NBA Jam – we all have played it, we all have seen it, and we all remember the legends of its existence.  The over-embellished gameplay stuck to us for reasons completely unknown to anyone.  But for some odd reason, seeing our favorite players transposed into the extraordinary games made us fall in love.

Fast-forward to the present and EA is remaking the game exclusively for the Nintendo Wii.  With updated rosters and the same in your face slam dunks, NBA Jam is reason enough to get excited for the Wii’s revival. Read more… »

Epic Mickey has had a pretty eventful ride since its announcement in the eyes of gamers: first it was Wii exclusive, then it was rumored to be multi-platform, and now the non-exclusive rumors are put to rest – like it or not, Epic Mickey is only available on the Nintendo Wii this Fall.

As a Disney fan (of the films, and theme parks), I was very pleased to see that creator Warren Spector really knew his history – the game is injected with various obscure Disney characters and lore (the Enchanted Tiki Room? Yes please!). As a gamer, I couldn’t help but notice that the similarities between Epic Mickey and Nintendo’s 3D Action-Platformer Mario Galaxy are hard to avoid – read on to find out whether or not that’s a good thing. Read more… »

After Google’s recent celebration of Pac-Man’s 30th anniversary put a sleeper hold on workplace productivity, it only seems right for Namco-Bandai to release a game to take advantage of the franchise’s nostalgia. With the big 30 in mind, I approached the Namco section hoping for a huge dose of either bland retro-love or bold re-imagining that pushes the franchise into a new era. With Pac-Man Championship Edition in 2007 being such a major hit, I had my money on the latter.

It turns out I was absolutely right, but not in the way I originally thought. When I picked up the Wii controller and had my first go at Pac-Man Party, I quickly realized that although it was only Pac-Man’s 30th birthday, he was playing like a Pac-Man in his mid-50′s.

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Today word got out that the adventure games powerhouse Telltale Games has obtained the rights to create episodic games based on the classic film franchisees Jurassic Park and Back to the Future; fitting news considering it’s Michael J Fox’s birthday today.

Currently slated to arrive on the PC, Mac, Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii this winter, the unnamed games are being described as “in the early stages of development.” Telltale CEO Dan Connors explained, “The games are going to exist within these worlds. I wouldn’t call these games sequels per se but a new interpretation of their worlds for a new medium.”  Read more… »

Today, in an effort to draw attention to its EA SPORTS Active line of fitness titles, EA sent out word of a “scientific study” that claims it “proves [the] efficacy of EA SPORTS Active digital fitness programs.”

The study, which was commissioned by EA, was carried out by University of Wisconsin’s Dr. John Porcari. Dr. Porcari tested sixteen “physically active adults between the ages of 25 and 45 to determine the relative exercise intensity and caloric expenditure of two pre-set EA SPORTS Active workouts: Afterburner and Legs & Lungs.” Read more… »

Today Electronic Arts announced a new hockey title for the Wii. Dubbed NHL Slapshot, the title marks EA’s “first ever NHL hockey title for the Wii.”

As you would expect, NHL Slapshot will utilize a “revolutionary” hockey stick controller. According to EA, the new controller “allows players to shoot, pass and body check just like the pros.” Read more… »

When I first heard the Mario Galaxy 2 announcement, live at E3 2009, I was extremely skeptical. The typical development time on a core series Mario game is around five to six years, so imagine my surprise when Galaxy 2 was announced less than two years after the release of the original Galaxy. The news got even worse as time went on, with Miyamoto stressing the game started out as an expansion, and had a nearly non-existent story.

But as it turns out, all of this worrying was for naught. Simply put, Mario Galaxy 2 is the best platformer of this generation, and possibly of all time. Read on to find out why. Read more… »

Gaming icon Shigeru Miyamoto has recently confirmed that the latest installment in the prestigious Legend of Zelda franchise will be “easier to play,” perhaps suggesting a more streamlined approach for Nintendo’s flagship series.

In an interview with Gaming Media, Miyamoto states that Nintendo is “creating a new way to play the game” – this harks back to what Eiji Aonuma said last year concerning that the series seems to follow “the same structure again and again.” Supposedly, the gameplay mechanics will undergo a more “hands on” approach due to the title utilising the Wii Motion Plus peripheral.

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There is little out there that matches the feeling of accomplishment the Monster Hunter franchise delivers.  Never heavy on narrative or characters, the goal of each game has always been to find the biggest, meanest-looking thing out there and kill it, and as anyone both new or familiar might suspect, that task is much easier said than done.

The latest entry into the Monster Hunter series, Monster Hunter Tri, is the first ever produced for a Nintendo system.  Previous titles, all made for the PS2 and PSP bar Monster Hunter Frontier, pushed their respective systems to the limit in generating what felt like living, breathing environments full of creatures ripe for the hunt. This latest entry is no exception.

Though the game suffers from some of the same technical missteps as its predecessors, the graphical upgrade, coupled with a smoother learning curve, several brand new monsters, and the highly-advertised underwater combat system has yielded a product that is both welcoming to newcomers, as well as inviting to those who have already mastered the series. Read more… »

Today Nintendo revealed a new title following in the foot steps of Wii Sports, Wii Play and Wii Fit. Dubbed Wii Party, the new casual game promises to be “a marquee party game.”

According to Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, “We are developing it with the intent that every Wii player will be able to find a game that can be enjoyed.” Iwata went on to add, “the developers are spending significant time for this title so that they can include elements that are must-haves in a party game as well as making sure that adequate volume of game play are available.” Read more… »

Today developer Ubisoft Bucharest announced that it is currently working on the sequel to Tom Clancy’s dog fighting franchise H.A.W.X.

Simply titled Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X. 2, the air combat simulator is slated to hit the PC, Xbox 360, Ps3 and Wii sometime this fall. Read more… »

Nintendo have just announced that Super Mario Galaxy 2 will come bundled with a tutorial DVD that will help familiarize players with the Mario universe. While the game is relatively self explanatory, it will serve as a beginner’s guide for more inexperienced players (aka the casual demographic), covering a wide array of control quirks and gameplay mechanics. Oh Nintendo, please stop spoiling us.

It is also interesting to note that the Wii is incompatible with the DVD format, which begs the question: why? Not to sound ungrateful, but couldn’t they have included the tutorial in the actual game itself like in New Mario Bros. Wii? Never mind. Read more… »