WiiNintendo

Carsten Myhill, developer of Academy of Champions, tells us all about this new Soccer (football) game. Carsten does an excellent job at describing the game as a whole, so watch the video above for that. I’m going to talk about my 1 on 1 game with the developer himself (who managed to beat me while answering questions and facing backwards through 1/2 the game).

I’ll be perfectly honest, when I first heard about Academy of Champions with Pele I thought this would be another Fifa clone, but I’ll tell you after playing this I think it may be the sleeper hit of the bunch. This game for me picks up right where Mario Strikers left off (in a good way). Academy of Champions gives you all of the cool power ups and strategies that can be found in Mario Strikers and marries that with the feel of a “real” soccer game. The game even incorporates some screen prompts to hit buttons on cue to win a “jostle” between two characters. You need to pass and win jostles to build up your power meter to initiate your special power (for instance when I powered up Sam Fischer from Splinter Cell the game went into night vision mode, I saw green night vision and I was invisible to everyone else). The game also features what the devs are calling envro-mation (environment animation) which occurs after each goal, you can see an example of this in the video above. After my match with Carsten I was left wanting more, the game is “pick up and play friendly”, but also very challenging once you start to get a little more serious. Different character attributes come into play as well as strategy of how and when to use your power meter (ie speed boost drains your power bar).

The game also has a Wii Balance Board mini game section that challenges you to dribble the ball on your head, legs, and feet and also catch the ball on the nape of your neck and roll the ball around your neck and arms. Academy of Champions is loaded with mini games and customization. There is also an Ubisoft team you can become which features all your favorite Ubisoft characters (even black Raving Rabbids).

- Release Date: 9/9/09
- Online Multiplayer
- Wii Motion Plus is incorporated to things like dodging and lobbing, but not necessary.
- Wii Balance Board Compatible

Discuss this and more in our forums.
Follow WiiNintendo on Twitter.
Subscribe to our RSS Feed.

Shaun White Snowboarding: World Stage, developer Stephane Blais, gave us a great demo of the game before we took it for a ride ourselves. More about my impressions in a bit, for now check out the video.

Discuss this and more in our forums.
Follow WiiNintendo on Twitter.
Subscribe to our RSS Feed.

Discuss this and more in our forums.
Follow WiiNintendo on Twitter.
Subscribe to our RSS Feed.

Brand Manager, Mike Wolf, talks about what makes the adventure of the Raving Rabbids unique and exciting.

Discuss this and more in our forums.
Follow WiiNintendo on Twitter.
Subscribe to our RSS Feed.

Written impressions coming soon. I was under the impression that this couldn’t be posted until tomorrow, and my notes are at home….

Discuss this and more in our forums.
Follow WiiNintendo on Twitter.
Subscribe to our RSS Feed.

During Ubisofts “UbiNintendo Day”, WiiNintendo got the chance to ask Red Steel 2 developer, Jason Vandenberghe, some of the questions we’ve all wanted to know.

Also:

VIDEO: Jason Vandenberghe going into extreme detail in this WiiNintendo exclusive preview of Red Steel 2

VIDEO: Hands on with Red Steel 2

Discuss this and more in our forums.
Follow WiiNintendo on Twitter.
Subscribe to our RSS Feed.

During Ubisofts “UbiNintendo Day” WiiNintendo got the chance to listen to Red Steel 2 developer, Jason Vandenberghe, talk about what he wanted Red Steel 2 to be in a live face to face. This is the entire 26 minute video uncut. We also had time for a Q&A with Jason and a hands on with Red Steel 2.

In addition to this, we have a bunch of videos and impressions that will be posted shortly. I was under the impression that we were to wait for Wednesday to post things regarding Ubisoft’s “UbiNintendo Day”

Discuss this and more in our forums.
Follow WiiNintendo on Twitter.
Subscribe to our RSS Feed.

Some of you may remember Electroplankton, the game/application for Nintendo DS where you can control small creatures to create music.  Several years later, they are bringing it back in smaller versions for DSiWare (at least in Japan).  Each 200 point release will be dedicated to one creature.  Here’s some more info from IGN’s article:

Each DSiWare release will focus on one plankton. July 8 sees the release of Trapy, Hanebow, Nano-carp, and Beatnes. July 22 will see Rec-Rec and Lumiloop, followed by an August release for Luminarian, Sun Animalcule, Volvoice, and Marine Snow. Each plankton is priced at 200 DSiPoints.

Will it come to North America? For now, we can only assume that if it does well in Japan, they might think about sending it this direction.  The original game/app received 7 to 8.5 (10 point scale) reviews, but did not sell that well.

Did you pick up the original?  Will you pick up the “new” versions if they come to NA?

Discuss this and more in our forums.
Follow WiiNintendo on Twitter.
Subscribe to our RSS Feed.

VIDEOS:

Wii:
–The Conduit – TV Spot
–What’s New at Animal Crossing: City Folk
–Guitar Hero Smash Hits Launch Video
–Grand Slam Tennis – First Play Reactions
–Resident Evil Archives: Resident Evil – Video
–Mini Ninjas – Hiro
–Let’s Tap – Silent Blocks
–EA Sports Active – Social Play
–Academy of Champions: Soccer Info Video

DS:
–Ace Attorney Investigations – Teaser
–Asphalt 4: Elite Racing Info Video
–Dementium II – Teaser Video
–Ragnarok Online DS Info Video
–Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs – Teaser

WiiWare:
–Heracles Chariot Racing Info Video

Other:
–Digest Video

DEMOS:

DS Demos: (Expire 07/12)
–Mega Man Star Force 3
–My Healthy Cooking Coach
–MySims Racing
–Classic Word Games
–Personal Trainer: Cooking Lasagna DemoWii:
–The Conduit – TV Spot
–What’s New at Animal Crossing: City Folk
–Guitar Hero Smash Hits Launch Video
–Grand Slam Tennis – First Play Reactions
–Resident Evil Archives: Resident Evil – Video
–Mini Ninjas – Hiro
–Let’s Tap – Silent Blocks
–EA Sports Active – Social Play
–Academy of Champions: Soccer Info Video

Discuss this and more in our forums.
Follow WiiNintendo on Twitter.
Subscribe to our RSS Feed.

Producer interview, video is unrelated to contest.

Ever fantasized about visiting the mother of all game shows in Japan? Now’s your chance with the FINAL FANTASY CRYSTAL CHRONICLES: THE CRYSTAL BEARERS Sweepstakes! The grand-prize winner and a guest will get a trip to Tokyo, Japan that includes four nights at a hotel, two tickets to the Tokyo Game Show as well as a meet and greet with the dev team. Plus, you’ll get a Wii console and a copy of FINAL FANTASY CRYSTAL CHRONICLES: THE CRYSTAL BEARERS autographed by the creators themselves. Don’t miss out on this once-time opportunity – enter today!

WHEN: Contest begins today, July 06, 2009

WHERE: For more details, and a full prize list please visit http://www.crystalbearers.com/

Discuss this and more in our forums.
Follow WiiNintendo on Twitter.
Subscribe to our RSS Feed.

[Video by GameSpot]

A Boy and His Blob is an upcoming platform video game developed by WayForward Technologies and published by Majesco Games for the Wii. It is slated for release in North America in the third quarter of 2009, while a European release date is set for late 2009.

The gameplay of A Boy and His Blob is very similar to the original game’s gameplay. The protagonist feeds the eponymous blob jelly beans to transform him into one of fifteen different objects that can be used to solve puzzles and defeat enemies. Screenshots indicate that the game will feature an overground city level similar to the original, and will be a side scrolling 2D platformer. The game consists of eighty levels (forty standard and an additional forty hidden challenge levels) with the standard levels consisting of an average of ten hours of gameplay. A Boy and His Blob does not take advantage of the Wii Remote’s motion detection or IR controls.

Discuss this and more in our forums.
Follow WiiNintendo on Twitter.
Subscribe to our RSS Feed.

Mario Galaxy ran through an emulator and up-res’d to 720p looks pretty darn good. Wii HD please!

[NeoGAF]

Discuss this and more in our forums.
Follow WiiNintendo on Twitter.
Subscribe to our RSS Feed.