Great games blog

Master of Illusion (called Nintendo Magic before) is a magic simulation game released this week for the DS. It can turn anyone into an apprentice magician with abilities sure to astound friends and family alike. A full repertoire of tricks awaits discovery and practice. Best of all, Master of Illusion comes with a deck of magic cards to get trainees started on the path to magic mastery.

Key game features include:
* Learn the art of card reading and amaze your friends.
* Step-by-step tutorials for more than 20 tricks.
* Practice and master initial tricks to learn new ones.
* Solitaire games for personal enjoyment.
* Comes with its own special pack of marked cards.

Nintendo describes the game as follows: “You see here before you a video game. By all outward appearances, it’s a simple video game. Feel free to inspect it to confirm it is, in fact, of the standard video game variety. Note that I have nothing up my sleeve, nor do I have any confederates among the audience. Now allow me, if you will, to insert the game card into the Nintendo DS portable gaming system. With a few taps of the touch screen with my magic wand stylus … Voilà! Instantly you are transformed into a Master of Illusion!”

MTV tries it out, watch how it works in this video:

Note: rabbit not included.

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NIS America announced that its first puzzle game, Puchi Puchi Virus for the Nintendo DS, will be localized for America. It will be released in February 2008.

Puchi Puchi Virus does not resemble the ordinary puzzle game. The usual “object drop” style is replaced with a more intuitive system of “object linkage”. Its simple design and surprisingly in-depth game play can addict even the most demanding puzzle game enthusiasts. The object is to form at least a single triangle formation by linking viruses together and erasing them from the screen. Victory conditions vary from mission to mission, but erasing all of the viruses will be the fundamental rule of this game. Erase all the viruses and you win, but if the screen gets filled with the emerging viruses you lose. Note: there is a twist to this system that gives depth to the game play. Viruses turn to stone if left alone for a while, which cannot be selected to form a triangle. However, these stones can be erased if they are within a triangle that you create. With a little luck and practice players can rake in massive points by letting viruses turn to stone and erasing them all at once.

Protect the world from a strange virus that turns people into adorable monsters. Watch the first gameplay video:

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What are the best-selling games in America, Japan, and Europe (UK) this week? Thanks to Amazon online sales data here are the games that are the most popular now.

Nintendo Wii
North America: 1. Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo), 2. Wii Play (Nintendo), 3. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Sega), 4. Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party (Konami), 5. Game Party (Midway).

Japan: 1. Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo), 2. Wii Sports (Nintendo), 3. Mario & Sonic at Bejing Olympics (Sega), 4. Hajimete no Wii (Nintendo), 5. Swing Golf Pangya 2nd Shot! (Tecmo).

Europe: 1. Big Brain Academy for Wii (Nintendo), 2. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Sega), 3. Carnival Funfair Games (2K Games), 4. Mario Party 8 (Nintendo), 5. FIFA 08 (EA Sports).

Xbox 360
North America: 1. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 2. Assassin’s Creed (Ubisoft), 3. Halo 3 (Microsoft), 4. Halo 3: Legendary Edition (Microsoft), 5. Mass Effect (Microsoft).

Japan: 1. Assassin’s Creed (Ubisoft), 2. Dead Rising / Gears of War — Xbox 360 Platinum Double Pack (Capcom / Microsoft), 3. The Idol M@ster — Xbox 360 Platinum Collection (Namco), 4. Guilty Gear 2: Overture (Arc System Works), 5. Ace Combat 6: Kaihou e no Senka (Namco).

Europe: 1. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 2. Halo 3 (Microsoft), 3. Assassin’s Creed (Ubisoft), 4. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (Konami), 5. Mass Effect (Microsoft).

PlayStation 3
North America: 1. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 2. Assassin’s Creed (Ubisoft), 3. Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune (SCEA), 4. Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (SCEA), 5. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Activision).

Japan: 1. World Soccer Winning Eleven 2008 (Konami), 2. Shin Sangoku Musou 5 (Koei), 3. Ratchet & Clank Future (SCEI), 4. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Spike), 5. Tony Hawk’s Project 8 (Spike).

Europe: 1. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (Konami), 2. Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction (SCEE), 3. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision), 4. Assassin’s Creed (Ubisoft), 5. FIFA 08 (EA Sports).

PlayStation 2 (more…)

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A German gaming website has word that EA’s latest title for the Wii and DS is called Ninja Reflex. It’s a minigame collection involving ninjas, who will no doubt attempt to train your reflexes, courtesy of EA Casual who are making games similar to EA Playground.

The tentative release date for the Nintendo Wii and DS game Ninja Reflex is set for March 4th, 2008. — Via Nintendowiix

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In the first week of the 2007 holiday shopping season, Nintendo of America has sold more Nintendo products than at any other time in its history. This includes more than 653,000 Nintendo DS Lite portable systems, 350,000 Wii home systems and millions of games and accessories throughout the United States and the season is just getting started. Nintendo DS set a new all-time sales record for Thanksgiving week, eclipsing the previous mark of 600,000 Game Boy Advance systems sold during the same period in the United States in 2005. Nintendo DS remains on track to be the top-selling video game system of 2007. This is just crazy, they are going to sell millions worldwide this holiday season.

Nintendo’s 350,000 Wii systems represent the highest one-week U.S. sales total outside of its launch week one year ago. Wii has been dubbed the must-have gift of the 2007 holiday season and has been placed at the top of numerous gift lists. Nintendo has repeatedly increased its shipments and its fiscal-year sales forecast for Wii in an attempt to meet soaring demand. Wii reached 5 million sold in the United States faster than any video game system in history, after only 12 months of availability there. Both Wii and Nintendo DS have continued their yearlong momentum into the holidays without altering their prices. And both remain attractive values for shoppers: Wii has an MSRP of $249.99, while Nintendo DS has an MSRP of $129.99.

“As shoppers look for ways to maximize their limited holiday spending money, they turn to gifts that can be used by the entire family,” says George Harrison, Nintendo of America’s senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications. “Wii and Nintendo DS offer something for every member of the family. They’re the most fun video game experiences at the most affordable price.”

With higher gas prices and fuel costs, and the lukewarm expectations for the 2007 holiday shopping season, Wii and Nintendo DS might be just what Santa ordered: Thirty-five percent of consumers said they plan to spend less than they did last year, according to a survey conducted by Opinion Research Corp. for the Consumer Federation of America and the Credit Union National Association. Similarly, a USA Today/Gallup Poll showed that 25 percent of Americans expect to spend less on gifts this year than they did in 2006.

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The Everyone’s Nintendo Channel has gone live in Japan. This channel gives Wii owners videos and interviews about games, and most importantly, DS demos for direct download! Hopefully the rest of the world will follow later this year.

Here’s a video demonstration of the cool new features that Nintendo is adding to the Wii, including preview videos, interactive release lists, and DS game downloads!

Video via Wired

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How could something so wrong go so right? This list from GR attempts to answer the question why games who’s concepts sound sucky, are actually really fun to play.

7. Brain Age (DS); doing math tests works, because it helps overcome our inherent laziness by appealing to our inherent ego, narcissism and desire for self-improvement.
6. Harvest Moon (various); you play as a farmer, and somehow the quiet and unhurried life of a farmer is more than relaxing… it’s healing.
5. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (DS); nobody loves defense attorneys for accused murderers, luckily in-game the accused are all completely innocent.
4. Viva Pinata (Xbox 360); a gardening game tied in with a kids show on a console for mainly hardcore gamers, yet the pinatas melted any defense against their colorful exterior with great fun gameplay.
3. Culdcept (PS2); Magic meets Monopoly sounds dull to the targeted teenager audience, but the accessibility and strange humor seems to win most people over.
2. Puzzle Quest (various); playing a puzzle game like Bejeweled with a mix of RPG sounds different, and it turns out it’s addictive and a blast to play.
1. The Sims (various); it’s basically doing everyday tasks you already do but again and on a screen, turns out living the life of these virtual families was incredibly appealing to 16 million gamers.

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MX vs. ATV Untamed kicks it up a notch and shifts into high gear as the offroad franchise returns. THQ’s Rhythm Racing engine allows for new stunts and techniques, retaining the smooth feel of off-road racing at full speed.

Attempt to own the offroad by dominating the innovative new “X-Cross Tournament.” X-Cross brings together 8 unique racing series like Endurocross, Opencross, Supercross, Waypoint and SuperMoto and then crosses them into one ultimate offroad championship. Brand new styles of racing are born as powerful vehicles tear through treacherous trails in the new Opencross mode, while then shifting gears to navigate boulders, logs, and water pits in Endurocross. Players can take control of the new ORV Sport and multiple other vehicles, including Monster and Trophy Trucks, as they blitz through rough rivers, rip though swampy everglades, and blaze through the desert dunes. Amp up your favorite vehicles’ power, handling, and acceleration with more than 100 sponsor parts and accessories.

Be ready for speed and adventure with 10 massive open worlds to explore!

The racing game has a release date on December 17th for Xbox 360, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii and DS.

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Here’s a list of this weeks US game releases. The avalanche of lots of blockbuster games this month is over, your wallet is safe again. The most popular games are Geometry Wars: Galaxies on DS and Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords on Wii. On the downloadable games front we’ve got today’s Double Dribble, Vegas Stakes, Ecco Jr. on the Wii Virtual Console; Asteroids Deluxe on Xbox Live Arcade (updates Wednesday); and PAIN on the PlayStation Store (updates Thursday).

Monday:
Double Dribble - $5 (Wii Virtual Console)
Ecco Jr. - $8 (Wii Virtual Console)
Vegas Stakes - $8 (Wii Virtual Console)

Tuesday:
Boogie (DS)
Cranium Kabookii (Wii)
Cruis’n (Wii)
Disney Princess: Enchanted Journey (PC)
Game Party (Wii)
Geometry Wars: Galaxies (DS)
History Channel: Battle for the Pacific (Wii, Xbox 360)
Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords (Wii)
Speedball 2 Tournament (PC)

Wednesday:
Asteroids Deluxe - $5 (Xbox Live Arcade)
Chicken Hunter (DS)
Shadowgrounds Survivor (PC)

Thursday:
PAIN - $6 (PlayStation Store)

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In Worms: Open Warfare 2 you take control of a team of four Worms. The goal of the game is to defeat the opposing teams by reducing the health points of enemy Worms to zero without losing all of your worms first.

You can do this by using different types of weaponry and tools. You can also select victory dances for your worms and create your own race or fort maps using the level editor. Both versions have some exclusives, the DS version includes a bunch of great mini-games, while the PSP version allows players to select hats for their worms, has voice chat support, clan support, and messaging.

In addition to the classic Deathmatch mode, the game also includes new single and multiplayer modes such as Rope Race, Fort, Puzzle and Campaign modes that challenge players to use new strategies and teamwork to defeat their enemies.
(more…)

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