Nintendo Magic becomes Master of Illusion

That magic game for the DS called Nintendo Magic has now been renamed to Master of Illusion. If I'm not mistaken, Nintendo Magic was one of the trademarked titles by Nintendo that I recently posted, so it's interesting to see a name change.

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9/7/07 IGN Wii-k In Review Podcast Summary

Thanks to Go Nintendo, here's a summary of IGN's latest Wii-k In Review Podcast:

Smash Bros. talk, recap of week’s news. Discussion/debate of online play

Smash Bros. Vs. Halo 3 sales talk

Smash Bros. marketing talk

Smash Bros. WiiConnect24 speculation

Worms: A Space Oddity discussion. WiiConnect24, downloadable items, motion/IR

Mario Kart Wii talk, nothing new

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption discussion. Debate on quality of the first “level”. Control talk

Trauma Center: New Blood talk. Co-op mode

Manhunt 2 story delayed until next week due to Rockstar not being able to get everything together

Super Mario Galaxy update. Different gravity levels on each planet/galaxy. Star power-ups. Haunted house level, water levels, some levels on massive scale

Battalion Wars II talk. Naval support (submarines, ships). Multiplayer modes (co-op, assault, skirmish) Co-op - 2 players agaisnt CPU, Assault and Skirmish - 2 online players agaisnt each other.

More Zack and Wiki coverage possibly on the way

Some of Nintendo Power’s best of E3 show

Contra IV
Mario Kart Wii
NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams
Super Mario Galaxy
Phantom Hourglass

Third party DS titles at TGS. Tecmo event, Capcom event. Zack and Wiki , REUC most likely to have showing.

Spaceworld discussion, may be coming back.

Reggie news promised for September

Editorial involving headset coming soon, next week most likely

Editorial on hard drive possibly coming

Sept. speculation surprise is unknown

There are a few games that are going to be announced. “Mature (not rated)” title that was looking for a publisher has gotten a publisher. Dark title, spooky

Brawl boxart floating around - Nintendo may have distributed as a placeholder for now. Not on Nintendo press site

More Metroid Prime 3: Corruption advertising discussion. Advertising goal is to get things out to the casual gamer

Street Fighter VC sales are unknown. Sales are “pretty good”. Everyone waiting for Super Street Fighter

Future of Resident Evil after Umbrella Chronicles. Hopefully franchise will continue on Wii as well. Matt unsure, Bozon thinks there will be another RE4 style game.

RE5 cannot be isn’t coming to Wii. It could be done with a lot of time and effort, but most likely won’t happen.

Third party Wii support talk. Devs jumping on board. Spooky game mentioned once more.

Rayman Raving Rabbids success due to game being good, or that it as a launch title. Sequel is funnier than first. Most of the games will be improved from the first title. Shooting mode will be discussed in a couple weeks. Says should be good, but perhaps not as well as the first.

Embargos are a “necessary evil”. Rockstar/Manhunt 2 embargo discussed. Euro Vs. US press discussed.

More Western devs on the VC definitely going to happen. Factor 5 games may be coming soon.

Factor 5 discussion. Julian Eggebrecht is into Wii. Julian says that they would love to work on the Wii. If the opportunity came up they would do it in a heartbeat. Not against working with Nintendo on a title. Matt would love to see them do Pilotwings. Another Rogue Squadron is something Factor 5 would love to do. Pehaps a compilation, perhaps a new game. Start a petition if you want it this to happen.

Medal of Honor: Heroes 2. Matt not a fan of split screen. No split screen in MoH:H2.

Konami talk. Some kind of Castlevania change goin on, platform unknown.

Devs may always feel that the PS3, 360 are better platforms to express their ideas. On the other hand, there will be other developers that will like working on the Wii better.

DS is the system that changed Nintendo.

Third parties excelling at Wii - Capcom. Exclusive review coming. Factor 5 would be a great dev for Wii.

Matt, Bozon would market Zack and Wiki by drawing parallels to game mascots like Mario and Sonic. Wii demo disc for a demo would be great, in-store demo kiosk would help to. Marketing will be tough due to title, character design, and gameplay.

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Guitar Hero DS Tidbits

- Visuals are consistent with the rest of the Guitar Hero series

- Stylus is not main method of input

- Notes are hit through a brand new peripheral

- Peripheral design is not finalized at this time

I must have missed the memo that there was a Guitar Hero DS coming, pretty cool.

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Nintendo Says No Metroid Dread

“Nintendo is not making the 2D Metroid at this point in time” - Nintendo of Europe rep

After all the rumors from the past year or two, and after the hidden message in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, I don't buy this. I think there is a Metroid Dread. Maybe they're saying that cause the game is already done, hence them not making it at this time. All I know is, I think it exists. Believe Nintendo if you want, but I'm not.

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DS Download Stations at Airports

Taking a flight on Delta Airlines anytime soon? Well if you, look for a DS Download Station because they're starting to pop out now. Here's a picture that Chris Kohler of Wired took at the Atlanta Airport:


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Boogie DS Screens

Here are some screens from the new, upcoming DS version of Boogie:




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Boogie coming to DS and PS2

Here's a press release saying boogie is coming to the DS and PS2, but of course, only the DS version matters:

Chertsey, UK – September 5, 2007 – Shake it. Sing it. Create it. Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) announced today that Boogie™, which shipped for the Wii™ in August, is taking its dancing act on the road with a unique Nintendo DS™ version that features the first 3D gameplay on the handheld system. All the new modes in the game can be experienced in full 3D using special glasses packed in to the retail box. Boogie is also shipping on the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system and brings both singing and dancing gameplay to one of the world’s most prevalent hardware systems. Both titles will ship to retail stores this holiday 2007

Boogie on Nintendo DS introduces new gameplay modes and mini-games not found in the Wii version for easy gaming on the go. The game’s unique modes include DS Download Play and Multi-Card Play, three main dancing gamplay modes including Copycat, Freestyle and Choreography as well as more than 10 mini-games. Players can also dive into the career mode for a deeper experience as they embark on a quest to become the Boogie Master.

Boogie on the PlayStation®2 showcases the game’s signature dancing and singing gameplay. Players can sing along to their favorite tunes or dance to the latest hit songs as well as catch their best dance moves, record their own voice and make music videos with the music video creator.

Boogie features new versions of tracks made popular by hit bands such as The Jackson 5, Kool & The Gang, Black Eyed Peas and Britney Spears. An all-new intellectual property developed at EA Montreal, Boogie is the perfect party game for gamers of all ages. For more information on the game, please visit the website at http://www.boogie.electronicarts.co.uk

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Nintendo Conference News.... Disappointing

Well, apparently the conference is over and apparently this is all that we got:

Mario Galaxy - 1st of November (5800 yen)
Mario Party DS - 8th of November
ASH - 4th of October
New Crimson Black DS Lite (like the Brain Age 2 one) 4th of October
Literature Collection DS - 18th of October (2800 yen)

All of those are Japanese release dates just so you know. I have a feeling we're not getting anything else new from this conference unfortunately. *cries* Reggie, where's my September surprise? There is no other show in September besides the Tokyo Game Show and Nintendo isn't going to that, so who knows when more stuff will be shown.

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Nintendo Conference Rumors

So, Nintendo is having their conference in Japan in a few hours, though the exact time I do not know. A few rumors have popped up as to what they will reveal at the conference:

Mario Party DS - 11/8 (Japan date)
Mario Galaxy - 11/15 (Japan date)
New Wii color
DS price drop
possible big game announcement

Hopefully this and more turns out to be true.

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Picross DS Gets Downloadable Puzzles!

Picross DS, what is it? Well, if you haven't heard of it, you NEED to read on. It's a highly addictive puzzle game. I had heard about it before but never really believed the hype or anything. A few days ago I downloaded a demo of it from Target and it was so much fun. You basically have to fill in a certain number of squares vertically and horizontally. It's hard to explain, so if you haven't played it yet, I highly suggest going to a store near you that has a DS Download Station and downloading a demo of Picross DS so you can learn how to play it and get addicted to it.

So anyways, one cool feature of Picross DS is that it uses Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. You can create your own puzzles and send them to others with the game. And you know what's even better? Over time, Nintendo will send out new puzzle packs that you can download and play. Well, if you have Picross DS, now is your chance to download some puzzles online. The Mario Picross Packs 1 and 2 are available for download, so go download them and have fun, umm... picrossing. Yea, that's doesn't work. I have to look into buying this game cause it was a lot of fun.

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IGN's Wii-k In Review Podcast Highlights

-Metroid Prime 3 talk
-talk of third parties flocking to the Wii
-Zack and Wiki talk
-Manhunt 2 info next week possibly
-SMG graphics compared to power of Xbox
-LucasArts talk
-Arcade mode in Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 is better than RE:UC
- (Complete rumor)The next Zelda game may star Zelda for the first time in the actual Zelda series
- My Sims is linear
- MoH: Heroes is close to mouse and keyboard controls
- Phantom Hourglass talk
- RE:UC in-depth talk
- Good exclusive stuff next week and stuff lined up until 2008

A Zelda game that stars Zelda? Sounds interesting. Exclusive stuff next week? Could it be related to Nintendo's conference on Wednesday? Possibly. I don't know about you, but I'm excited.

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Jam Sessions Bundle Pack Information

Heard of Jam Sessions? If not, it's a DS game where you use the touch screen as a guitar basically. What's interesting though is this bundle. It appears to come with an amp for the DS. How much does it cost? $69.99 according to GameStop. It does look interesting.

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Looking for Manaphy? September 29th is your day

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RUMOR: Nintendo Doing Online Testing?

Recently, someone on NeoGAF came across something interesting while looking at the connection data for Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. He found a code that seemed to be Nintendogs and Yoshi's Island. They're not online, so why is this code appearing? The code I'm talking about is the game code. Here are the links for those two games:

Nintendogs
Yoshi's Island

Not only that but, 10 other titles were discovered. The thing to note about those 8 is that they're Wii titles. We don't know all of them, so I guessed on some. Here they are:

Ghost Squad
FIFA 2008?
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock?
NBA Live 208?
Japanese puzzle game
Also a Japanese puzzle game
?
?
?
?

What does it mean? Who knows. Maybe nothing.

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The Mysterious Metroid Dread

Ever heard of Metroid Dread? Well, if not, I'll explain it. Metroid Dread was announced in Game Informer magazine in June 2005, and it's a 2D side-scroller Metroid game that takes place after Metroid Fusion. Throughout the past few years, we've had sites say it's coming, some sites put it on a release list of games coming in the future, and even a site that said it's been cancelled. So what's the deal with this game, is it coming or not? The real answer is we don't know. Nothing has been said officially on the subject by Nintendo, so we just don't know. There has been no evidence from Nintendo themselves that it's coming... until now. Well, it's not really evidence, but it's a possible hint.

Today, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption ships out to stores. Well, in the second half of the game, there is a control panel you can scan. Once scanned, you get the following message:

“Experiment status report update. Metroid project ‘Dread’ is nearing the final stages of completion.”

That looks to me like a hint that Metroid Dread is indeed coming and that we'll find out about it soon. But, keep in mind, it's still a rumor for now. I just don't see why it would be in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption if it wasn't real, but that's my opinion.

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IGN Wii-k In Review Podcast Highlights

- Metroid Prime 3 teasing
- Metroid Prime music and discussion.
- 12:01AM Sunday Night/Monday morning IGN’s MP3:C review will be up
- MP3:C control talks “rocks”
- Advance mode controls recommended heavily
- Game should still be classified as First Person Adventure, but MP3:C has more shooting elements
- MySims Wii and DS talk
- Not much in the way of character customization. You choose a face as a whole, not parts to make a face
- Objects found in MySims can have their textures taken and applied to other elements that you are creating
- Bozon was hyped for the game before playing it, and is now a bit diappointed
- Bad loading time
- Tiger Woods discussion
- Better, but a lot of the same. Graphics don’t seem to impress
- Manhunt 2 Discussion
- Comes out October 31st with M rating. No one knows how much was removed/censored from the final version IGN played
- NPD discussion
- Zack and Wiki & RE:UC discussion. A more positive view of RE:UC now
- Hands-on update next week of RE:UC and Medal of Honor: Heroes 2.
- PS2, PSP ports may continue on for some time
- Table Tennis Discussion
- no 1:1 play
- Mario and Sonic at the Olympic games talk
- Game is simple, not much in the way of presentation
- Naruto: Clash of Ninja Discussion
- Matt believes this game is better than the Cube games. Bigger cast, more levels, tight controls. Not widescreen. GC control, Classic controller, and Sideways Wiimote
- Next week - Endless Ocean, Gundam 0079, Dewy’s Adventure, and Guilty Gear.
- Discussion on whether Free Radical will support Wii or not
- Wondering what’s up with the lack of BWii and Disaster presence
- MP3:C has a fair share of puzzles…hard puzzles
- Team thinks BWii should have headset support. Thinks that there probably a headset in the works.
- Unnamed god game talked about again this week. Details on this game and several other unmentioned games might be coming soon.
- Matt not too keen on Cruisin’ screens.
- Metroid/Halo graphics comparison
- F-Zero in 2008? No way. Wave Race? Maybe.
- Discussion of third parties living up to and surpassing MP3:C control scheme
- Brunswick Bowling = not good
- Developer for god game will hopefully be announced soon.
- (minute 47 - make sure to listen for yourself to get the full gist of the discussion) Metroid Dread - Nothing they “can talk about yet.” Something cool will be shown on Monday Night. Bozon says it’s “kind of a wink to the fans.” Says this is definitely not a confirmation that the game is coming.
- Factor 5 middleware Gamecube tools being ported over to Wii
- Crytech has something in development for Wii.
- IGN is getting a lot of calls from Publishers to play games. A lot of Wii activity.
- Matt thinks that one of their competitor websites will score Metroid in the 8-8.5 range. There will probably be some 10s.

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Want Rainbow Styluses? Register Brain Age 2 on Nintendo.com

Don't those look pretty? If you want your own set of those DS Lite styluses, you'll have to have a My Nintendo account, register Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day, take a quick survey, and confirm your mailing address. Unfortunately, they're styluses for the DS Lite, and since I have a DS, I'm out of luck. I wasn't planning on getting Brain Age 2 anyways.

More Details Here
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Rumor: DS Opera Web Browser No Longer In Production

Rumor is that Nintendo has stopped making the DS Web Browser. Well, from what I heard, it wasn't that great anyways and it didn't help that it was only sold online in the US. I have a feeling this rumor is true, but it is just a rumor.

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New Castlevania coming to DS

At LGC 07, Koji Igarashi revealed that he will be working on a new Castlevania game for the DS. He didn't say any other details.

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Ubisoft LGC Press Conference Details

Ubisoft had their press conference at LGC 07 and here are the details:

Cranium Kabookii

- based on the Cranium board game
- contains dancing, singing
- release: Christmas 2007

My Vocabulary Coach

- Split Decision: find fitting descriptions for words
- make new words
- Letter Challenge: multiplayer (with Wii as well), complete words using the letters in the corners of the screen

Ubisoft divides games into three groupings

Wellness and Conversation (Jam Sessions, My Life-Coach).
Girls (Mode Designer, Babysitting, Cooking Fun)
Animals (Adventures in Stables, Adventure on dolphin island, Dog friends)

Another confirmation of Miami Nights: Singles in the City for DS

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