Pitfall

This item appeared in the game Animal Crossing. Bury it in the ground and it becomes a trap. If you love playing tricks on others, this item can’t be beat.

When you throw a Pitfall at the ground…

It vanishes!

When someone touches it, PLUNK!

Now’s your chance. You can’t help but grin.

Incidentally, it also has an effect if you simply hit someone with it instead of setting it in the ground.

If you get hit by a Pitfall, you’ll drop through pass-through floors!

Getting thoroughly fooled by a trap like this… It’s pretty humiliating.

New Controls and Wi-Fi Features Give Nintendo’s Soccer Smash a Wicked Boost

REDMOND, Wash., July 30, 2007 - It’s gonna take more than a good pair of shin guards to protect Marioâ„¢ and his turbo-kicking teammates in Mario Strikers Chargedâ„¢, Nintendo’s blistering new soccer title for Wiiâ„¢ that launches today. Earthquakes, firestorms and electric shockwaves are just a few of the otherworldly hazards in this ball-chasing battle royal. And with players from coast to coast competing online, this wildly unpredictable pitch is for neither the faint of heart nor the heavy of foot. It’s not just soccer, it’s soccer - Mario style.

Mario Strikers Charged introduces nine sensational new stadiums, plus a host of new characters with their own special abilities and power moves. Players create their own teams by mixing and matching captains and sidekicks, then use the Wii Remoteâ„¢ and Nunchukâ„¢ to face opponents in single-player or multiplayer modes. Mastering Striker Challenges or the tournament-styled Road to the Striker Cup will unlock new elements and cheats.
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Mario Strikers Charged going Online

Mario Strikers: Charged, impressions

9 minutes of Mario Strikers Charged

Don’t forget, this game is going to have high replayability, coupled with a $20 price tag.

July 30, 2007 - Puzzle lovers, drop your newspapers. With today’s release of Picross DSâ„¢, Nintendo gives daily brain teasers a wireless jolt. Who needs inky fingers and eraser crumbs when players can use their hand-held Nintendo DSâ„¢ and stylus to solve a new type of challenging grid puzzle? Players can compete with others online or create their own puzzles to share.

Picross DS is a remarkable mix of crossword and sudoku dynamics. Every Picross puzzle features an image hidden beneath a grid of numbered squares. Using simple logic, players reveal the hidden picture by decoding the number sequences in each column and row. Everyday puzzle fanatics will love using the Nintendo DS stylus like a high-powered pencil to write, draw, select and solve.
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Wii Picross 2.0

Wiipicross.com

Joystiq’s live coverage of Nintendo’s Wii E3 event

WII-KLY UPDATE: THREE NEW CLASSIC GAMES ADDED TO WII SHOP CHANNEL

July 30, 2007
The Virtual Consoleâ„¢ is like a box of chocolates: You never know which games have the tasty caramel filling and which ones have that pink-green crème inside. Whatever your preference, we’ve got you covered with this weeks release of Star Soldier, Dynamite Headdy and Drop Off. Read on and savor the delicious centers of these classic treats.Three new classic games go live at 9 a.m. Pacific time. Nintendo adds new games to the Wii Shop Channel every Monday. Wiiâ„¢ owners with a high-speed Internet connection can redeem Wii Pointsâ„¢ to download the games. Wii Points can be purchased in the Wii Shop Channel or at retail outlets. This week’s new games are:
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Alex Kidd, Wonder Boy, and Virtua Fighter 2 on the way

Nintendo Australia releases numbers: DS over 1 mil, Wii catches 360

New Ultimate Mortal Kombat footage

    

 Blast your way through all-new battle grids, upgrade your new Battle Drone and blast through relentless waves of enemies in the first-ever Geometry Wars single-player campaign. Then join a friend for fast-paced multiplayer that’s out of this world.

Geometry Wars: Galaxies also includes the full version of Bizarre Creations’ Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved, winner of IGN’s Best Xbox Live® Arcade Title of The Year.

Features

Be looking for a dual release of these games on 11/6/2007. The DS and Wii versions will run $30 and $40 respectively. 

The question is…can you figure out which is which?

This week should hopefully see the debut of regular reviews on Wiinintendo. We’re putting an interesting spin on it, which should make for an enjoyable read. Also, we are looking for bloggers/reviewers. If you feel you could handle the job, please email me for more info.

 Some things to watch for this week

- We should have RQRs (Real Quick Reviews) up tomorrow for Picross DS, and Mario Strikers: Charged. MSC is already receiving excellent reviews and looks to be a must have for those looking for a way to scratch their online itch. Look for indepth reviews on both titles later this week.

- Reviews for Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition and Alien Syndrome are in the works. For info on AS, check out our RQR posted a few days ago.

- Been saving up for a PS3 and passing on the Wii? We’re going to have a feature up later this week to detail exactly what you could get with all that money if you purchased a Wii instead.

- As always, we’ll be keeping you up to date on all the latest news. Let us know if you find anything newsworthy!

Donkey Kong: Final Smash

KONGA BEAT

As you might expect from Donkey Kong, his Final Smash is something…upbeat. That’s right, he’s breaking out the DK Bongos!

Taa-daah!

And…DUM DOO DUM DUMMM!

It’s cool to just pound on them, but why not listen to the music that’s playing? Press buttons in time to the beat to really get things hopping.

1, 2, 3…dum, doo, dum dum!

Now clap! Clappity clap clap!

Feel the rhythm and increase the power! T-t-take it easy, will ya!

And finish!

DK’s invulnerable while in the middle of this move, so take it easy and enjoy the moment.

Oh, and jamming during screen scrolls and such is something you might want to…think about.

THE BOX ART

There will be 50 brand new songs (80 in all) including…

* “Karma Chameleon”
* “1,2 Step”
* “Clocks
* “Hot Stuff”
* “Blue Monday”
* “Disco Inferno”
* “Yo (Excuse Me Miss)”
* “Caught Up”
* “Rhythm is a Dancer”
* “Too Little Too Late”
* “The Sign”
* “Far Away”
* “Lips of an Angel”
* “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)”
* “Love Shine”-Konami original
* “Unappreciated”

You’d better at least recognize the bold ones, they are truely awesome.

So what news did we get from the dojo this week?

A Veteran fighter…

YOSHI

Yoshi’s back and bursting with personality! He can launch consecutive attacks and even smack around enemies below him mid-flight.

Among other things, he can now use his up special move, the Egg Toss, to increase the distance of his jump. That’s enough to earn him a hearty welcome, isn’t it?

A Stage that we saw from the E3 trailer…

Skyworld

Behold the Kid Icarus stage! You can go ahead and call it Pit’s home turf if you like.

From a distance you can see the temple and its surroundings.

The floor’s crumbling construction makes it easy to shatter…
It feels great to break it!

Not having a floor does increase the danger factor, though. Why? Because it’s a long way down, that’s why!
Look out below!

Mastering this element is one key to gaining the upper hand. The floor quickly regenerates, so it’s important to keep your eyes on it.

An assist trophy…

Knuckle Joe

When talking about the guaranteed hard hitter of Kirby’s world, you’ve got to say something about his fists!

A storm of Vulcan Jabs rain down, and then Knuckle Joe can finish his foes off with one of the following two special moves!

Smash Punch!

                                                                                 Rising Break!

An Ice climbers type DK stage…

Rumble Falls

This stage is based on the look and feel of Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat, which was played using the DK Bongos.

The key here is to keep climbing up and up.

The tropical setting is quite nice.

The screen slowly scrolls upward, so if you don’t want to get left behind, you’d better get to climbing. Oh, and don’t forget to pummel your opponents on the way.

You’re climbing up, but the water keeps flowing
down, down, down.

The screen’s constantly changing, so it’s fun just to watch, too.

The top of the waterfall isn’t the top! Keep climbing!

Hey! What’s at the top? Huh?

Hmm…I wonder…

And a new technique…

Footstool Jump

What the heck is a Footstool Jump?!

Well, it’s a cool technique. Basically, you step on your opponent and jump off!

That’s it!

Jump! Now press the jump button with perfect timing…

Boing!

And then you jummmmmmmmp!

Using your enemy’s spine like a spring to launch you into the air
is pretty fun.

What? You say it doesn’t have much strategic value?

No, no, no. That’s hardly the case.

You can use it to perform Meteor Smashes! Incredible!

The critically-acclaimed franchise that gave gamers the freedom to fly in a world of dreams is coming to the Wii™! As a fantasy jester called NiGHTS, you will experience a heightened sense of gliding, spiraling, and looping through seven extraordinary worlds of Nightopia where the ocean resides in the sky and glass-formed cliffs overlook a castle of mirrors. When the “Nightmarens� from the neighboring dark world of Nightmare infiltrate the idyllic Nightopia, NiGHTS must defend the dream world to keep it safe for all dreamers. NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams will take you in a voyage filled with courage, hope and inspiration.

I know we all LOVE seeing that little blue circle. Sega previously mentioned incorporation of the weather channel into the game, manipulating the weather in real-time as you journey through Nightopia. However, previous titles have incorporated features like this before and haven’t included the WFC logo. Is there expanded online functionality in the title previously unmentioned??

The only games that have featured the logo thus far have been PBR and MSC. They both feature extensive online play. I’m calling it right now..I think this game has online co-op.

Either way, it’s fun to get people worked up.

[source]

I put in a few hours with Alien Syndrome last night. A remake of the 80’s arcade hit, Alien Syndrome tries to translate the original title into a modern iteration. It slightly succeeds.

The gameplay is pretty standard for top-down, run-and-gun titles. And while it’s certainly fun to blow countless alien’s to pieces, it can be somewhat monotonous. Luckily, with 5 different classes, several different weapons, and a great RPG leveling-up system, the experience is varied enough that you could find yourself immersed in getting the heroine, Aileen Harding, off the ship in one piece.

I didn’t get to try out multiplayer, but its extremely easy to see how this game could lend itself to all night marathons with a few of your buddies. All in all, I wouldn’t say the process of remaking the classic was completely lost in translation, I will say that it sometimes sounds like spanglish.

Real Quick Review Score (1-5)

3/5

(Worth Checking out)