Hudson Entertainment announced a double whammy of sorts today concerning games for WiiWare. For starters, they are bringing the Bomberman back to the Wii via an all-new adventure complete with multiplayer battles, Mii support and eight-person online play with Bomberman Blast.

Players can compete in solo missions and as part of a team to battle against other players online using their Miis in the Bomberman Blast arena where up to four players can compete in tournaments to see who truly is the best Bomberman around.

New gameplay elements featured within ten different levels have been implemented, such as: Bomb Change which does just that – turns you into a bomb; Rocket, where you jump high in the air to avoid bombs; and Shield, where you run the risk of getting carpal tunnel due to continuously shaking your Wiimote to avoid being blasted.

While Bomberman Blast sounds like a fun free-for-all, gamers who are more interesting in a sci-fi pinball game based on the ultimate in TurboGrafx-16 nostalgia, should look no further than Alien Crush Returns.

Making its debut on the Wii, this sequel to the classic Alien Crush features alien landscapes spanning two screens, multiple boards, online play, bonus levels, and special pinball powers like Boost, Reverse, and Split. Up to four-player online play takes advantage of the Wi-Fi by allowing players to compete for the highest pre-determined score and have your name immortalized on the online leader boards.

Future downloadable content is expected to be released for Alien Crush Returns with the addition of new stages and pinballs to help round out your game and keep you interested.

Neither Bomberman Blast or Alien Crush Returns have a release date or price plan set, but we will be sure to let you know when to expect your Wii to get just a bit cooler… in the meantime check out the screens for Bombermab Blast on FileFront.

Bomberman Land
Developer: Hudson Soft
Publisher: Hudson Soft
Price: $29.99
Platform: Wii
Category: Action, Arcade
ESRB Rating: E for Everyone (Cartoon Violence)
Release Date: January 29, 2008

These days, I approach anything dealing with the “Bomberman” franchise with apprehension. As far as I’m concerned, the more recent games have been kind of “hit or miss,” and few have really stacked up to the ones from the NES days. I tend to approach collections of mini-games for the Wii in much the same manner. So basically, before I even sat down to play it, the new Wii game, Bomberman Land, already had two strikes against it. Is there anything to redeem this latest adventure involving Bomberpeople? My full impressions after the break. Read the full article

Sometimes, I find some really interesting lots for sale on eBay. Doing a little searching today, I came across a lot of 400 video games for $3,199.99 + Shipping (US $250, Canada $400). That works out to about $8.62 per game if you have it shipped to the United States. Keep in mind that a majority of the games are for the PS2 and original Xbox. I’m not sure what a collection like this would cost you at a store like GameStop for example, but I think the price would actually be pretty close. I wouldn’t classify this as a great deal, but it would be sweet to have all these games in your collection. If the price were closer to say $2,000 for all 400, I’d consider buying it myself.

Auction Link

The exact games included follow the break:
Read the full article

Bomberman Land for the Wii and PSP and Bomberman Land Touch! 2 have gone gold. Konami Digital Entertainment is distributing the latest title in Hudson Entertainment’s Bomberman series which is scheduled to hit shelves in North America January 29, 2008 for $29.99.

Here’s a look at all the Box Art for all the art critics in the audience

Bomberman looks like an electrical outlet with its own lightning rod antenna. Its a long running game series… but it baffles me how it continues to get games.

via Press Release

Hudson Entertainment has released a new trailer for Bomberman Land which will arrive for the Wii, and PSP and Bomberman Land: Touch! 2 for the DS in January 2008. Bomberman Land, brings together 3 game modes into one with a bevy of mini-games, where most can be played in multiplayer mode. The PSP system version features 50 mini-games, the Wii features 50, and the DS has 40 unique mini-games. In addition, the Bomberman Land series features a single-player Story Mode, where players can explore a fantasy land and solve quests and puzzles with the ultimate goal of restoring peace and tranquility to the beleaguered Bomberman world.

The game also includes the Battle Pack Mode, the classic multiplayer Bomberman and the PSP and DS versions both allow gamers to share one game cartridge and network with friends to create a party game.

For more information on Bomberman Land and Bomberman Land: Touch! 2, check out our previous posts. While you are at it, why not send a bomberific ecard to your buddies for Christmas? Go here and play around with it a while and then send one to an unsuspecting gamer friend or two.

Bomberman Land PSP Trailer

Bomberman Land: Touch! 2 DS Trailer

To be made available for the Nintendo DS, PSP and Wii, in January 2008, Bomberman Land and Bomberman Land: Touch 2 bring together three game modes into one. The series introduces a bevy of mini-games, and most can be played in multiplayer mode. The PSP system version features 50 mini-games, the Wii features 50, and the DS has 40 unique mini-games. In addition, the Bomberman Land series features a single-player Story Mode, where players can explore a fantasy land and solve quests and puzzles with the ultimate goal of restoring peace and tranquility to the beleaguered Bomberman World.The game includes the Battle Pack Mode, the classic multiplayer Bomberman experience that gamers are more familiar with. The PSP system and the DS versions both allow gamers to share one game cartridge and network with friends to create the ultimate party game.

For more game announcements and information regarding Hudson Entertainment’s Bomberman Land, check back with us often. You can get more screens for the game here and here.

Following in the footsteps of Bomberman Live, it looks like another classic game known in part for its addictive head-to-head matches will be making its way to Xbox Live Arcade. “Tetris Splash” will bring the popular gameplay of Tetris to Xbox Live. Besides enhanced graphics and new aquatic landscapes, the game will allow online multiplayer for up to six players and two-player versus matches. The game will also feature a customizable fish tank that can be adjusted through unlocked achievements and add-on content. Tetris Splash will become available for download this Wednesday on XBLA.

Via Press Release

Apparently Microsoft thought it could get a free ride this week. They thought I’d be too busy playing Halo 3 to notice. But no – people, we’ve got no new Xbox Live Arcade games this week. Zip. Nada. Not even a port of a really old, obscure title that only 14 people – none of which own an Xbox 360 – care about.

The Xbox Live Arcade sale is in effect starting today, but if you really cared about Frogger, Bankshot Billiards or Hardwood Spades, you’d probably have already forked over the Microsoft Points to land yourself a digital copy.

Instead, the only real offering today on Arcade is the second add-on pack for Bomberman Live, the Bomb-Up Pack 2, which costs 250 Microsoft Points. Whoo.

Australia is playing catch up when it comes to TurboGrafx 16 releases. The catch up process starts next week and includes an impressive line-up of games. Some were surprises, but most were expected considering they have already been released in other regions. TurboGrafx is also known as the PC-Engine and was a competitor of the Sega Genesis and Super NES. It struggled in the states, but did have a strong following internationally. I owned a TG 16 myself and loved the strange games for the console. The TurboGrafx was really a short lived part of pop culture, but very few people haven’t heard of Bonk or Johnny Turbo. The following list of upcoming VC releases for the Nintendo Wii is from Vooks:

• Bonk
• Bomberman ‘93
• Double Dungeons
• Chew Man Fu
• New Adventure Island
• Soldier Blade
• Vigilante
• Dungeon Explorer
• Victory Run
• Super Star Soldier
• R-Type
• Military Madness
• Alien Crush
• Moto Raider

Rising Star Games and Hudson Soft announced a co-publishing agreement today, which will initially cover seven titles across Sony PSP, Nintendo DS and Wii formats for release between September 2007 and March 2008. For UK publisher Rising Star Games this is a good financial move as it will further establish the company as a major player in the European market as well as publishing the company’s first Nintendo Wii title in early 2008.

“This is a significant partnership for Rising Star Games and a further endorsement that the values and business plan of the company are spot on; we are delighted,” commented Mr Martin Defries, Managing Director & C.O.O. Rising Star Games. “The line up from Hudson is fantastic and we are honoured to be part of the reintroduction of Hudson to Europe along with the games it brings.”

“We are very happy to have the opportunity to work with Rising Star Games,” commented Mrs. Hiromi Tomisawa, Head of Europe Business, Global Business Division, Hudson Soft Co. Ltd. “They are an experienced hand at managing the very best in Japanese games for release in Europe and have a dynamism that matches our goal to return the Hudson brand to Europe once again. We have an exciting multiformat line up of titles and look forward to this partnership building.”

Rising Star Games has published such gems as Valhalla Knights, Innocent Life – A Futuristic Harvest Moon, Swords of Destiny, Bomberman Land Touch and Harvest Moon DS.

Hudson Soft should be familiar to gamers because of the Bomberman games, but they also developed Fuzion Frenzy 2, Alien Crush and Bloody Roar 4.