This week’s additions to the Virtual Console lineup are Harvest Moon, originally on the Super NES, and Lords of Thunder, yet another TG16 game that I’ve never played.
Both titles will be available at 9 a.m. Pacific time this morning for 800 points. Hit the jump for the full description of this week’s titles. READ MORE
Nintendo just dropped me a press release with details of a special launch party for the upcoming DS title Professor Layton and the Curious Village. The party is this Sunday, Feb. 10th, from 1-3pm at the Nintendo World Store in NYC.
In addition to celebrating the release of this new title, Nintendo is also celebrating the release of the new Cobalt/Black DS, the seventh color of the best selling handheld system ever. Gamers will also be able to compete in puzzle challenges for “cool” prizes. READ MORE
Microsoft just announced that 3 new titles would be headed to the Xbox Originals portion of the Marketplace. These new titles include Ninja Gaiden Black, Sid Meier’s Pirates!, and BLACK.
All 3 titles will be available on Feb. 11th for 1200 MS Points. Hit the jump for the full release and details on these new titles. READ MORE
Major Nelson has confirmed that the Xbox 360’s add on HD DVD Player has dropped from $179.99 to $129.99 effective immediately. The new pricing is only good in the following regions: United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Keep in mind that the purchase will net you 5 free HD DVD movies by mail. I have to admit that I am still waiting for my movies and I purchased my player back in November.
The Wii is by and large still a very gimmicky machine to me. That said, I think we can all agree that the Wii’s gimmick-ocity (I’ve resorted to inventing words in this post) is in fact the reason the demand has outstripped supply for nearly 14 months in a row.
Gimmicky or not, I think some developers are falling into the trap of ruining very good concepts with very poor execution. Let’s take for example, the newest title in KOEI’s Warriors Franchise, Samurai Warriors Katana. As a big fan of the franchise, I couldn’t wait to see what Omega Force had done with the wii-mote and what kind of first person hack and slash adventure they had put together.
After sinking well over an hour into it this evening, I am just about ready to throw in the towel. The combat is maddeningly linear and the action is incredibly slow. Both of these things are the opposite of what Warriors titles are known for. Furthermore, the accuracy of pulling off anything more than a standard attack is bad enough that it’s barely worth attempting.
I’ll have a full write up for you on Samurai Warriors Katana very soon, but for now things are looking mighty grim.
