Japanese Gaming Store Pics Galore!

I’m afraid to say it, but honestly, Japan is gaming’s motherland. The origins of the great games we see today started from deep within the Land of the Rising Sun. Gaming legends, such as Nintendo’s very own Shigeru Miyamoto, appeared from nowhere to dominate and shape the gaming world with great franchises like Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong, Star Fox, Ice climbers, Wave Race, and well, basically every other first-party title ever created in the history of Nintendo. And while some hardcore gamers may disagree with this, the truth is that without Japanese developers (like Miyamoto) making our hobby what it is, our very own gaming community would be pretty dull. Mario, the mascot of gaming, and an inspiration to developers around the world, would not be here if it weren’t for Miyamoto. The Legend of Zelda franchise that every Nintendo fanboy has fallen in love with, would not be here without Miyamoto. But I’m not here praise all of Japan’s (or Miyamoto’s) accomplishments, I’m just here to show you some pictures of a Japanese gaming store.

Yes, pretty boring, I know. Especially after I just made Japan sound like the best thing since toilet paper. But I was just going with my parents to buy a microwave, and we stumbled upon this huge electronics store (which surprised me that there was one so big on the minuscule island of Okinawa, Japan.) But anyway, I am just going to share these with you, and this will probably lead to some good Japanese launch coverage of the next big games (Too bad I already missed smash bros!). Hopefully there is a good community here that will actually wait in line for hours and hours for a big game! Maybe I can interview some with my crappy Japanese skillz…

But anyways, enjoy!

(click picture to enlarge)

(wtf?)

(mmmm Wiiiii)

(Mario Kart? Nice!)

Well, there you go. Nothing special, but watch out for whatever the next big launch is because My Wii News is going to try to give some Japanese launch coverage! Stay tuned.

Alone in the Dark Confirmed for the Wii

While you may go to your local game store and notice that half of the Wii section is filled with E-rated mini games, you also might notice the abundance of horror games already out on the Wii. With well-known games like Resident Evil doing extremely well so far, there is definitely potential for more survival horror games on the Wii.

Recently, two solid survival horror games made their way to the Wii -  House of the Dead 2 and 3 and Obscure: The Aftermath. Both of these titles should hold survival-horror fans over for a bit, but what about the future? Just when you might feel like you need some more terror in your life, Alone in the Dark should be ready for retail; helping to fulfill your survival horror needs as you navigate your way through a dark and eerie park located in New York City.

Todd Slepian, the North American producer of Alone in the Dark, comments on just how accurate the environment will be compared to the real New York City park.

The park was mapped using GPS satellite data to an accuracy within 50cm, using the same remapping system used in Test Drive Unlimited. Then Eden visited New York and took thousands of photos of everything from the buildings to the lampposts, which their artists used to recreate the park in exacting detail, but adding an unsettling Alone in the Dark ambience to everything – taking the familiar and twisting it.

From hearing that, anyone who has visited or lives in the wonderful New York City should definitely check this game out! Alone in the Dark is looking at a June 24 release date and is coming to the Wii, PS2, PS3, 360, and PC.

Rock Band For Wii Release Date

As reported way back in February, Rock Band was announced to be coming to the Wii. Today, we have been given a release date of June 22, 2008 at a price of $170.

According to Multiplayer Blog at mtv.com there will be no downloadable content (I am still awaiting DLC for guitar hero!), but there will be 5 songs unique to the Wii platform.

“When developing ‘Rock Band’ for the Wii platform, we focused on making the core gameplay experience as solid and enjoyable as possible while tailoring it specifically to the strengths of the platform.

“The Wii version still contains the robust four-player band experience and all the fun at the core of other versions of ‘Rock Band.’ However, because the Wii’s online capabilities and potential have yet to be fully realized, we wanted to wait before we explored online functionality for ‘Rock Band’ to ensure that players get the high-quality of online performance they’ve come to expect.”

According to the above statement, the Wii will be getting the gimpy version, very similar to the PS2 version which had no DLC. Way to go Harmonix, way to go. I will not be purchasing this game for that very reason. And I would imagine that several others will feel the same way I do. To make it even worse, my Guitar Hero 3 Les Paul won’t work with it.

I can’t lay all of the blame on Harmonix. Nintendo still hasn’t given us a simple way to store what we download anyway. How hard could it be for the techno-geniuses at Nintendo to create a driver that would allow us to hook up an external hard drive via one of the USB ports on the back of the Wii? I would be willing to wager that homebrew guy will come up with a solution before Nintendo does!

Cambridge, MA - March 24, 2007– Harmonix, the leading developer of music-based games, and MTV Games, a division of MTV Networks, which is a division of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), along with distribution partner Electronic Arts, Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS), today announced plans to release the award-winning music video game Rock Band on the Wiiâ„¢ home video game system from Nintendo in the U.S. and Canada on June 22, 2008 for the suggested retail price of $169.99.

Rock Band for Wii will be released as a Special Edition bundle including the software, drums, microphone and a wireless guitar. Stand alone instruments will also be available on June 22nd for people who want to build their band one instrument at a time or want to play the drum versus drum game mode. The game will feature 63 songs including five bonus songs for Wii gamers to enjoy.

“The Wii’s success among casual and core gamers of all ages makes it an ideal match for the cross-generational appeal of the music featured in Rock Band,” says Bob Picunko, Vice President of Electronic Games and Interactive Products, MTV

“The social interaction and addictive nature of the Rock Band experience is a perfect fit for the Wii and will undoubtedly be fun for the entire family,” says Steve Singer, licensing VP from Nintendo.

Rock Band is an all-new platform for music fans and gamers to interact with music like never before. The game challenges players to put together a band and tour for fame and fortune - all while learning to master lead/bass guitar, drums and vocals. Featuring the most master recordings of any music game ever by the world’s biggest rock artists, Rock Band includes tracks that span every genre of rock ranging from alternative and classic rock to heavy metal and punk. Rock Band has garnered over 40 awards this year including Game Critics Award: Best of Show E3 2007 and three awards at The 11th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards including Outstanding Innovation in Gaming, Family Game of the Year, and Outstanding Achievement in Soundtrack.

Rock Band is rated “T” for Teen (lyrics, mild suggestive themes) by the ESRB.

Rock Band is currently available on the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft®, the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, and on the PLAYSTATION®2 computer entertainment system.

via Kotaku, MTV, joystiq
Rock band for Wii cover created by Ilchymis.

No Voice Chat for Mario Kart Wii!

Well, it looks like its official… (though I hope its not) Mario Kart Wii will not feature voice chat this time around.

Instead, we can use text chat… Text Chat?!? For a racing game!?!

Here’s how it’s going to work, players can create rooms for your friends to join, which means you must add all your friends with those annoying friend codes, and while in those rooms you can chat with your friends while waiting for matches. It is very likely that you will be able use a USB keyboard though, which is pretty cool, but still nothing compared to voice chat. I guess Nintendo still has not learned. Please Nintendo, please change your mind!

How do you feel about this? Leave a comment below and tell us.

First WiiWare Game Announced ‘LostWinds’

I am not at all shocked at how great this game looks already. 3rd party developers have something to prove, and they work hard to prove it. If this game plays as good as these screenshots look, the first WiiWare title may be a hit. If it’s under 1500 WiiPoints, I will download it as soon as it is available. I am looking forward to more announcements of Wii exclusive titles such as this one in the near future.

Frontier’s ‘LostWinds’ puts ‘The Power of the Wind in the Palm of your hand’ on Wii.

Leading independent developers announces innovative title available exclusively via WiiWare.

Cambridge, UK. 20th February 2008. David Braben’s Frontier Developments (”FrontierTM”), one of the games industry’s leading independent developers, today announced its first title for WiiWareTM - LostWindsTM; a high quality, enchanting adventure bursting with new gameplay ideas that embrace the innovative controller of the Wiiâ„¢

Built with Frontier’s in-house 3D game-engine technology LostWinds puts “the power of the wind in the palm of your hand” as you wield the awesome powers of Enril the wind spirit - from raging tornados to the gentlest breeze - to guide and protect Toku, a young boy who is the only one who can help you release the curse placed upon the world of Mistralis by evil Balasar. Mistralis is a stunningly presented, magical land full of wonder and intrigue that bursts to life with your every action and exploration. The game’s novel, playful control mechanism lets you use Enril’s elemental powers to help Toku in your quest to overcome Balasar - powering his jumps and glides through Mistralis’ different regions, buffeting and smashing enemies, and solving puzzles.

“LostWinds is an innovative game, and an exciting project for many reasons,” commented David Braben. “Not least the fact that it’s one of the large number of excellent concepts that have arisen through our long running internal forum discussions on game ideas. Frontier is packed full of talented game enthusiasts, and contributing creative ideas and feedback is actively encouraged. WiiWare offers a perfect extra outlet for that creativity, and I hope that LostWinds is the first of many games that will follow this process.”

More details on LostWinds can be found at www.frontier.co.uk/games/lostwinds.