Watch a new gameplay trailer for SEGA's upcoming Sonic game on the Wii, Sonic and the Secret Rings.
Features include:
- Fast, frenetic gameplay with Sonic in constant motion. Taking full advantage of the Wii controller, players perform a variety of physical movements that actively advance Sonic, combat enemies, and perform special moves! Tilt the controller left or right to avoid obstacles, swing the controller forward to destroy enemies, or perform many other motions to advance the game!
- Exotic settings and creatures inspired by the Arabian Nights tales. The unique and lustrous features of Persia offer a vibrant backdrop to Sonic’s speed!
- Branching paths for extensive gameplay variety and replayability.
- New Sonic moves. With the controller’s exclusive features, utilize new moves such as “boost” and “catapult.” Players will feel and enjoy Sonic’s speed in entirely new ways!
- A variety of mini-games for up to four players. Work up a sweat using the Wii controller in a variety of ways in the home party games! With more than 30 exciting party games, enjoy playing the mini-games with friends and family!
Fresh, original games will be joining the Wii's Virtual Console classic lineup. A rumor that spawned from Hudson Entertainment's Director of Marketing, John Lee, has been confirmed by CVG's inquiry to Nintendo.
Nintendo responds: "Nintendo has developed a programming system that will allow small independent developers to make games for Wii download service. We cannot confirm at this time in what format the new content will be delivered, but in the future there will be original games available for download through the Wii Shop."
The Xbox 360 and PS3 both use online distribution of new and classic games, so it is only a matter of when Nintendo launches their distribution of new games to compliment their classic Virtual Console titles.
The foreign site Xboxygen has recently scored some new screenshots from the new Turok game. The screenshots show off what seems to be Unreal Engine 3 at work. More screenshots can be found here.
Stay informed while logging on to your Wii. The Wii News Channel is now available as part of your Wii Menu lineup. Click on the News Channel and perform the update to bring news reports to your Wii console.
From Wii.com: "You can access the most up-to-date breaking news from around the world, organized into a variety of topical categories using this channel. When connected to the Internet, the Wii automatically updates this channel. This Channel can only be accessed when the Wii console is connected to the Internet."
The Associated Press provides news feeds of National, International, Sports, Arts/Entertainment, Business, Science/Health and Technology news. Browse through stories by those categories or click on "Slide show" Mode to be taken to a global map switching between news flashes from around the world.
The Slide Show feature is a great way to catch random stories throughout the world. Just like the Weather Channel, an interactive global view is another way to browse stories.
Double Dragon will be headed to the Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) soon. XboxWorld says the classic co-op arcade brawler will run for 400 Microsoft Points and be available sometime in March 2007. No official confirmation or release date has been announced by Microsoft.
Microsoft's Gamerscore Blog clears up confusion (and Halo fan anxiety) surrounding the Halo 3 Beta pack-in with initial shipments of Crackdown.
From Gamerscore Blog: "The initial shipment of Crackdown at retail will include access to the Halo 3 beta. The "initial shipment" is pretty huge, so there will be enough to go around.
For those Halo 3 fans who are STILL losing sleep over this, you can guarantee entrance into the Halo 3 Beta by purchasing a copy of Crackdown when it launches Feb. 20th."
If you haven't checked out the Crackdown demo from the Xbox Live Marketplace, be sure to give it a try. There's been much positive response to the demo. Read more at Gamerscore Blog.
Today, Midway announced that Epic Games' Unreal Tournament 2007 will be renamed Unreal Tournament 3. The game has also been confirmed for release on the Xbox 360, along with release on the PC and Playstation 3 platforms. Look for it sometime during the second half of 2007.
The Nintendo DS/DS Lite is out to be the iPod of gaming, reaching the masses with 10 million units sold in the Americas.
From Nintendo: "As the fastest-selling video game system in the world, Nintendo DS now is in the hands of more than 10 million consumers in the Americas. Since launching in November 2004, nearly nine Nintendo DS or DS Lite portable game systems have sold – EVERY 60 SECONDS."
There's a nice variety of games from first and third party developers to come. Below is the lineup of Nintendo DS/DS Lite games from January to March 2007:
January:
Hotel Dusk: Room 215 - Nintendo
Arthur & the Invisibles - Atari
Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney Justice for All - Capcom
Fossil League DTC - D3Publisher
February:
Diddy Kong Racing DS - Nintendo
Lunar Knights - Konami
F24 Stealth Fighter - Majesco
Disney's Kim Possible: Global Gemini - Buena Vista
Meteos: Disney Magic - Buena Vista
Winning Eleven Pro Evolution Soccer 2007 - Konami
Izuna: Legend of the Unemployed Ninja - Atlus
March:
Wario: Master of Disguise - Nintendo
Custom Robo Arena - Nintendo
Disney's Herbie: Rescue Rally - Buena Vista
Disney's Meet the Robinsons - Buena Vista
Spectrobes - Buena Vista
Steel Horizon - Konami
Cake Mania - Majesco
Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords- D3Publisher
TMNT (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) - Ubisoft
You and Wii is an upcoming guide from Prima Games for using the Wii console. Author Dan Birlew gives tips on hooking your Wii up to your home entertainment center and connecting it to your wireless network.
For you Wii experts out there, there's a chapter on how to create celebrity Mii look-alikes and tips and secrets for Wii Sports.
From Dan Birlew: "Wii Sports is covered in great detail, including many hidden secrets available in the various games that you might not be aware of unless you have the book! The Wii Sports chapters detail how to interact with the Wii in order to become a sports champion. The book also contains complete breakdowns of training mode and how high you must score in order to win a medal."
Features include:
- Complete, easy to follow introduction to the Wii entertainment system.
- Customize your book with the Wii stickers included! Your book can look like your Mii!
- Thorough explanation of the Wii system menu, including Wii Channels and how to connect the console to the internet.
- Mii character creation from start to finish, including how to make celebrity look-alike Miis!
- Step-by-step instructions for uploading and editing pictures and making photo puzzles.
- Plus: A full strategy guide for Wii Sports--the game included with the Wii console!
Nintendo released strong third quarter sales numbers along with worldwide Virtual Console sales figures.
- About 1.5 million Virtual Console games have been downloaded (sold) online as of 1/24/07.
- About 1.4 million Wii consoles have been connected online as of 1/24/07.
- About 3.5 million unique players have connected their Nintendo DS using Nintendo's Wi-Fi Connection
From Nintendo: "Strong sales of Nintendo DS hardware and software and the successful launch of Wii have led to record consolidated sales and operational profit for the nine-month period ending Dec. 31, 2006. Recurring and net profits also set record highs. Nintendo maintains projections for record financial results through its fiscal year, which ends March 31, 2007. Thanks to extremely strong Nintendo DS sales and the successful launch of Wii, Nintendo’s consolidated net sales were up 72.8 percent over the same nine-month period last year, and operating income was up 102.5 percent."
Nintendo has forecasted 6 million Wii hardware systems shipped worldwide by the end of the fiscal year. Nintendo manufactured 4 million Wii systems by the end of 2006 and during that time sold and delivered 3.19 million to its distributors and retail customers around the world.
