When looking at the overall amount of content available at today's show, Cars comes up as a very strange abnormality. On one hand, the game offered only one main level to play, and nearly no overall indication of furthering Wii implementation from what brief areas we saw. On the other hand, as surprising as it may be, it was the most solid of conversions, and actually the most fun and natural Wii experiences at the show. Is this an indication that simple is good on the Nintendo system? Maybe. But more than that, it's an indication that one solid design can really set apart mediocre and above-average overall feel to a Wii game, something that makes the system have a constant "Put up or shut up" aura around it. Oddly enough, Cars delivers even in one small demo level, as it's simply a solid control conversion.


Yeah yeah... he's Lightning McQueen.

We have a distinct feeling that the racing genre is going to be seriously overplayed (along with the first-person shooter) on the Wii hardware. It's just so simple to take a motion sensing controller, turn it on its side, and make it a racing wheel. Tony Hawk is doing it, Excite Truck is doing it, Sonic is actually doing it (though it isn't a racing game, but a tilt-based arcade platformer), Need For Speed will most likely do it, and now Cars is doing it. Hell, even WarioWare, Barnyard, and SpongeBob have it included as a mini-game already.

Though it may already seem like a bit of overkill, it does at least ensure Wii gamers that we'll be getting a few solid racers by the end of the system's life, and from the looks of it Cars may be a perfect one for younger Nintendo fans. The controls for the game is simple: Tilt to turn, Button 1 for boost, Button 2 for accelerate, B for brake (located in the trigger position), D-pad left for drifting, D-pad right for tilting the car, and both up and down for changing the view. In reality though, that's all it really takes, as the tilt control already feels very on par with an analog stick, and the use of drifting and boost makes the game feel as good as the Cube version in this initial state, with the possibility of more fine-tuning before launch.

In fact, aside from the main control, there really isn't much more to say about the game. Cars uses the same approach as Excite Truck, and even maps the jump ability to a quick flip up on the controller to catch air. It's a simple conversion from the original game, but it's also intuitive. From a visual standpoint, the game still looked exactly like a Cube game, and we're expecting it to receive a graphical bump before launch. There should be no problem adding Wii-mote to the game, so there's plenty of time to ramp up on the visuals. No word has been given yet as to whether or not the game will include 480p and widescreen support, but it's obviously a goal that THQ is going for, and would be very helpful. We expect to see a bit more tuning for the finer points of steering (perhaps increasing the maximum turn ability just a tad), but for an initial playthrough we can happily report that the game felt smooth, controlled well, and most importantly, was fun.

Screen Via Comments ...

Thanks to a truly dedicated poster over at the Nintendo forums, we get some new information from Australian game magazine Hyper on how Red Steel is progressing as it nears Wii launch time. Most notable of the facts revealed were how things have changed since a so-so E3 debut.

The Wii controls are changing a lot especially since the E3 version ... The system needs a little time to recognize your move (This I'm worried about...) but at the end this is your move that is performed on screen. Besides, today on the current version, we have some movement being mapped and some not. Some will stay mapped at the end so that with an accessible move you can unleash and impressive action you would never be able to perform in real life.

Also, the representative admits that the Red Steel team is pushing an improved Unreal engine to "its limits."

Red Steel is running on the improved version Unreal engine for the Wii system. A large portion of our team has already worked with the Unreal engine. They are already well aware of its strengths and weaknesses. We have pushed the engine to its limits to offer a rich, colored and different setting to the player.

Screen Via Comments ...

A launch line-up of 29 games is planned for the PlayStation 3 release this November including Resident Evil 5, Vision Gran Turismo and Assassin's Creed, according to US online retailer Best Buy.

The 29 games are due to come out around the Sony console's 17 November launch date and would make for a fantastic line-up. The full list is as follows.

Army of Two (EA)
Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft)
Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway (Ubisoft)
Call of Duty 3 (Activision)
Devil May Cry 4 (Capcom)
Fight Night: Round 3 (EA)
Final Fantasy versus XIII (Square Enix)
Full Auto 2: Battlelines (Sega)
Heavenly Sword (Sony)
Hot Shots Golf 5 (Sony)
Indiana Jones (LucasArts)
Killzone 2 (Sony)
Madden NFL 07 (EA)
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (Activision)
Medal of Honor: Airborne (EA)
Monster Kingdom (Sony)
Motorstorm (Sony)
Rainbow Six Vegas (Ubisoft)
Resident Evil 5 (Capcom)
Scarface: The World is Yours (Vivendi)
Sonic the Hedgehog (Sega)
Splinter Cell Double Agent (Ubisoft)
Stranglehold (Midway)
Tekken 6 (Sony)
Tony Hawk's Project 8 (Activision)
Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom (Sony)
Virtua Fighter 5 (Sega)
Vision Gran Turismo (Sony)
Warhawk (Sony)

Now before anyone gets carried away, there are some glaring errors in Best Buy's list such as a 2006 release for Resident Evil 5, Tekken 6, Stranglehold, Indiana Jones and Killzone 2, as well as some that might have later releases such as Army of Two. But what we can say is that the launch line-up is in there, somewhere. Probably ...

The desert may not seem like the ideal place to make a major game announcement, but Sierra Entertainment did anyway. Entertaining journalists from various gaming media outlets, the Vivendi Games subsidiary held an event at the Parker Hotel in the triple-digit heat of the Palm Springs desert, and used the occasion to announce its first PlayStation 3 game.

F.E.A.R., the popular shooter from Monolith Productions (Condemned: Criminal Originals), is currently in development for Sony's next-gen console. This will be the third platform the series has spread to, following a previously announced Xbox 360 version, due in November, and the PC version, which was named Best Shooter of 2005 by GameSpot.

The game is being ported to the PS3 by Day 1 Studios, which is also working on the Xbox 360 version. What's more, would-be PS3 owners won't have to wait for F.E.A.R.--the game will be one of the system's launch titles when it debuts in the US on November 17.

In addition to the single- and multiplayer portions of the game, F.E.A.R. for the PS3 will also include exclusive content--though Sierra reps were not divulging any details.

The timing of the announcement may seem a bit unusual for fans of the series, as earlier this year the now Warner Bros. Interactive-owned-Monolith announced that a sequel to F.E.A.R. is already in the works for "multiple next-gen consoles," which almost certainly includes the PS3. The sequel will not be named F.E.A.R., however, since Vivendi owns the rights to the name.

Regardless of what the sequel is named, there will still be plenty of F.E.A.R. to go around this year. In addition to the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game, Sierra is releasing a PC expansion pack, F.E.A.R. Extraction Point. Today it also released F.E.A.R. Combat, the multiplayer portion of the PC game, for free download.

F.E.A.R. for the PS3 has not yet been rated or priced, but the Xbox 360 version will be $59.99 and is rated M for Mature. ...

News via Gamespot

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News Via Gamesindustry


With the internet getting more and more powerful and sites like DCEMU providing the most uptodate news daily its not hard to see why Magazine sales worldwide are down. ...

1up is reporting that the Wii version of Nintendo's Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess will require the use of the Wiimote. The GameCube controller for the Wii will not be usable for the Wii version of the game, despite the fact that the game will also be coming out on the Cube. This has provoked discussion that the Wii version of the game may include extra content or gameplay elements, which will make it unplayable with the GameCube controller. From the article:
"Many had hoped Nintendo would allow for dual Wii and GameCube support ala a number of upcoming Wii releases, but Nintendo appears confident enough in its design that hardened fans will have to pick up the GameCube release if they're that hardcore. You still have time to decide which one sways you, as both versions will be launched simultaneously during Wii's launch date this fall." ...

kode54 has released a new build of the GBA Emulator for Windows, heres whats new:


Download and Give Feedback Via Comment ...

kode54 has released a new build of the GBA Emulator for Windows, heres whats new:


Download and Give Feedback Via Comment ...