I spend a lot of time listening to and thinking about music. Yeah, that’s a pretty generic statement; let me clarify that a bit. I’m the kind of person that doesn’t just listen to their music, I put day-to-day events in the context of a song. Major periods of my life are very distinctly associated with certain bands, songs, and genres of music. The idea of a world where magical power is drawn from song lyrics and musical movements exist as goddesses is definitely something I can get into.

Kieron Gillen took this simple premise and weaved one of the most fascinating graphic novels of the past decade.

More…

For those of you worried that Cave Story’s fantastic music or graphics would be marred in the port, worry no more! Nicalis (the developer behind the Wiiware port) has recently stated in an interview that:

The WiiWare version of Cave Story features all-new music rearranged by Yann van der Cruyssen. He’s worked with Nicklas (Nygren) in the past and we’ve really liked working with him. We’ve paid very close attention to stay as faithful as possible to the original music. Each track is passed off while in-progress state to Amaya so that he can review and approve it.

Yes, the old music and graphics will both be retained via a switch. You’ll also be able to mix-and-match audio and visuals. So, if you like the old art and new music, or vice versa, you can do it. Cave Story has a huge fanbase, we’re aware of that and want to make sure that it’s true to what they expect and Pixel-approved. If they don’t like the new art or music, we won’t be offended and they can play the game in its original state.

So not only do we get the classic awesome chiptune music and great pixel-art, but we also get redone versions of both! Just another reason to get this incredible game.

source: GoNintendo

There’s no shortage of games to choose from when it comes to shooting zombies. But this week’s Fun For Free title isn’t your typical zombie shooter: it’s family-friendly. Dude! Goop The Living Dead! is a Flash game based on a Halloween episode of the Canadian cartoon 6teen, which is a show about six teen friends who work in a mall. Everything in the show happens in the mall, and in the Halloween special called “Dude of the Living Dead,” zombies invade!

While Dead Rising has you holding off zombies with whatever you can get your hands on, this game equips you with a Super Soaker full of hot sauce (weird, I know) to fend of the hordes. The premise is pretty simple: 150 zombies have invaded the mall and you have to shoot all the zombies you see. Like most zombie titles, this one encourages and awards head shots. Although the game starts off nice and slow, by the time I got down to 17 zombies left I was clicking like a mad man. Sadly, these zombies got the better of me.

Link: Dude! Goop The Living Dead

Alright, let’s start by referring to the game by FFCC:EoT. So, I was just looking at the videos from this game over at Gametrailers, when I noticed all the multiplayer options that are going to be available in it.

4 player split-screen (Wii)

More…

I just wanted to add to Nick’s post about The Conduit. From his link to gametrailers I found this video showing off the Tech in the game, which I find pretty impressive. This game is probably pulling everything the Wii can give it.

Also after the break, if you don’t mind a small spoiler, IGN has the gameplay from the first level of the game.

More…

If there had been actually My Little Ponies like this when I was a kid, I probably would have been sitting there with a little comb brushing out the knots in my Stormtrooper Pony’s hair.

My Little Stormtrooper Images

Even More Custom My Little Ponies

So here is a question for all you rebels; are you looking forward to The Conduit?

We here at the 4cr Hall of Justice are mixed. Rumas was throwing out the hatorade:

I don’t understand The Conduit at all. It looks like an amazing game wasted on a dull game, if that makes any sense. And I think its gonna sell really bad. Then High Voltage is going to complain about how hardcore games don’t sell on Wii, while the real issue will be that if it was not only a good game, but a captivating one with a solid identity of its own, it would have sold fine.

While Hokku was a bit more optimistic:

I think the Conduit is gonna be awesome. Everything about it looks really… cheap. Like cheap, almost arcade-like. I mean, cheezy dull aliens, bright colors, all that jazz. But the guys making it, they’re committed. They’re in love with the Wii, they’re not just making a game like EA where it’s supposed to pull in the dough to further their business plan. These guys seem to passionately care about videogames and the Wii and, if they’re competent enough, I think The Conduit will become one of the most fun, unexpected games on the Wii.

That, or it’ll become Geist 2.

Edgar just said vulgar things that I can’t print. Vulgar in a good way. Like getting married to the game and doing the nasty.

Me, I’m still mixed. It looks great and the developer seems passionate. It sorta reminds me of Perfect Dark (the good one). But for me, this type of game is all about story. If the story is on the level of Half-Life I will die of happiness. I guess we will see. The 4cr crew is on the case and we will try to pump the developer, High Voltage Software, for more info very soon.

The Conduit Videos

Wii Punch-Out!! Holy cow… somehow I always knew Nintendo would revisit the franchise, but I’m still having a hard time believing it right now. Not only is a new Punch-Out!! game coming, but it actually looks just the Super Nintendo game, only in 3D. Genius.

And that music. Somehow that music has transcended the game so much so that when I heard it, I felt it in my soul. I had to stop and think if that was even really the Punch-Out!! music. It’s just so iconic and so damn awesome. Let’s hope Next Level games, who we are trying to get an interview with, does this game right. The real question though is whether this game is before or after Captain Rainbow. Inquiring minds need to know!

Wii Punch-Out!! Trailer

Time for a little Friday fun. Cammie Dunaway is someone you’ve probably heard of. Ron Bertram? Not so much. But they both hold considerably powerful positions in a company we all know and love: Nintendo.

Today I was reading a Nintendo of America press release on another site and realized that it was very close to the one Nintendo of Canada sent me yesterday. So similar, in fact, that I decided to check the celebrity sound bites in them. Check out my findings below (emphasis mine):

More…

A lot of what’s on this press release is stuff you’ve already heard, but it goes into more detail and mentions one HUGE thing coming to Wiiware:

Cave Story: This title is an action-adventure game with new, exclusive content and features created only for the WiiWare version.

One of the best, if not THE best, indie games is making it’s retail debut on the Nintendo Wii. For those of you who haven’t played Cave Story (shame on you), it’s a Metroidvania title with great pixel art, fantastic chiptunes, and great characters and story.

Once you get over this huge news, you can catch the rest of the press release after the break.

More…

When we got invited to Activision’s press event the only game I knew anything about was Spider-Man: Web of Shadows. Even then I had only seen a few videos, but it looked awesome. I told Edgar a little bit about what I knew of the game and we then watched a few vids to get up to speed. None of it prepared us for the awesomeness that is the new Spider-Man games. The console versions are probably the most entertaining and engaging Spider-Man games ever, making you really feel like a wall-crawling super-powered hero while the DS game delves into the Metroidvania realm and comes out reminding me of some of my favorite sidescrollers ever. Check out our Wii and DS impressions after the jump.

More…

Edgar and I recently got many hours of play time with the new Call of Duty game, World at War. I’ve never played a CoD game before, but Edgar was peeing his pants he was so excited. Specifically about the mutliplayer. Much to both of our delights the games turned out to be great and the developers really listened to what gamers wanted out of the new CoD game. You should have seen the hilarious Powerpoint they had showing all the stuff they added. We are still trying to get a copy for you guys, because the presentation was priceless and also showed just how much the developers care about the game and the gamers.

Anyway, read below for Edgar’s impressions of the Wii version of the game and my impressions of the DS version.

More…

Sin and Punishment 2! That’s right, Nintendo announced at their Fall press conference that Sin and Punishment is getting a brand new sequel on the Wii. Being a hardcore Treasure and arcade game fanboy, it’s safe to say that I went a little nuts when this was announced:

“Sin and Punishment 2? Wii = best system ever.”
“Oh man. I cannot believe that they are actually making Sin and Punishment 2.”
“SIN AND PUNSISHMENT 2″
“Sin and Punishment 2. This’ll last me for a good while”

But even if you are not a fan of one of the greatest action games ever, there were still plenty of reasons to get excited. On the DS side, they showed new Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles, what looks to be a new Wario Ware, and Mario and Luigi 3, among other things. But it’s the Wii that’s getting the brunt of the awesome stuff.

More…

Whether you expected disappointment or not from Nintendo’s latest conference, I think it’s safe to say that they have officially made up for E3. The DSi is the latest revision of DS and, while not a fully-fledged new portable system, it’s at the very least halfway there. Here’s what we know so far:

- 3.25 inch LCD screen (versus the DS Lite’s 3 inch screen)
- Two .3-megapixel cameras equal to a maximum resolution of 640×480
- Will be able to sync with the Wii Photo Channel and edit photos
- SD slot on right-hand side.
- On-board memory
- Comes with web browser (presumably Opera-based) and will support music playback with adjustable pitch and playback rate.
- Will launch with the DS equivalent of WiiWare in which you can download new titles for the DS (Wii Points now officially called Nintendo Points)
- DS Ware titles range from free/300/500/800
- No GBA slot
- 18900 yen ($180 US)
- The DSi will be released in white and matte black on November 1st in Japan, 2009 elsewhere.

Here’s the official DSi information page at Nintendo (Though, it’s in Japanase) and here’s a possible spec comparison (via GoNintendo)

So there you have it. I suppose it was time to let go of the GBA slot and Nintendo has finally, finally, gotten the memo about internal storage. Plus, DSWare? Hell yeah! What do you guys think of Nintendo’s newest enemy of the wallet?

sources: NeoGAF, Wired, IGN

The political season in the USA is coming down to a point, and from what we can all tell, it’s starting to get pretty brutal out there. However, it seems that I am among the first to truly peer through the vasoline-covered veil that covers Sarah Palin, McCain’s vice-president running mate.

And now we know why she supported the $700bn bailout: microgames.

Palin’s True Face (DeviantArt)