Not a lot of real time strategy games are designed specifically for your 12 year olds. Conventional strategy games involve lots of complicated details and a comprehensive micro management in order to succeed that it would be hard to be digested by young ones. Crave Entertainment thinks otherwise. They are coming out with Defendin’ De Penguin, a strategy game for your kids. It will be released with a Wii and DS version.

The objective of the game is to fend off the attacks of hungry predators that are out to get the town’s food supplies. Sounds simply right? Players must use precision timing and cunningness to survive. Players must choose from 8 tower types to defend their town. Then you have various ammunitions such as ice cubes, snowballs, icicles, and frost to throw at your opponents.

You play as the penguin Little Blue. You can upgrade a tower, fish for money, and get special items on the map. Towers can be upgraded to increase attack range, and strength. Attacking creatures include wooly mammoths, seals, snow men, snapping turtles and a lot more.

Defendin’ the Penguin will be out this month.

Atlus announced today that the demo for Trauma Center’s sequel for the Nintendo DS is available for download for Wii owners through the intend Channel. The follow up for the smash medical hit is called Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2.

You can try out the demo to decide whether you would like to buy Under the Knife 2 which is already available in the markets today. The full version features new operations and a couple of enhancements like new difficulty levels.

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Activision is making a new Dancing with the Stars game for Nintendo Wii and DS consoles. This is the follow up to last year’s successful game. The new game will be titled Dancing with the Stars: Get Your Game On.

Get Your Game On will feature new stars such as Joey Fatone, Mel B, Apolo Anton Ohno, and Jennie Garth. There are also new professional dancers to choose from like Derek Hough and his sister, two-time champion Julianne Hough.

The new Wii version will still use the Wii remote and will feature a new flair move. Dave Oxford from Activision Publishing has this to say about the game:

“Dancing with the Stars is an ongoing cultural phenomenon that appeals to people of all ages. It is mainstream entertainment at its best. We feel the game is the perfect opportunity to evolve the idea of ‘active family fun’.”

I’m sure my aunt who is a huge fan of the show will be dying to get her hands on this new game. I just hope that they do something about the single player mode. The previous game’s single player mode has no competition except against computer controlled dancers.

Majesco is set to release a new Cooking Mama game for the Nintendo Wii at the last quarter of this year. Unlike previous the version of the game, Cooking Mama World Kitchen will be in 3D. With this graphic upgrade also comes new game play mechanics.

According to the developer, new mini-games are added to add a new dimension to the game. An example is when you make a mistake while flipping burgers, a mini-game will be triggered. You’ll gain control of Mama as you try to catch the burger with your apron. That would definitely make the game more attractive and less a routine.

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I know this is not Nintendo news but I have to get this out of my chest. Over the past days, Blizzard’s web site has a splash screen that had fanboys debated on what it means. It had runes on it that some provided some clues as to what is to be the mystery behind the ice. Some speculated that it’s about the upcoming World of Warcraft Expansion, Wrath of the Lich King. Others thought that it’s a Starcraft related news. But from the beginning, I wished that it be something about my favorite Blizzard game, Diablo.

Then on June 28 Blizzard dropped the bomb and announced the coming of the Diablo 3. This game is long overdue. It has been a decade since Diablo 2 and since then every Diablo fan (including me) have been waiting for a follow up.

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Treyarch, the developer of Call of Duty, announced that Call of Duty 5: World at War for the Nintendo Wii could be played using the Wii Zapper. Released last year, the Wii Zapper is a peripheral that combines the Wii Remote and Nunchuck to form a gun.

It is said that Call of Duty 5 is set in the Pacific during World War 2. Though I still think that the developers are just cashing in on Call of Duty 4’s success, it is still nice to know that the title is coming out on the Wii.

Wii Zappers can enhance the gaming experience of war games such as Call of Duty. This will truly be a nice move on the part of Treyarch, and the game’s return to the Wii will be a welcome one. In my opinion, this is how a war game should be played, with a gun in your hands.

SimCity fans with Nintendo Wii or DS will have something to look to look forward to. Electronic Arts is set to launch SimCity Creator exclusively for the two Nintendo console. The Wii and the DS version will have features unique from the other.

In the Wii version, players can choose either from a European or Asian style for their city. The Wii Remote will be the only peripheral needed to play SimCity Creator. Just as the previous SimCity versions, players can set the zones and construct their own metropolis. For the first time in the series though, you can lay roads and pipes in curves instead of the grid-like systems of the past. Now you can truly design a piping system that you can truly say your own.

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Mario, Luigi and the rest of the gang are getting ready to conquer the Wii Speedways with the impending debut release of Mario Kart in Nintendo Wii consoles this April.

Unlike the previous versions, Mario Kart Wii has some new features like the online racing mode, new motorbike vehicle types, and a special balancing system for new and veteran players. Plus, the game will be shipped with its own Mario Kart wheel.

We all have a Mario Kart memory with our friends. All the trash talks and challenges made Mario Kart the party game of choice. Mario Kart Wii experience will be the same. With a four player battle mode, you and your friends will have lots of shouting matching to come. With every start of the race, you’ll surely have your heart pumping hard and your adrenaline level high. Then there are the hecklers who would want to take your concentration away.

Then if you want to take your game to another level, you could go online where you can participate in worldwide time trials or race against 11 other players. The Mario Kart Wii channel in the Nintendo Wifi network will keep tabs on your times so you can compare it with your friends’. The channel will also hold world and local records plus the players’ rankings.

From the looks of things, this game has polished graphics and simple game play making Mario Kart Wii a game for everyone.

Do you have any Mario Kart experience you want to share?

Gone are the days when gamers aren’t conscious of their health. First there was Wii Sports. I knew someone that bought the Wii because of this game. She wanted to have some sort of exercise and she wasn’t getting it by spending countless hours on WOW.

Wii Sports was a welcome break for gamers. And now Nintendo is banking on that success by developing something similar to it. Nintendo is set to release Wii Fit in May.

Wii Fit will turn your living room into your own private gym. It comes with a Wii Balance Board. Whether you want to do yoga, balance games, muscle workouts or aerobic exercises, there is an activity for everyone. There are more than 40 activities and exercises to choose from giving you variety, making it exciting for everyday fun.

You control on-screen action with your movements on the Wii Balance Board. It gauges where your balance and body mass are located to ensure that you perform every exercise correctly.

Wii Fit will be challenging for the family and at the same time get all of you in shape. Up to 8 profiles can be made with the game and each one can track their own improvement. As you progress in the game, you will unlock new exercises and activities.

Don’t be surprised if one day you meet a gamer with a physique that a sports jock would be envy of. With Wii Sports, you will level up in game and in real life as well!

Final Fantasy is such a successful franchise that it’s not a surprise that every gamer has played a Final Fantasy game in his lifetime. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates for the Nintendo DS is a welcome addition to your game catalog.

With its simple hack-and-slash gameplay, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates is an excellent RPG/dungeon crawler. There are two game modes available for you. In the Story Mode, you get to play as Yuri. With a gripping storyline, you’ll surely be spending a lot of time in this mode.

But when you’re friends are with you, you can play in the Multiplayer mode. Up to 4 players can join up in a single game. There are quests available for your group. Well this is a great feature of the game but there are issues of frame rates while in this mode.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles’ graphics are impressive. Square Enix does a great job 3D rendering the game. Getting lost in this game is the last thing that can happen to you. It features a mini-map of the room you’re currently in.

I don’t want to sound like a fanboy but Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates is by far the best RPG I’ve played on the Nintendo DS. Except for the delay issues during multiplayer play, I have nothing bad to say about this game. Well don’t take me word for it, try it out yourself.