Nintendo is about to lower the prices for both of the companies’ latest handheld gaming systems, the DSi and DSi XL! On September 12, 2010, the price of the DSi will go from $169.99 to $149.99, and the recently released DSi XL will drop from $189.99 to $169.99. The DS Lite model will remain the same at $129.99.
The Nintendo DS family of video game systems is the best-selling in the history of the U.S. and worldwide. According to the NPD Group, through the end of July, total Nintendo DS sales are more than 42.3 million in the United States alone.
Nintendo also recently announced release dates for some upcoming games including Professor Layton and the Unwound Future (Sept. 12), Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs (Oct. 4), Art Academy (Oct. 25) and Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem! (Nov. 14).
I had the chance to play a demo of the new Beyblade video game, Beyblade: Metal Fusion at E3 earlier this Summer and have just received some specifics about the game.
Metal Fusion will recreate the real-world play-pattern of Beyblades, which revolves around building customizable battling tops and challenging other bladers to duels. The game will be released for the Nintendo DS and Wii with both versions utilizing each game system’s unique control abilities. On the Wii, where the game’s full title will be Beyblade: Metal Fusion – Battle Fortress, players will get to compete against up to four other players and each will have the ability to save and carry the blades they create on their Wii-Remotes. In addition to using the DS’s touch-screen and stylus to control the game, players will also use the built-in microphone for voice commands.
Another DS exclusive will include Collector Editions, which will be sold with Beyblade toys that are used by the characters in the game. One such toys includes the Cyber Pegasus 100HF!
Cyber Pegasus 100HF
Look for both DS and Wii games in stores this Fall and rated Everyone.
Yesterday at an event in New York City, video game publisher THQ Inc., unveiled a new writable, gaming tablet for the Wii called, the uDraw Game Tablet.
uDraw is a 7”X9” tablet and stylus that will allow people to write and draw on their TVs plus play games such as the new Pictionary for Wii. uDraw features a slot for the Wii-Remote to snap into, which then allows the tablet to communicate with the Wii system. The tablet will be sold with the game, uDraw Studio, an art-themed software title for $70. Pictionary and another game, Dood’s Big Adventure, will be sold separately for $30 each.
Microsoft and Sony are about to release their answers to the Wii’s motion-sensing remote control system and when we look at the latest sales figures for the Wii, there’s no question as to why.
Yesterday, Nintendo announced their sales figures for the popular game system and 30 million Wii’s have been sold since the initial launch in November 2006. According to Nintendo, the Wii is “fastest-selling console in the history of the industry, reaching this milestone 15 months faster than the next best-selling console”.
If you have been holding off buying a Wii because you think Nintendo will follow Apple’s product plan of releasing a new system before you finish unwrapping the one you just bought, these sales figures should make your Wii purchase a go. With sales figures like this, it’s a safe bet that Nintendo will continue to strongly support the Wii and will put off plans to introduce a new game system for a while.
The Wii is currently available in white and black for around $200.
Thanks to the gang at Fortyseven Communications, I got to check out some of Warner Bros. Interactive’s fall 2010 video games yesterday. WBi has some great games for kids and families coming out in time for the holiday season including Batman, The Brave and The Bold, which I’ve blogged about before,Super Scribblenauts, the sequel to last year’s Scribblenauts, Galactic Taz Ball, the first video game to star the Tasmanian Devil, The Lord Of the Rings: Aragorn’s Quest, a new adventure based on the books and movies, and finally, Legends Of The Guardians: The Owls Of Ga’Hoole, the video game based on the books and upcoming movie.
Good news for Time To Play readers! It seems as if Warner Bros. and a lot of other game publishers are spending more time and money on creating great games for kids and families. All of the games I played yesterday are going to be a lot of fun for kids and parents with Batman being my top pick for a game that both groups can play and enjoy together. Batman recreates the look and humor of the animated series on Cartoon Network and allows two players to play together as Batman and Robin in a side-scroll style adventure.
As for the rest of the games, here’s an overview of what you can expect; Super Scribblenauts brings us over 120 new levels of picture, puzzle fun with the added twist of being able to use adjectives when thinking about an object to use in the game. Galactic Taz, is a fast paced, frenetic platform game that uses the Nintendo DS’s touch-screen as a trackball controller. Aragorn’s Quest is a great game to introduce kids to the world of The Lord Of The Rings. Kids will love playing through parts of the game as Hobbit kids. Legends Of The Guardians is a challenging game that fans of the books are going to love.
All of these games will be arriving in stores over the next few months so stay tuned to Time To Play for full reviews when the games become available.
Bandai Namco’s latest Dragon Ball game, Dragon Ball: Origins 2, is now in stores as a Nintendo DS exclusive. Dragon Ball has been a long running gaming franchise with some of the best fighting games on the market and this latest title lives up to it’s predecessor’s big battle rep.
The game picks up where Origins 1 left off with Goku (the main playable character) and his chums facing off against the Red Ribbon Army in a story-driven adventure packed with fighting foes, exploring lands and solving puzzles. In addition to Goku, players will also get to play as other popular Dragon Ball characters including Krillin and Yamcha.
In addition to the main single player game, Origins 2 also includes some awesome multiplayer stages that allow two people to play together with two DS units over a WiFi link. Keep in mind, players will need a DS with WiFi (standard in the most recent DSs) or the WiFi adapter for older DS units.
This is a rated Teen game, however, fans of the games and the animated series as young as 10 will love this Dragon Ball title. Younger gamers may get frustrated at the challenging game-save feature that forces the player to replay large sections if they fail on the first attempt to get through.
Look for Dragon Ball: Origins 2, for the Nintendo DS in stores now for $29.99.
This Friday (July 16, 2010) Nintendo will kick off the first-ever Nationwide Wii Tournament at Liberty State Park in Jersey City, NJ (right across the Hudson River from NYC)!
This video game tournament will have kids, adults, teens, seniors and families competing on Wiis to win prizes. Qualifying winners will win a trip to Los Angeles to compete in the Wii Games: Summer 2010 national championship in September. There will also be opportunities for non-competitors to play Wii games, such as Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Punch-Out!!.
The tournament starts Friday at 11 a.m. with an opening procession featuring Mario, Luigi and a special appearance by Olympic Gold Medalist, Shawn Johnson. Select Six Flags locations around the country will also hold opening day festivities on Friday. Click here to see a full list of locations participating in Friday’s event as well as dates and locations for the ongoing tour. Subsequent events will be held throughout the summer at Six Flags theme parks and select shopping malls across the country.
Most hard-core gamers cringe when people refer to the FaceBook phenomenon FarmVille as a video game but like it or not, it is one of the most played games ever invented. Now this pervasive virtual chores game is available for iPhones allowing farmers to keep an eye on crops wherever they go.
The iPhone app version will still be tied to your FaceBook account, which means if you already have a FarmVille farm you will be able to access it from your iPhone. Additionally, new users can create their first farm on their iPhones.
Following are a few more videos from my Flip Cam at E3. In this post, I take a look at some of the games being shown. Most of these games wont be available until the holidays and some, like Legend of Zelda, are scheduled to be released in 2011.
Up first is Dance Central from MTV Games. This video shows how the game is played using the Xbox Kinect, which is a motion capture system that uses your body as a controller.
Below is another game, a new Sonic title, that gives you a better glimpse of the Kinect. It is the small, thin, black device with the light on the large black box under the TV.
Check out the light-cycle action is the following clip from Tron, the video game for the upcoming movie.
And finally, the new Legend of Zelda game due out next year. The game uses the Motion Plus system for some amazing sword action.
