Aside from knowing the game exists, I didn’t have anything else to go on when I came across Guinness World Records: The Videogame at my closed-door session in the back of the Warner Bros. meeting room at E3. When the game was revealed, I figured it would just be another cookie-cutter mini-game compilation that didn’t hold much value. Actually, I was wrong, as Guiness World Records is a pretty fun title.
The majority of the game has you traveling to various locales throughout the world and competing in the three available mini-games for that region. You travel by walking your avatar (sorry, no Mii support!) across a large globe that represents the world. Once you have arrived at your destination, you simply click on it to jump in and check out what’s there. Some of the locales I saw included Egypt and South Africa, which was nice because it doubled as a geography refresher.
While the demo didn’t have every region available, it did have quite the number of mini-games to play. Sadly, my appointment was really just for LEGO Batman, so I only got a few minutes with the game while I waited. In this amount of time, I was able to smash some watermelons with my head and shoot myself out of a cannon.
Each of the mini-games required some sort of motion-based controls, which have been implemented decently. For example, in the watermelon mini-game, I was forced to smash oncoming watermelons with my head, flicking the Wiimote down to represent this action in-game. The motion controls never skipped a beat and I performed quite well, proving to me that the controls work well and have been instituted quite effectively.
Guiness World Records: The Videogame will support Wi-Fi leaderboards, allowing you to compare your score with friends online. Sadly, that’s the only Wi-Fi feature in the game, as players can’t enjoy multiplayer online. But, there’s definitely support for local multiplayer, which is great because this strikes me as geared toward the social crowd and the younger audience.
In the end, I was pleasantly surprised by Guiness World Records: The Videogame. It was a genuinely fun time and not a piece of shovelware that I expected it would be. The mini-games were engaging and actually controlled well, which was very nice. Fans of fun mini-game compilations should definitely keep their eyes on this one.
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
Look at the damn guy. Do we really need to explain ourselves? We wish we could do a metareview on the lizard instead.
Consider the lizard a bonus that we're throwing in with this metareview bundle.
Priced ridiculously low at $20, Nintendo's Zapper bundle seems like an easy buy for most gamers, but for those of you who're waiting for impressions on its pack-in game, Link's Crossbow Training, we've got you covered.
GameDaily -- 80%: While GameDaily feels there's enough in there to keep you playing longer than just an hour or two, the reviewer still wishes there was more to the game: "Although it doesn't have as many options (Practice, four person multiplayer) as Nintendo's famous pack-in, Wii Sports, Crossbow Training will keep you entertained for hours, especially if you love Zelda. And yet, it could have been so much better. Had the developers programmed online leader boards, millions of trigger happy gamers could compete with each other for the best scores."
IGN -- 70%: IGN disagrees and says there's less than an hour's worth of content, but is willing to forgive the game due to its cheap price: "Lasting Appeal: Over in less than an hour. A two-player mode cannot be played simultaneously. Even getting all platinums in levels is not overly difficult. But again, it's only $19.99."
NintendoWorldReport -- 60%: NWR also has some complaints with Link's Crossbow Training's "multiplayer" support: "The game also features a multiplayer mode that misses on almost every level. Up to four players can be chosen, and then any one level can be chosen. Players then pass the Zapper around as they each play the stage alone. This passive multiplayer would make sense if they were doing it to maintain the integrity of high scores, but high scores aren't even recorded when playing in this mode. Overall, just don't expect the game to be a huge party hit, as most of the people will be sitting and watching, awaiting their turns."Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
On Wednesday it’s been three years since Nintendo DS launched in the United States. According to the independent NPD Group, DS sales through October have topped 13.6 million in the United States alone (53.64 million worldwide). That’s reason enough to party. And who’s more qualified to host a nonstop Nintendo celebration than Mario himself? With today’s launch of Mario Party DS from Nintendo, you’ll be twisting shapes, flipping burgers or battling for precious coins using the stylus, touch-screen and built-in microphone.
The latest installment in the popular Mario Party game series introduces five new boards and more than 70 awesome minigames, playable for the first time ever on the portable Nintendo DS. And up to four DS owners can compete via local wireless using only one game card…
The last time we brought you Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 gameplay videos, there was nary a plunger to be found. Fortunately, these new trailers from IGN show us that the rail-shooter minigame has returned.
Despite the fact that we thoroughly enjoy shooting stuff with plungers, especially crazy bunnies, we have to say that these videos just didn't do much for us. Maybe it's because the one embedded above reminds us of being forced to sit in the front row at a movie theater. Maybe it was the pacing, or the lack of music. Then again, perhaps we're over this whole rabbid thing.
Don't get us wrong, we still love the little buggers ... but whatever it is, something is just off. Are we cranky today, or do you feel the same way?
By the way, more plunger videos are embedded after the jump.
Those poor Rabbids. Looks like they may need a testosterone infusion before taking the field against these guys. The latest in the long-running and hilarious promotional campaign for Rayman Raving Rabbids and its sequel couldn't be much more masculine if it tried -- it even features the obligatory fellas-in-a-locker-room bit. Nothing like a bunch of guys in towels to inspire consumer loyalty, right?
Twenty (!) separate events are planned for Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, and it looks like we'll be partaking in a variety of traditional summer games with our favorite mascots. Events range from Archery to Rowing to Table Tennis, with a little something for everyone. Siliconera reports that this list is not complete -- that two events are still missing of the twenty -- but if the various race lengths in the Track events are counted separately, then this could be the full list. However, Mike Hayes of Sega Europe mentioned the inclusion of judo earlier this year, so there may well be two other unconfirmed events. Curious about the current list? Race past the jump and check it out. %Gallery-4697%
