EA DELIVERS A VIP PASS TO STARDOM WITH BOOGIE SUPERSTAR FOR WII
New Sing and Dance Game Lets Girls Perform Today’s Hottest Music to Become a Star LOS ANGELES, Calif., June 26, 2008 – For any girl who has ever dreamed of being a star, the Casual Entertainment Label of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) brings future stars one step closer today with the announcement of Boogie™ SuperStar. Combining the hottest music hits from around the world with the coolest dance moves and total character customization, Boogie SuperStar provides girls the ultimate gaming experience: to sing and dance their way to superstardom! Exclusively for the Wii™, Boogie SuperStar will be available in North America and Europe October 2008, and in Asia in the following months.

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This is an excerpt from the Review of the Nintendo Wii game Escape from Bug Island by 1up

A couple of moments do feel inspired when compared to the rest of the wreckage. Traversing crevice-spanning logs requires you to keep balance by twisting the Wii-mote to remain aligned with a finicky meter. Also, not to spoil the closest thing to a puzzle, but logs again come into play in a mildly clever way (again, that’s all relative to the rest of game). Unfortunately, you’ll probably play these sections, as well as the countless bad ones, far too often thanks to the shoddy save system (you can save only after completing a level or at the sparse save lamps). Likewise, a several-seconds load between the pause screen and inventory and equipment access is just long enough to make the simple act of switching to a gun or eating a health-replenishing mushroom a chore.

Bug Island fails and frustrates so thoroughly throughout its 10-plus-hour playtime that its greatest feat may be fooling someone into finishing it who isn’t paid to do so. It’s easily the Wii’s worst showing yet.

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This is the EA Playground press release

CHERTSEY, UK. – June 18, 2007 – Rain or shine, the fun doesn’t stop! Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) announced today that EA Playground™ – an all-new intellectual property in development at EA Canada – is now in development for the Wii™ and Nintendo DS™. Scheduled for release in the autumn, EA Playground captures the exuberance and nostalgia of your neighborhood playground, turning your gaming space into an arena of interactive fun with immersive activities designed for kids, and the kid inside all of us.

“Young, old, male or female — EA Playground has something for everyone,” said Executive producer Dave McCarthy. “EA Playground transports you to your fantasy playground, packed with interesting characters, over-the top gameplay, and a ton of collectables. Kids can bring the excitement of the playground home, and parents or even grandparents can re-experience their childhood thrills.”

EA Playground features games that are easy to pick-up-and-play by fully capitalizing on the unique control mechanics of both the Wii and the Nintendo DS. Swing the Wii remote to excel in tetherball, blow into the Nintendo DS mic to fire spitballs or battle your friends and family in dodgeball. Every game brings its own twist to the controls for the ultimate, all-ages, party game.

In EA Playground, you don’t always have to be playing with your friends and family in order to have fun. Explore the world on your own as you enter different locations, unlocking new activities, making wacky in-game friends and collecting rewards and stickers to upgrade your abilities along the way.

EA Playground joins a portfolio of blockbuster entertainment in development in EA’s three Canadian Studios, including new IP Skate from EA Black Box, and Army of Two™ and Boogie™ from EA Montreal.

EA Canada has built a worldwide reputation for quality and innovation in global blockbusters such as FIFA Soccer, NHL®, NBA LIVE and EA SPORTS Fight Night. EA Canada also flourishes as EA’s leading development studio for the Wii, Nintendo DS, and PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system. In 2006, EA Canada also developed Medal of Honor Heroes™ (PSP), The Sims™ 2 Pets (PSP), POGO™ Island (Nintendo DS), Madden NFL 07 (Wii) and more.

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Space Station Tycoon Press Release:

Description:
Follow the adventures of Shawn and Tam on an intergalactic journey through Pirate infested space, meteor fields, supernovas, and countless dangers as they seek out fame and fortune in the high-stakes world of Space Station management.

Station Tycoon is a fast paced, simulation game focusing on character interaction and humor, light puzzle solving, and customization in a free form, non-linear world. Meet exciting characters, buy new stations to customize, and try to keep an insane collection of clientele satisfied.

Features:
• Tons of customization: Continually expand your empire with an increasing number of islands and customize each one to attract business. Add Galactic Taverns and overflowing treasure chests to befriend the unruly Space Pirates. Looking for a livelier crowd? Build luaus and water parks to attract the fun-loving Party Pigs!

Full press release, screens, and boxart after the jump

• Awesome cast of characters: Play as entrepreneur Shawn, with the help of his monkey sidekick Tam, and keep a crazy cast of quirky characters happy so they will gladly spend their money! Make the right friends and you will run your competition into the ground. But, it’s not so easy when your competition seems to have ties to Space Pirates, Ninjas and mysterious voodoo-practicing Chickens!
• Physics-based object interaction: Create gravity points with your Wii controller and interact with objects in the environment. Catch asteroids to keep them from smashing your space station, bounce rowdy ships, retrieve tips from visitors and even lob cannonballs at those troublesome pirates that keep attacking!
• Goal-based gameplay: Manage stations all over the galaxy and take advantage of the ebb and flow of the economy to maximize your income. Meet the objectives of each level in order to continue to expand your empire and become the ultimate Space Station Tycoon!
• Multi-player Party Mode, Co-op play and more!

Game Summary:

Publisher: NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc.
Developer: Wahoo Studios
Release Date: Summer 2007
Platform: Wii
Genre: Simulation/Adventure
Player: 1 – 2 Players
ESRB Rating: RP

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This is an excerpt from the Review of the Nintendo Wii game Heatseeker by Cubed3

The game itself revolves round a fictional world conflict, mainly set in the Pacific. As such, the majority of the game sees you cruising over oceans and islands, allowing the developers plenty of empty space in which to throw wave upon wave of enemy fighters at you. This they do, and the dogfights, in general, are very well executed and excellent fun. There’s a plethora of planes to choose from, and each one handles slightly differently and can be equipped with different weapons, including air to air missiles and ground attack weapons. All of these weapons are used at some point during most missions, and it feels incredibly involving to simultaneously have to balance weapon selection, altitude, angle of attack, and gun fire all at once. Despite the arcade nature of the game, it’s bloody hard.

Full Review  

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The three new classic games go live at 9 a.m. Pacific time. Nintendo adds new games to the channel every Monday. Wii owners with a high-speed Internet connection can redeem Wii Points™ to download the games. Wii Points can be purchased in the Wii Shop Channel or at retail outlets. This week’s new games are:

Donkey Kong Country 2™: Diddy’s Kong Quest™ (SNES®, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points): In the sequel to the immensely popular Donkey Kong Country™, Diddy Kong® gets the spotlight, along with his girlfriend, Dixie Kong™ - a great little monkey with a dangerous ponytail. The action starts on the wreck of King K. Rool’s Gangplank Galleon that has apparently broken up on a reef offshore from the Kremlings’ Island. Diddy and his friends will have to work together to rescue Donkey Kong®, exploring all the hidden areas of the Kremlings’ island: a spooky haunted forest, treacherous swamps, a giant beehive oozing with sticky honey and lava-filled caves, just to name a few.

Streets of Rage™ 2 (Sega Genesis, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points): To celebrate their defeat of the Syndicate exactly one year before, Blaze, Adam and Axel met for drinks. The next morning, Axel received a frantic phone call from Eddie “Skate” Hunter, Adam’s younger brother, whom he was living with on the edge of the city. Blaze and Axel found Adam and Skate’s house wrecked, and a picture showing Adam chained up at the feet of Mr. X. The city then once again returned to its nightmarish state as criminals ran rampant. Unable to contact their old friend in artillery, Axel and Blaze team up with Skate and Max Thunder to free the city and rescue Adam from the Syndicate. It is up to you to take down Mr. X once and for all.

Blazing Lazers (TurboGrafx16, 1 player, 600 Wii Points): Blazing Lazers is a vertical-scrolling shooter that was praised for surpassing the limitations of the hardware of its time. Players control the extraordinary firepower of their Gunhed Star Fighter to take on the Dark Squadron that has begun its invasion of Earth. Collect power-ups to increase your ship’s battle strength so it can cut through enemies and defeat the bosses in all nine areas. Of course, as part of the “Soldier” series, the game contains a good combination of fast-paced speed with catchy, drum-propelled background music, coupled with the Field Thunder that can be used to destroy enemies in one fell swoop for the ultimate sense of satisfaction. With its fine-tuned difficulty levels, Blazing Lazers is a shooting game that anyone can enjoy.

This are the NGamer review scores:

Super Paper Mario (Wii) - 88%
Mario Strikers Charged Football (Wii) - 78%
Eledees (Wii) - 82%
Cooking Mama (Wii) - 65%
Spider-Man 3 (Wii) - 50%
Mortal Kombat Armageddon (Wii) - 79%
Fishing Master (Wii - Japan) - 72%
Dynasty Warriors DS (DS - Japan) - 70%
Panel De Pon (DS - Japan) - 91%
Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree (Wii - Japan) - 59%
The Dog Island (Wii - Japan) - 64%
Furu Furu Park (Wii - Japan) - 50%
Tamiya Box Art (DS - Japan) - 28%
One Piece Unlimited Adventure (Wii - Japan) - 69%
Pokémon Diamond and Pearl (DS - US) - 81%
Wario: MAster of Disguise (DS) - 68%
Final Fantasy III (DS) - 81%
Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings (DS - Japan) - 85%
Atama No Kaiten No: Rubik’s Cube & Chou Yuumei (DS - Japan) - 11%
Glory Days 2: Brotherhood of Men (DS) - 55%
Pony Friends (DS) - 70%
My Happy Manners (DS - Japan) - ??%
M&M’s Break ‘Em (DS) - 65%
Pikupiku (DS - Japan) - 84%
Spider-Man 3 (DS) - 76%
Chokoken No Sweets Department (DS - Japan) - 39%
Tingle Baloon Fight (DS - Japan) - 70%
Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales (DS) - 66%
Hana Deka Animal Paradise (DS - Japan) - 51%

This is an excerpt from the Preview of the Nintendo Wii game Treasure Island Z by Gamedaily

The second level features different Aztec-like statues, a couple of levers and boulders. In this one, Zack must stack three statue heads in a particular order, picking them up and placing them on top of each other with the Wii remote. One piece needed to be flipped over, forcing the player to actually twist the remote around to set it up correctly. From there, a crank falls to the ground. Zack can pick this up and heads over to a nearby lever box, making sure that the correctly shaped piece goes in. (If not, no worries – players simply flip it around with a simple hand jerk until the right piece comes into view.) Following that, players perform a circular motion with the remote to activate the lever, lowering the statues into the right position and proceeding after the treasure. One wrong move, however, and Zack gets crushed by the boulder.

Full Preview

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This is an excerpt from the Review of the Nintendo Wii game Wing Island by Wired

Towards the end of the game there’s a level where you fly frantically around a city picking up time bombs and dropping them in the ocean. It’s exciting, and even as it frustrates you it draws you back in to try again. If the entire game was that interesting, Hudson would have a great game on their hands. As it is, they’ve got a short but promising tech demo.

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This is an excerpt from the Review of the Nintendo Wii game Wing Island by GameDaily

Back at E3 2006, Nintendo unveiled a remarkable-looking flight demo that used its Wii remote quite ingeniously, allowing players to twist and turn their plane with ease through an open sky. People have since asked if such the game would come to the Wii. Konami answered them with Hudson Soft’s new flight simulation game Wing Island. Unfortunately, it never gets off the ground.

Full Review 

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