Filed under: News, Virtual Console

Action gamers and masochists (two sets whose Venn diagram, we imagine, contains a fairly large intersect) will be very happy with today's Japanese Virtual Console update, which provides one of the most painfully, awesomely difficult action games we can think of. Seriously, good luck holding on to that golden armor long enough to actually use some magic.

Oh, also there's another N64 game, which is something of a rare event! This week's Virtual Console releases are:
Dai Makaimura (Ghouls & Ghosts) (Mega Drive, 1 player, 600 Wii Points) Wave Race 64 (Nintendo 64, 1-2 players, 1000 Wii Points) Power League 4 (PC Engine, 1-4 players, 600 Wii Points) Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

With Electronic Art's Need for Speed ProStreet (PC, Xbox 360, PS3, PSP, Wii, DS, PS2) taking a more hardcore path in the racing genre, the developers are reiterating that this game will be much, much faster than its predecessors. Now, in case you've already gotten wind of the previous "Smoke Trailer" video we've got here, we'll be introducing another video showcasing what the game is aimed to be all about: speed.

This video will be less on the subtle physics effects demonstrated in past posts and will focus instead on a straight-out run, at speeds (as the devs put it) that will indeed leave you breathless, your visions blurred, and your stomachs knotted. Enjoy the video, and fasten your seat-belts - this could get bumpy.

Great news for Wii owners looking for the opportunity to finally control a light saber with the Wiimote - you'll be able to swing, slash, and poke that humming blade of glowy laser death with Ninty's wand controller in the Wii build of the highly-anticipated Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga of Telltale Games.

In this video we see actual gameplay as it happens - and suffice to say, while it's not quite the 1:1 swordplay we're looking for, it's more than enjoyable, with intuitive controls to make battles fun and easy. For example, making your character jump up, and then dive straight down with a light saber stab is a mere vertical slash of the Wiimote away.

There's also the fact that your attacks will hit harder and hit faster the better you are at your Wiimote. Definitely good news for Wii owners and Star Wars fans. Updates as we get them, so enjoy the video!

The Wii has got to have some sort of record for the most gimmicky and superfluous accessories of any console. For every type of game, there seems to be a hunk of white plastic meant to hold the Wiimote to make it more "realistic." Today's entry is the Wii Airplane Controller Stand from PEGA. It makes you feel like you're flying an airplane inside a GameCube! For only $13, how can you say no? [Product Page viaSlashGear]

As of a couple days ago, the Xbox 360 has officially passed up the Wii as the most searched for console (in internet searches) since early November of last year. This wasn't due to the Wii interest dropping lately (it's been more or less constant since January 2007), but more because of a gradually growing interest in the 360 since April.
Hitwise, the company that's been tracking these terms, says that an increased search rate is usually indicative of a higher amount of future sales for that product. Since the Xbox 360 has been sluggish in sales despite a really good game library, it makes us wonder why there's an upswing in searches now. Could it be because of the rumors of the impending $50 price drop? Could it be because of all the failures and warranty extension data? Hitwise says it's not (it wasn't in the top 10 searched terms), and only appeared at #13 and #15 in the list. Not quite large enough to make a significant impact at only about half a %. [Hitwise]

More info about the latest superhero to make the jump from comic book frames and into the big screen with this developer interview of Sega's Iron Man, the man in the suit that never needs ironing (okay, bad joke, but I had to do it).

In this video, Beejey Inriquez, assistant producer of the Iron Man game, reassures both comic fans and video game fans that the game will not disappoint, seeing as he's a comic book fan himself and is quite familiar about the discerning taste of those enamored with superheroes fighting the good fight in frames.

That in itself is very good news, as staying true to comic book canon (or at the very least, being faithful to it) is a good way to make a great game. [Well, some of us aren't canon purists, but yeah, even if an adaptation veers from canon, it should still remain true to the spirit of the comic book original we have all grown to love, right? - Ed.]

Beejey was tightlipped about the game's juicier bits, but he did reveal th...

Filed under: News
22 bucks for a poker game seems high to us, but we don't play poker at all. We understand, however, that other people tend to enjoy card games from time to time, and for regular poker players, this may be a steal. You can get World Championship Poker: All In for the cost of a replacement shirt and get your gambling fix in a safe virtual environment.

Is it any better or worse than other poker game on Wii? We don't really know, since nobody seems to have reviewed it. We'd quote The Gambler here, but we don't know whether buying this game without an idea regarding its quality falls under "holding 'em" or "folding 'em." It seems like a "hold 'em."Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Want to see how games fare in the land down under? Games Industry GfK Australia gives you the skinny on what games wins the Aussie's hearts - and wallets - with its list of Australia's top-selling games for the first half of this year. In this list not Sony, Microsoft, or Nintendo wins the top spot, as it is now owned by an expansion of the epic online game: World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade.

The list clearly shows that the perennial PS2 is still going strong down under, with about 5 entries in the charts, including Final Fantasy XII. Sony snagged the half of the top ten slots, and for a country which gets the PS3 at a very expensive price (estimated to be about US 900), two games still managed to snag the 6th and 7th slots: Resistance Fall of Man and MotorStorm, respectively.

Nintendo, however, is the overall winner in dominating the entire chart with about 8 games making it into the Top 20. It's cute doggie simulation, Nintendogs: Dachshund and Friends, a...

 
If you've been waiting for the supercharged football action that is Mario Strikers Charged, then you should check your calendar. Today, the Nintendo Wii video game charges to store shelves.

In case you've been spending your days cooped up in your basement, here's a bit of a primer about the game Mario Strikers Charged. It's the sequel to the GameCube title, Super Mario Strikers, and it sports nine new stadiums-slash-battlefields and a motley crew of new characters. You can create your own dream team by drafting your favorite characters in captain or sidekick positions. Additional content like cheats and game elements can be unlocked by beating the Striker Challenges and the Road to the Striker Cup.

Mario Strikers Charged features single player and multiplayer modes via Wi-Fi Connection. In multiplayer mode, you can slug it out with players nationwide, coast to coast. Every week is a fresh tournament for players as leaderboards are reset weekly.

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The sale figures from July 16 to July 22 for software video game products in Japan have been released. Dragon Quest Swords is the highest rated Wii game in the list but it is not first overall. The overall number one game in terms of sales is a Playstation 2 game called Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball [...]