New details on the new Pokemon games

Nintendo announced the first pokemon game for the Wii, named Pokemon Battle Revolution, and here is a cool thing for you hardcore Pokemon Gamers, you will be able to battle each other over the internet. You will also be able to link your DS wirelessly with the Wii and control the game with it too. Nintendo states that you can import Pokemon from Diamond and Pearl into the new game. Pokemon Pearl, Diamond comes out on April 22nd and Battle Reveloution come out on June 25th.

Stay tuned.

We have a listing of what the new games look like. If you want to see some screenshots and stuff click here

Update: I got the release dates confused. Pokemon Pearl and Diamond release on April 22nd, not June 25th. Sorry for the mix up.

This post is old, why don’t you check out some of our newer posts here.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles grab a new movie and a new game

Okay, so just about anyone could agree that the Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtles movies were not that great. Well now there is a new movie coming out that will be done in CGI. And because there is some wierd rule about almost every movie that’s not a documentry (and mainly geared to younger viewers) being made a video game, TMNT is getting a game too.

Previous TMNT games were never well recieved and ended up getting poor ratings because they were mostly a rush job. This game is now under the hands of Ubisoft, who generally make pretty good games. The game is about Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo leaving the squad and not being ninjas anymore ($5 bucks that one of the endings puts them all back togther). The graphics are not so “cartoonish” as they were before, and the atmosphere suggests that this time, they aren’t joking around.

Check out the pre-review here.

Nintendo Wins 5 Awards

Nintendo has won 5 awards from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences for their works with Wii Sports, LOZ: TP, and Brain Age. They were nominated for 19 games in 11 different categories of gaming.

Wii Sports won awards in Outstanding Innovation in Gaming, Game-Play Engineering and Game Design. Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess won in Story and Character Development. While Brain Age took an award in Best Handheld game of the year category.

Congrats Nintendo!

Diddy Kong Racing Review

Diddy Kong Racing is the first game in a long time to be published/developed by Rare that is not on a Microsoft console. And it’s not made by THQ (I despise THQ), so far DKR has a good start.

When the game first starts you get to see this really corny story video that was never on the N64, plus it has a completely different story starter then the N64 version. In the old game it talks how WizPig came from space and started destroying the island, but a wrong spell caused him to put a big head of himself out of rock and he is then trapped in it.

Now we go down hill. After you set up your game, you meet Taj the big elephant genie thing and get to race him. I noticed that for once the map is not on the touch screen (as it is in most DS games) but rather the top screen. The screens are like this until you start racing.

But what really sticks out to me as the biggest change is that the genie doesn’t have the same voice. He sounds like he is going to kill you (voice is much much lower, not as funny, and very little emotion) rather then help you (the original game had a cheery, upbright, funny voice). Also remember the how the characters would exclaim some sort of yell at the start? They took that out. Taj seems like he is the only character with a voice and he doesn’t even have the Arabic accent anymore. It would seem as Rare fired all the old voice actors. How sad.

The controls are a bit odd for a racing game. To go in reverse you have to hold B and then back instead of just holding down B. Otherwise it works out like the old version did. The hovercraft vehicle has improved, before it was hard to move around with the stick, now it’s harder! Hooray! It’s vehicle standard seems more like: “Okay, you wanna turn left but you haven’t mashed down left”. Then you mash down left and you then spin out. Thus there is the need to continuously tap right as you are going so you can avoid spinning out. Also, you can get a starting boost if you spin this wheel on the touch screen. It’s tedious and really hard to do with a stylus and then switching back to DS controls to move and race.

Diddy Kong Racing has also got rid of Banjo (from the Banjo-Kazooie series that was extremely well known) and Conker (Because Microsoft now owns Conker and this was before Conker was rated M for mature [he appeared in a kids game called Conker's Pocket Tales for the Gameboy Color]).

The racing is not that bad (the other guys are pretty easy), it still stands up to the N64 version of the game. The racing levels haven’t changed much, if at all. And the weapons are still as crazy as ever. The create your own track is a cool feature, allowing you to make some pretty crazy tracks. Wi-Fi is really fun, as you can use all the tracks and so far there are no cheaters playing (just watch though). And you can have way more people than just 4 (like in MKDS). More people = more fun, right? So let’s get to the ratings.

Sound: 4.8/10 -The music is okay, sounds like the N64 versions but at a lower quality and people singing (which isn’t needed). Voices are terrible, especially Taj’s.

Graphics: 7/10 – Not bad, looks like the N64 ones

Controls: 6.2/10 – Controls are fine with the exception of the hovercraft (but it isn’t super bad if you are a good driver)

Playback: 6.8/10 -I like Diddy Kong Racing, the game is fun and with a few fixes could have been just as good as Mario Kart DS

Improvement: 4/10 -WHY!?!? I liked Taj’s voice! YOU GET A 4 RARE! YOU HEAR ME??!? A 4! The only reason it isn’t a 1 is because of Wi-Fi, the ability to make your own tracks and customize your craft.

Overall Score: 6.3/10 – A few fixes like hovercraft problems, a better script, improved music (so it doesn’t sound like midi versions), the original voice actors and minor other fixes and it would have been a 8.2

My Goodness! One of the most popular N64 Racing games is coming to the DS on the 7th

Rare finally broke free of THQ and Microsoft and actually was able to release a game for a Nintendo console without having to go through either company and not have their logo on the box. Diddy Kong Racing for the DS is coming out on February 7th. The story is still no different from the N64 one. You are still fighting that crazy space pig who has his a stone version of his head mounted on the side of the cliff. Anyways, the game has WiFi support and you can make your own maps, share them with others and battle it out on your custom maps. You can also have single card download for up to 8 players and kick some butt in the battle mode. The game is totally sweet and it’s a must for any Banjo-Kazooie, DK, RareWare, or any N64/DS fan. The game releases on the 7th of February.

UPDATE: Nintendo told us the wrong date, it actually releases on the 7th of February. Sorry for the error.

DS sells some 9 DSs a minute.

Yep, we are going at 9MPH/min people. 9 DSes are bought every minute. I have no idea how that all works or how accurate it is, but it came from the big N so I guess it has to be true.

Nintendo has also released a refresher for some new games for the DS and what month they come out. The following is straight from their website.

Hotel Dusk is out Today

Hotel Dusk is the coolest mystery game for the DS since Another (which I admit was rather short, unfortunately [it's also funny because it's made by the people who made Another]). The game is pure 3D genius. The graphics are awesome. It’s extremely detailed and there is lots to explore. You play the game like you would with Brain Age, sideways (because Nintendo states that Hotel Dusk is read like a book). And control the map on the touch screen. Want to go left? Then stroke left, and the game moves left. You can examine objects in the game that light up.

The story is extremely well written and it is dynamic, meaning that what you say and do affects how the story goes. Like those other “Choose Your Path” games. The game is like you writing the story. You can write memos and take notes about characters. You start out in 1979, 3 days after Christmas (December 28th). You play as ex-Cop Kyle Hyde, and you have a past that is not revealed to the players. You are looking for your partner Bradley, who mysteriously disappeared some years ago. After being fired from the force you get a job at Red Crown as a salesman. One night you get a crazy dream that you found your partner but then you killed him. As you drive down to LA where your new job is you check in at a old hotel called Hotel Dusk. You are checked in to room 215, which is a room where it’s said that wishes are granted. Very odd people work at Hotel Dusk, and it’s your job to figure out why.

This game seems really good and I suggest that if you have a DS, this is a game to pick up.

Yes you can view this site on your wonderful Wii

Yep, I just added support so people can view this site on their brand new Opera browser in their Wii. This site also works in the Nintendo DS as well. So you can view it with your brand new DS Lite (when you also buy the browser pack).

DS Lite gets ran over by reindeer..car. Several Times.

Normally, I don’t write about accidents caused by console owner’s mistakes but when I saw the remains of this DS lite…I couldn’t help it.

Apparently, HEADACHE157 (the person who’s sister owned the DS Lite)’s sister went out for a date with her boyfriend. The two went out stargazing (how romantic) and she left the DS on top of her boyfriend’s car. Then when they left to just drive around, she forgot she left it on the car and it fell off the car into a very busy street. When the two stopped at a Gas Station she remembered that she put the DS Lite on top of the car. Later the DS was found. And it actually survived..kinda. It was not in tiny pieces and it kept in the same shape a normal DS lite would be in. Wow, once again, Nintendo has made another durable, sturdy console.
You can read the full story and see the rest of the pictures here.

Need for Speed:Carbon Revisited

I have never liked the Need For Speed series for various reasons. One because I never liked the crash effects, steering and the controls. However the cars were cool. Carbon seems to have made me reconsider a very bad review. Personally, I liked this game alot. I think it was well done. The game has a new feature called “call a crew member”, but I rather call it “SIC EM!”, since you are really just sending your crew car to get the guy. You call up a buddy who is constantly giving you radio help (like a real crew member) and telling you when other racers are about to crash you up. This is probably the best improvement in NFS. You got your little helper guy to help you out in tough jams. But since you have a helper, EA decided that the game would have to be just a tad tougher. But it really makes the game more fun to play.

I liked the idea that you could also customize your ride’s body. In previous NFS games you could only change how the car looked decal and color wise. This game in the series allows you to customize the body of the car. And modify things from rims, tire depth, hood depth, and all that other good stuff that I can’t remember right at this moment. And your car looks awesome on the track. Speaking of tracks, NFS: Carbon has a really cool track system. You have to earn tracks by defeating others but until then they are under the control of a rival Car Crew/Gang/Mob. That makes the story line a lot more exciting.

Now graphics in this game have improved from the blocky car designs seen in NFS: Underground 1&2 (I think they both look blocky, maybe cause I didn’t change the default settings). Anyhow, the graphics have really improved and they are great with the night time atmosphere. Overall, Carbon is way better then any of the other NFS games. This game is awesome, but still not as good as the Burnout series also made by EA. The controls have inproved but they aren’t perfect yet. The steering is better but it’s still really annoying. You will still spinout if you counterstear, and hear the stupid tire screaching noise when you are going really fast and start to turn. NFS:C has great motion blurs, that make you really feel the action. Now let’s get to the ratings.

The Ratings:

Sound: 8/10 -This is super! The talking that the crew member gives you doesn’t seem like it was recorded previously and seems like he is really saying it. Music was N/A, I just didn’t pay attention to it.
Graphics: 8/10 -Graphics have improved since NFS: Underground 2
Controls: 7/10 -The controls have moved to somewhere where they are more accessible but the Respawn button seems to be on the other side of the controller. No support for joysticks.
Playback: 8.5/10 -Great game but it can be a bit frusturating. Story is really interesting.
Improvement: 8/10 -Lots of great improvements.

Overall Score: 8/10 – Controls were okay, but they needed to be improved. Other wise if they were this game would have been an 8.5

An offtopic cool thing about this game: the loading screens have the best animation, and cool effects that I have ever seen (the ones that Burnout has are cool but they are kinda boring as they never change, it’s always the same 4 transitions).

Win a Nintendo DS Lite everyday!

Nintendo has a contest going where you can win one of the three DS Lite colors of your choosing if you sign in and win. You only need to signup once and then you are entered. You will also win one GBA and DS game that are chosen by Nintendo. You can signup at this site.

Nintendo states in their latest press release that this contest is still going on. On other pages it says that this contest is over but according to Nintendo, the contest like the Wii Warranty deal was extended. Enter and see if you win.

NOTE: We want to make it clear that we are NOT running this contest! We can’t make you win. If you want to win in a contest, try out the rumble box contest we are running.