In all, Astro Boy: The Video Game is another movie tie-in disappointment. You’d be better off just buying the original Astro Boy cartoons on DVD and indulging in nostalgia.

- two save files
- asked if you are left/right handed

- Niko is the one that’s telling the intro story
- Niko is telling the story to Link, but Link is asleep
- Niko and Link live together in the village of Aboda
- on the way to your train, you’ll bump into villagers, as well as the new postman
- the postman wears a red outfit, and walks around using a ‘chugga-chugga’ motion
- the postman is no longer allowed to read your mail
- read mail from the menu screen
- first train tutorial has you guiding the train to Hyrule Castle
- 300 seconds to reach the castle
- it doesn’t appear that there’s a time limit for any other portion of riding the train, just during the tutorial
- manually come to a stop at destinations
- all guards wear the green tunic, but new recruits wear Link’s typical hat, while the seasoned guards don’t
- in Hyrule Castle, you’ll see a stained glass window of Tetra
- Chancellor Cole doesn’t want Link to get his degree to be a conductor
- the degree is written in Hylian script
- the Chancellor’s theme sounds slightly similar to a track from Majora’s Mask
- the Spirit tower breaks into five pieces
- the claw-hand man is named Byrne
- both the Chancellor and Byrne say they are not human
- Zelda’s teacher mends your wounds after the Chancellor and Byrne make away with Zelda
- you find your sword in the recruiter’s office, which kicks off a combat tutorial
- on your way back to the Spirit Tower, you’ll come across a guard that references the ‘Dangerous to go alone’ quote
- the Lokomo race has been around long before Tetra and Link’s time
- Anjean says that Cole and Byrne are trying to bring Malladus back to life, and they need someone from the royal bloodline to do so
- When Zelda hears this, she freaks out, and it results in ‘one of the best scenes in a Zelda game, with really a great payoff for long time fans’
- Zelda’s body is at the top of the Spirit Tower
- the first floor of the Spirit Tower holds the Forest Rail map, which reveals new tracks in the region
- you have to meet another sage to visit the Forest Temple
- Anjean gave Tetra the Spirit Pipes over a century ago
- Link uses the Spirit Train to travel the rails, as gifted by Anjean
- draw paths on the tracks to determine your route
- there are rabbits sitting on set pieces all along the tracks, including a strange archway
- you first stop at Whittleton, which houses many lumberjacks
- you learn that you have to go through the Lost Woods to find the next sage, and get to the Forest Sanctuary
- you’ll learn the Song of Awakening at the Forest Sanctuary
- a statue teaches you this song, and then launches into the air, much like a Gossip Stone
- you have to play a song with the new sage (Gage) to unlock the Forest Temple
- the Forest Temple is located under a big tree
- dungeons have statues that can be paid in order to reveal treasure chests
- you’ll gain a green force gem in this temple thath brings power back to the Spirit Tracks in the Forest Realm
- if you hit one of the enemy trains while driving, it’s game over
- the second floor of the Spirit Temple gives you the map for the Snow Realm
- the second floor has a fire theme, and requires the Whirlwind item, which you picked up in the last dungeon
- on the way, you stop at Castle Town to enter a challenge house with three stages of difficulty. You must make it through without dying
- you also meet Alfonzo again, who tells you to go to Aboda Village
- Alfonzo takes you to outfit your train with a canon
- Niko will give you a stamp book that he asks you to fill up on your travels
- Rabbitland Rescue is a side-mission that has you collection the rabbits you’ve been seeing
- when you enter the Snow Realm, the music changes
- your first stop is Anouki Village
- you learn the Song of Discovery, which digs up buried treasure
- to gain access to the Snow Sanctuary, you have to pair villagers together based on what they say
- you’ll pass through a cave with a giant monster on the way to the Snow Sanctuary
- snow wolves return
- Steem is the third sage, and you have to play a song for him as well
- Steem shows you the path to the Snow Temple
- you’ll have to head east to a new station to find a way through a blizzard that has kicked up
- you end up in Wellspring Station, which gives you a new map that helps you track down a train expert named Ferrus
- you’ll get a new map from him to the second temple, but you have to figure out how to read it
- the Snow Temple involves ringing bells in order, ice block puzzles, and floating on water to reach new areas
- you gain the boomerang in this temple
- use ice torches to freeze water
- you fight Fraaz, the Master of Fiery Ice and after you take him down, you get another force gem
- six different multiplayer arenas: Ancient Earth, Frozen Plains, Fire Arena, Icy Plains, Scorched Battlefield, and Shadow Stage

Multiplayer

- Each level has special properties, such as being invisible on purple tiles in Shadow Stage, lowering bridges in Scorched Battlefield, rising lava in Fire Arena, and more
- various items available, such as shadow invincibility, bombs, lightning bolts, and the ability to drop tons of gems in your vicinity
- shadow item’s song is a variation of a tune from Twilight Princess
- use switches to make holes appear
- shove other players by swiping with your stylus

Link and Link

…with an attractive price point ($39.99) and a good number of exercises and routines to choose from, More Workouts is a welcome update to the original. It offers past Active users an upgraded challenge (you can even import your profile directly over from the first game) while giving newcomers an even better way to get active and stay healthy.

Rabbids Go Home (Wii)

C.O.P.: The Recruit

Make no bones about it: “Lego Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues” is easy to pick up and super-fun, especially if you’ve got somebody to team up with. Its biggest albatross is the fact that “Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” was a bad movie, but if you just stick to the fact that it’s a fun game (or if you happen to like “Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”), it’s a fitting and satisfying extension to the franchise.

It’s a mad scramble to be the last Pokémon standing in the Battle Royale when you play Pokémon TCG: Rumble! Place your markers to guess which Pokémon will outlast the others, then use the dice to figure out which Pokémon will attack… and which Pokémon will be its target! Score points for each Pokémon you Knock Out and score even bigger if your marker is on the Pokémon that wins the last battle! Plus, expand your games with Pokémon TCG booster packs!

Link

SANTA MONICA, CA – NOVEMBER 20, 2009 – Activision Publishing, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) and Mattel, Inc. (Nasdaq: MAT) announced today that Hot Wheels®: Battle Force 5™ for Wii™ and Nintendo DS™ is now available at major retailers in North America. Based on the hit Cartoon Network animated TV series, the Hot Wheels®: Battle Force 5™ video game enlists players to use battle-ready vehicles to defend the Earth from aliens and animalistic predators from other dimensions.

Battle Force 5™ is an elite team of drivers in ultra-cool, ultra-fast vehicles, who race, smash and bash through various Battle Zones to combat the sinister forces of The Sark™ and The Vandals™, who are intent on destruction. All twelve battle-ready vehicles can be played, while performing extreme stunts, jumps and more. Players must find a Battle Key in each Battle Zone to close and lock the portal thereby preventing the galactic predators from invading Earth. The fate of our planet hangs in the balance! Also, battle skills can be showcased against friends in the heart-pounding multiplayer Battle Mode.

“The TV show is packed with non-stop action, and the game puts players squarely in the middle of it all,” said David Oxford, Activision Publishing. “By enabling them to be a part of Battle Force 5, we are giving fans the interactive experience they’ve been dreaming of.”

“Activision has done a phenomenal job replicating the crash and bash vehicular combat of Battle Force 5 into a thrilling video game that fans of the show will love,” said Barry Waldo, VP Entertainment Marketing, Mattel.

For more information visit www.activision.com

For more information about Hot Wheels® Battle Force 5™ visit www.battleforce5.com

GamesPress

GamesPress

LUTON, ENGLAND (November 20th, 2009) – GAMEBRIDGE Ltd., today announces the first details of their second WiiWare title, Happy Hammerin’, to be released under the company’s ‘HAPPY’ series label.

Created by Japanese development studio Agenda, the team behind the hugely popular Nintendo DS game “42 All-Time Classics “ (aka Clubhouse Games in the US), Happy Hammerin’ is a fun party game with a variety of modes to suit everyone. Players swing the Wii Remote™ like a hammer as they frantically try to bash moles popping up all over the screen before they disappear again. The quicker you hit the moles the more points you get.

Play single player or go head to head with 3 friends. Players can challenge themselves in three different modes, Mole adventure (1-2P), Mole Marathon (1P) and Party Battle (1-4P). Mole Adventure consists of 4 themed stages (Horror, Japan, Jungle, Space) with 3 difficulty levels. Players can also register their scores online and compete in the world wide ranking. Further details on the game will follow in December.

For more information on Happy Hammerin’ please visit: www.gamebridge.co.uk

GamesPress

C.O.P.: The Recruit

F1 2009

Vienna, Austria, 20th of November 2009; A 100% pure, undiluted Yoga experience: From late November on, “Yoga for Wii” allows you to practice Yoga right in your living room! Offering many Yoga-related hints and tricks as well as a plethora of background information about Yoga traditions, this unusual game by Austrian software publisher JoWooD Entertainment is starting to attract a lot of attention online.

Relax your body and calm down your mind as a Yoga trainer helps you to achieve physical and inner balance … right in your living room! Create your personal, individually customized training plan as you travel through seven highly detailed levels (each depicting authentic Asian places and buildings) and have the game’s interactive Yoga guru offer sage advice. Yoga expert and top model Anja Rubik is also present in the game – she will guide you through the game’s central features and tell you some of her own Yoga training habits. Using the Wii Balance Board, players receive exact information on how well they are doing in the breathing and balance exercises. Both experienced Yoga practitioners and “newbies” interested in this fascinating collection of physical and spiritual techniques will however have to wait for a little while yet until Yoga for Wii hits the shelve. But for all those who can’t wait, we have put a wealth of interesting information about Yoga and the Yoga Wii game online, including photos, trailers and giveaways!

A short overview of Social Media pages where you cana lready find information about Yoga Wii:

Twitter
Links to Yoga events and shows, nutrition tips and links to other Social Media sites can be found at Twitter here:

http://twitter.com/YogaGameEN

Facebook
Yoga for Wii is of course also present in Facebook. Become a Fan of Yoga for Wii and you’ll receive lots of useful and interesting information about the new game, as well as news about Anja Rubik, the game’s well-known Testimonial, and tipps & tricks from other users. Facebook is the perfect way to get to know other Yoga Wii fans!

www.facebook.com

Youtube:
Take a first peek at Yoga Wii: Youtube has the game’s Official Trailer as well as other Yoga-related videos:

http://www.youtube.com/user/yogagamewii

MySpace
The Yoga Wii pages on the Social Network site MySpace also offers lots of information about the game and about Yoga!

http://www.myspace.com/yogagame

Flickr
You’d like to see more details about what the game looks like?

http://www.flickr.com/people/yoga-game-wii/

Pre-Order now: www.yoga-game.com

Trademarks are property of their respective owners. Wii is a trademark of Nintendo.

For further information please click: www.yoga-game.com

“Yoga” provides a completely new experience in the realm of fitness and lifestyle! JoWooD offers a tried and tested way of training the body and mind in the form of Yoga, all in the comfort of your living room! The combination of excellent graphics and the use of the Wii Balance Board offers a gaming experience never before seen!

“Yoga” encourages the Wii player to relax after a hard day and supports the Wii Balance Board!

GamesPress

Back when I first got my SNES, it came with a poster that showed off all sorts of upcoming games for the platform. On that poster was The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. There was nothing but one tiny screenshot, and a little blurb that didn’t give any real info. I hung that poster on my closet door, and stared at it every day for what seemed like an eternity. I remember laying on my floor, looking at the picture, and practically wetting my pants from being so excited. Little did I know that my hopes and dreams for the game would be far below what the game actually delivered. One of the only games to truly surpass my expectations.

Well, this is one of the stranger things I’ve seen in my gaming days. That’s not even the half of it. Check out more confectionery protection and accessories for your DSi here

Link

I don’t care who the developer is, it’s always nice to hear someone talk about game development first and graphics second. Isn’t it funny how 2d games used to be the big deal back in the day, but now these types of titles are considered to be a risk? Thanks to MCV for the heads up!

Link