Twinworld Game Reviews

Archive for June, 2015

Before digital game purchases were a thing, people could only acquire them in physical form.

I remember my school friends wanting to borrow games that I had, and in exchange I would borrow games from them that I’ve never played before. It was a win-win situation because it allowed us to play games that we’ve never had a chance to try. If the game was really fun, I’d ask my parents to purchase it for my birthday etc.

This was also the case with game rental stores, as I’d rent a game for a day or 2 and it if was really good, I’d ask my parents to buy it. With Nintendo games being in cartridge form, you didn’t have to worry about anything going wrong with the borrowed physical media unless you smashed it with a hammer etc.

Things are different now with digital game purchases since they are tied to your online profile. There’s no way to allow friends or family to borrow any of your games unless you purchased a retail copy. The only option, apart from them buying their own copy (new/used) or borrowing a physical copy, is to come down and try the game on your system.

Many people live on a budget and can’t afford to buy all the games they’d like to play, which is why game rentals / borrowing was such a great thing (unless the focus of the game was playing online, like PSO). Being able to help a friend or family member out by letting them play through a game they might not normally be able to was rewarding.

I was thinking, what if Nintendo were to implement some kind of game borrowing system. All your NNID’s are in their system anyway, along with the digital purchases you have made. You could be assigned a borrowing limit of 3 games. This means you can lend out up to 3 games and borrow up to 3 games from different people. There’d be a secondary limit allowing only 1 borrow / lend per set of NNIDs.

The borrowing period could range from a 1 day minimum to a 14 day maximum. The person lending out the game would pick the duration. What would happen is that the lender’s system would be flagged as having that game lent out and that game would become disabled from launching during this period. The lending process could be initiated from the Nintendo eShop, in the user’s Account area.

The person borrowing the game would then have the set duration to play the game. The user could choose to return the game early if they wanted and have the system delete or disable the game on their console at that time. The benefit of disabling the game would be incase the person ended up purchasing their own copy. The borrowed (disabled) copy would be unlocked and no longer disabled. If the game gets re-borrowed, then the system is updated to allow access to that game for the new duration period.

To avoid people changing their system clocks to extend the borrow duration, the system would call home to verify the remaining duration. If the console was offline, you would be allowed 3 launches. On the 4th launch, the system would disable launching the game until it can verify how much time is left for the borrow duration. I’m sure there would be a few kinks to work out, but this seems like a plausible idea.

What is your take on the idea of digital game lending / borrowing? If you could give a friend the opportunity to experience a great game they normally wouldn’t be able to, would you?

During tonight’s Class vs Crass podcast, Jools Watsham of Renegade Kid was asked by our live audience about Xeodrifter coming to the Wii U.

Jools confirmed that Xeodrifter would be coming to the Wii U, which should be very exciting to fans of Metroid-style games.

He also hinted that there would could be some sort of cross-buy for people who already own the 3DS version of the game.

source: Nintendo Enthusiast

Spotlighting Frozenbyte’s indie game, Trine: Enchanted Edition, for the Nintendo Wii U!

For those having trouble with Adventures of Pip, Twinworld has released a series of videos showing how to complete each level and collect all the villagers!

Here’s our video review of Adventures of Pip by TicToc Games for the Nintendo Wii U.

Six of the video gaming world’s most iconic titles have been inducted into the Video Game Hall of Fame at the Strong National Museum of Play. The inaugural inductees were chosen for their longevity, influence, contribution to popular culture — and, of course, for being great games. It’s hard to disagree — each of these six games is unique and important in its own right.

• Pong was among the first electronic games out there, and certainly the first to make a big impact. It may not be common these days, but it was unavoidable in the ’70s.
• Pac-Man’s frantic, addictive and deep gameplay gulped many a quarter in arcades, and is still a common sight in bars and lobbies today.
• Super Mario Bros. not only introduced a generation of kids to games, but ushered in arguably the most widely recognized video game character ever — Mario, of course (and to a lesser extent, his brother Luigi).
• Tetris is among the best-selling games of all time, and many a child of the ’80s will remember the music that accompanied hours-long play sessions of this block-stacking classic.
• Doom was the breakout hit of the shareware era, with copies passed from friend to friend — often secretly, as the ultra-violent shooter wasn’t exactly a hit with parents.
• World of Warcraft has ensnared millions for over a decade and helped spawn an entire genre of massively multiplayer online games — it wasn’t the first, but it’s definitely the biggest.

The museum’s press site has lots of images and footage of the games if you want to take a trip down memory lane.

Source: NBC News

SANTA MONICA, CA – Dentsu Entertainment USA has partnered with Man of Action Entertainment to develop a 26-episode animated series based on Capcom’s iconic video game franchise Mega Man™ for the global market, it was announced today by Yuichi Kinoshita, President and Chief Executive Officer, Dentsu Entertainment USA, Inc. Under terms of the deal, Dentsu Entertainment holds worldwide broadcast and licensing rights for all aspects of the new Mega Man TV series.

Dentsu handpicked Man Of Action Entertainment, creators of Ben 10 and Generator Rex, to create, write and executive produce the all-new Mega Man animated series. Disney/Marvel’s Academy Award®-winning feature Big Hero 6 utilized the characters and team created by Man of Action, the bi-coastal creative studio and writers’ collective formed by creators and acclaimed comic book writers Joe Casey, Joe Kelly, Duncan Rouleau and Steven T. Seagle. Marvel called upon Man of Action to produce and write Ultimate Spider-Man and Marvel’s Avengers Assemble for their successful launches on Disney XD. The new Mega Man series has a target air date of 2017, coinciding with the franchise’s 30th anniversary.

“We are very excited about the opportunity to introduce an all-new Mega Man to loyal fans and kids,” said Kinoshita, commenting on the deal. “Having a celebrated character from Japan reimagined by Man Of Action is the ideal project for Dentsu Entertainment USA.”

Man of Action’s Rouleau said, “The 1990s Mega Man TV series was cool and different than other series targeted at kids during that time. It featured great action, but also brought the laughs. Mega Man is a character that is even more relevant for today’s kids and we are really looking forward to creating something new that still respects the long tradition of the character.”

The Mega Man franchise is grounded in a series of video games, first launched in 1987, featuring battles fought by the eponymous blue robot protagonist and an ongoing cast of allies and enemies. The Mega Man multiverse has spawned over 130 video games on multiple gaming systems, selling over 30 million copies worldwide, as well as a plethora of toys, comics and collectibles. A highly-rated Mega Man TV series was popular in the USA in the 1990s and aired for several seasons.

Source: Capcom Unity

Splatoon has been an absolute hit so far on the Wii U, and Nintendo has been doing some interesting things to market Splatoon to the masses. GameTruck is the largest mobile video game party trailer in the United States, and now Splatoon is will be well represented.

GameTruck got inked! The “Summer of Splatoon” just kicked off and runs through Aug. 31 on all GameTruck vehicles across the country. Book a truck for your next party and enjoy Splatoon with all your friends during the squid days of summer!

Source: Nintendo Enthusiast

Natsume has announced that the Harvest Moon series will be making its Wii U debut with Harvest Moon: Seeds of Memories. Natsume promises that Seeds of Memories will be “Inspired by the old-school gameplay of the very first games”. The classic farm animals return once again: Cows, sheep, chickens, a horse, and a dog, but Natsume have announced that a new pet, a bobcat, will be available once the player befriends it. In addition to farming, the game will feature cooking, fishing, foraging, mining, festivals, and weddings.

Hiro Maekawa, President and CEO of Natsume Inc., says “From the farm to the town, we wanted Harvest Moon: Seeds of Memories to evoke the feeling of a classic Harvest Moon game with modern twists!”

Natsume plans to reveal more details of the game at this year’s E3, and Harvest Moon: Seeds of Memories is planned to launch on Wii U, PC, iOS, and Android this Winter.

Source : 8-Worlds News