Videogames Lead to Behavioral Addiction Mike Tyson’s Paparazzi Punch-Out!! Video GameStop Buys Majority Stake in Video Game Digital Distributor Jolt Miyamoto: 3D Isn’t Everything Are You A Video Game Junkie With Mad Writing Skills? Write For Ripten NFL Super Bowl Champion Steelers Connect with Soldiers in Iraq for Guitar Hero Competition

Mario and Sonic at the Winter Olympic Games, like Mario and Sonic and the Olympic Games before it, combines the plethora of sports associated with the events with the somewhat madcap world of Nintendo and SEGA mascots. This provides a welcome relief from the charmless sports games that are often released around these major sporting events; the vibrant and less-than-serious world of Mario and Sonic certainly adds something to the sports game formula, but does it work as a game in its own right?
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Nintendo have announced via the above children’s television show video that a brand new side-scrolling Excitebike game will be coming to WiiWare. As you can see, it’s pretty much an updated version of the original- it also includes a track editor and even WiFi play. I’m kind of surprised at my reaction to this, as I’m usually quite cynical about these things- I think it looks pretty cool.

I loved Excitebike when I was younger. I don’t know why; perhaps it was just that it had a good sense of speed and timing the jumps and angles could be quite entertaining. It doesn’t really capture my attention the way it did then any more, but this new one looks decent. Maybe it was just that the presenters reverted me to a younger state of mind with their patronising banter.

Via Gamezine.

Is that headline a bit critical of Band Hero? No. Is that headline very critical of Band Hero? Absolutely.

The demo for Band Hero hit the Xbox Live Marketplace a few hours ago, and though it’s getting rather mixed impressions, through and through, Band Hero is a family game, with family songs, targeted at a family market. Of course, with artists such as Taylor Swift, Maroon 5, and Jesse McCartney heading up the set list, you didn’t need me to tell you that.

But that’s not to say the setlist is a stinker; In fact, I really like it. Obvious mainstream appeal aside, songs like “Black Horse And Cherry Tree”, “Let’s Dance”, and “Kung-Fu Fighting” make me want to at least give the game a try, when it comes out Nov. 3rd. If this seems like your type of thing, or you’re just looking to quench your music game, button-mashing thirst, hit up XBLM and download the 3-song demo now.

Capcom’s Wii-exclusive brawler, Spyborgs, has received a new and earlier release date of September 22 for North America. The action-packed brawler will retail at $39.99, a whole 10 bucks cheaper than most new titles released on the Wii. To celebrate the early release date, Capcom has released a few new screenshots as well as the first Spyborgs webisode entitled “Island of Fate”, which you can check out after the break.

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The first time I saw and got my hands on Wii Sports Resort was at last year’s E3. I had a chance to actually play the Frisbee mini-game and it immediately put a smile on my face. I thought it was a great idea for Nintendo to come out with a sequel to Wii Sports, but damn, I didn’t think it would take them a year to get it to us. Well, after a long wait and in the middle of a summer video game drought, Wii Sports Resort has finally arrived and it sure was worth the wait.
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Speaking about the Wii Remote recently, Miyamoto called it a “continuous evolution” and mentioned technological advancements and videogaming. Read more…

According to the June NPD numbers, Sega’s hyped Wii-exclusive FPS, The Conduit, only sold a less than stellar 72,000 copies between its June 23 launch and the NPD cutoff date of July 4. Although it still hasn’t been out for a full month, these numbers still have to be a dissapointment to Sega who have seen their other adult-themed Wii-exclusives, MadWorld and House of the Dead: Overkill, sell very poorly.

So what is it about the Wii and so called hardcore games? I think the Wii needs these kinds of games, but is just seems as if the Wii owners don’t want them. I wonder how well The Conduit would have done if it were released for the 360 and PS3? Probably much better, but who knows.

Source: Edge

While Americans have been clamoring for Club Nintendo’s prizes to come to our fair country for a while now, only now has Nintendo followed through and given us some prizes for our years of Nintendo fanship. And boy was it worth the wait. If you have enough “Nintendo Coins” to be considered a gold membership (6 games registered, 300 coins), you’ll be able to download a snazzy Club Nintendo 2010 calendar. However, if you’re determined enough to be a Platinum member (12 games registered, 600 coins), then you’ll be elligible to choose between two prizes- an authentic repica Mario hat, which you can see after the jump, or a WiiWare download for Doc Louis’s Punch-Out!!

While I’d be plenty happy with the cool hat, the WiiWare version of Doc Louis’s Punch-Out!! seems way more interesting. A one-on-one WiiWare version of Punch-Out!! that only features Doc Louis sounds great, especially since you don’t have to own Punch-Out!! for the Wii to play it. I’ve always wanted to fight that guy. He keeps offering me some of his chocolate bar, but I never get to taste hte sweet chocolately goodness. Well now it’s just you & me in the ring, Doc. Winner takes all- provided I get enough Nintendo coins.

That chocolate bar is mine.

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In an interview with Kombo, PopCap Games’ PR director Garth Chouteau has noted that the highly acclaimed Plants vs. Zombies will follow its cousin Peggle onto other platforms: XBLA, PSN- even the DS and iPhone. Chouteau is quoted by Kombo on the matter:

…Peggle for XBLA is a good example of a game that we took that was popular on the PC and we spent probably twice as long as anyone else would have figuring how to make that game really good for Xbox and Xbox Live Arcade, and I think you will see that with Plants Vs. Zombies–I don’t know the exact order in which that game will make its way onto other platforms, but it’s certainly been successful enough, quickly enough, that we’re looking at other platforms and deciding where we’ll take that game next…

Since PvZ was such a success, both commercially and critically, it can only be good news that it can come to a bigger audience. I only hope that they make a DS version as good as Peggle DS.

Check out this new trailer for Game Arts’ Super Smash Bros.-style fighter Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash Up featuring Raphael and Casey Jones taking on a Foot Ninja and an Utrominater, whatever the hell that is.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash Up is scheduled for a fall release on the Wii, as part of the TMNT’s 25th anniversary, along with a remake of the side-scrolling arcade title TMNT: Turtles in Time, which will hit Xbox Live on July 22 and later this summer on the Playstation Network.

Contrary to my usual anti-Activision diatribes, I’ve been pretty positive about Guitar Hero 5 ever since the setlist was announced in May. As a huge fan of Vampire Weeekend, Stevie Wonder, and Bob Dylan, I can’t complain about the partial setlist, but I can complain about this- Activision sent out the Guitar Hero 5 box art today, and it’s, well, bad.

You can make your own judgment on the box art after the jump, but I think it’s too plain. Usually, I like minimalism, but when the minimalism is akin to Googling “trunk” and plastering your logo on the picture you find, you should probably just go with the usual box art shenanigans. Plus, what’s with all the text?

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According to the Google translation of a Belgian gaming website 9 Lives, the king of pop (should that be capitalized?) has a new game coming out in the near future. Read more…

Why have I never played Cave Story? Why, internet community? I promise I will now. Cave Story will be released on WiiWare “soon.”

We were pleasantly surprised this year at E3 when Nintendo announce New Super Mario Bros for the Wii, but now we have the trailer for the game as well. And it looks really good, too. The graphics aren’t exactly Uncanny Valley quality, but I mean, it’s the Wii. I’ll post the videos for Metroid: Other M and Super Mario Galaxy 2 in a couple of minutes as well. Get excited!

That’s a real headline, folks. I haven’t even gotten to the joke yet.

I love England. I mean, I was born there, and you’ve got to love a place that places so much importance in a figurehead that doesn’t really have control over how the government operates. (I forget- are we talking Britain or America here?) And THQ loves England too. So much that they’ve decided to give the Queen of England her own Wii- plated in solid gold.

Of course the Queen’s no stranger to gifts. About a month ago, Obama gave her an iPod. But giving the queen a Wii, nevertheless one plated in gold, and a set of THQ-branded Big Family Games is kind of weird. I don’t imagine she’ll be playing it very often, but if she ever does, I’m sure we’ll be hearing about her reaching PRO status in Wii Tennis on BBC News.

There’s the joke. I can’t even upstage the idea of presenting the Queen of England with a golden Wii and a copy of your own game. It’s like real-life advertising. Kudos, THQ.

Source: Switched

That’s right Wii gamers! The three Metroid Prime games that were originally released for the GameCube, are now getting the “Wii-treatment” complete with motion sensing controls. Read more…

At first glance, the above trailer looks like nothing more than a game that requires you to tap on a box faster than your friend. At second glance, it looks exactly the same, but around the third view, Let’s Tap starts to look a little intriguing. But don’t watch it four times- you’ll lose all interest.

Let’s Tap for the Wii is Sega’s newest entry into the Games That Will Get Boring Really Fast genre, and boy will it excel in that. With the world’s most rudimentary control scheme, and only 5 different games, this seems more like a WiiWare title than a full-fledged $50 Wii game. Plus, if they plan to charge me for that little white box, there will be hell to pay.

It’s not like the trailer’s very exciting either- the deadpan expressions on everyone’s faces don’t help to sell me on the game as much as it does creep me out. I plan to reserve full judgement until the game is released on June 16th though- every game deserves a chance. Hit the jump for the box art Sega sent out too. Read more…

LEGO Rock Band has been officially announced today, after plenty of internet rumours and speculation. The game will ship in “Holiday 2009″ for PS3, Xbox 360, Wii and DS. Harmonix and TT Games will be working together for all versions of the game, and Rock Band Unplugged developer Backbone Entertainment will join in the fun for the DS version. Hit the jump for a little more info and a few confirmed tracks (The Final Countdown is in there).
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As I’m sure you audiophiles know, the annual Coachella music festival is going on right now, with both world famous and seldom-known acts performing on the grand Coachella stage. Today, Paul McCartney played a pretty lengthy set of songs, with “Got To Get You Into My Life” in the middle of it. McCartney’s fans were surprised, though- during “Got To Get You Into My Life”, the backdrop had videos of The Beatles: Rock Band playing over it.

As if hearing Paul McCartney’s dulcet tones at Coachella wasn’t enough, this is actually the first time any footage of The Beatles: Rock Band has ever been shown. Although you couldn’t see any note charts, the footage, which seemed to be of the Beatles in the Rock Band background styling. It’s definitely enough to get the most diehard of Rock Band and Beatles’s fans blood pumping, but be forewarned that the game still has that $250 price tag. Is it worth it?

Hit the jump for the video, though it’s not of the greatest quality, since it’s was filmed by a fan in the crowd.

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Atari has already made it pretty clear that the PS3/Xbox 360 and Wii versions of Ghostbusters: The Video Game are different stylistically, and this new trailer makes it absolutely clear. That’s not to say that the Wii version is uglier, because I personally like the style. Even Dan Akroyd said he prefers it to the other version:

Honestly, I love the way we look in the Wii platform, because it resembles the animation that was done in “The Incredibles.” Anybody who looks like an Incredible is automatically a superhero. And I was so pleased that they shaved off at least 60 pounds from my current bulk. The boys look good. We resemble the actors who were in the first movie.

I can’t wait to play this game when it hits retail June 16th, though I’ll still have to see some footage of the Xbox 360 version to make a decision between the two.