Super Meat Boy's WiiWare Release Canceled; Disc Release 'Looking Grim' (Noooooo!)

The creators of PC and Xbox 360 hit Super Meat Boy have aborted the game's WiiWare release, saying they're unable to fit a quality version of the game under the size limit Nintendo imposes on titles for the download service.

Team Meat's struggles to pare down Super Meat Boy delayed its originally planned November release. The indie developer said it was able to get the file to 50 megabytes then, but 40 megabytes is the WiiWare cap, and the sacrifices made to get the game there left creators Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes unhappy with the game's quality.

"It's mostly music," McMillen told Kotaku this evening. "We got it close to 40 (MB), but we only have five music tracks, one retro and one boss, and no cutscene music. ... The cut scenes might as well not be there, and if you beat the game, I'm sure you know the final cutscene needs a musical score, to have any impact at all."

McMillen said Team Meat "blindly assumed we could submit a bit higher. ... We assumed we might get a 5 to 10 megabyte addition." He noted that the discussions with Nintendo were not adversarial. "We loved working with them," he said. So they're pursuing leads on publishing a retail disc, but the prospects are not good.

"So far, the three biggest [publishers contacted by Team Meat] say there's no money in third-party retail (on the Wii)," McMillen told Kotaku, "but we are still asking."

Despite the difficulty, McMillen said he and Refenes remain committed to the platform. "I will tell you, we will do a game on a Nintendo platform," McMillen told Kotaku. "That's for sure." Whether that game will be Super Meat Boy, however, remains to be seen.

Via: Kotaku

Review - Just Dance

Wondering why there is a sudden boom in dance games recently? Why developers are going gaga for something so simple and "not for the hardcore audience"? This is the game that started it all and if you've heard about it, I bet you already hate it without even taking a crack at it. Let's think for a moment, maybe this game isn't for you. After all... [FULL REVIEW]

Just Dance
Developer: Ubisoft Paris
Publisher: Ubisoft
Platform: Nintendo Wii
Rating: E for Everyone
Release: 11/17/2009

Impressions: Dead Space 2 demo

PSN was updated with loads of new stuff for christmas and one of them was the Demo of Dead Space 2. I quickly downloaded it to see what the sequel has in store for us when it hits Jan 25 next year.

If you watched the latest gameplay footage of Dead Space 2 and their demo feeds, thats exactly what your getting in this demo. The Demo starts off with a recap of the events of the first Dead Space giving a brief history of the game's story and about the main Protagonist Isaac Clark. Dead Space 2 is set 3 years after the events of the first game and has Isaac Clark waking up in this inhabited moon with necromorphs everywhere. Again he has to survive.

I've seen this demo already in E3 but playing it hands-on gives a better impression than watching someone play it of course. When you get control of Isaac Clark for the first time, everything feels familiar. I grasp the controls of the game quickly and started exploring this narrow area surrounded with containers on the walls. You are given 4 weapons to play around with. the 3 weapons were known since they were in the first game. The famous plasma cutter, the plasma rifle(which btw has a nood tube alternate fire now, better than that crap alt in the first game ) and the line cutter.The fourth one though was some sort of weapon that shoots nails. It's pretty trippy since it can stick Necromorphs to walls and you can dismember them slowly as they struggle to get free.

During the course of the demo you are introduced with new enemies. Aside from the normal necromorphs shown at the start of the demo you get enemies that can slow you down and spit green stuff that hurts. Another new necromorph is this tripod-ish thing that in the middle of the demo grabs hold of your leg and just like the first game you must shoot his obvious shiny "weak spot" before he drags you somewhere. Another new necromorh introduced were these necromorph babies with fingers as claws. Freaky stuff. I hated the baby shooters in the first one, now they have these group of fast freak babies running straight at you.

There was a small easy puzzle involving you to hack a terminal(very easy mini game to hack through) then using your stasis to fix this device. You get introduced to the new feature which has you have free control of Isaac in zero gravity which is a good improvement. The demo was roughly 20 mins long and it ends with a huge necromorph appearing in front of isaac.

I enjoyed the demo and I liked the fact that everything felt familiar. The best part of Dead Space 2 for me was the fact that Isaac Clark can talk. I hated the fact that I was controlling a character that doesn't say anything. That's what lacked in the first game, the ability to see the personality of Isaac evolve as he progress and experience the horror. Giving voice to main characters can go a long way in improving the story, especially a horror game.

Sadly, though I may have enjoyed the demo and liked the new improvements just like the first game, it doesn't feel like a game to get on day one of release. With all the games coming out early next year, I can't grab all the new games and have been deciding which game to skip. This demo has made my decision. I think I'll be experiencing Dead Space 2 a few months after release.


Dead Space 2 Demenia trailer

Review - Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars

Got that fighting game itch and either can't wait for Marvel vs Capcom 3 or own a Wii? There is something for that and it's called Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars. Now you may not know what the heck "Tatsunoko" is or who these bird themed costumed heroes maybe but don't let that stop you from giving this game a try because this game may end up surprising you. [FULL REVIEW]

Tatsunoko vs Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars

Developer: Eighting

Publisher: Capcom

Platform: Nintendo Wii

Rating: T for Teen

Release: 1/26/2010

Gran Turismo 5 Patch 1.05 out now

It's only been a month since GT5 was released and already 5 patches have been released. Patch 1.05 was just released yesterday and this is a big one. At a file size of 608MB, the content added improves the GT experience online and in your GT life. Were talking about seasonal events, time trail and drift leaderboards, online dealership, online experience, improved rewards, and a few more. talk about an incomplete game on release.

I started to wonder, were they really holding off with some content just for the sake of making sure certain features are ready to be added in the game? or their holding off content to  impress us that the game is constantly evolving? whatever the reason, more content is always welcome in any gamer's book. Patch notes below.

Gran Turismo 5 patch 1.05:


Seasonal Events
[Seasonal Events] have been added to the upper left side of the [GT Mode] - [GT Life] screen. From here you can participate in official online events from the Polyphony Digital team. In these events, all participants under the same regulations, and if you complete the event you will win rewards and experience. In Time Trials and Drift Trials, compete on the leader boards with players around the world.

Online Dealership
An [Online Dealership] has been added to the left center of the screen. In here you will find popular and rare used cars. You might just come across that one car you've always been looking for, that you haven't been able to find in the used car dealership.

Online Race Rewards and Experience
When you complete a race in the open lobby or my lounge, you will now gain rewards and experience points. Therefore if you are focused more on playing online, you'll still be able to gain rewards and levels that you need to progress in GT Life.

Driving Distance and Number of wins in Online Races
The driving distance and number of wins you achieve when you complete a race in Open lobby or My lounge will now affect your stats in Profile and the Garage. Here again the results from your online play will cumulate within GT Life

Improved Rewards
The rewards for winning races in Both A-Spec and B-Spec in GT mode- GT Life have been increased for a limited time only. This applies until the end of January 2011. This is a great chance for those who were previously have difficulties getting ahead in the game, due to lack of funds for tuning and purchasing required cars.

Race Information Display
Is now available in the Start-Quick Options. You can also see this in Race Display in Options.

Save Data Backup
You can now copy and restore your save data. For details please refer to the in-game Manual

Personal BGM (menu)
From [options]-[hardware]-[Audio], it is now possible to set the Personal BGM (menu). This can also be accessed from the Music Library within GT Mode.

Car Name Change
The official name of the "Red Bull X1" has been changed to "Red Bull X2010"

Integration within the website
THe main features within GT Mode - Community can now be accessed through the "Gran-Turismo.com Official Website.

Important Note
We have made improvements to the Log within GT Mode - Community section,
in order to make its operation more stable. Please note that the information that was here before the update has been reset.

Demon's Soul's server life extended... again

One of the best RPG's you can get out of the PS3 will have their server's extended once again, publisher Atlus just announced. It was originally extended till the end of March of 2011 but because of it's growing popularity they decided to extend it even further till the end of Oct of 2011. This is great new's indeed for the community of Demon Soul's who seem to just grow rather than slow down. This is considered as a must buy for any PS3 owners out there. If you want something fresh, painfully challenging and just love RPGs, pick it up. It will suck you in and you won't regret it.

"We've said it before and we'll say it again," said Atlus exec Aram jabbari, "we will support the online servers for Demon's Souls as long as we possibly can, and we'll be as transparent about the entire process as possible, hence us constantly updating folks as to what to expect.

"That said, we're starting to think.... the servers may have taken on a bit of a.... life of their own. Have you played the game? it's not just one of the most brilliant roleplaying games ever made; it's darn challenging, too. It's starting to feel like even if we wanted to, we couldn't shut things down."


"Honestly, we're more worried the servers will shut down than the other way around."

They have a point. Atlus created quite a unique Franchise that's just an amazing game overall. I don't think another extension is even enough for this ever growing community.

Source: Eurogamer