via IGN


Publisher Eidos Interactive announced Wednesday that it has teamed with developer Backbone Entertainment to releasee Death Jr.: Root of Evil for Wii this spring. The game will be based on the previously released PSP effort, but will boast both improved graphics and all-new controls tailored for the Wii remote.

"Eidos is proud to bring the console debut of the Death Jr. series to Wii, with a new simple control scheme, intuitive aiming system, and polished graphics that enhance the game's action platform experience," said Robert A. Lindsey, executive vice president of sales and marketing, Eidos. "Death Jr.'s vibrant stylized art and quirky intelligent characters, combined with the new split-screen cooperative mode, makes Death Jr.: Root of Evil appealing to a wide-reaching audience that has embraced Wii."

In Root of Evil, players become the Grim Reaper's son and his school sweetheart Pandora as they embark on a quest to save Jr.'s kidnapped father. The title comes to life with colorful, stylized visuals and all-new Wii controls. Using the Wii remote and nunchuk, gamers can perform dual-weapon attacks of both the melee and projectile variety, and dispose of some 45 different enemies. Using the Wii remote, gamers can accurately target baddies, but the device is also used intuitively to control the camera. The game will feature 19 levels and a two-player cooperative mode.


Screenshots ...

With Killer 7 and No More Heroes - both bonkers and exceptionally violent games - under his belt, Grasshopper CEO Suda 51 has earned a name for cooking up games for an adults-only crowd.

Speaking to Nintendo Official Magazine UK, he revealed his desire to give Mario the Suda-treatment in a "Mario game for adults".

When asked by NOM if he'd ever consider making a game suitable for a younger audience, he replied: "I want to make a Super Mario game for adults.

"Maybe Mario could wear an Italian suit and have a machine gun," he hypothesised, adding, "But Nintendo probably wouldn't like that idea."

Yeah, probably not. But if you want to play gory Mario games there are plenty of (rubbish) Flash games knocking around the internet. Go on, go stamp a Goomba's face in.

You can read the full interview with Suda 51, as well as a review of the Wii version of Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 in issue 27 of Official Nintendo Magazine, on UK shelves from Friday, February 15. ...

via Computer and Video Games


If you own a diet PS3 (the 40GB version incapable of playing PS2 games) - your backwards-compatibility shortfalls could be remedied with downloadable PS2 games on PSN in future.

That was the hint dropped by Sony's PSN director Eric Lempel, who said the technology exists to make PS2 downloads possible.

"We haven't talked about that yet, but there are possibilities through technology and software emulation to make that possible," he told EGM magazine (via Kotaku).

Most PS2 games are below the 4GB mark so it's perfectly feasible.

PAL 60GB PS3s use software emulation to play PS2 games. If this feature was removed - presumably to cut production costs (which puzzled us to start with) - why would reinstating the software via downloads be any better?

This insinuates that the 40GB hardware is still capable of playing PS2 games. So surely Sony could just make the emulation software available as a cheap purchase (like a standalone patch), to allow 40GB owners the choice of paying to BC-up their console and play PS2 discs? ...

via Eurogamer


Having upset the Church of England with its depiction of Manchester Cathedral in Resistance: Fall of Man, Insomniac Games has said that Resistance 2 will see it getting right back on the cross [surely "horse" - Ed].

"We've actually made it a big focus to include more churches and now synagogues and mosques in Resistance 2," Price told our sister site GamesIndustry.biz in an interview.

We suspect he may have been joking. According to gi.biz, "Price later remarked that he is an Episcopalian and considers the Church of England the 'mother ship'." Just don't say anything about Sharia Law, Ted. It will end in tears.

Resistance: Fall of Man was a PS3 first-person shooter about fighting monsters in places like London and Manchester. The sequel follows on from the first game [let's have more of this kind of piercing insight - Ed], and also aims to build on its solid 40-player online modes with support for up to 60.

It's due out in autumn 2008. ...

via IGN


Firebrand Games, hot off its impressive and deep Race Driver: Create and Race for the Nintendo DS, is now working with Codemasters on the follow-up to last year's game: GRID.

GRID focuses on street racing, and the Nintendo DS version will enable players to zoom through popular locations such as Spa and the Nurburgring in Europe, as well as locations that cut through San Francisco, Washington D.C., and Japan.

The game will feature an evolution of the track creator that premiered in Race Driver: Create and Race, with the added ability to create your own textures for trackside billboards. The creator will feature more than sixty different track parts which opens up the ability to get incredibly detailed in track creation.

It will also feature the same deep multiplayer focus as Race Driver: Create and Race, both local and online over the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service. Players will be able to post their created tracks for other racers to download to their cartridge.

GRID for the Nintendo DS is set to be completed in the same window as the console versions, this summer.


Screenshots ...

via Computer and Video Games


The imminent threat of piracy is growing increasingly close for PS3, as hackers find a way to run retail game code from hard drives.

Piracy has been rife on PSP since hackers found a way of running game UMD data from a memory stick without the need to physically modify the PSP itself.

Now the same threat looms over PS3, hackers have found a way to run game code from internal and external USB hard drives.

Their discovery is only on for Test PS3 consoles (a developer version of the console), so they've not cracked retail machines just yet, but this will apparently allow them to study how game data is handled, which could lead to further developments.

Sony will, meanwhile, no doubt be working on locking down PS3 with firmware updates. Plus, 25GB game downloads will no doubt act as a deterrent to pirates. ...

via Eurogamer


Sony has told Eurogamer it's aiming for a late March release for Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, with an exact date and price are still to be confirmed

The news comes on the heels of fresh speculation from a "release schedule" that apparently listed the game as coming out on 28th March, priced at GBP 24.99.

Sony has previously said GT5 Prologue will be out in the US on 17th April. However European plans are still being worked out.

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue is a fully-fleshed out taster of what to expect when Gran Turismo 5 finally makes its way into shops.

In the garage are 60 gorgeously realised cars you can race around tracks from all over the world, taking on up to 15 of your friends. Quite a lot of friends that, might need to use strangers. ...

via Eurogamer


Factor 5 boss Julian Eggebrecht has said he was surprised by the negative reaction to Lair from the hardcore audience.

However, he realises the control system turned a lot of you away, despite - he feels - there being a really good game underneath it all.


But it seems the Rogue Squadron developer is not finished with the dragon fighting game just yet, as Eggebrecht suggested he was working on a way to win back the hearts of the PS3 crowd.


Keep your eyes out for a patch or perhaps an expansion in the near future, then.

Lair is an action game where you fly around on a dragon and kill other dragons and fly around some more and kill more dragons. Sounds tedious, and it was. ...

via Computer and Video Games


It was inevitable really, but in a recent interview discussing Wii Fit, Shigeru Miyamoto has hinted that the future of Wii Sports has at least already been decided upon by Nintendo.

Speaking about jogging in Wii Fit, Miyamoto said: "As we didn't know if there was going to be a Wii Sports 2 at the time or not, I gave the director a call and said to him, 'This idea's really good, and since there's no official word on Wii Sports 2, could we have it for Wii Fit?'"

There's no official word on Wii Sports 2, but considering this comment was sparked from a question about jogging, it's a fair bet we're going to see an all-new roster of sports instead of merely updates to the original.

Also within the interview, Miyamoto discussed the possibility of a 1080 Snowboarding title using the Wii Balance board, and company president Satoru Iwata said he hoped simpler software that uses the board will come via WiiWare. ...