All Articles: Wii

Upsets abound in Round 2 of Madden NFL 12 voting

Posted on April 4, 2011 by John Scalzo

The second round of voting for the Madden NFL 12 cover athlete is complete and a ton of top seeds have been knocked out.

Jacksonville’s Maurice Jones-Drew (#3), Atlanta’s Matt Ryan (#2), Pittsburgh’s Hines Ward (#2) and San Diego’s Phillip Rivers (#1) have all escaped the Madden cover curse been voted out by the fans. The survivors of the second round include several Cinderella stories, though Super Bowl MVP Aaron Rodgers is still alive as well in round three:

Aaron Rodgers (#1) vs Danny Woodhead (#4)
Jamaal Charles (#6) vs Peyton Hillis (#10)

Adrian Peterson (#9) vs Drew Brees (#4)
Michael Vick (#3) vs Patrick Willis (#10)

Voting for the third round begins today and runs through April 11th at ESPN.com/maddenvote.

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Nintendo registers Xenoblade Chronicles, The Last Story domains

Posted on April 4, 2011 by Warp Zoned Staff

A few days after Nintendo of Europe announced that Mistwalker’s Xenoblade would be released in Europe (as Xenoblade Chronicles), Nintendo of America has begun dropping hints that the game will continue traveling east and arrive on American shores soon.

According to Nintendo’s previous 2011 release schedules, an American release for the game has always been in the works (albeit under the title Monado: Beginning of the World). But it looks like a name change is in order as Nintendo of America has registered the domain, XenobladeChronicles.com. Currently, the site just redirects to Nintendo’s homepage, but this is a very good sign that the game will be coming to America soon.

Our curiousity piqued, we tried a URL that might point to another Nintendo RPG, The Last Story, and what do you know, TheLastStory.com is owned by the publisher as well (and it was apparently registered in February 2010).

Here’s hoping an official announcement for both games is imminent.

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The fates may be with us: Xenoblade coming to Wii in Europe

Posted on March 31, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

RPG enthusiasts have been on the edge of their seats to see if two titles over the last year, The Last Story and Xenoblade, would be making it to America. Prospects are still bleak for the former, but chances just got a little higher for the latter, as Nintendo of Europe has confirmed today it will be bringing Xenoblade Chronicles (a retitling of Xenoblade) to PAL territories. The game is slated to release sometime later this year, and will feature both English and Japanese voice tracks, along with subtitles in English, French, Italian, German and Spanish. Unfortunately the Wii is region locked, but I can think of a few people who’d be willing to import it with a Wii that can play it because of the language options alone.

Xenoblade is known for being the latest game by Monolith Soft, the company behind Xenosaga, consisting of many veterans from Square during its golden age. Their most notable works there include Xenogears and earlier Final Fantasy titles. You can check the official site for the port here.

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No surprises in first round of Madden NFL 12 cover voting

Posted on March 28, 2011 by John Scalzo

The first round of the Madden NFL 12 Cover Vote has ended with few surprises. The higher ranked seed won in every matchup except for #7 Ray Rice (who lost to #10 Peyton Hillis) and #8 Julius Peppers (who lost to #9 Adrian Peterson).

Voting for the second round has begun today at ESPN.com/maddenvote and with it comes a few very interesting matchups:

Aaron Rodgers (#1) vs Sam Bradford (#8)
Danny Woodhead (#4) vs Hakeem Nicks (#5)
Maurice Jones-Drew (#3) vs Jamaal Charles (#6)
Matt Ryan (#2) vs Peyton Hillis (#10)

Phillip Rivers (#1) vs Adrian Peterson (#9)
Drew Brees (#4) vs Mark Sanchez (#5)
Michael Vick (#3) vs Andre Johnson (#6)
Hines Ward (#2) vs Patrick Willis (#10)

Voting for round two continues through April 3rd.

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Nintendo Download for 3/28/11

Posted on March 28, 2011 by John Scalzo

This week’s Nintendo Download is a bit thin as the consolemaker has no WiiWare or Virtual Console titles to add to the Wii Shop Channel.

However, this week will see the release of new demo versions of two previously available games: Dart Rage, a dart-throwing simulator; and Learning with the PooYoos: Episode 2, a “poetic brain-trainer” for the 3 to 5 set.

This week’s DSiWare releases include Simply Solitaire and Faceez: Monsters!. You can find out more about both of these titles after the break. (more…)

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Guitar Hero III tops biggest moneymakers list

Posted on March 25, 2011 by John Scalzo

Guitar Hero may be dead (for now at least), but the franchise has certainly left its mark on the gaming world. In a report released by The NPD Group yesterday, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock was crowned the king of all video games… in terms of total sales dollars that is. The music game has brought $830.9 million into Activision’s coffers, no doubt thanks to the expensive guitar bundle you see above.

Activision can also lay claim to the number two game on the list, Call of Duty: Black Ops (even though gamers have bought more copies of CODBLOPS than any other game ever). All told, the publisher snapped up half of the spots in the top ten.

But when it comes to printing money, the only other name that comes to mind is Nintendo. The consolemaker has four games in the top ten: both versions of Wii Fit, Wii Play and Mario Kart Wii. The only non-Activision/Nintendo title in the top ten was MTV Games’ Rock Band.

Interestingly, no game on the list was released before 2007, but CNBC pointed out that the list may not be entirely accurate as Super Mario Bros. 3 sold 18 million copies back in 1990 (before The NPD Group started tracking game sales). Originally retailing for $50, the game’s $900 million dollar tally would surpass every other game on the list.

Hit the jump for the full top ten. (more…)

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Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters arriving in 3D on June 7

Posted on March 24, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

Ryan Reynolds’ latest film is generating a lot of excitement, but you can get your own taste of the Green Lantern, even in 3D if you wish, before the film comes out on June 17. Warner Bros. Interactive announced today that Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters will release in 3D for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Nintendo 3DS on June 7, along with a Wii version in standard 2D. This will be Warner Bros. first game for the Nintendo 3DS.

The PS3 and 360 version are actually kind of interesting – no expensive 3DTV is needed. The 3D effects are compatible with any standard or high definition television, all you have to do is wear the glasses that come with the game. With all this talk of 3D being the new direction for gaming, it’s great to see developers finding alternate, cheaper ways to deliver it to us.

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EA teases us with ‘First Look’ at Madden NFL 12

Posted on March 22, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

The show must go on. Lockouts can’t stop EA’s Madden NFL series as the latest entry is set to be released under every platform under the sun this August as usual. Today we get the first teaser trailer for Madden NFL 12, with those titillating menus, classic gameplay, and that sweet HD grass you just want to rip up and smell.

ANYWAY, don’t forget you can win your very own copy of Madden NFL 12 by making your own bracket for the cover athlete, and we strongly suggest joining the Warp Zoned group in EA’s bracket challenge.

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