[UPDATED: 3:09pm PST] Today's regularly updated newsbriefs include news Tamagotchi's vying for popularity on Nintendo's Wii, Acclaim Games gearing players up to
Dance! online, and news of Twelve Interactive (
Crash Dummy) officially developing for the Wii.
- Publisher Namco Bandai Games has announced that the latest in the long-running Tamagotchi franchise,
Tamagotchi Party On! will be released in the U.S. for Nintendo's Wii in spring 2007. Following the commercially successful Tamagotchi DS releases from developer Nana-On Sha (
Parappa the Rapper), the new Wii iteration is a 4-player 3D party game in which players race to become the most popular Tamagotchi on Tamagotchi Planet through 15 mini-games including shaking hands, finding lost children, and testing your public speaking skills. “
Tamagotchi Party On!DANCE! Online, supported by in-game ads and purchases provided by IGA Worldwide. In the game, players can dance with friends to hit songs and compete in online dance competitions using either the keyboard or a supported dance pad peripheral. Said project head and veteran director David Perry, “I’m certainly proud to launch the first ever massively multiplayer dancing game in the USA. A free game with real hit songs to dance to, this has never happened before. We've come up with an entirely new way to work with the music industry, on a game that costs nothing to play.
DANCE! Online is going to completely revolutionize the online game space. I'm expecting that this dancing game will create a new culture, changing the way gamers and music artists interact in today’s virtual world." Interested players can register for the closed beta at
the game's website.
- Representatives from Italy based Twelve Interactive (
Crash Dummy) announced that company is now an officially licensed developer for the Wii. “The Nintendo Wii is a perfect console to work on for small independent developers like us. It give us the opportunity to work on triple A games, with very reduced budget,” commented Giuseppe Crugliano, managing director and founder of Twelve Interactive. “
Crash Dummy Vs The Evil D-Troit Wii version (published by Oxygen), will take full advantage of the innovative Wiimote and Nunchuck controllers, transforming the game experience in a fresh brand new experience.” Twelve Interactive also recently announced that the company is a licensed developer for the PlayStation 3. The company is currently working on the previously announced futuristic action game
Starblaze – Ultimate Battle, which is in development for the PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PSP, DS, and Windows Vista.
- The latest updates on Gamasutra sister alt.gaming weblog
GameSetWatch include
a look at a pair of Game Boy Advance titles from Graffiti Entertainment,
a new internet parody of working for a video game company, and
the year in review for adventure gaming from the International House Of Mojo.
- The latest updates from Gamasutra sister website
Game Career Guide include
a wrap up from the recent Game Design Expo in Vancouver, British Columbia.
- Also updated today: the
latest Gamasutra job postings, including openings from Crystal Dynamics, LeapFrog Enterprises, S2 Games, and Volition.
