We’ve just learned about the free-to-play browser-based Battlestar Galactica Online game. It has over 2 million registered users since it’s launch in Feb 2011 (How many are still active? Good question.) You can play as either the boring humans or the infinitely more interesting Cylons in a deep space fight to the death.

Monkey Island Tales HD Episode 1 is available free for the iPad until the 22nd July 2011. Grab it from the App Store now. Episodes 2-5 of the series are also available for £3.99 each, which you may want to purchase after playing episode 1. Or not. We haven’t played MI Tales ourselves.

Gaming peripheral company Nyko announced a clip-on lens for the Kinect that claims to reduce the living room space required for playing by up to 40%. Might have to test this out – don’t know how we’d fit multiplayer Dance Central 2 in our living room otherwise. It’s bad enough with me leaping about the room.

RPG Site has revealed that Final Fantasy VII and VIII were uploaded to PC gaming portal Steam but sadly, will probably not be released.

Martin Gaston has a beautiful story about growing up with Sonic, to which many of you can probably relate:

You can always spot someone who grew up on SEGA, as they tend to have a more entertaining and developed sense of humour than children of the SNES. They also don’t take things so seriously. Maybe it’s because they realise the Mega Drive had worse games. Here’s the reality: Nintendo won. But SEGA had Comix Zone and Streets of Rage, which is more than Nintendo will ever be able to say.

Facial-capture darling of the games press LA Noire will be coming to PC later this year.

And our friend Kevin Kissane posted this Mario Meets Portal 2 video on my wall today. Freaking hilarious.

Hat tip to Mental Gamers for the LA Noire source.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

This is coming to the Wii later on this year, around autumn time, as Nintendo have now finally finished it. Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening will be available to buy via 3DS eShop from the 7th June 2011. The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords will be coming to the DSi and 3DS for free later on in the year.

To celebrate The Legend of Zelda’s 25th anniversary there will be a series of symphony concerts playing the classic Zelda tunes that we’ve come to love over the years. As soon as I find out the times and dates for these concerts I’ll post the details.

Mario Kart 3DS

In the 3DS version of Mario Kart, the karts have undergone some fairly radical upgrades to cope with the new track locations. For instance the karts have propellers for the underwater tracks. For other tracks the karts come with a James Bond like hand glider attachment.

Mario 3DS:

This is a brand new Mario game built from the ground up specifically for the 3DS. After watching a demo on a 3DS in the Nintendo stand, sadly in video form, I was impressed with the 3D. You could really feel the depth to the levels, especially when you come across the giant flame towers belching hot plasma straight into your screen. The rest of the game was classic Mario.

Starfox 3DS

In Fox McCloud’s latest adventure you can either use the standard d-pad controller or tilt the console to control his ship. Starfox 3DS also makes use of the 3DS camera to show you other players at key points during the game. You can get to see everyone’s happy, sad or angry faces. Hmmm, I’m not keen on this little bit of functionality. No doubt it will be funny for the first couple of times then quickly get boring. Starfox 3DS will be coming out in Sep 2011.

Luigi’s Mansion 2

Luigi is back and still armed with his ghostbusting vacuum. With similar looking gameplay to the original game on the Gamecube, Luigi’s Mansion features some very nice looking 3D visuals. The lighting effects in particular were quite stunning. Luigi also gets to explore multiple mansions this time.

Pokedex 3D:

The global phenomenon comes to the 3DS via a 3D Pokedex. This will be downloaded only through the Nintendo eShop. It will also be free.

3DS System Update:

Nintendo also mentioned that with the June 2011 3DS system update you get a free version of Excitebike 3DS for a limited time. Don’t forget this game is now 27 years old, so don’t expect something ground breaking. The Virtual Console and 3DS demos will be appearing later on in the year on the eShop.

Wii U:

This is the name for Nintendo’s new console. It main feature is its big, new controller, which hogged all the limelight during the press conference. I actually don’t remember seeing the small, Wii-shaped console that accompanies the controller such was the focus on the controller.

The controller features a 6.2 inch touch screen at its centre. It also includes a microphone, camera, accelerometer, speaker, control pad, two circle pads, a rumble feature, A/B/X/Y buttons, L/R buttons and ZL/ZR buttons. Accompanying the controller is the base unit which looks very much like the Wii and varies in power according to which website you read. Nintendo have announced that it will support HD visuals, which would be a substantial improvement over the shockingly poor graphics that you get from the Wii.

Wii U allows you to switch from playing a game on the TV to the controller. This is useful if someone wants to watch something else on the TV. Other functionality includes the ability to draw on the controller’s screen (if you have any talent) to create beautiful masterpieces. You can use the screen to play board games too. The screen allows you access your inventory or a map without you having to interrupt your game.

Nintendo Wii U Controller And Console

Wii accessories can be used with Wii U. So all those controllers you’ve bought for your Wii will still be useful.

In terms of games, Lego City Stories is coming to Wii U and the 3DS. This will be an open world game packed full of Lego vehicles. Darksiders 2 will be available for Wii U at launch. Other notable games that caught my attention were Batman: Arkham City, Assassin’s Creed, Ghost Recon Online and Aliens: Colonial Marines. Alas, there were no firm details about how the controller will be used in each of them. Nintendo also teased that Smash Brothers will be developed 3DS and Wii U and will work together in some fashion.

And that’s it for the Nintendo media briefing. There were units to play with during the E3 Expo running 8 different tech/gameplay demos, but no actual games. We did get to play with the Wii U so look out for our hands-on impressions post. Randy Pitchford did mention during his talk during the Aliens: Colonial Marines live demo that they have got the game running on Wii U hardware, and that they’ve had the units for some time. But that was all we got out of him.

So this leaves us with a lot of unanswered questions about the Wii U. How much is it going to cost? When will we see it in the UK? What’s the backward compatibility like with Wii games? Are developers going to retro fit Wii games to take advantage of the new controller and what do they think of it? And what are the games going to look like on the new hardware. Tech demos and just that, demos. Rarely have they been representative of what it’s like to play games on the console that you get to buy and plonk in your living/bedroom.

As you can tell by this review, I love this game. There are a few niggles though. Occasionally the planets, can be bloody annoying and very unforgiving, with some ninja reactions required. Secondly, it’s on the Wii. I know its a Wii game, but I do wish Nintendo would make a more powerful console as the mind boggles about how pretty Super Mario Galaxy 2 would be like on either the PS3 or the Xbox 360. As I’ve mentioned before, Super Mario Galaxy 2 does look good but it’s not anywhere near as stunning as say Uncharted 2: Among Thieves or Gears of War 2.

In summary, this is a great game. Go buy it!

Screenshots:

Linus Åkesson demonstrates the Chipophone, which he designed and built himself. I think my personal favourite moment is at 2:40. Happy days of childhood!
[via TechTV101.com and Average Film Reviews (sorta)]

However, this sequel is looking pretty tasty after watching the trailers and seeing the screenshots. I have high hopes for this game and will be pre-ordering it so I can play it on the 11th June 2010. It will be interesting to see what adding Yoshi brings to the game and Mario’s new skills.

And also check out these nice looking screenshots featuring Yoshi!

Super Mario Galaxy is out now and Super Mario Galaxy 2 is released on the 11th June 2010 only on Wii.

On the basis of this latest trailer, we can expect pretty much more of the same but with added Yoshi. So, I’m pretty happy with that.

Age rating:

3+ (PEGI)

What is it?

A Mario game – 3D-platformer.

Is it fun?

Yes.

Is it worth the money? £32.99

Yes.

Why?

I’ve always been rather indifferent when it comes to Mario games until I played Super Mario 64, which was brilliant. Unfortunately the GameCube’s Mario extravaganza (Super Mario Sunshine) was well, total poo to be honest. However, I’m pleased to say that Super Mario Galaxy tops even the great Mario 64 for sheer enjoyment. I can’t even complain of the total lack of imagination shown by Nintendo when it churns out the same games for each generation of Nintendo console when this incarnation of Mario is just so much fun.

The graphics look great (by Wii standards) and complement the game wonderfully. Sure there are some iffy looking textures and a few jaggies, but I didn’t care as the whole game is amazing. The sound is a perfect mix of chirpyness and classic Mario sounds and themes. It also has a brilliant, brilliant music track for the Battlerock galaxy that I challenge anyone to play this galaxy and not have a giant smile on their face.

I loved the whole playfulness of Mario’s new galaxy environment. Flying, flipping, gliding, jumping and catapulting between all the planets on each of the levels is just awesome. The attention to detail that the designers have lavished on every planet, however small, is a joy to behold. I loved the way that seemingly simple puzzles were brought to life by splitting them over lots of mini planets and great use of the Wii controller. This is probably the first game after Wii Sports where the control method just feels right. From rolling around on top a giant ball, to flying through the air as a little bumble bee, the Wiimote and nunchuk make controlling Mario something to be enjoyed.

Bad points. Well, swimming underwater takes a bit of getting used to. The camera has a habit of choosing the worst time to change its viewpoint, which usually happens when you’re negotiating a really nasty sequence of platforms.

It took me just over 14 hours to get to the end of the game and finally beat Bowser, but that still leaves me with another 55 power stars to collect. Then I will have finally completed the game. So Lord knows how long that’s going to take with some fiendish and very dexterous puzzles lying in wait.

In summary:

A wonderful game in every way. Mario is the easily the best game on the Wii.

Screenshots:

It’s officially approved by the Olympic committee for the upcoming Beijing games. They had a lot of influence over the gameplay and their input helped ensure that this isn’t the crappy Wii Sports clone it could have been. Wii Sports is a great game but its lack of depth means that we rarely play it unless we have visitors. It’s just not that engaging compared to… well, pretty much any other game we own.

The Game

Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games has over 20 different Olympic sports to play. They’ve chosen a good range of them, too. You have the basic track and field events, like hammer throw, triple jump, sprints, hurdles and relays. There’s also skeet shooting, trampoline, archery and a bunch of swimming and gymnastic events. To top it all off you can unlock Dream events which use the skills you learn from the Olympics and drop you into a more traditional Mario/Sonic fantasy setting. And yes, there is a sprint version of Mario Kart so you can get your fix of cheating flinging lightning bolts at your friends.

The proper sports event are much more detailed than Wii Sports. In general, Wii Sports only modelled a small aspect of the games – for Wii Baseball, you didn’t have to worry too much about the game. You just smack the ball with the right timing and you’re off! The game did all the running and fielding for you. In Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games (or MSOG as I shall now call it) they’ve put a lot of work into properly modelling the events.

For archery, you use the Wiimote to draw back your arrow and aim, much as we expected for Zelda: Twilight Princess but didn’t see. You have to worry about the wind direction as well as keeping your aim steady. For Pole Vault, you don’t just run and jump. You have to run, lower the Wiimote to plant the pole at the right time, struggle to spring yourself up to the right height and flip your body over the bar. Each section has its own control style. Passing a baton between relay runners means raising the Wiimote as you would a real baton; rowing needs you to row with the Wiimote and nunchuck; and trampolining involves swinging the wiimote up and down to bounce you to greater and greater heights. Once you’re high enough you have to pull off a complex button combo to finish the acrobatic routine in time for the next bounce. I played it once. And scored a perfect 10. Click on the picture for photographic proof. I like the trampoline section ;)

As for the characters – you can play with your Mii, though I have yet to see how an armless, legless Mii can cope with trampoline or fencing. You can also choose from sixteen characters, eight from the Mario world and eight from Sonic. Each character has its own advantages. Sonic is, unsurprisingly, very fast while Princess Peach is, more surprisingly, good at skill-based events. It’s still balanced so playing Sonic doesn’t mean you’ll win all the speed events. Shadow is just as quick, so playing with your friends doesn’t turn into a race for the best character. Even playing by yourself is entertaining. There will be online leaderboards so you can attempt to beat everyone’s “Olympic” records.

In Summary

It’s great – a fantastic step forwards from Wii Sports. I fully expect Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games to be this year’s family Christmas title. It will be released in the UK on 23rd November 2007. You can preorder it from Play.com

The Bloggers’ Event

As for the event itself… the Wii flat is nice in a crowded kind of way. If you’re going to use a domestic setting to demonstrate a game to seven people, for heaven’s sake put a futon or sofa bed in the tiny bedroom! Sega also had a video camera and did a few interviews with us. With any luck mine, won’t be uploaded anywhere since I’m not much good at off-the-cuff diplomacy. They asked me what I thought of the event and the only thing that came to mind was “You hired people in Mario and Sonic costumes? Seriously, how old do you think we are? Six??” Thankfully, I didn’t say that but all I could come up with was a slightly confused expression, along with a mildly patronised “It was very exciting”. I’m definitely not cut out for videocasting. And I still posed for photos with Giant Mario and Giant Sonic.

It was good afternoon anyway. A fun game and it was nice to meet up with our fellow UK games bloggers, who are apparently all male. The other woman in the photo below was part of the marketing team.

Other blogs there

• Nintendic
• Zath
• British Gaming Blog
• NTSC-UK
• Binary Joy
• Nintendic
• NekoFever