GameOnYou UK

Is it that time again already? What? It’s been that time more than once over the past couple of months? Whatever. Shut Up.

September is going to be another best month of the year, so you’d better secure lots of overtime at work, or you’re going to have to sacrifice eating on Tuesdays. There are that many great games coming out, I’m sorry but it’s true. I’m going to have to do it… again. That’s correct. This month gets another (much coveted) GoY Seal Of Approval™.

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With E3 well under way today was Nintendo’s turn to flaunt their wares, but first they decided to hit back at microsoft’s announcement of out selling both Nintendo and Sony in the console war, by claiming they were actually the one’s outselling Sony and Microsoft. We expect a similar announcement from Sony very soon.

Nintendo did finally get around to making the following announcements:

Wii Games

• Animal Crossing: City Folk, the first Wii game to take advantage of new hardware WiiSpeak.
• Shaun White Snowboarding, designed for use with the WiiFit balance board.
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars, a standard beat em’ up with lightsabres.
• Rayman Raving Rabbids: TV Party, simply more mini-game madness
• Call of Duty: World At War
• WiiSports Resort, a beach sport game supporting another piece of new hardware Wii Motion Plus.
• WiiMusic, play a variety of instuments how you like, in your own time.

Nintendo DS

• Guitar Hero: On Tour Decades
• Spore Creatures
• Pokemon Ranger 2: Shadow of Alma
• Grand Theft Auto: China Town Wars

Hardware

• WiiSpeak, a set top microphone that will pick up all voices in the room allowing for group to group communication without the need for headsets. Only currently supported by Animal Crossing: City Folk.
• Wii Motion Plus, A small unit that plugs into the bottom of your WiiMote that enhances motion detection and more accurate interpretations of the movement on screen. Currently only supported and supplied with WiiSports Resort it also includes an extended sleeve for your WiiMote.

Nintendo also unveiled plans you gradually change the DS into essentially a PDA, so that it can be seen as necessary to carry with you as a mobile phone, with the ability to access train timetables, local restaurant guides, etc.

More E3 news to come.

June is going to be one of the best months of gaming this year. There, I said it. I know I said it before for April (Month of GTA4) but June really is amazing. So amazing, in fact, that it receives the GameOnYou UK seal of approval! There are so many good games coming out this month, including a number of big names. Follow us as we explore why June is going to be a gamer’s paradise…
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A recent article over on Kotaku has revealed deeply embedded opinions within Ubisoft HQ. The clumsy employee who dropped this comment is (possibly was by now) a moderator over at the Ubisoft forums - in sharp response to one member’s well-founded rant about how…

“[The Wii] gets no new Core-titles and when we get some like Shaun White Snowboarding it looks worse than SSX on the Cube. Doesn’t really look like Ubisoft is trying to put some effort in it.”

In response to this member’s thoughts, an angry Ubisoft moderator decided to bite back with the claim that…

“Parents who are buying a console for their children do not really care about Prince of Persia, Rainbow Six or Far Cry on the box, they want games that are going to be good for their children and not get them in the local newspaper”

This may be more accurately read as “You Wii owners aren’t mature enough to play the big boy’s games”. The rep then has the nerve to claim that “Amazing new AAA games” do not sell very well on the Wii. I’m guessing that means that the rubbish, old ZZZ games Ubisoft keep churning out go down a treat then.
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Well, If anybody’s reading this (read: those who don’t have a copy of GTA4) it appears that May is our calm after the storm, with little in the name of jaw-dropping titles to be released. That is not to say that there aren’t any good games though, oh no, there are quite a few games to look out for this month. As the list may feel a little sterile we’re going to add something new into the mix. This month we’re going to not only deliver you our definitive list of games to look forward to but also an list of games to avoid. Here goes nothing…
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Been watching the idiot box recently? Well, my WAG has and occasionally my ears will prick up when I hear the ‘Wii noise’ or the words “Grand Theft Auto”.

The former is potentially one step too far in the direction of casuality. The ad lasts about 20 seconds and focuses on a family living room with Dad leaning side to side. the voice-over tells us that Wii Fit will “help with balance” among other things. Visually, the only game footage we see is pretty much a chart telling Dad he’s fat, and the coordinates of his centre of gravity. Now I’m sorry, but what the hell Nintendo? Who are you aiming this at? It isn’t Christmas (although Mother’s Day is coming up I believe?) You’re either assuming people (read: women) will latch on to your connotations of weight-loss and fitness (certainly not helped by the title’s misleading name), or you’ve just dropped the ball in terms of marketing.

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Do not adjust your set.

This is not a drill.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl is pencilled in for a June 27th release. It’s only been five months, after all. Oh gosh you can taste the sarcasm. However, the Australian release is STILL unconfirmed.

In other news, Nintendo has done their whole release schedule for the foreseeable future, and as much as some of them are not surprises, it’s surprising in itself that some of the games listed in the release schedule have in fact already been released. I spotted a few April 18th’s on here. Seriously.

Highlights:

• Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Darkness (4th July)
• Etrian Odyssey (6th June)
• Wii Fit (Tomorrow: 25th April)
• WiiWare Service (May 20th)
• Everyone’s Nintendo Channel (May 30th)

I was genuinely looking for an ‘Also, cocks.’ on the release schedule. A lot of them are so vague, going into quarters, or occasionally months. Although Iron-Man IS stated as a Spring 2008 release.

The Limited Edition of Alone in the Dark has been revealed, and it has some surprisingly juicy stuff. It includes:

• Alone in the Dark game, one of the most anticipated games of the year;
• Figurine of the game’s legendary hero, Edward Carnby;
• Official Soundtrack CD featuring 8 in-game tracks of original music by Olivier Derivière and performed by Grammy® Award-winning choir The Mystery of Bulgarian Voices;
• Full colour, bound art book featuring never before seen production sketches, storyboards and original artwork from Eden Games;
• ‘Making Of’ documentary feature DVD with exclusive interviews, behind the scenes footage and additional bonus content.

And the box looks awesome too. Despite the picture, it’s for all three platforms, not just 360.

High Voltage Software is the speaker of this almost unbelievable claim, with it’s gaming engine called Quantum3. According to VideoGamer.com, it’s the result of 15 years of work, with all sorts of tweaks and tricks that are in the Wii’s hardware specification.

“The Wii platform is capable of a lot more than what consumers have seen so far. We’re hoping to raise a new bar,” said HVS’s CEO.

The first title to use this engine is the FPS The Conduit. Take a look at the tech demo here to see the proof.

Honestly, I can’t see this happening myself. The Wii has never been the system for hardcore gamers, as it just doesn’t have the power, and hasn’t been geared towards the gamer demographic. Despite how sweet the visuals are above, remember this: The Wii only transmits HD at 480i/p, and 480p is only if you have bought the component cable. The PS3 and Xbox 360 are capable of doing more than double this (quadruple if you consider the real-time application of it), at 1080i/p.

If they can get this sort of performance on the Wii, then the weakness of being less powerful is, for all intents and purposes, thrown out of the water. Despite the lower resolution, it still looks good, and that’s what people want. I just hope all the stuff that has to be added in (player, weapons etc) do not clog it down to an unplayable state

Having only just seen the Escapist review of No More Heroes, it has put me at a slight disadvantage. I had told myself to write the review and THEN view what Yahtzee had to say. Oops. Still, nevermind eh? Congratulations must first go to me for actually finishing the game, and in the second instance, to the game, for providing me with some welcome and much needed entertainment. I was looking forward to playing this game after enjoying the unpidgeon-holeable killer 7 - seems you can’t mention one without the other - which I loved even though I didn’t quite understand the ending. I guess it means I’ll have to play it again. Boo hoo.

The intro to this game has you killing assassin number eleven. This sets the story of your character then killing the top ten assassins in a bid to become the number one assassin. Boy, that’s a lot of ass. Whilst initial feelings of GTA copycatness will explode in your ‘I thought this was going to be original’ part of your brain, you should accept that certain aspects to the game will be familiar because if they weren’t, I don’t think game would be as playable as it is. Because it isn’t trying to be GTA or killer 7 or Cooking Mama or whatever, it excels in its own right. This is essentially a linear game with side quests to help you earn money to finish the main story which progresses the game which explains the story. You should note that this is not me criticising the game, just clarifying that I know what it’s doing and am happy with the way in which it is doing it. So far, so vague. Read the rest of this entry »