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May 31, 2007
What Does Nintendo Mean?
A friend recently asked me if I'm a hardcore gamer. I answered yes since I spend a considerable amount of my time and money playing and buying video games. I stay abreast on the latest gaming news and although I like casual games, I sometimes prefer more in depth and epic experiences.
Then I was asked what Nintendo meant. DAMN! I know how old Nintendo is (118 years old) and that the company was founded making playing cards. In regard to this question, all my hardcoreness didn't amount to a hill-of-beans so I had to do some research. This is what I discovered.
The word Nintendo is an amalgamation of 3 symbols: nin, meaning "leave to"; ten, for "heaven"; and do, "company". That translates to "the company that leaves to heaven" or more poetically, "take care of every detail, and heaven will take care of the rest."
What a beautiful word!
Posted by tranism at 2:42 PM | Permalink
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May 30, 2007
Pollen Sonata
A small indie game studio in Denmark really wants their game on the Wii. They released a teaser video of their game entitled "Pollen Sonata". I think you play as pollen and your aim to bring two people together by virtue of chance and incident. Maybe by making one of them sneeze, they'll turn around and notice the other person sitting behind them.
It's a brilliant idea and the in-game footage looks to be very unique. See, the Wii-mote can either bring out rehashes or inspire new, unique ideas like this. I'm tired of fighters and shooters. This is refreshing. I really hope they find a publisher.
Posted by tranism at 5:01 PM | Permalink
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May 25, 2007
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Crystal Bearers
That is one long ass title and the Japanese name seems even longer. I guess Square really wants to cement the word "Crystal Chronicles" as a franchise but thats neither here nor there. Lets get to the official FFCCCB trailer for Nintendo Wii. The art style is a departure from the cute kawaii-like characters on Gamecube. This time, big airships, guns and what looks to be massive worlds are in. Although the short trailer doesn't reveal much, it does show the cg cinematics and about 3 seconds of gameplay. Sure it's not Gears of Wars graphics but I'm hoping what it lacks in next gen graphics will be made up with next gen game mechanics.
Enjoy the trailer after the jump.
Posted by tranism at 4:45 PM | Permalink
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May 19, 2007
Happy Potter Might Actually Be A Good Video Game
Usually video games based on movies never do well, but the extended trailer of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix video game may have just changed my mind. The game follows the story of the 5th book which is probably one of the best books in the series. EA plans on releasing the game on 8, YES COUNT THEM 8 platforms - everything from the PS3 all the way down to the Nintendo DS. However the version I'm interested in is the Nintendo Wii version. Unlike the other versions, the Wii affords real magic casting simulation by way of its motion sensing remote control. The video above is from the Wii version and like Hermione says, it's all in the wrist, just swish and flick.
Posted by tranism at 11:37 AM | Permalink
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May 17, 2007
Brothers Grimm Video Game
Looks like game designer American McGee has finally found a publisher for his upcoming PC game, untitled but based on the Brothers Grimm fairytales. I absolutely loved his interpretation of Alice in Wonderland in 2000. Turning the story into a third person survivor horror game was genius and the art style - so much art style!
It seems the Grimm game is still in early development but judging from the concept artwork, McGee hasn't lost his touch. The image above is from the fairytale "The boy who learned fear". There are a few other pictures after the jump. See if you can figure out which fairytale they're from.
via Gamesutra
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Little Big Planet Concept Art
Aside from Final Fantasy XIII, Little Big Planet is the other Sony exclusive game that has me frothing for more. I blogged about it earlier this year and then we knew you could customize your characters. New screenshots have been released along with concept art depicting the kind of freedom gamers will have in customizing their characters. Off top I can pick out Mario, the Prince from Katamari, Nudeboy, Ninja Gaiden and I think the mustache sportin' fella is the Pringles man.
Destructoid has a great article up on actual gameplay, but here's a video on customization in Little Big Planet.
Posted by tranism at 12:18 PM | Permalink
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May 9, 2007
Drawn To Life
Drawn to Life is one of the interesting new titles coming to the DS this fall. The game was announced by developer 5th Cell last year but details were scarce. All we knew then was the game involved drawing. That was enough to raise some eyebrows and peek interests.
5th Cell has generously decided to let the cat or in this case, sketch out of the bag. In Drawn to Life, players help save a distant village from evil darkness. Pretty standard RPG stuff until it was revealed you draw your hero. In fact, you draw damn near everything in the game.
Using your stylus and an assortment of brushes and colors, you have the ability to design your hero any way you want. You even draw the weapons, items and tools your hero will use, but WAIT! That's not all. You also draw the animals that inhabit this world!
The game will also allow players to exchange their "drawings" via Wi-Fi which will insure the game's success. User created content in a video game could be one of the next big things in gaming. I'm just waiting to see what all the freaks out there create; rabbits with hooves or maybe something even worse. One can only imagine, then again - that's the point of the game isn't it? We'll all find out September 28 when Drawn to Life is released.
via Destructoid
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May 4, 2007
Game Widows Fight Back With Their Own Controllers
A game widow is a woman who has been abandoned by her b/f or husband to video games. It's sad but true - happens all the time. Well one of those women is Jennifer Chowdhury. She got fed up with her gamer widowhood and decided to fight back with the one weapon no man resists - sex.
Her idea is called the Intimate Game Controller. Sensor pads are embedded in the woman's bra and the man's boxers at ahem. . . strategic areas. Re-imagined games like Pong or Snake require both partners to work together and push the right buttons.
"I wanted to create a type of video game play that would center around a couple's intimacy where two people would touch each other in order to play the game."
What if this were Nintendo's revolutionary controller? Can you imagine?!? I think it's a fun idea but what I wanna know is, how many couple actually finish a game because touching often leads to other things.
via WMMNA
Posted by tranism at 5:39 PM | Permalink
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