Wii Bowling Ball Accessory Pushes Limits of Absurdity
Written by from on June 20th, 2009 | 0 CommentsThere have been plenty of Wii accessories released to (purportedly) make certain experiences feel more “authentic,” like an attachable tennis racket, or a plastic sword blade. But this, this may be going too far: Gearfuse picked up on a new Wii accessory from CTA Digital that literally encases a Wii remote into a faux bowling ball. This assures not only an “authentic” bowling experience, but also that if you ever do forgo the safety strap and accidentally let this hulking husk go, you’ll have a spectacularly damaged television for your troubles. “This ultra-realistic accessory allows you to mimic all the critical motions a ’striking’ performance requires,” reads the product’s official description . “This Wii peripheral is the first of its kind to be fashioned after an authentic bowling ball, turning your wii-mote into the optimum performance-enhancing accessory!” This statement reminds us of the simple truth that some things are a “first of their kind” because they’re legitimately brilliant new ideas, and others because no one was ever crazy enough to bother making them before. But if you do want this bowling ball accessory, you may have to do a little work to find it. CTA Digital has a list of retailers that carry their products, but no pricing or availability details for specific items.
Tekken 6 to Feature Penny Arcade’s Cardboard Tube Samurai?
Written by from on June 20th, 2009 | 0 CommentsAfter battling taco-related demons , saving the lives of pigs , and conquering fatherhood , what could possibly be left for Penny Arcade’s Cardboard Tube Samurai? The King of the Iron Fist Tournament, apparently. As Destructoid reports , Twitter feed tekkenbob — the official Twitter account for Tekken 6 — recently posted the image above. Although it’s unconfirmed, it certainly looks like the legendary Cardboard Tube Samurai, doesn’t it? The Twitter post only mentioned “a sneak peek at something I can’t talk about yet,” so it seems we’ll have to wait a little bit longer to know for sure whether ” The Waking Dragon, coiled, as spring dawns ” will actually appear in the game. But although the Cardboard Tube Samurai would seem to be a better fit for Soul Calibur, having a sword has never stopped Yoshimitsu from appearing in Tekken before, has it? Besides, if the game actually did unleash the full fury of “The Famine-Of-Winter, that kills the babe at its mother’s empty breast,” it would surely make Tekken 6 way too unbalanced.
Lord of the Rings Online "Still Growing," Turbine Says
Written by from on June 19th, 2009 | 0 CommentsLord of the Rings Online contemporaries like Hellgate: London and Tabula Rasa are long gone. Age of Conan — which arrived more than a year later — merged it servers not longer after launch. But Lord of the Rings Online is not only not merging its servers, it’s growing, Turbine producer Aaron Campbell told Videogaming247 . He was speaking in response to the question of whether the two-year-old MMO had seen a drop-off in player activity. “If anything, The Lord of the Rings Online is growing,” he said. “We have no plans to merge servers.”
Blizzard Still Aiming For 2009 StarCraft II Release
Written by from on June 18th, 2009 | 0 CommentsIt’s been a little more than two years since StarCraft II was announced, but the end of the long wait appears to be in sight. Rumors abound that the open beta is nearly upon us, which suggests that it will indeed be arriving this year. But what does Blizzard have to say about it? Lead designer Chris Sigaty told press2play (via Kotaku ) that the team will indeed be trying to get it out this year. But that promise comes with a caveat. In what appears to be a return to tradition for Blizzard, Sigaty said, “We’re not going to ship the game if it’s not ready.” Seems they learned their lesson from the World of WarCraft launch.
Nintendo Offers Samurai Toasters, Mario Apps, and More
Written by from on June 15th, 2009 | 0 CommentsNintendo has once again rolled out the weekly cache of downloadable goodies, and it seems to mark a return to form for certain DSiWare trends. First, though, WiiWare adds three new games this week. Headlining is Eduardo the Samurai Toaster , a side-scroller that features 4-player co-op for 800 Wii Points ($8 USD). Rainbow Islands: Towering Adventure! is a new entry in the classic series, also for 800 Points. Finally, Let’s Catch is, unsurprisingly enough, a game of catch featuring Mii characters that supports up to 4 players. It’s available for 1,000 Wii Points ($10 USD). Virtual Console offers up the Genesis game Space Harrier for 800 Points this week; the shooter was notable in its time for its impressive 3D effects. Finally, on DSiWare, Nintendo offers a Mario Calculator and Mario Clock for 200 DSi Points ($2 USD) each. If you hadn’t gotten your fill with the Animal Crossing clock and calculator or the Photo Clock , the Mario version might be right up your alley. Most of us, on the other hand, are wondering what Nintendo is trying to say about our time-keeping abilities.
Molyneux Plans to Make Rare More Visible
Written by from on June 15th, 2009 | 0 CommentsPeter Molyneux is wasting no time to develop plans for the future of Microsoft’s creative teams, after his recent promotion to head of European Studios. One of those changes will be to Rare, which has had some trouble finding an audience. “Actually one of the things I really want to do is help Rare have more of an identity,” he said to GamesIndustry.biz. “And make sure the people at Rare are seen more within the industry.” His main concern seems to be that the company isn’t very open, which he attributes to their history. “I was totally blown away from the amount of talent that there is at Rare, but it’s just that they come from a background where Nintendo required them to be this very, very secretive company,” he said. “I just want to give them the confidence to tell the world what they’re doing. I hope you’re going to see more from Rare and I want to help them get well known.” He doesn’t want to lose Rare’s signature style, however, pointing out that we’ll “definitely still recognize” their handiwork.
iPhone Peggle Now Available For $1
Written by from on June 11th, 2009 | 0 CommentsPeggle has already been established to be one of the most addictive things ever invented, somewhere up there with crystal meth. If you haven’t had the chance to get hooked yet, well now you can, and it’s cheap. As a special, limited time offer, Peggle for the iPhone and iPod Touch is now available for $0.99 (via Shacknews ). Yes, for a mere dollar, you can have the game that our iPhone blog called “possible the most addictive game on iPhone.” If you don’t believe us, then give download it from the iTunes app store and give it a try. You have until midnight on June 14 before it goes back up to its normal price.
Join The Uncharted 2 Multiplayer Beta Courtesy Of 1UP
Written by from on June 11th, 2009 | 0 CommentsWe had the chance to play Uncharted 2 at E3, and we thought it was pretty awesome. Enough to call it E3’s Best of Show . Now all you PlayStation 3 owners have a chance to try it out for yourselves. We’ve got 1000 beta codes to give away to 1UP members, and we’ll be handing them out over a period of several days. All you have to do is keep an eye on 1UP’s Uncharted blog and answer the questions that we post. We’ll be giving away the first 300 codes this evening, so keep an eye out on the blog for the first question. Don’t worry — we’ll warn you about 30 minutes beforehand in this thread .
Green Day DLC Coming To Rock Band Next Month
Written by from on June 11th, 2009 | 0 CommentsHarmonix has announced that Green Day will be coming exclusively Rock Band, with the first selection of DLC becoming available next month. It’s not their work from the ’90s, or “American Idiot” for that matter, but it’s a start. The first set of DLC will be a three-pack consisting of the songs “21 Guns,” “Know Your Enemy” and “East Jesus Nowhere.” They’re all from 21st Century Breakdown , the latest Green Day album, which was released on May 15. Word that Green Day would be coming to Rock Band arrived on June 8, when vocalist Billie Joe Armstrong told a crowd at KROQ’s Breakfast with Green Day, “Yeah. We’re doing a whole Green Day Rock Band, uh,” upon which he was cut off by cheering.
Nintendo Wins Another Wii Patent Lawsuit
Written by from on June 11th, 2009 | 0 CommentsNintendo has prevailed against another patent lawsuit, according to a press release from the company. U.S. District Court judge Manuel Real of Los Angeles dismissed a suit from Guardian Media Technologies that alleged the Wii infringed on patent number 4,930,158 . “Nintendo vigorously defends patent lawsuits,” said Rick Flamm, senior VP of legal counsel. “At the earliest stages of this case, Nintendo convinced the Court to dismiss this case as Guardian’s patent had nothing to do with Nintendo’s products.” And “nothing” sounds about right. Guardian’s patent is for a “selective video playing system,” requiring a passcode to record or play video programming. In other words, the patent basically covers parental controls on devices like DVR boxes. The Nintendo Wii has parental control functions, but applying that patent to the game system seems like a stretch. This is the second legal victory from Nintendo in the last few months, after a recent suit from Fenner Investments over the Gamecube joystick was dismissed.