It’s the end of 2008 and in our concluding part of our feature this week, here’s our top five games of the PSN. Read it HERE and once again be sure to let us know what were your highlights.
All that remains is for us to wish you a Happy New Year and all the best for 2009 wherever you are and whatever you’re doing.
If you aren’t too busy getting ready for the usual New Years celebrations then you may be interested in today’s XBLA release.
Merv Griffin’s Crosswords - 800 Microsoft Points
From the Emmy -winning creator of Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy, and hosted by Ty Treadway, Merv Griffin’s Crosswords combines over a thousand unique and challenging crossword puzzles with fast-paced game show action in an incredibly entertaining game for the whole family. Step up to the podium and become a word wizard!
* Puzzles galore: Become a contestant and play over 1,000 new crosswords including puzzles from the game show.
* Themes: Play your favourite themed puzzles—movies, music, TV shows, and more.
* Game modes: Step up to the podium and play as a contestant on the game show, or in any of four different game modes including Timed Mode and Daily Puzzle.
* Difficulty settings: Become a word wizard and play Monday, Thursday, and Sunday puzzles in three difficulty settings.
The second day of our round up of what was good in 2008 - this time for Nintendo’s WiiWare service. You can read it HERE - again let us know what were your top five titles. Tommorow, in the third and final part, we’ll have a run down of the top PSN titles for this year.
It’s been a little while (hey, we’re busy people you know), but we’ve just added our latest review to the site - World of Goo for WiiWare.
Be sure to check it out HERE.
Today the US WiiWare service is updated with:
MaBoShi’s Arcade - 800 Nintendo Points
Featuring three distinct modes and simultaneous play across three game windows, the constantly changing environment of Maboshi’s Arcade creates an atmosphere unlike any other. Each of the modes is based on one of three familiar shapes (circle, stick and square) and offers the same goal: score a million points. Use the intuitive controls to bash enemies in Circle mode, weave your way through Stick mode or burn a path around obstacles in Square mode-all while dealing with power-up items and keeping watch on which effects the other game windows may have on your own.
CueSports - Pool Revolution - 500 Nintendo Points
Grab your Wii Remote controller and take a shot at this virtual billiard game. Enjoy match-ups, playing classic favorites such as 9 Ball, 8 Ball, Rotation and Snooker, as well as walk-through trick shots in Puzzle mode. Connect to Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection (Nintendo WFC) to go head-to-head with your friends, or even hustle opponents across the world in Nintendo WFC match-ups. This game offers two types of controls, allowing you to virtually strike the cue ball with your Wii Remote controller or use the buttons to adjust the strength of your shot and then strike. Hone your skills in Practice mode, learning all the cool techniques you need to be a true hustler. Use the edit feature to create your own challenge and nail the trick shot you’ve always dreamed of sinking. Pull off an amazing shot and show everyone who’s the biggest shark in the pool.
As 2008 comes to an end, we crawl from the wreckage of Christmas to provide you with a run down of what we think were this years top games on XBLA. You can read it HERE - be sure to take a look and let us know what were your particular favourites.
And stay tuned over the next few days when we’ll also be running down our favourite games for the PlayStation Network and WiiWare.
Seasons greeting and best wishes to all our readers! We’ll be taking a bit of a break over the Festive period while we play lots of games, eat and drink far too much, make idle promises to uphold a load of New Years resolutions and then breaking them straight away on January 2nd.
That means updates will probably be a bit erratic for a while, but be sure to check back in between now and the New Year for our features on the top downloadable titles of 2008.
Whatever you’re playing have a safe and happy Christmas and may your 2009 be full of gaming delight!
Regards
The Console-Arcade Team.
No Lumines Supernova for you yet Europe! Instead you get an early Xmas update featuring:
Savage Moon
Savage Moon sees you protecting a remote off-world mining facility from waves of ravenous space bugs, looking to consume everything in their path. Armed with a fearsome array of defensive weapons, your mission is to take your choice of the finest armaments known to humankind and keep the facility safe by strategically placing these guns which then automatically fire at their targets.
Will you select the dependable rapid-fire machine gun? The intimidating Chaos Tower? Or opt for another item taken from the range of destructive weaponry at your disposal? Choose carefully, as each one has to be manually positioned for the greatest effectiveness in destroying the increasing waves of monstrous insects.
Mahjong Tales: Ancient Wisdom
Embark on a journey of magic and discovery through ancient China! Mahjong Tales: Ancient Wisdom brings the classic game to the PlayStation Network, combining the hottest features of mahjong into a single game featuring a narrated story mode that whisks players away into a storybook adventure, enhanced with hand illustrated ancient Chinese tales.
There’s also a WipEout HD demo (why wouldn’t you have already bought that?!) and price drops on some games including echochrome, FlOw, The Last Guy, PAIN, SuperStardust HD and the full game of WipEout HD. All the more reason to pick them up if you haven’t already!
Your Christmas week game on XBLA today is Puzzle Arcade for 800 Microsoft Points.
Puzzle Arcade is the online jigsaw game with a twist! With so many jigsaw puzzles at your fingertips, you can play in multiple modes and challenge yourself differently every time. Become Master of the Jigsaw Universe all by yourself or play alongside friends. The possibilities are endless in Puzzle Arcade.
* Puzzles galore: More than thirty-five jigsaw puzzles are included, featuring photos, artwork, and illustrations. Downloadable puzzle packs will follow.
* Multiple game modes: Try Classic or Turbo mode, with three levels of difficulty, and twenty different puzzle challenges.
* Multiplayer: Support is provided for up to four gamers at the same console and over Xbox LIVE.
* Camera support: The game includes Xbox LIVE Vision Camera support allowing you to make and share your own puzzles.
To avoid Christmas being an inconvenience and missing your weekly PSN update, Sony have decided to throw the switch a day early. That means if you use the US PlayStation Store you get:
Lumines Supernova
Indulge in the fusion of puzzle, lights and music! The latest installment to the blockbuster franchise from Tetsuya Mizuguchi and Q Entertainment comes packed with brand new skins and new modes, exclusive to the PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system.
LUMINES Supernova combines puzzles, block-dropping beats and video entertainment to create an addictively-fun gameplay experience that will keep you playing day after day. The game offers 40 skins in the Challenge Mode alone, with several brand new skins keeping the Lumines experience fresh. Choose from several different single player modes, battle it out with a friend or create your own background music in the all-new Sequencer Mode.
There’s also a free Holidays pack available to download for the game.
In other related US PSN news, quiz game Jeapordy get’s a price reduction down to $9.99, another (free) patch has been released for High Velocity Bowling and there’s another downloadable character available for PAIN (for the going rate of $0.99).
As yet there’s sadly been no update to other store regions.
Coming to Nintendo’s WiiWare service sometime in 2009 is Wayforwards LIT, a spooky 3D isometric adventure. Here’s how they describe it:
LIT is a 3D horror action puzzler that follows Jake, a typical, apathetic, slightly emo teenager, who’s trapped in his high school when it’s overrun by dark creatures. Players must guide Jake through 30 classrooms, using the available light sources to create paths to each exit. The goal is to reunite Jake with his girlfriend Rachael, who’s also trapped in the school and calls Jake from time to time on the school’s phone system. Stay in the light and Jake’s safe. Step into the darkness and he’s pulled under.
In addition to light puzzling, the game features 5 boss battles against dark faculty members, an unlockable challenge mode, multiple endings, level select mode, and a second playable character. LIT will be released soon, exclusively on Nintendo’s WiiWare platform.
And here’s the video for more of an idea how it looks and plays.
The Christmas week update for WiiWare brings you:-
Tiki Towers - 500 Nintendo Points:
Tiki Towers is a game of construction, destruction, problem solving, and monkeys! Reclaim the islands of your tribe by defeating a series of evil enemy chiefs. Work with your monkey friends to build towers out of bamboo poles, coconuts, and vines. Match wits against the enemy chiefs bent on destroying your towers and driving you from the islands. Navigate levels filled with crazy building challenges, and deal with unfriendly wildlife and other environmental obstacles. Get your monkeys to chant for the BananaMana necessary to counter enemy attacks. Play in either single-player or two-player cooperative mode in this game where monkeys rule!
Fun! Fun! Minigolf - 900 Nintendo Points
Play minigolf with your friends in beautiful environments. Choose a character and turn your Wii Remote controller into a golf club. With its easy-to-use controls, all you need to do is aim, swing and see who’s the best putter. Play 27 holes spread across America, Asia and Europe. Enjoy exotic locations all over the world. Go for gold in single-player mode, or invite your friends. Fun! Fun! Minigolf supports up to four players. You can use one to four Wii Remote controllers. Fun! Fun! Minigolf is the ultimate party game for everyone.
The Xbox Live Arcade is getting a massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) thanks to developer Ankama Games.
Wakfu combines the turn-based aspect of a tactical video game with fluid real-time action. In the same spirit that animates its big brother, DOFUS, Wakfu will transport you to a magical universe full of sparkling humour. Players are awaiting the release of Wakfu with impatience, and this revolutionary game is sure to equal expectations.
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You can expect to find Island of Wakfu launching some time in 2009 and in the meantime find out more about the animated cartoon, video game, card game and comic book (that’s a lot of stuff) at the OFFICIAL WEBSITE.
Here’s a bit of a blast from the past. Originally appearing as a sort of tech demo affair for the PC / 360 it looks like Ubisoft have now crafted it in to something playable and are bringing CellFactor: Revolution to XBLA and PSN under the title of Psychokinetic Wars. Here’s what the press release says:
San Francisco, CA - December 19, 2008 – Today Ubisoft announced it will be releasing CellFactor®: Psychokinetic Wars on Xbox LIVE® Arcade for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PlayStation®Network from premier developer Immersion Games. CellFactor: Psychokinetic Wars is a fast-paced first-person multiplayer shooter that puts players in the center of the battle of technology vs. humanity. Complete with next-gen graphics and robust gameplay, CellFactor: Psychokinetic Wars allows players to wage war by using their choice of gunfire and/or telekinetic superpowers. Players can use telekinetic energy to rip objects from the surrounding environment and hurl them at enemies or draw on their powers to create a bullet-proof energy shield that protects against gunfire. Flying, teleporting and accelerated speed abilities give players countless ways to fight the good fight with plenty of intense combat action. CellFactor: Psychokinetic Wars will be available on Xbox LIVE Arcade for Xbox 360 and PlayStation Network and is rated “T” for Teen.
About CellFactor: Psychokinetic Wars:
CellFactor: Psychokinetic Wars combines both single-player and multiplayer components into one action-packed downloadable title. The game includes four multiplayer modes supporting up to sixteen players (Death Match, Capture the Flag, Team Death Match and Assault) and features a deep single-player campaign with 30 solo challenges, ten for each of the three characters. As your score increases, you gain access to added perks such as faster stamina regeneration, increased fire power and enhanced teleporting as well as unlockable customization options for your character. And with support for Xbox Achievement Points and PlayStation Trophies, CellFactor®: Psychokinetic Wars is destined to be one of the top games released on Xbox LIVE Arcade for Xbox 360 and PlayStation Network.
Here’s the original video from 2006 which should give you a taster of how this will all come together.
One to keep an eye on for 2009 which is shaping up to be something special for downloadable titles.
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