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    Sands of Destruction game and anime due early 2010

    July 7, 2009 - 10:25am

    Funimation has obtained the rights to the anime series based on Sega's upcoming DS RPG, Sands of Destruction. Funimation plans to begin airing the first thirteen-episode season of the Production I.G-produced anime in spring of 2010. Like the DS game, the show stars a kid named Kyrie who gets drawn into a secret organization determined to destroy the world -- in order to free humans from subjugation.In the same press release announcing the anime deal, Sega offered a January 2010 release date for the DS game itself. The game was first announced for North American release in December of last year. There's something kind of nostalgic about waiting over a year for the translation of an RPG.Permalink | Email this | Comments

    VC Tuesday: Flying, boxing, and no WiiWare

    July 7, 2009 - 10:00am

    This week, Japan finally gets Super Punch-Out!! on the Virtual Console. The Wii game, for which this SNES release has served as a promotional tool in other territories, isn't out until July 23 in Japan, so Super Punch-Out!! will have to tide over the crowd of Japanese gamers hungry for cartoon violence.Also available on the Virtual Console: cartoon violence of a different variety and an older vintage, in the form of Namco's 1985 horizontal shooter Sky Kid. And on WiiWare this week: nothing at all.Virtual Console:

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    Fight Night Round 4 knocks out its UK chart competitors

    July 7, 2009 - 12:30am


    So it turns out Fight Night Round 4 is a real hit over in the UK. A real hit. That's a joke. What isn't a joke is that the game is enjoying a second week at the number one spot, despite competition from Tiger Woods Pro Tour 10, which debuted at number 2. We say "competition," but no matter which one you buy the money's still going in EA's pocket -- something that doesn't happen when you buy Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, which surged from number 6 to number 3 this week.The bundling of Wii MotionPlus with Tiger Woods doesn't seem to have impacted too much on sales, as it debuted at number 4 in the Wii charts. Grand Slam Tennis -- which is also bundled with MotionPlus -- swapped places with EA Sports Active, jumping from number 3 to number 2. None of which seem to be able to get close to that other Wii peripheral, Wii Fit, which sits comfortably at the top of the Wii chart, as usual.
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    Donkey Kong Easter egg cracked 26 years late

    July 6, 2009 - 11:30pm


    Who knew? You can put a price on obscure video game secrets, after all. Buried in 25,000-odd lines of game code for twenty-six years, an ancient "Easter egg" has been uncovered -- thanks to a modest cash reward -- from the Atari 8-bit port of Donkey Kong. Hint: You're looking at it (pictured above). Don't see it? It's the initials: LMD. Yeah, that's it.Last year, in an unabridged blog post about early-80s programming for Atari, celebrated coder Landon M. Dyer offhandedly remarked, "There's an Easter egg [in the Donkey Kong port], but it's totally not worth it, and I don't remember how to bring it up anyway." Still, game databaser Digital Press thought it worth it enough to offer up a $75 reward for discovering the hidden treasure; or, more accurately, a reward for discovering the process by which the Easter egg is triggered, as it was known that the bonus itself was simply the programmer's initials displayed on the title screen. In turn, the seventy-five bucks was worth it enough to a Mr. Don Hodges to scour the game code and dig up the dusty trail to the Easter egg. There are plenty of eggs left to crack, too, if you're looking for adventure that pays.Head past the break for the suspenseful reveal. The video's got quite the build-up. Be patient.

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    VC in Brief: California Games (C64)

    July 6, 2009 - 7:15pm

    California Games (C64, 1 - 5 players, 500 Wii Points)We say: Check it out!
    This week's release is an old favorite: California Games. Featuring an eclectic mix of sports to play (are these games all Californians know and love?), it's a game that many likely remember fondly. Well, in playing it for the first time in, oh, over 10 years, we still found it to be quite fun. Save for the roller skating game. That one is the worst.
    Every week, we like to check out what's new on the Virtual Console. We offer these videos as a sort of taste to help you decide whether or not you would want the game in question. We also toss in our own two cents because we're pushy jerks.Permalink | Email this | Comments

    Rumor: Guitar Hero 5 drum set to look an awful lot like Rock Band's

    July 6, 2009 - 6:30pm


    Is the drum kit above (to the right) what Guitar Hero 5 will be shipping with when it hits this September? We're not 100% sure, but a trusted source at our sister site Engadget sent in the blurry shot, leading us to believe it could very well be. The new set bears a strong resemblance to that other full band music/rhythm game -- hey, there's even a lower bar support where the kick pedal could possibly hook on! Additionally, as Engadget rightly points out, the system controls have been moved in front of the pads. The back of the set allegedly features two kick pedal jacks and a "mysterious black mini jack" as well. We've asked for comment from Activision for confirmation of the set and have yet to hear back.
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    This Week on the Nintendo Channel: Dementium II teaser

    July 6, 2009 - 5:15pm

    This week on the Nintendo Channel, there's a variety of new videos for Wii games, but our favorite piece of video content has to be the teaser for DS sequel Dementium II above. It combines two of our most favorite things: mono-toned speech and quick cuts to scary faces. Seriously, this thing has a quease factor of about 8, which, we're told, is quite high. You've been warned!

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    GTA Chinatown Wars is the first Z-rated DS game in Japan

    July 6, 2009 - 4:00pm

    The Computer Entertainment Rating Organization (Japan's equivalent of the ESRB) reserves its most restrictive rating, Z, for games intended for ages 18 and up. There's a slightly less restrictive D rating for ages 17 and up, which gives Z-rated games a sort of stigma almost equivalent to the ESRB's AO rating -- Z-rated games require the buyer to provide proof of age, and often have little or no display presence in stores.Which isn't exactly good news for the first CERO Z-rated DS game ... Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, whose North American sales suggest it doesn't need any more disadvantages. Like every other GTA, Chinatown Wars will carry the adults-only rating in Japan. Unlike every other GTA (except for IV on the PC), this one will be published by Cyberfront instead of Capcom when it comes out in the fall.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

    Electroplankton makes weird noises on Japanese DSiWare this week

    July 6, 2009 - 3:00pm

    Nintendo continues to release bite-size portions of old DS games as DSiWare games, which may rankle some, but we think its latest broken-up DS game makes a lot of sense. The company plans to release Electroplankton in Japan as ten individual 200-point downloads, each consisting of one of the "plankton" instruments from the "game."This Wednesday, Tracy, Hanenbon, Nanocarp, and Beatnes will be available on Japan's DSi Shop. On July 22, Rec Rec and Lumiloop will be released. Finally, in August, Sun Animalcule, Luminaria, Marine Snow, and Volvoice will be available.This could be the perfect venue for creator Toshio Iwai to release future musical toys. Could Electroplankton continue this way, with new instruments being released periodically? It's probably not wise to hope for anything that isn't a segment of an existing game, but it's possible!Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

    See what Mario Galaxy looks like in HD

    July 6, 2009 - 2:15pm


    Remember that Wii emulator that boosted the graphics up to 720p? Thanks to a recent update, Super Mario Galaxy is now playable on the emulator -- known as Dolphin (get it?) -- and we have to admit, it looks pretty gorgeous. Granted, Super Mario Galaxy was no graphical slouch in the first place, but the extra resomolutions certainly add to the overall experience, and it gives us an idea of what a Wii HD console would be capable of producing.Check out a video of the Super Mario Galaxy running in HD after the break (don't forget to turn on HD in the player). It's in HD. Did we mention that yet? [Via CVG]

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