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    Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes trailer may look familiar

    July 9, 2009 - 6:00pm

    We will refrain from the bullish assumption that everyone (and their mother) owns an iPhone, but if you do and have played Critter Crunch, Ubisoft's upcoming Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes may look a tad familiar. That's because Critter Crunch and Clash of Heroes are developed by the same team -- Toronto's Capybara Games -- and both feature a similar look and puzzle style.Something that won't be familiar when watching the trailer for Clash of Heroes is excitement for a Might & Magic title. While Ubisoft has attempted to revamp the license in various ways over the years, Capybara's simple puzzle adventure feels like a step in the right direction for the franchise. Also, it doesn't help that every character in Clash of Heroes is adorable -- another trademark of Capybara Games, it would seem.Permalink | Email this | Comments

    Zephyr turns into Tornado Outbreak

    July 9, 2009 - 5:29pm

    Konami's Katamari Damacy clone, Zephyr: Rise of the Elementals has just spun itself an easier, more straightforward title: Tornado Outbreak. The game is the first from Loose Cannon Studios, made up of Sucker Punch veterans. While the pedigree of the studio is quite impressive, we found the game rather uninspired at E3, missing the charm that makes Katamari so lovable. Perhaps Tornado Outbreak will blow away our dampened expectations; this trailer reveals new elements (like bosses!) that we didn't have a chance to experience in our previous hands-on.You'll be able to give Tornado Outbreak a whirl when it launches on Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3 this September.
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    Wiimote controls giant claw, brings man and machine closer

    July 9, 2009 - 5:00pm


    When your job is to sit in an office all day, controlling a 15-ton robotic arm, things can get kind of boring. Thankfully, some ingenious operators decided to fool around with the arm at their disposal and managed to implement Wiimote controls. Judging by the YouTube video after the break, taking the thing for a spin with the Wiimote looks like it works quite well, as the gigantic yellow claw pretty much follows the movements of its operator exactly.If we weren't sure the giant claw cost more money than we could ever hope to see, we'd suggest playing the world's largest crane game, or a bit of Let's See How Far We Can Throw This Minivan.[Via Make]

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    Skeleton rock stars destroy buildings with rock power in Lego Rock Band

    July 9, 2009 - 3:10pm


    It's a rarity, but we'll admit it when it occurs: We might have judged a game too quickly -- specifically, Lego Rock Band. While we assumed it would just be a brickalyzed version of the game we all know, love and are the tiniest bit sick of, a recent interview has us questioning that. TT Games boss Jonathan Smith told VG247, "The Lego character customizer means that pirates, knights and skeletons can be rock stars too, in amazing new locations. Battle sea-monsters, smash up an entire building, or take a trip into space, all with the power of rock!"Publishers, if you're curious about how to get our attention, skeleton rock stars destroying buildings with rock power before traveling into space is a great way to start.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

    Final Fantasy III coming to the Virtual Console this month (in Japan)

    July 9, 2009 - 12:15pm


    Square Enix continues its assault on the Virtual Console in Japan with the third installment in the Final Fantasy series. Game Watch is reporting FInal Fantasy III will be available on the Virtual Console for 500 Wii Points some time this month. We'd be super excited about this, if not for the DS remake that had already released, which gave those of us in the West our first taste of this game. Would you prefer to play the original instead?[Thanks, Justin!]Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

    Big Blue Bubble developing Warlock of Firetop Mountain for DS

    July 9, 2009 - 6:01am


    Canadian developer Big Blue Bubble is working on an action RPG for the DS named "The Warlock of Firetop Mountain." Sound familiar? Some of you may recognize it as the first book in Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone's Fighting Fantasy book series -- portable gaming for the pre-Gameboy crowd. This game, based on the book, will be published by Aspyr Media and will release this holiday season.Jackson and Livingstone have both been involved with the project, helping Big Blue Bubble nail the look and feel of the Fighting Fantasy universe. While the last Fighting Fantasy book to be made into a video game, Deathtrap Dungeon, wasn't particular successful -- or good -- Warlock of Firetop Mountain looks to remain much more faithful to the book. Hey, games industry. You know what else would make a good transition from book to game? The Lone Wolf series. You should get on that.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

    Nomura: The Kingdom Hearts Keyblade was originally a chainsaw

    July 8, 2009 - 10:58pm

    In an interview with Famitsu, Square Enix character designer and Kingdom Hearts creator Tetsuya Nomura revealed some secrets about the early history of the franchise. The ensemble-cast design of the games, for example, stemmed from a disagreement between Square and Disney over the protagonist: "Square wanted to make a game starring Mickey Mouse," Nomura said, as translated by 1UP, "and Disney wanted a Donald Duck title. Meanwhile, I wanted neither." The resulting compromise was "a game featuring lots of characters without focusing on any particular one."The Keyblade weapon, despite being an early component of the game, was not Nomura's first idea for a signature weapon. "Actually," he said, "the first weapon I showed Disney was a chainsaw. It was this chainsaw-like weapon that I had a rough sketch of when I first showed my concepts to Disney." Disney reacted pretty much like you would expect Disney executives to react to the heavy use of a chainsaw in a game about Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck: "Everyone got this scrunched-up look on their face and nobody said a word in the entire room. Dead silence. And I thought 'No, I guess this wouldn't work, huh?'"It occurred to us that the chainsaw was the perfect Nomura weapon, because the teeth on the chain are reminiscent of those on a zipper.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

    Suda51 'loves' Travis Touchdown, hopes he becomes a 'huge star'

    July 8, 2009 - 10:00pm


    Speaking with Nintendo Power (and caught by Destructoid), No More Heroes creator Goichi "Suda51" Suda told the magazine about his mad love for series star Travis Touchdown. OK, so he didn't exactly say "mad love," but the magazine's editors tell Joystiq that Suda51 considers the character his absolute favorite creation.In an interview published in the official Nintendo mag's latest issue, Suda expresses his hope that Touchdown will become a much more recognized character with the release of No More Heroes 2, saying, "I love him, and I want him to be a huge star." The developer joked that he'd be tickled to see Touchdown included on the roster for a future Super Smash Bros. title. "Maybe in the future, we can see him fighting alongside Link," he laughed. "That would be great."We have to agree that Travis and his beam katana would certainly make our cut for a fantasy Smash Bros. lineup. Which Nintendo platform characters would be on yours?[Thanks, Mark M.!]
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    Fake Dragon Quest IX ROM punishes overeager pirates

    July 8, 2009 - 9:00pm

    Okay, let's get this out of the way right up front: Downloading what you think is a ROM of the Japanese release of Dragon Quest IX, days before it even comes out, is not cool. It turns out that it will probably also end up being hazardous to your DS.DS Scene reports that a file going around, labeled "Dragon Quest IX JPN DSi Enhanced NDS iND," is actually not Dragon Quest IX at all, but rather a malicious program that can overwrite a DS's firmware and render systems unusable. The program is disguised as a hentai slideshow called "DS Owata," which is itself disguised as Dragon Quest IX. Our advice in this case is to do your very best not to be a pirate and just buy the thing when you can. Square Enix booby-traps its legitimate games against piracy anyway.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

    Carcassone laying down tiles on the DS

    July 8, 2009 - 8:00pm


    Everyone's favorite German board game (no, not that one), Carcassonne, is coming to the DS, courtesy of Koch Media. The news comes via Go Nintendo, with the press release mentioning the DS title will feature the original game plus three new territories: the Asian, Arabic, and Nordic worlds. The game will also include the River expansion set, which comes standard with the newer versions of the Carcassonne board game. You can expect three different modes of play, including a single-player, story-driven mode, a quick play mode for, uh, quick play, and a multiplayer mode that will support game sharing and local wireless multiplayer.Our only beef is that the size of the game grid might not scale down to the DS screen too well, and it might be hard to see everything going on. But, hey, even if that's the case, you won't need to clean up a messy board game, and isn't that the important thing here?
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