Anyone who has been around here long enough knows that I’m crazy about Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat. It’s one of my all time favorite games. Ever. So when I heard that they were re-releasing it with Wii controls, I immediately pulled out my wallet, grabbed sixty one dollar bills, made them into paper airplanes and threw them out the window on their way to Nintendo’s office.

Now the first video of the game (sans sound) running on the Wii has surfaced! Now instead of pounding two bongos, you shake the Wiimote and Nunchuk. Should be just as fun. It’s a little sad that there won’t be any new content (as far as I know), but I can hold off for DK:JB 2. Nintendo, you are working on that, right?

My Original DK:JB Review

First Jungle Beat Wii Video

Tokyo Game Show will start tomorrow morning. But before I can go to TGS I actually have to be in Tokyo. Starting tomorrow I will have very little time to see sights or do anything that is not game related. So for this first day it was nice to just take some time to relax. What follows is an account of getting to Tokyo and being there the day before the big event.

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David Ellis has been a part of the gaming industry for longer than some of you guys have been alive. After working his way up the ladder at Microprose, he went on to help start Vicious Cycle in 2000. He works there currently as a game designer. He is also an award winning author with sixteen books to his name.

Sure, all of that is great, but you know what is even cooler? Dave loves classic games so much that he turned his garage into an arcade. He’s spent over $13,000 on his collection and has completely restored both a Donkey Kong and a Mario Bros. cabinet.

We asked Dave a few questions about his favorite games, his experience in the game industry, and what modern games he enjoys. Read on for his answers!

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Edgar and I also got to go hands on with the new Bond games at the recent Activision event. It was fun. They set up a great PR stunt, got us drunk, had beautiful women and hot cars all over the place. Oh, and there were games. After the cut Edgar and I chat about all of it.

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Literally anything, even arithmetic.

A lot of levels that people have made with the beta have been pretty cool. Take the huge Shadow of Colossus level for instance. That level has you go through a huge creature’s body, avoiding obstacles like stomach acid, neural impulses, and teeth. Oh, and the level is constantly moving accross the ground. But as awesome as that is, nothing has been nearly as amazing as the video after the break.

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On Wednesday I will once again be heading to Tokyo to cover the Tokyo Game Show for 4cr. And once again I will have a brand new team of cub reporters. It’s going to be weird to be there without Jools and Sean, but their places will headed up by Kate and Holli, both from England. I am hoping they will offer a unique viewpoint on the traditionally male-dominated exhibition.

We will try to cover all the things you feel are important. If you have a request for something we should report on, please leave a comment below. We are making a list right now of the must-see games and we will do our best to honor all your suggestions.

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If you’re in an RSS feed, click here for the big version.

The big news on campus is that Club Nintendo is finally coming to the Americas. The problem is, though, is that Nintendo of America still hates its customers with a passion usually reserved for divorce cases or Cops marathons. This is what it may look like.

We’re a bit late this time around, but here we are again, gabbing about the games we played during the month that was. Read on for the goods, and be sure and let us know what’s been on your plate, too.

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Every week, since the very first time I heard about Pikmin, I’ve done a quick internet search for Pikmin related stuff. I’ve found all kinds of cool things; toys, costumes, stuffed animals, etc. This week I found an amazing little scene rendered in 2D by a wonderful pixel artist, Lackey, over at Pixel Joint.

Gaze at this beauty! It’s so wonderful I just can’t contain myself. Now, let it soak in and think just how cool this would be if it were the first screen shot for a Pikmin DS game. Ah, I can dream.

Pikmin Pixel Art at Pixel Joint

Free Radical, creators of the excellent TimeSplitters series, are hosting a poll on their website.

Would you rather see it on the Wii, or another console? Also if you vote for something other than the Wii, please feel free to leave a comment with your address, I’ll see you soon. Thanks.

Vote Now!

The kind folks at Empire Interactive have offered us four copies of the DS version of their new puzzler, Pipemania, to give away to our readers. If you’ve played through the hacking bits in Bioshock, you’ll be right at home with Pipemania’s gameplay. This puzzle game, which is a remake of 80’s classic Pipe Dreams, tasks players with finding the quickest and most efficient path to the goal using only a limited number of pipe pieces.

That’s boring if there’s no time limit, so we’re shaking things up a bit. We want you to take the blank level below and design the craziest path to the goal (no limit on the number of pieces, just a limit on the amount of space). Twists, turns, and swirls are all welcome (if not expected). Bonus points if you can embed a picture or a message in there using pipe pieces.

Once you’ve designed your path, send it to mailbag@4colorrebellion.com with the subject “Pipemania Giveaway.” All entries must be in by 11:59 PM on Sunday, October 12th and entrants must live in the United States or Canada.

Click here for the level template
4cr Preview

It’s unfortunate but true, the downloadable software for the DSi will be region locked. This was expected, since it’s the same way with Wiiware and VC, but it’s still unfortunate. Nintendo gives the reason that:

“DSi is region locked because DSi embeds net communication functionality within itself, and we are intending to provide net services specifically tailored for each region.”

I really just wish that the marketplace would be universal, so anyone anywhere could download any version of any game. Or even better, if you download a game, you get access to all versions. So you could have downloaded Super Mario RPG when it came out in Japan, and then downloaded the US version for free when it came out here.

That’s the world I one day want to live in.

source: Gamasutra

Not much in terms of good release this week. Except Crash Bandicoot: Mind Over Mutant (4cr-Preview). If you don’t buy it, at least give it a rental, it deserves at least that much. Even thought there’s nothing else interesting, I’m guessing the releases from the past two weeks are still keeping you occupied.

Full list after the jump.

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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.

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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