Nintendo UK has released a massive release date list of Wii and DS titles for Europe today. Eurogamer notes that this list features the first GameCube-to-Wii ports, dubbed “New Play Control!” titles, which include Pikmin and Mario Power Tennis. This new label sees classic GameCube titles revamped to utilize new Wii-specific control schemes. See below for the complete, huge list of upcoming European releases.
Wii Release Dates
Like Hull City in this season’s Premiership, Real Football 2009 (Real Soccer 2009 in the US) is something of a surprise package. And just like Hull, it may look rather rough around the edges but it offers a solid defense plus fast-paced, attacking football with occasional flourishes that allow it hold its own against the big boys.
That it plays such a good game is largely down to a control system that will be instantly recognizable to anyone who’s played FIFA or Pro Evo on another console. Gameloft haven’t done anything radical, they’ve simply transferred a tried and tested button set-up to DS, and familiarity breeds contentment. Read more
Telltale Games’ frighteningly amoral tag team of freelance police are ready to protect and serve (for a reasonable fee) once again. As part of a bevy of announcements, Atari announced this week that it would be bringing the second season of the downloadable, episodic adventure series Sam & Max to stores around the world next year.
Season 2 sees the cuddly yet violent detectives investigate a giant robot attack on their beloved city, perform an exorcism on Santa Claus, and even visit Hell, a heavily bureaucratic limited-liability company. As part of the international release, Sam & Max Season 2 will introduce full French and German translations to the episodes, as well as Spanish and Italian subtitles.
The venerable Atari brand has fallen on hard times recently, although signs are starting to suggest the possibility of a comeback. Sony alumn Phil Harrison recently took the reins of the beleaguered publisher, hoping to help turn business around. The recently-released Alone in the Dark Inferno on PS3 is the first step in a company makeover aimed at restoring the high level of quality we expect from this 30-year-old brand.
The company today announced its lineup of games due this coming spring 2009. There are a variety of console and handheld titles on the menu, suggesting that Atari will retain a broad publishing focus going forward. We are particularly interested to see how The Chronicles of Riddick and Ghostbusters turn out, after Atari snapped these franchises up in the fallout of the Vivendi-Activision merger.
Last month we learned exactly how the connectivity between the Wii and DS would work in the upcoming Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time, but if the latest rumor from Quartermann in the the January issue of EGM is to be believed, Square Enix will not stop there with the new technology. Our favorite gossip master has heard that the RPG giant will be bringing Dragon Quest IX: Protectors of the Starry Sky to the Wii as well as the DS.
While Dragon Quest IX being announced for the DS rather than a home console was a big enough surprise in the first place, fans of the long-running series were even more shocked to discover that this latest entry will sport faster-paced gameplay and a surprising MMO-lite option to play with up to four friends. Assuming this multiplayer mode works similarly to the DS-and-Wii-linking Echoes of Time, it makes sense that Square would bring DQIX to the console as well.
NAMCO BANDAI Games Europe gets working on its combos in preparation for the next installment in the ultimate fighting franchise TEKKEN 6, scheduled for release in Europe through its distribution partnership with Infogrames Entertainment in autumn 2009 for the Xbox360 and PLAYSTATION3.
Developed by NAMCO BANDAI Games Inc., TEKKEN 6 brings the blockbuster fighting series onto multiple platforms for the first time in the history of the TEKKEN franchise. TEKKEN sets the standard for fighting games with its stunning realism and uncompromising quality, and TEKKEN 6 promises to propel the series to greater heights with major gameplay enhancements and the largest character roster ever seen in the TEKKEN series.
Earlier today, Square Enix unveiled their release line-up for 2009 which included 28 titles. Unfortunately, only 7 of these titles are related to the world of Final Fantasy.
It’s great that they are releasing all three Fabula Nova Crystallis titles in the same year, but they have seemingly merged Japanese, North American and European release dates all into one, so it’s difficult to tell if any will see the light of day outside of Japan this year.
There is also no news on Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers and even though Square Enix recently announced that the game hadn’t been cancelled, it seems to be stuck in development hell.
Even though the new “Call of Duty: World At War” is succeeding with consumers and critics by sticking to the successful adrenaline-fueled formula of its franchise predecessor, new downloadable content coming to the game in 2009 will represent a break from 2007’s “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.”
How much of a break from the “Modern Warfare” DLC will it be?
In a phone interview with MTV Multiplayer just before Thanksgiving, “World at War” executive producer Daniel Suarez confirmed that the game’s development team is working on downloadable content that will exceed the single multi-player map-pack offered for “Modern Warfare” earlier this year. “We want to do at least — the hope is — potentially two, maybe three packs out before we’re all said and done.”
UK gamers will finally be able to buy Manhunt 2 for Playstation 2, PSP, and Wii on 31 October.
Originally released in the US over a year ago, the game was refused a certificate by the British Board of Film Certification in June 2007.
Following multiple appeals and changes to the game, it was granted a certificate in March.
Word is spreading throughout the Internets that LucasArts and BioWare are at long last prepared to pull the curtain and speak more about the long-awaited co-project between the two companies.
The event, which many suspect will be the official announcement of the Knights of the Old Republic MMO, begins on October 21, 2008. Invitations were already dispatched and now the package is all but unwrapped.
You know what the best part is? None of you are invited (and neither are we).
