick up a game for the same price I do!
2) For the most part, I’ll try to pick more “questionable” titles that you might not notice otherwise. Chances are if you’re reading this site, you already know by now that RE4 for $19.99 on the Gamecube is a steal. But not everyone knows that Tak 3 might actually be a really good deal for $9.00. A lot of folks know about the “diamonds in the rough”. I want to help you pick out the rubies and sapphires as well.
So with those notes in mind, click below for our first review, which I hope you’ll enjoy - James Bond in From Russia With Love by EA for PS2, Xbox, and Gamecube.
Click to continue reading Bargain Bin Gaming #1: From Russia With Love for PS2, Xbox & Gamecube
Ubisoft’s Megaton Announcement: Seven Games at Launch for Wii
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Action, Corporate News, Driving, First Person Shooters, Nintendo, Simulation, Ubisoft, Wii,
Let’s just get straight to the point: Ubisoft today announced that they have been developing seven Wii games which will be available at launch for the console. The titles are:
- Red Steel (previously announced)
- Rayman: Raving Rabbids (previously announced)
- Far Cry
- Blazing Angels
- Open Season
- Monster 4x4: World Circuit
- GT Pro Series
A huge surprise (outside of the fact that Ubisoft somehow found a way to keep 5 launch titles for the Wii secret until now) is the addition of Far Cry, a FPS which garnered a lot of praise for its stunning graphics and would seem to run counter to Nintendo’s philosophy of de-emphasising graphical power. It should be a real test of what exactly the Wii can do, given that Far Cry is fairly taxing for even high-end PCs and the Xbox.
In one last piece of news, Ubisoft also announced that they will be releasing “an accessory in GT Pro Series that will make this game a must have”. Hmmm…. Wii steering wheel anyone?
Read More | IGN.com
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Today’s Bad PS3 News: Atari, SNK Delaying Development
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Action, Fighting, PlayStation 3, Release Dates,
With the news of development costs for Playstation 3 games soaring (think Stranglehold or Heavenly Sword), a couple development firms are already starting to shy away from Sony’s expensive next-gen platform. The companies’ concerns are two-fold, actually - first, with the time required to create photo-realistic textures, character models, and animations, firms have to spend Hollywood-style sums to produce the expected content for the PS3. But secondly (and perhaps more importantly), with the PS3’s price tag there looms the question of whether the system will ever see the size of installed user base the PS2 has.
For these reasons presumably, Atari and SNK have both announced that they will not be supporting the PS3 platform in the near future. Atari has stated, in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz that the PS3 will not see any new titles from the company “until 2007”. Given that Atari recently sold its Driver franchise to Ubisoft and has been seeing lackluster earnings reports, it’s questionable how much of an impact their announcement will have on Sony’s success. SNK is a slightly stranger piece of news - during a recent interview with Kotaku, they stated:
“There won’t be enough consoles at launch. Few consoles mean few software sales. We need to wait three or four years. Maybe 2009-2010 is a good time to release a game for the PS3”
Coming from most companies, this analysis would make a lot of sense… but SNK, whose success in the games industry has been mainly based on artistically brilliant 2-D fighters and side-scrollers?? For SNK, it seems like development costs shouldn’t really be an issue - the fact that the PS3 can shade 60 trillion pixels per second isn’t going to raise development costs much for the primarily hand-drawn Metal Slug franchise. More likely, then, is that they’re concerned with the second point above—SNK really doesn’t believe Sony is going to sell enough systems to make it worth their while.
Of course, the real irony here is that SNK has thrived in recent years thanks to the PS2’s success, and their interview with Kotaku re-affirms their commitment to that console. Will more developers see developing for the PS2 as an alternative to big-budget PS3 titles? It seems if more companies take that route, Sony could become its own worst enemy.
Read More 
| GamesIndustry.biz
Read More | Kotaku.com
“The Daily Show” Rips Apart “Left Behind: Eternal Forces”
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Action, PC, Third Person Shooters, Trailers,
While making violent video game about “saving souls” sort of seems like self-satire already, The Daily Show decided the upcoming Left Behind: Eternal Forces was still ripe for some ridicule. Watch the above clip, where the host makes some apt comparisons between Left Behind and Grand Theft Auto: “Damn! That guy just got saved between the eyes! You just blessed his head off!”
From the looks of it Left Behind may actually be a somewhat decent videogame, and with the gratuitous violence and action it’s sure to at least be more exciting than The Bible Game. Still, it’s going to be kind of ironic to see an M-rated video game supposedly based on religious principles sitting on store shelves. And please, for the love of God, let’s hope that no kid gets the wrong idea and thinks that he can “save” his friend by shooting them in the face.
Read More | You Tube via Joystiq
Mario Hoops “Dunk of the Week” Video Online
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Action, Nintendo DS, Screenshots, Sports,
While Mario Hoops has recently shipped in Japan, US gamers won’t see a localized version until September. For those anxious to see the game in motion, Nintendo has launched the “Dunk of the Week” on their official web site for the game. The release of preview videos echoes the marketing leading up to the release of New Super Mario Bros., where new power-ups where shown from week to week. This week’s dunk features Donkey Kong hitting the basket for 59 points – this isn’t a basic basketball game.
Read More | Mario Hoops
Sony Unveils Initial PSP “Greatest Hits” Offerings
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Action, Corporate News, Driving, PSP, Sports,
We earlier speculated that Sony would be releasing a list of “Greatest Hits” bargain-priced titles for the PSP. Well, it turns out the rumors were true—Sony has just released a list of titles that will now be available for $20, though it’s somewhat underwhelming (no Lumines!). The list includes lots of PSP games with colons in their title (i.e. remakes / ports)
- Ape Escape: On the Loose
- Offroad Fury: Blazin’ Trails
- Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee
- Twisted Metal: Head On
- Wipeout Pure.
More titles will join the Greatest Hits library later in the year, including Lumines, Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition, Star Wars Battlefront(TM) II, Tony Hawk’s Underground 2 Remix, and Untold Legends: Brotherhood of the Blade.
Read More | Yahoo.com
Japanese Bomberman Act: Zero Gets Budget Price
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Action, Xbox 360, Xbox Live,
Japanese site GameDaily reports that Hudson’s Bomberman Act: Zero for the Xbox 360 will get a budget price upon its release in Japan. The new game will be available on August 3rd for a low price of 3129 Yen, or approximately $30. Act: Zero has been a little controversial since Hudson is ditching the cartoon-like graphics of the previous games for a “dark and gritty” makeover. The gameplay seems largely the same, however, with the exception of the new large playfields. The game will support multi-player via Xbox Live for up to eight players. The single player mode will have the user attempting to survive through 99 levels of action. GameWatch also has several new screen shots of the game in action. The game is still targeted for an August release in the US, but no price drop has been announced. It will be interesting to see how the new updated look impacts sales of the franchise.
Read More | GameWatch
LucasArts to Support “Every” Next-Gen Console (including Wii)
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Action, Corporate News, Nintendo, Simulation, Wii,
After using the Wiimote for sword-swinging in the Twilight Princess at E3, a lot of folks in the media began to think about how perfect Nintendo’s next-gen console would be for a lightsaber-based Star Wars game. At the time, however, LucasArts did not have any titles in development for the Wii and simply stated that they were interested in the possibility of developing for Wii.
Well, at Comic-Con 2006, LucasArts support for Wii started to sound a lot more concrete. According to sources at IGN.com:
During the Q&A session, a younger gamer took the microphone and asked if the company would be showing support for the newest motion-controlled Nintendo console. Sansweet’s responded simply by stating the likeness between the Wii controller and a lightsaber, followed by a statement that LucasArts would be supporting every next generation system.
It's too bad that Nintendo fans won't have a
Rogue Squadron come Wii launch-time, but the addition of eventual LucasArts support for their platform is more good news for the console.
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New Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin Video
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Action, Nintendo DS,
1up has new footage from Konami’s latest in their vampire-hunting action game series, Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin. The new video runs about 5 minutes, and shows off some of the new environments and highlights some new power ups. Also shown in the video is the new partner-based gameplay between the two playable characters and the warping that players will do through the paintings placed throughout the game. The game seems to be slightly better looking than the previous Dawn of Sorrow, but it is hard to tell through the video capture. While the stylus-based “capture” game mechanic appears to be gone in the new game, it looks like Konami is still tweaking the gameplay while trying to stay true to its roots.
Read More | 1up
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