Yep, Wii owners are getting some Call Of Duty loving in the form of a port of the original Modern Warfare. While this is excellent news in itself, we’re a bit bemused as to why Activision have decided to release a version of the two year old original Modern Warfare rather than the upcoming COD: MW2 that the PS3 and Xbox 360 will see.
The developers of ‘COD: World At War‘, Treyarch are developing the game, not Infinity Ward the original developers. Of course the DS will be getting a version of the new game so why the Wii is going back two years is anyone’s guess especially considering the franchise has sold well on the Wii so far.
We’ll have more on the DS and Wii Modern Warfare’s soon so keep it here.
Are you fed up with your old drum kit for Guitar Hero? Fancy spending loads more cash for a very similar updated new set? Good. The rumoured new drums for Guitar Hero 5 are real and will be ready for launch this September.
Does this news excite you or are you fed up with what seems like a new peripheral being announced every day? Let us know in the comments.
Michael Pachter from Wedbush Morgan Securities and his humongous report on gaming have thrown up the top gaming brands in 2008 from all publishers.
Topping the list not surprisingly is ‘Guitar Hero‘ at a whopping $992 million revenue, helped on no doubt by the high price of the guitar that comes with the game. In second is ‘Mario Bros.’ quite a way behind at $761 million and in third is ‘Rock Band‘ at $662 million. With ‘Guitar Hero 5‘ and ‘The Beatles: Rock Band‘ both out this year, music games could well take the two top spots for 2009.
I don’t think too much will surprise you on the list but we thought ‘Warcraft‘ would have charted higher than 17 (even though it is old) and we’re more sad than surprised about Petz making number 30!
Poor, poor U.K gamers! They have long been used to paying higher prices than the rest of the world and unfortunately it looks like that will be the case for Activision’s ‘DJ Hero‘ as well. Eurogamer have reportedly been told by U.K retailer ShopTo to expect a retail price of £107.99 for the rhythm game.
In the U.S Gamestop have stated a $120 price tag which converts to roughly £73, that’s a massive £35 price increase for the same game!
Someone, somewhere is filling their pockets nicely from U.K gamers and it’s about time they started paying prices in line with the rest of the world.
Transformers star ‘Shia LaBeef‘, sorry ‘Shia LaBeouf‘, seems to have some beef with the Wii. Big Download recently got a chance to interview the actor and of course they got onto the subject of the upcoming ‘Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen’ games to which LeBeouf made clear his dislike for the Wii version as well as Wii gamers:
Have you checked out the Wii Transformers game?
I haven’t been able to play the Wii game because my hand is broken. I’ve just been playing Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. I would imagine that the Wii experience will be like…I don’t mess with the Wii, to be honest with you. It’s kind of an amateur console. I’m not into the Wii thing.
What’s wrong with the Wii?
This is how in a simple way you can find out if it’s a gamer you want to play with. Ask them if they have a Wii. If they say yes, get the f*** out of there.
Is that why you wouldn’t play LEGO Star Wars with Megan Fox on the set of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen?
Correct. Who wants to play the Wii version of LEGO Star Wars. I’d rather eat glass.
It looks like LaBeouf is a bit clueless if he considers the Wii an amateur console and probably just doesn’t get Nintendo’s games. Has he ever considered that most of the functions of the Xbox 360 and PS3 that he doesn’t consider amateur were originally Nintendo designs such as D-Pads, rumble, shoulder buttons, wireless, analogue sticks on the controllers for example? We wonder what he will make of Natal and Sony’s motion controls.
While everyone is entitled to their own opinion, we are sure Activision are not very pleased with his PR skills!
So far not much information has been released from Activision about the new skateboard peripheral for Tony Hawk: Ride. Gamestop have recently put a listing on their site for pre-orders at a price of USD 119.99. Whether that will be the final price remains to be seen.
Thanks to USA Today’s YouTube video of their meeting with Activision, we now know a little more about the controller. Josh Tsui, the developer behind the skateboard explains further:
“Inside are two accelerometers, and that gives us our tilting for navigation, our lifting on either side for doing things like ollies and nollies, and then it also gives us rotation. One accelerometer will give us the tilting and the lift, but having two of them allows us to read two different settings, two different rotations so that this way it allows us this type of skating mechanic. That’s something that a lot of peripherals have never done before, is the rotation and the popping.”
So there you have it. We will of course have much more on Tony Hawk: Ride at E3. Keep it tuned.
The recently released screenshots of the DJ Hero turntable controller were indeed hiding some valuable information. Included on the unit is a cross-fader as you may expect, effects and “euphoria” button, as well as the d-pad and usual controller buttons.
Also the first few tunes have been discovered for the title which we thought were not immediately obvious candidates, but then what do we know! If you were expecting hardcore techno, bouncy house or funky drum and bass you may be a little disappointed with the initial selection.
There has been quite a surprising revelation from Activision that the new Tony Hawk: Ride game announced last week - with the new skateboard peripheral - will be an Xbox 360 exclusive.
So far this exclusivity only extends to the UK and it is unclear as to whether this is a proper or timed exclusive. Either way it looks like Microsoft have been flexing their wallet once again!
Just to be clear everyone outside the UK will still be getting a copy on all consoles. If this situation changes we’ll be the first to let you know.
Update - In a very strange turn of events from Activision, after announcing just this morning that the new Tony Hawk game would be an Xbox 360 exclusive in the UK, they have issued an updated statement saying that actually it won’t!
I think maybe someone nearing their retirement at Activision was having a laugh this morning. Here is what they had to say to correct the matter:
“Further to the erroneous information which was distributed this morning regarding Tony Hawk: RIDE, we would like to clarify that the game is due to be released on the following platforms: Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and Wii™ home video game system.
We apologise for the confusion caused by this morning’s mail out and we would be grateful if you could update your coverage to reflect the correct details above.”
The latest version of Guitar Hero is never far away and today we get a few screenshots and a look at a few of the new songs that will be available in Guitar Hero 5.
New to the game is ‘RockFest’, which has five head to head modes that are playable “online or in your living room.” Also new is the fact you can play the entire set list from the moment you boot the game up, you don’t have to unlock the songs first in addition to using any combination of musical instrument peripherals - 3 drums, 1 guitar and 2 mics? No problem.
Possibly best of all is that your previously downloaded tunes from Guitar Hero: World Tour will be playable in Guitar Hero 5.
Check the press release and second screen after the jump. Read more…
Mr Hawk himself has just updated his Twitter account calling the new skateboard peripheral for the latest game - Tony Hawk Ride - a “marvel“. He further explains “The board controller is a marvel of new technology, responds like a real skateboard. You can even go for grabs and the sensors detect it.”
‘Tony Hawk Ride’ was announced earlier today and no doubt Activision would like to emulate the success of the Guitar Hero and Wii Fit peripherals with their new skateboard controller. There will be updates on this from E3, so keep your eyes on nin-ten-do.com for updates. Personally, between Guitar Hero, Wii Fit, light guns and Mario Kart racing wheels, I think I’ve got enough plastic toot lying around!
The game will be available later this year for all major home consoles.
“Guitar Hero(R) Announces Fall Lineup Featuring Groundbreaking DJ Hero(TM) Title andNew Guitar Hero(R) 5 and Band Hero(TM) Games.
-Innovative DJ Hero Game Expected To Transform How Consumers Engage with Music –New Guitar
Hero 5, DJ Hero and Band Hero Expand the Category with Fun-to-Play Experiences and Innovative New
Technologies and Features –Fall Slate Delivers Largest Variety of Music and Hottest Artists.”
If you want to read the full press release click for more. Read more…
Activision sold many copies of its last Call Of Duty on the Wii with World At War and had even bigger success with COD 4: Modern Warfare on Xbox 360 and PS3. Because of this we’d say the likelyhood of seeing the sequel to Modern Warfare on the Wii is quite high.
Amazon UK have now made it seem even more likely with a listing for the game on their website. Of course this listing could just be a mistake on Amazon’s part, but releasing a Wii version would certainly make financial sense after the success of World At War.
The game is down for November 10th release and maybe Activision will spill the beans at E3 in June, or maybe not, time will tell.
