Dan Houser has spoken. The Rockstar cofounder has stated that the Grand Theft Auto on the Wii would not feel natural as compared to it being on the DS. To quote Houser:

“It really was that the DS felt like it had a lot of interesting challenges that would be totally different from what we’d done in the past. The stylus and the chance to use minigames in that way was really interesting and exciting to us, and we thought we could integrate seamlessly between those two modes.”

I hope they change their mind on the Wii. The console needs a game like GTA in the mix to draw the non-casual crowd. I’m just saying that with all the casual games available for the Wii, a GTA game would be healthy for the Wii. If Nintendo thinks that a GTA game would ruin Wii’s wholesome image, then make one for the Wii with a built-in parental control mode, a parallel sanitized version.

It’s quite rare for a PC game to be ported directly to the DS. The games’ animation will suffer during the conversion. Therefore Runaway: The Dream of the Turtle should be considered a class of its own. For one, Runaway will be the first to use the VX2 video codec for the DS. This gives the game more than one hour of cut scenes that are vital for the storyline and to provide comedic relief as well. That’s the reason why Runaway will be shipped in the largest DS cartridge to date.

But what good is the animation if the game is not that great. Well a million PC gamers would vouch for Runaway’s quality. It is an adventure game that promises to give you tons of fun and humorous gaming hours. Read more »

Gone are the days when cooking shows are boring as hell. Although rhetorically speaking, hell might not be that boring, if it does exist but that’s not what this is about. What I would like to talk about is Hell’s Kitchen. Since its debut, Hell’s Kitchen has managed to captivate its audience every week. A big part of it is mainly due to its foul mouthed host Gordon Ramsey.

Apparently, much to the dismay of its conservative critics, fans of the show will have something to celebrate when Ubisoft announced a Hell’s Kitchen video game featuring its fiery host, Gordon Ramsey. It will be available for the PC, Mac, and the Wii.

The (bleep) game for the (bleep) Wii will have players (bleep) manage a restaurant while (bleep) they are supervised by Ramsay. They will be (bleep) judged by Ramsay on preparation, cooking and (bleep) service. As you (bleep) progress through the game, (bleep) players would unlock additional (bleep) recipes.

Ramsay is mighty proud and has this to say about the game:

“I had a great time doing the voice for my own animation. Being in a video game is a new experience for me and I’m very pleased with the results.”

Hmmm… Ramsay sounded sweet on that one. Anyway, Hell’s Kitchen for the Wii will be out on November this year. This would be the cooking game of the year. If you don’t believe me then you can (bleep) go to Hell.

Disney joins in the music game bandwagon with the announcement of its Ultimate Band for the Nintendo Wii and DS. Disney believes that rockers don’t just play music, they must perform it. Ultimate Band lets player get into character and have the performance of their lives.

I don’t know how Disney will pull it off. Unlike Rock Band and Guitar Hero, which come with Guitars and Drum Kits, Ultimate Band won’t need extra controller and will be controlled by the Wii remote and Nunchuks. Players can opt to be the lead guitarist, bassist or the drummer of the Ultimate Band. But don’t you think players will be more into the action when they hold guitars rather than the Wii remote and Nunchuk? Read more »

Unconfirmed rumors suggest that Take-Two, Gran Theft Auto’s publisher, is developing a GTA game for the Wii. Although there’s no official word on this issue but Take-Two’s CEO Ben Feder recently said:

We continue to build that relationship. GTA Chinatown Wars is not even the first step but certainly an important step in continuing to develop that relationship. I will say that Nintendo and Take-Two work very well together. Nintendo and Rockstar are beginning to work well together and we intend to continue to grow that relationship.

GTA Chinatown Wars is exclusively for the DS. It features new characters, custom game engine and Wi-Fi connectivity. It will be available this coming holiday season.

If the planned GTA for the Wii pushes through then it will be the first Gran Theft Auto game for any non-portable Nintendo console. There’s GTA for the Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance. GTA’s Wii-version would surely be something I would look forward to in the near future.

Photo from MyWii.com.au

The long wait is over. The full version of Spore will be released this week. September 4 is the release date for Australia, September 5 for Europe and Japan, and September 7 for the North American market. In addition to the game, it will come with a making of Spore DVD, a mini-book, a poster and a handbook.

I know it’s a PC game and this is a Nintendo gaming blog but Spore is big these days. Everywhere I go, all I see is Spores. It’s as if Spore is stalking me. I can even see a Spore creature in my dreams.

Last June, EA Games and Maxis came out with the teaser, Spore Creature Creator. This allowed users to create their own creature. Then they can upload their creatures to Sporepedia. The site’s database has thousands of creatures in it.
Read more »

Mario is stepping on the North American plate and hoping for a Wii homerun with Super Sluggers. This Wii title was first released in Japan last June and was received warmly by Japanese gamers. Mario Super Sluggers was released this week in the North America market while Australian gamers can get it this September.

This baseball title for the Wii will have 4 game modes. The Exhibition mode lets players choose their captains and players. You can choose how many innings, stadium and the time of play, whether night or day. The batting order would be determined via toss coin. Read more »

Those of you who already have the Guitar Hero: On Tour would know how awkward and unnatural the feel is to play it with the DS Guitar Grip it comes with. Modder Eric Ruckman has the perfect solution for this. Why not use a regular PS2 guitar controller to play the DS version of the game?

First, he dismantled the guitar controller. He removed the internal parts and then placed the DS in the middle. He included a FM transmitter so that you can use an ordinary radio as speakers. The guitar controller’s start and select buttons act as the frequency selector. If you don’t want to wake up your neighbors, you can plug headphones into it. The controller will use the GBA slot therefore you can still take the DS off if you want to.

Good job Eric!

Watch this video of the Guitar Hero: On Tour guitar controller mod in action.

Source: markvi_fan’s flickr

Photos after the jump.
Read more »

The ultimate cooking showdown on cable television will be making its way to the Wii and DS. Iron Chef America: Supreme Cuisine will be pit two players in a battle to see who will be supreme in the Kitchen Stadium as they battle in a series of fast paced and intensive culinary challenges. Each victory will bring a player closer in his quest to be the next Iron Chef.

Food Network fanatics would love playing this cooking game that would let them compete against the likes of former Iron Chefs Mario Batali, Masaharu Morimoto, and Cat Cora. Game commentary will be made by Alton Brown.

As to why you would prefer to virtually cook food against really cooking is beyond my logic but as a fan of the show I would likely pick this game up. Yeah, another game that caters to casual gamers. Iron Chef America: Supreme Cuisine will be available this fall for the Nintendo Wii and DS.

Will Iron Chef topple Cooking Mama’s Wii supremacy?

For this year’s Games Convention Midway promised to be bringing the following titles for Nintendo consoles.

More Game Party

(Wii, November 2008)

More Game Party for the Wii is expected to bring more fun for you and your friends. It has 11 party games that include Bean Bag Toss, Lawn Darts, Horseshoes, Puck Bowling, Hoop Shoot, Darts, and Skill Ball. Each game has a four player mode and tournament play that makes More Game Play the ultimate party game for everyone.

More TouchMaster

(DS, September 2008)

More TouchMaster brings a mixture of old and new card, action, puzzle and strategy games that will keep you occupied for hours. You could try and beat your own scores or you can play against other players. More TouchMaster is your own portable arcade to while away your idle times.

Mechanic Master

(DS, September 2008)

In Mechanic Master, you get to use your DS stylus to battle against pesky alien invaders. With over 100 levels and tons of puzzles to solve, finding the right contraption needs lots of creative juice in order to advance to the next level. This is yet another casual game to add to your DS inventory.