Above: The pink hair and cleavage probably don’t do much for ninja stealth.  No wonder she’s unemployed…

Izuna 2 is in stores on July 22.

Jun 17, 2008

Lightsaber Duels for the Wii and Jedi Alliance on the DS promise all kinds of motion control function and Alliance even has drop-in, drop-out co-op. Details are a bit scarce at the moment, but we’ve got the first two screens below and some info from our buddies at CVG.

 
Above: From the Wii version

Words: Chris Hicks, CVG UK

Wii game ‘Lightsaber Duels’ is predictably a lightsaber battle game that uses the Wii Remote as a lightsaber.

Whilst it’s not one-to-one control, LucasArts has promised that your general movement will be mimicked on screen, providing the best Wii lightsaber experience yet.

You’ll be able to participate in the most memorable duels from the animated movie and TV series, while taking control of several different characters each with their own fighting skills and unique abilities.

Comparatively, ‘Jedi Alliance’ for DS is a story-driven action adventure game that follows the characters from the TV show. It’s fully stylus controlled, which somehow makes lightsaber combat more immersive. We’re interested in how that works out.

Right: From the DS version

In the game, players get to chose two Jedi from a line-up of six. One will be fully controlled by the player, with AI controlling the other. The pair will embark on a series of missions involving droids, Lightsaber wielding enemies and minigames.

The characters have unique abilities too, and can be paired up to create different combinations to unlock new areas. Sounds a lot like LEGO Star Wars to us, but that’s not a bad thing.

CVG’s Source: IGN

Jun 19, 2008

“We will be announcing several new titles that core gamers will be interested in around the time of E3,” he told GamePro recently.

Speculation has run rampant about Nintendo’s release schedule near the end of this year. We’re crossing our fingers for more Pilotwings, Starfox or Pikmin action.

Whilst the first half of 2008 was full of goodness in the form of Mario Kart and Smash Bros, the post-June line-up is looking a bit bare. Nintendo looks set to rectify this at E3.

Franklin also fielded a question on whether Nintendo’s audience is now compromised of casual players instead of core gamers.

“The clear majority of people waiting in line outside retailers on Sunday mornings to buy their Wii consoles are core gamers,” said Franklin.

Which surprises us on a number of levels, not least being that we didn’t know people were still queuing outside shops for hardware. You can pick them up quite easily now, y’know…

Courtesy of CVG.

Jun 17, 2008

The company, who previously distributed PS3/360 title Dark Sector and Puzzle Quest, will be working closely with Aardman Animation to authentically bring the personality and humour of the series to life.

In the game, the sheep have all escaped and Shaun must find them before the Farmer comes home. He will get to interact with Shirley, Timmy, Bitzer and other characters through areas like the junk pile, the sheep pool and the circus tent.

The game will feature three gameplay modes: story, minigame and collection mode. There’s no information as to the specifics of these modes, yet. Or at least, nothing we find coherent anyway.

Courtesy of CVG.

Jun 17, 2008

Best of all, it could happen to you. We recently had an exclusive first look at Ninjatown, a DS real-time strategy game that stars some of the deadliest - and cuddliest - ninjas we’ve ever seen. Ninjatown is based on the imaginative universe of Shawn Smith, an ex-gaming journalist who now sells his creations in stuffed plush form on his website, Shawnimals.com.

We asked Shawn if he could create a custom GamesRadar ninja to give away to our readers and he graciously agreed. Now all we need is a lucky recipient…

So how do you win Ol’ GR Master Ninja? Just take a look at the custom Ninjatown wallpaper below and think up a caption. Send your original caption to ninja@gamesradar.com by June 30th and we’ll pick what we deem to be the wittiest, cleverest or just plain funniest. You must be over 17 and a U.S. resident. For full contest guidelines, please head to the next page.

Above: Insert your winning caption here!

While we’re spreading the Ninjatown love, we also have five custom-made, GamesRadar exclusive wallpapers for the taking. Just right click and choose “Save Target as…” on your choice of screen size. Be the envy of all your ninja-lacking friends and family!

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Jun 18, 2008

From August 22, Star Wars fans - or anyone, for that matter - will be able to buy a graphic novel or a hardback book chronicling the story of Darth Vader’s secret apprentice.

Hopefully, we’ll also get to see exactly how a skin-head has the power to cause a Star Destroyer to crash whilst Yoda can’t even walk across a room without using a walking stick.

The Forced Unleashed books (and other merchandise) will be available here. Meanwhile, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - the game - is currently dated for September 19.

Courtesy of CVG.

Jun 16, 2008

It is reported that “as many as three dozen” Team Ninja employees have done a runner and, to make things worse for Tecmo, also plan to take the company to court over unpaid bonuses for completed games.

Things got nasty early this month when Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden creator Tomonobu Itagaki publicly announced his resignation and lawsuit filing against Tecmo, along with a few damning statements against company president Yoshimi Yasuda.

If the rumours from 1up are true, things are going to get a lot worse for the developer.

On a more positive side, could we possibly see Itagaki and ex-Team Ninja employees reform as an independent developer? Fans can only dream…

Courtesy of CVG.

Jun 16, 2008

Not only will you be rewarding the developers of your favourite games with the recognition they deserve, you might even bag yourself some cool gaming swag too, as there will be prizes up for grabs. Check the site for details.

Most developers value a Golden Joystick over other awards, as they are voted for by the people who really matter – the gamers themselves. So make sure you don’t let some other crappy game deprive your game of the year from being recognised as such. Get over to the site and get voting!

The rumours suggest that the Neversoft-created series is now in the hands of new developer Robomodo, who has already disclosed that it’s working on an as-yet unnamed game for Activision.

But Activision on the matter that it “does not comment on rumor and speculation.”

It seems likely enough to us, considering Activision has gone on record that it’s looking to inject a bit more innovation into the series, but we’ll have to wait and see…

Courtesy of CVG.

Jun 4, 2008

According to the San Jose Business Journal, EA’s move to tie up exclusive licenses with US football associations for games based on the sport is at the heart of the case.

The plaintiffs point out that competition from rival publisher Take-Two, which sold more than two million copies of NFL 2K5 at a $19.99 price point, saw EA slash the price of Madden 2005 from $49.95 to $29.95, creating healthy competition that benefited consumers.

“Electronic Arts could have continued to compete by offering a lower price and/or a higher quality product,” the suit said. “Instead, Electronic Arts quickly entered into a series of exclusive agreements with the only viable sports football associations in the United States: the National Football League, the Arena Football League, and NCAA Football.”

With no competitor on the market following the signing of exclusivity deals, EA’s Madden 2006 was released with a price point of $49.95, up almost 70 percent on the previous iteration’s selling price.

The plaintiffs have requested a class action and want restitution and damages for those who purchased an EA football game since August of 2005.

Courtesy of Next Generation.

Jun 12, 2008