Video chat, three-on-three battles and a brand new graphical style are just some of the surprises awaiting folks who plan to pick up the new Pokémon Black & White, out in Japan next month and reaching the Western world next Spring. They're not all the surprises, though: in fact, the story mode promises to be full of them.
Control the plumber with only your eyes
We've had NES consoles controlled by peculiar pads in the past, one notable example being the Castlevania fan who used a dance mat, but what if you could play a similarly legendary, groundbreaking game without any controllers at all? No, we're not talking about Kinect, we're talking about Super Mario Bros. and this incredible set-up from Waterloo Labs.
New Shining game get! Oh. It's about unlocking hearts and has character designs by Tony. Japan-only. Oh. http://bit.ly/atF1gs
Watching the masterful, if grim, Children of Men. It's a big change from our 30 Rock marathon. TWIST!
.@DaddyNewts beats @DamienMcFerran http://dw.sipo.jp/#t=DaddyNewts (#DotWar http://dw.sipo.jp/ )
Sonic and Knuckles take to the track
If there's one thing better than new video games merchandise, we haven't found it yet. Feast your eyes on these new remote control cars from NKOK, showing Sonic and Knuckles in their Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing mobiles.
Princess present but not in weapon form
Ever since the very first piece of teaser artwork was produced for Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword – long before it was even known as Skyward Sword, even – there's been discussion of who or what the sword would be. Eiji Aonuma has confirmed the sword does have a personality but you can rule out one possibility: it's not Princess Zelda.
6 hours, 38 minutes and 16 seconds, to be precise
Earthbound is highly regarded, and rightly so: even to this day it captivates gamers the world over (apart from many in Europe, where it was never released.) One gamer who loves it more than most is speed runner Chris Corsi, who just set the Twin Galaxies-approved World Record for the fastest completion of the game at 6 hours, 38 minutes and 16 seconds, nearly 3 hours faster than the next contender.
Sonic Boom heard everywhere
Takashi Iizuka is a man of great experience in the games industry, having worked on Sonic titles since 1994's 16-bit send-off Sonic & Knuckles. Now head of Sonic Team, he's the man charged with glugging the poisoned chalice of reviving the blue hedgehog to his former glory, with Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 and Sonic Colours for Wii and DS both on the way before 2010's out. Can we expect Sonic Colours in particular to deliver? Yes, says Mr Iizuka. Yes we can.
Updated: 1000 Points
And Yet It Moves hit many people's radars with our First Impressions of the title back in February, and it's been a long wait to see when the game would finally be available to download. Now, thanks to an update to Nintendo of America's site, we have a date: August 23rd.
My name is James Newton, and this is my website - a collection of my writings about
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