The fourth annual Games for Health Conference will be showcasing the expanding role of video games in the Health profession. Video game technology is being applied in the field for rehabilitation, training and to encourage exercise.
Some highlights of the conference will be familiar to most gamers. A new version of Activision’s Guitar Hero is being introduced, which will be used in the rehabilitation of arm amputees. The results of studies based on the “Corrupted Blood Syndrome” form Blizzard’s World of Warcraft are also being presented.
Attendees will have the chance to play training games like 3DiTeams and the K.I.C.K. (Kid’s Interactive Creation Kiosk). 3DiTeams offers emergency health care training to medical professionals in virtual worlds. The full press release follows the break.
When Mad Catz announced it would be producing a line of Arsenal Football Club branded peripherals, it wasn’t hard to predict more of the like would follow. The latest team to sign up is Manchester United Football Club.
“Manchester United is one of the world’s most popular and historic sports teams, with millions of dedicated fans worldwide, and we look forward to providing retailers and customers across Europe with entertaining accessories that bring the excitement of Manchester United to the gaming experience of its fans,” said Darren Richardson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Mad Catz. “The addition of the Manchester United brand further strengthens and diversifies our growing portfolio of high-profile licenses and allows Mad Catz to continue building on its success and product penetration in key European markets.”
Manchester United fans can expect to see videogame controllers, faceplates, Console Skinz™ and carrying cases featuring the Red Devil for the PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, PSP, DS Lite, and Wii gaming consoles.
Developer, Rebellion, and publisher, Reef Entertianment, have announced a partnership to bring Rogue Trooper to the Wii. The original game told the story of a genetically-engineered soldier fighting a planetary civil war on “Nu Earth.” His whole squad dies in the first mission, but live on after he applies their “biochips” to his weapons and gear. After that, they provide him with several special abilities and upgrades, plus helpful advice from time to time. The game was surprisingly pretty good, and actually gained some acclaim from critics. The new Wii version will be titled “Rogue Trooper: The Quartz Zone Massacre” and will include enhanced Wii controls, plus a few tweaks from Rebellion. The game is expected to ship in Q4 of this year.
Okay, Rogue Trooper was a pretty decent game and all, but could we just stop with all the Wii ports of PS2 games? Please? Besides, if you want to try out this game and save yourself some cash, the original Rogue Trooper is available to play on GameTap for free.
2K Sports and Konami are teaming up once again to hit MLB Power Pros 2008 out of the park. This game depicting super-deformed caricatures of Baseball greats is a favorite in Japan, and will be making its second appearance in the US.
Players will be able to choose from ten different game modes including Practice, Exhibition, League and Home Run Challenge. They can also choose to play the part of a team’s General Manager in Season mode.
“We’re thrilled to partner with Konami again, and with the Baseball™ season now in full swing, we’re proud to offer our fans a refreshingly smart and exciting baseball game that is easily accessible for all ages,” said Christoph Hartmann, president of 2K. “Baseball enthusiasts will appreciate the variety of newly added features, intuitive game modes and improved overall feel, and we look forward to hitting one out of the park this season with MLB Power Pros 2008.”
Gamers can catch MLB Power Pros 2008 for the Wii and the PS2 this July. The game will be available for the DS this fall.
They may have launched a teaser site for Quantum of Solace recently, but the one thing that Activision failed to mention about the game was that it will run on the same engine as CoD4.
While sitting here at my computer listening to the boring audio from the conference call - and wishing I had Irished up my coffee just to make it through the thing, I heard this interesting tidbit after the news that the game would launch the same day as the movie.
According to Chief Executive Officer of Publishing Mike Griffith, Quantum of Solace, “uses the Call of Duty 4 engine and technology to bring Bond games to a new level.” Since the game will be released onto multiple platforms, it will be interesting to see how it will differ from port to port. CoD4 was not released for the Wii, so I imagine (correct me if I am wrong) that either they will have to tweak things a bit or use a different engine for the Nintendo Console. Plus, a myraid of developers will be creating the game for different versions. Treyarch (Xbox 360 and PS3 developers), Vicarious Visions (handheld developer), Beenox (confirmed as the developer for the Wii) and Eurocom (PC devlopers.)
What this means, is that like most multiplatform games, you can expect each one to look drastically different from the next. Unless of course you are looking at PC/PS3/360 comparisons, which mainly just differ in matters of clarity - or so I have found. Of course, this could be because I added a bit of whiskey to my espresso earlier.
For more information on the Activision conference call, check out all the posts related to this bevy of information by hitting this link.
We have known for quite some time that Activision has planned to release Guitar Hero IV sometime close to the holiday shopping extravaganza, but during their conference call yesterday they confirmed that it will be made available for all three major consoles plus the PS2 and DS. Still, that is no surprise.
What is surprising though, slightly at least, is that this yet unnamed title will provide what Activison calls a “significant leap forward in innovation” for not only the franchise but for music simulation gaming as a whole. Could this be the extra instruments they have been talking about recently? Who knows at this point, but during the call it was stated that information would be forthcoming soon.
As far as new concerning Guitar Hero: On Tour for the DS, Activision announced that the company and Nintendo are planning to release a bundle which will include a Nintendo DS, Guitar Hero: On Tour and the DS peripheral. Also, an add-on pack of new music will be released for Guitar Hero: On Tour sometime this year but contents, release date, and price was not given.
Stay tuned for more information on the ever growing assortment of Guitar Hero titles. I am sure Guitar Hero: Fergie is next somewhere down the line. God I hope not.
Thanks: Videogaming247 (here and here)
Codemasters has secured the exclusive video game rights to Formula One in a worldwide licensing agreement with Formula One Administration Ltd. In turn, the developer/publisher will create a new generation of the multi-million selling Formula One game franchise across multiple consoles, handhelds and PC.
Here are some “gushing” quotes pulled from the press release:
“FORMULA 1 is ambitious in expanding its reach with more circuits planned beyond recent additions in the Middle East and China. It is also ambitious in expanding its reach via technology. The digital communities that computer and video gaming creates will play a key role in further growing the FORMULA 1 audience and connecting them globally,” said Rod Cousens, chief executive officer, Codemasters.
“As a world-leading creator of driving games, this alliance with FORMULA 1 is the jewel in Codemasters’ racing crown and creates an undisputed segment champion. FORMULA 1 has gone with the best, the segment leader. It has gone to the home of the EGO Engine for quality; it has gone to the company that can host FORMULA 1 Online, to the company that is streaking away from the pack.”
“Codemasters’ success and recent innovations in the racing game space makes the company more than appropriately tuned for the challenge,” said Chris Deering, chairman, Codemasters.“The combination of FORMULA 1’s new momentum of expansion and Codemasters’ contemporary technology and past experience is the breaking of a new dawn for the sport, on the track and on the HD game screen.”
This deal will provide Codemasters with rights to feature all Grand Prix circuits, Formula One teams, cars, and driver likenesses. In addition, the FIA Formula One World Championship games will be developed using the evolution of the EGO Game Technology Engine, Codemasters’ cross-platform middleware technology. The EGO Engine is currently being deployed in the creation of Race Driver: GRID, the latest in Codemasters Studio’s international circuit-based racing series which will be released on May 30th.
The first FIA Formula One World Championship game is set to launch in 2009.
Nintendo recently posted the latest “Iwata Says” segment, which has Satoru Iwata, president of Nintendo, sitting down for a chat with Shigeru Miyamoto. The conversation starts with Iwata asking Miyamoto questions about how they came to develop Link’s Crossbow Training and accompanying Zapper, but then things start to take a turn for the weird. Miyamoto casually begins revealing some of the radical ideas that were proposed for various Legend of Zelda titles. How radical? Well, he once envisioned having Ocarina of Time play from a first-person perspective — his fascination with the FPS style eventually spawned Link’s Crossbow Training. Also, he concieved of “a sort of Terminator style story about a time warp from the future” to explain how Link might have a gun. Finally, the original prototype for the Wii Zapper? It was literally made from rubber bands and wires. Obviously (and thankfully), none of these ideas ever came to fruition. However the images in my head of Arnold Schwarzenegger decked out in Link’s green costuem isn’t going to go away anytime soon.
Okay, I think it’s safe to say that a Kid Icarus game for the Wii is all but confirmed now. Not only is there at least one insider convinced that Nintendo is set to reveal the game at E3, but now some concept art for the proposed game has surfaced. These images don’t reflect the final stages of the project, but you can kind of get a sense of what they’re going for. Just based on a few of the sketches, it looks like the game could involve various weapon upgrades plus different elemental powers for Pit to use. More importantly though, it looks like Pit is all grown up, having ditched his childlike appearance in Smash Bros. Brawl. I have an odd feeling they’re taking some cues from Zelda on this one.
Over the past decade, THQ and Nickelodeon has been able take advantage (read: exploit) children’s love for Nickelodeon properties to the tune of more than $1 billion and more than 50 million units sold worldwide. This announcement comes alongside the companies’ announcement of their 2008 portfolio, which includes games based on shows I’ve never heard of such as Tak and the Power of Juju, Back at the Barnyard, and The Naked Brothers Band. (What the hell?)
THQ attributes much of the success to the popularity of both the Wii and DS. “With the enormous popularity of Wii and DS coupled with our exceptionally diverse portfolio of Nickelodeon-based games, THQ continues to lead in family entertainment,” said THQ’s Jim Huntley. “Featuring new forms of gameplay such as the music-based The Naked Brothers Band and the drawing-based Drawn to Life: SpongeBob SquarePants Edition, we expect our upcoming titles to offer completely new ways for families to play together.”
Nickelodeon continues to view gaming as an important activity to their audience, so don’t expect to see a lack of SpongeBob games anytime soon. “Gaming is one of the primary activities of our audience, whether it’s online or on the console,” said Nickelodeon’s Steve Youngwood. “THQ’s interactive video games based on our hit shows have continued to help Nickelodeon maintain its position as a leader in gaming entertainment for the family, and we look forward to the addition of these new releases to our library.”
That’s a crapton of money. But you know what’s scarier? The Hannah Montana franchise is expected to total around $1 billion in 2008 alone.
Over at the University of Michigan, some neuropsychologists have conducted a study that shows how mental exercise can make you smarter. Ok, but how does this apply to games? According to them, the more you play and the harder you play it, the “more smarter you’ll git”. Yes, I stated it that way intentionally.
During the study, participants were shown a computer screen with square patterns and if the pattern matched the same pattern that the participant was shown two squares earlier, they were suppose to hit a button with one hand while listening to letters being transcribed over a set of headphones. Just like the squares, id the said letter matched the one said two letters earlier, the participant would then hit a button with the opposite hand. One hand for letters and one for squares - basic multitasking I would think. The longer the game was played the longer the intervals - which means more squares and letters over time.
The study revealed to the neuropsychologists that 20 minutes of daily training over a period of time led to “significantly increased IQ vs. a control group”, and the “longer people played the game, the higher their IQ got”.
While this may sound a lot more boring than Brain Age, Christopher Null over on the Yahoo Tech Blogs has listed a few games that sound a lot less boring than the one the participants in the study were forced to endure. Null has listed five titles that will ” help you improve logical thinking, reaction time, and coordination”.
Here is the list pulled directly from his blog:
Lumosity (Web): This browser-based game offers about a dozen mini-games, each designed to help with one area of cognition, including memory, processing speed, attention span, and “cognitive control.” Many games are surprisingly similar in design to the one in the Michigan study and some present a real challenge. ($9.95 a month, pictured)
Brain Challenge (Xbox Live Arcade): Similar to Lumosity, this used to be a cell phone game that was ported to the Xbox. A series of mini-games asks you what comes next in a sequence of graphic designs, count items quickly, do basic math questions, and more. 30 types of rapid-fire games are available, and your progress is tracked by the game over time. (800 points)
Rocky & Bullwinkle (Xbox Live Arcade): No, I wouldn’t have expected a game based on a hapless cartoon duo to be good for the brain, but this set of WarioWare-like micro games are great for those looking to boost reaction time and improve eye-hand coordination. Nothing here is too complex (quick: click the correct button in the next 2 seconds!), but it’s all good for working on the “twitch” reflex. (800 points)
Blokus Portable: Steambot Championship (PSP): This challenging board game comes to the PSP, offering a grid in which you have to place your Tetris-like pieces in such a way that they touch only on their corners. It really works on your pattern recognition skills and gets exceptionally tough when playing with a group of four. ($20)
Wild Earth: African Safari (Wii): No, it’s not a brain game at all, but really little kids won’t be able to manage the controls and strategies of most of the above titles. Still they shouldn’t be left out of the fun. Wild Earth isn’t exactly the most thrilling title on the market, but youngsters will enjoy looking at the animals on this virtual photo hunt while learning the names of all the beasts of the wild. Good for very small minds. ($30)
I guess this means that the more LotRO I play the denser I get. Oh well, at least I am in ignorant bliss.
The “big three” (Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo) are notorious for pulling out huge surprises at E3, but it looks like one of Nintendo’s secrets may have been inadvertently revealed already. On a couple of podcasts from IGN, one of the hosts, Matt Casamassina, has all but confirmed that a new Kid Icarus game is on the way for the Wii:
“Of course [Nintendo is] going to have some E3 surprises. You know, Kid Icarus, for crying out loud, how many times do we have to say Kid Icarus? Kid Icarus is coming for crying out loud.” When a co-host asks if he wants to reveal the developer he responds “I think we’ve confirmed it a billion times but no, I’m not going to say it officially.”
Yeah, this is kind of a “wink-wink-nudge-nudge” reveal, but Casamassina sounds really confident about his prediction; like he might be privy to some insider information [note: the image above is a made-up fan creation]. Plus, it’s not like fans haven’t been requesting it even more fervently ever since Pit made an appearance in Smash Bros. Brawl. This could actually be a really good idea to bring in some of the gamers that are tired of so many Mario games, but still love Nintendo’s classic characters. *Sigh* Just another reason E3 can’t get here soon enough.
Sorry to burst the bubble hovering over my fellow gamers heads but if you were planning on pre-ordering the Wii Fit, you are out of luck. GameStop has stopped taking pre-orders for the highly anticipated game/balance board combination and have it listed as out of stock and are asking gamers to check back for stock updates.
Basically, if you have not already pre-ordered the thing, chances are you will not get it. Amazon is sold out as well, and unless you just happen to come across one at Best Buy or Wal-Mart you will have to wait.
EA Sport’s Peter Moore has confirmed to Eurogamer that the company is currently at work on a Wii Fit game and said that EA plans on making it more strenuous than the current offerings for the Balance Board. Speaking at an EA Sports conference, Moore stated:
“We’re watching very closely what the Wii Fit board does. We think we have to have a role to play with that mum - the kids have gone to school, she’s got 45 minutes on her own, the Wii is there, it’s the first console she’s ever liked because she can do things herself. And we’re working on stuff, trying to work out how we can use EA Sports applications there.
“We also need to make sure we’re delivering something that’s truly exercise. I’ll call [Wii Fit] more eastern fitness, where it senses weight and balance, like Tai-Chi. It’s more about holistic fitness. I don’t think the board is going to take a pounding. We need to look more at western fitness in which I can actually be moving and start to sweat a little bit, and that’s what we’re working on right now.”
No details on the game were given, and no release date was even hinted around at but lets hope that this Wii Fit title will not tell you that you are fat. If it does, I am going to smash the board to pieces and hand deliver the carnage to EA myself. You may want to start raising bail money for me now just in case.
The final quest has begun…Discover and experience a new story from the 4th season of X.A.N.A where with the genius creativity of Jeremy and Aelita manages to reprogram Sector 5. The only way to track down X.A.N.A is to explore the digital sea. For this, Jeremy creates new costumes, weapons and vehicles that them to delve into the digital sea.
Key Features:
Arm Ulrich, Odd, Yumi and Aelita: The Wii Remote and Nunchuk controllers are used for a variety of game activities from flying to projectile-weapon aiming. The game features incredibly precise aiming control using the Wii Remote controller. Use the controllers for sword swings, defense shield and metallic fans throwing.
Exciting Adventure: Players virtualize into battle against hordes of evil creatures and wield weapons and shields with the Wii Remote and Nunchuk controllers, then take on massive bosses that must be seen to be believed.
Brain & Power : Many puzzles stand between our heroes, Lyoko and the fulfillment of their quest, so players must sharpen their wits as they hunt for the anhiliation of X.A.N.A.
Explore the digital sea and fight your enemies abord the Skid, the Lyoko Warrior’s new vehicle created by Jeremy.
Code Lyoko: Quest for Infinity is has been available for the Wii since November and will be coming soon to the PS2. You can get more of the new screens by clicking here.
Forbes has published their list of the 40st richest people in Japan and topping the list is former Nintendo President Hiroshi Yamauchi. Running the company from 1949 to 2002 and retiring from the gaming giant completely in 2005, over the past year his wealth has increased by $3 billion dollars - thanks mainly in part to the Wii, DS and the game sales for both systems. This has increased his overall wealth to a whopping $7.8 billion.
Hiroshi’s wealth has tripled over the past three years, and one can only imagine how much wealth he will accumulate once the WiiFit hits the states.
Sierra has announced the development of The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, a video game based the third installment of the “Mummy” movies from Universal Pictures. The game, which will mirror the events depicted in the film, is being developed by Eurocom Studios for the PS2 and the Wii; and in development for the DS from A2M.
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperorgame was created through a licensing agreement with Universal Pictures Digital Platforms Group. In this third-person action-adventure game, players will take on the roles of Rick O’Connell and his son, Alex (played by Brendan Fraser and Luke Ford, respectively, in the film). Gamers will follow the lead characters on their journey - across locations from ancient Chinese catacombs to the Himalayan peaks - to defeat the revived servants of the Dragon Emperor (Jet Li). The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor will allow players to switch between gunplay and hand-to-hand melee attacks, and also features an arsenal of weaponry that can be used to vanquish the many enemies players will face during their journey. Players will also be able to utilize combat, puzzle-solving and hieroglyphic decoding gameplay elements to fight their way through the game.
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is expected to be available on July 22nd, while the movie is expected to be released in theaters on August 1st.
You know, as horrid as The Scorpion King was combined with the asinine antics and plotline of the The Mummy Returns, I am surprised that they are even making ANOTHER one. I mean, even Rachel Weisz is smart enough not to be a part of this one - her character is being played by Maria Bello this time around - who isn’t even British so how in the world can she still be considered Jonathan’s sister? Plus, with the “son” as a side-kick in the movie, that just guarantees that it will both suck and blow. Plus, with Luke Ford playing Brenden Fraser’s son, his character would have been 13 when Alex was born which is absurd - of course, now I am just nit-picking so I will shut up.
When you bash almost any game, you’re going to draw criticism from many of its internet-dwelling fans. In the case of a game like Super Smash Bros. Brawl, which may as well be called Nintendomania, you’re going to get even more insane, ridiculous criticism. And by criticism, I of course mean profanity-laced hatemail filled with death threats for you and your dog.
So for the first time ever, Yahtzee took this week’s installment of Zero Punctuation to respond directly to some of the mail he’s gotten from crazed Smash Bros. fanboys who wrote in, trying to invalidate Yahtzee’s opinion.
Aside from gaming, I am a big fan of animes. That is why I was excited to hear a new Haruhi game was being developed for the Wii. If you’ve been keeping tabs on Haruhi’s video game escapades, you’d know a PS2 game was released a couple of months back which was nothing more than a sim of the anime.
The Haruhi game for the Wii though will be a cosplayer’s delight. It will be a rhythm based dance game similar to Konami’s Dance Dance Revolution. Yes, you heard right. All of you closet anime fans who have been practicing the Hare Hare Yukai dance night after night in your bedroom will finally be able to perform it and get positive reinforcement for doing it rather than the usual reaction. It’s OK if your parents think you’re weird… we still think you’re cool pal.
Don’t get your hopes up on this title hitting stateside though. There’s been no official announcement yet, but the way I see it, if Atari can churn out Dragon Ball Z games more than Capcom churns out Mega Man games, I don’t see why somebody couldn’t throw American gamers / anime fans a bone and localize this game.
Sega has released video five in its Iron Man Behind the Scene series. The video covers the making of the Wii version of Iron Man. Kevin Feige, Producer at Marvel Studios, and BJ Enriques, Assistant Producer at SEGA of America, and other developers talk about the difficulties of staying true to the whole mythos of Iron Man from the original comics to the movie and the game. They also talk about the challenge of making gameplay intuitive for the Wii and dealing with a character that has so many dynamic capabilities.
Robert Downey Jr. and Stan Lee also make appearances in the video. Check it out.
Codemasters has secured the exclusive video game rights to Formula One in a worldwide licensing agreement with Formula One Administration Ltd. In turn, the developer/publisher will create a new generation of the multi-million selling Formula One game franchise across multiple consoles, handhelds and PC.
Forbes has published their list of the 40st richest people in Japan and topping the list is former Nintendo President Hiroshi Yamauchi. Running the company from 1949 to 2002 and retiring from the gaming giant completely in 2005, over the past year his wealth has increased by $3 billion dollars - thanks mainly in part to the Wii, DS and the game sales for both systems. This has increased his overall wealth to a whopping $7.8 billion.
