Toronto Thumbs

Wii Remote:
Available in Pink and Blue This Valentine’s Day!

Ah, geek love. Nothing can be finer or more socially awkward. But enough about me – Nintendo’s just announced that starting Valentine’s Day (yes, that’s this weekend, friends) the Wii Remote will be available in both pink and blue. What better way to tell your geek you love him/her than with a shiny new toy? You can even buy a set and play all day, or until the stock batteries run out.

It’s hard to tell from these supplied images but it looks like these will match up nicely with your pink and blue DSi systems – not that you could use them together; it’s just nice to accessorize. These remotes will also come bundled with Wii MotionPlus, for added pleasure.

Posted in Awesome, News Bytes, Wii | No Comments »

PEW! PEW! PEW!
LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars Announced

Good news for Star Wars fans: Today LucasArts and TT Games announced that LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars is in development and scheduled to hit all platforms this fall. Awesome.

I’ve been a fan of the console LEGO games since picking up the prequel-based LEGO Star Wars for the GameCube years ago. The human characters actually had yellow faces back then, much like real minifigs! I wonder what happened.

While I’ve only played the LEGO Star Wars games and LEGO Batman, I have the utmost confidence that they’re well-designed console platformers. I can’t speak well for the DS counterparts since LEGO Star Wars II was by far the worst DS game I’ve ever tried to play.

That negativity aside, I’m especially stoked about seeing what TT does with The Clone Wars franchise. I still can’t figure out when this new animated series is supposed to take place, considering the fact that the original 2D highly-stylized Clone Wars cartoon spanned from the end of the film Attack of the Clones right up to the beginning of Revenge of the Sith. Does Lucasfilm wish to ignore the first series as it wishes to ignore the amazing Droids and Ewoks cartoons?

TT Games is promising that this will be the most action-packed LEGO game to date. It’ll feature all the characters from the show’s first two seasons (it’s currently in season two) as well as other characters from elsewhere in the saga. The game’s also said to contain new modes of play, including a battle mode allowing for head-to-head fighting, a level builder, and an interesting-sounding feature called “Lightsabre slicing.”

If you can’t wait till the fall to get some LEGO Clone Wars action, check out this cute Unity-based online game where you play as Anakin on a rescue mission to find R2-D2.

Posted in Awesome, DS, DSi, News Bytes, PC, PSP, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360 | No Comments »

Metroid Prime Trilogy
Discontinued?

Sad news if this is indeed true; Joystiq is reporting that Metroid Prime Trilogy, one of the better Wii games to be released last year and definitely one of the shiniest, may be discontinued. It doesn’t look like they’re having much luck getting a solid answer from Nintendo on this but an Amazon representative was quoted as saying, “Per Nintendo, we will no longer be offering Metroid Prime Trilogy at this time.”

Damn, that sucks. But on the other hand, it does make the super fantastic collection all the more alluring – and collectable!

Posted in Wii | 4 Comments »

Epic Teaser Site For
Metroid Other M

Earlier today Nick Rumas at 4 Color Rebellion posted about this new teaser site for Metroid Other M. There’s not a lot there at the moment save for the above picture accompanied by a haunting piano theme that Rumas likens to soap opera music. It sounds a little bit like a ballet piece as well.

One thing is certain: The site’s playing heavily on emotion and drama. Just look at the screen they chose! What feeling does it evoke for you? Longing, sadness, the urge to play this game right now, or something else entirely?

Posted in Art, Awesome, News Bytes, Wii | 2 Comments »

Three MCs And One DJ
A Review of DJ Hero

DJ Hero was released October 27, 2009. But before that date, the Toronto Thumbs staff already loved it and talked about it a great deal. We claimed our love for it in our coverage of Microsoft’s X’09 event and Sony’s Holiday Preview Event. When it came time to choose our top games of 2009, DJ Hero found its way on both Shaun’s and Jorge’s lists. It’s not surprising – the two love both music and amazing games.

We decided it would be fun to review the game as a group, which in turn has caused some delay in getting it all together. We’ve also included Toronto Thumbs newcomer Eleanor D.’s thoughts on the game.

Read the rest »

Posted in Awesome, PlayStation 3, Reviews, Wii, Xbox 360 | 2 Comments »

Wii Classic Controller Pro
Bundled with Monster Hunter Tri

Today Nintendo and Capcom announced that the upcoming title, Monster Hunter Tri, will be available this April bundled with the new Wii Classic Controller Pro for approximately $60 USD. The bundle purchase will save gamers wanting both the game and the controller about $10, as they’ll retail for $50 and $20, respectively, on their own.

“Monster Hunter Tri has made a huge splash in the Japanese market, and we’re confident the bundle with the Classic Controller Pro will give fans in North America plenty to get excited about,” says Steve Singer, Nintendo of America’s vice president of Licensing.

The Classic Controller Pro has previously only been available in Japan and as an import item. In addition to the obvious addition of the grips, it features a stacked layout for the shoulder buttons, which should make the Z buttons easier to reach. Interestingly, I don’t think I’ve ever played a Wii game that makes use of those buttons on the Classic Controller, anyway. Still, it’s hard to deny how sweet the Classic Controller Pro looks:

Posted in News Bytes, Wii | No Comments »

First Screenshots
Trackmania for Wii

If you’ve been following our misadventures here, you may know that I’m a big fan of the Trackmania series. If you didn’t know, well, now you do! Anyhow, imagine the surprise when I was sent the first images from the upcoming Wii version of the game.

Did you imagine it? Good. It was the highlight of my day, and then it gave way to memories of all the fun I’ve had with Trackmania over the years. These stills, which are viewable in this gallery, are probably like every Trackmania still ever in that they don’t do their games justice. To fully appreciate the series, the games must be played. There is no shortage of racing games, from simulation to stunt driving to everything in between. But in terms of sheer smoothness and crisp controls, it doesn’t get any better than a Trackmania.

Focus Home Interactive will be bringing the Wii version to market some time soon. It’ll allow for Wii Remote + Nunchuk, Classic Controller, and Wii Wheel support. On top of this we’ll get six environments and over 200 tracks to race on. This of course doesn’t include the option wherein gamers can create their own tracks (a series staple). Multiplayer will be handled via split screen of up to four players as well as over the Nintendo Wi-fi Connection. Rad.

With all teasery news of upcoming games, the waiting can be a little difficult. Luckily we can get our fix of Trackmania in the meantime via the PC and DS versions.

Posted in Awesome, News Bytes, Wii | 2 Comments »

THE FUTURE IS WOW
Sony’s Motion Controller Coming This Fall

Not to be outdone by Microsoft announcing that Project Natal will be available this year, Sony has gone ahead and confirmed that their own motion controller will also be available this year. Take that, Xbox fanboys!

In a press release issued today, Sony Computer Entertainment said that its Motion Controller (name tentative) will launch with an extensive line-up of (tentatively) exciting software titles. The whole thing will somehow work in conjunction with the PlayStation Eye, so if you’ve been sitting on the fence about one of those you’d better run out and buy 20 before the hoarders and resellers catch wind of this.

Also not to be outdone by bloggers’ phallus jokes, SCE accompanied the announcement with a promise to “vigorously promote” the device as being the “de facto” controller of the PS3. This of course leads me to believe that no one actually knows what “de facto” means, which in turn makes me realize that I shouldn’t feel too badly about not knowing what it means, either.

Interestingly, both Sony’s and Microsoft’s motion controllers are coming to the market a full four years after the Wii. Seeing as how the free market has already chosen the Wii as its favourite current-gen system, it’ll be interesting to see if either of the HD consoles can claim a significant piece of the flailing gamer pie before this generation of consoles is put down. (Speaking of, if you’re into ice cream, check out Breyer’s Banana Creme Pie flavour - it is simply delightful).

In fact, this whole thing is so interesting that I decided it’s best to not include a photo of Sony’s Motion Controller because I didn’t want to harm anyone’s delicate mind with how awesome and overwhelming it all can be. You’re welcome.

Posted in News Bytes, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360 | 3 Comments »

SWISH!
EA Announces NBA JAM for Wii

Today EA announced that its EA Sports branch is reviving the NBA JAM franchise by developing a new title in the series exclusively for the Wii. According to the publisher, EA Sports NBA JAM will feature vintage gameplay along with new features that “deliver a fresh new take on the game,” which seems akin to saying “It’s the same, but different.”

“NBA JAM is one of the most recognizable franchises in videogame history,” says EA Sports president Peter Moore. “Diehard fans of the original game have been asking for a remake for more than a decade. We’re very excited to give them their wish this year with the return of this iconic franchise.”

The company’s press release goes on to state that the new game will feature true-to-life body types, updated physics, and visible player emotion. I wonder if EA Sports realizes no one played NBA JAM for its realism.

While no screenshots have been released, the site nba-jam.easports.com is up in a somewhat bare bones state. Still, it’s nice to see the new logo still features a flaming basketball.

EA Sports NBA JAM will hit the Wii this year and is being developed by EA Canada in Vancouver, BC. As this is an EA Sports title, expect to see plenty of sequels.

Posted in Arcade, Awesome, Canada, News Bytes, Wii | 2 Comments »

VIDEO
Mega Man 10 Trailer!

Have you ever clicked on a link to something you really wanted to see but then the page took forever to load so the anticipation almost killed you?

That’s what happened to me today when theBBPS.com posted news of the Japanese Mega Man 10 trailer. Everything about this is simply joyous to me. The pixel art and music are unmistakably “Mega Man,” as are the stage designs and enemies.

The video’s got an interesting coda to it, showing off something called “Easy Mode” which I would never resort to. If a Mega Man game isn’t obscenely difficult at first, it’s just not a Mega Man game.

On a day when the rest of the Internet is abuzz with the news of the Iron Man 2 trailer (which is still really cool), I am absolutely smitten with the one for Mega Man 10.

Watch the trailer »

Posted in Awesome, News Bytes, PlayStation 3, Videos, Wii, Xbox 360 | No Comments »