Kidzworld's Official Blog

For this week’s game releases post, we talked about the new Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, Eat! Fat! Fight!, and Fast Food Panic. Eat! Fat! Fight! is a sumo wrestling game on Wiiware, and I thought that there had to be more sumo wrestling games out there. Well, there is an independent game called Sumotori Dreams on the PC, and it’s pretty awesome, especially if you have a friend to play against. There’s a demo, and then the full game is $4.50 beyond that. It won’t allow you the pleasure of training your own wrestler like Eat! Fat! Fight!, but it’s definitely worth downloading the demo.

For this week’s game releases, we got Guitar Hero Van Halen, Hotel Dash, and AiRace. Here’s the full tracklist for Guitar Hero Van Halen, so you can better decide if this one’s worth your money.

Another week of only three games coming out, but still some neat stuff. Pixeljunk Shooter is getting some insanely good reviews. The first thing I think when I see the game, though, is that it’s not exactly a “shooter” at all. It involves shooting, but that’s totally not the point.

It turns out there was a contest to decide the name of the game, back when it was a prototype and was only being called “Pixeljunk 1-4.” People got a look at this video, and got to decide what they thought it should be called. The leading name by votes on their website was “Pixeljunk Elements,” by a long long way. But the developers were afraid that the name wasn’t action-y enough, and that people might think the game was about the weather. Other leading contender names were “Pixeljunk Caves,” “Pixeljunk Depths,” “Pixeljunk Atlantis,” “Pixeljunk S.O.S.!,” and “Pixeljunk Blaster.”

The developers were planning on calling it “Pixeljunk Depths,” but they said that the name was too hard to say. So anyway, they picked “Pixeljunk Shooter,” which received only 8 votes, and said that that name won the contest, which ticked a lot of folks off, and me too a little bit. It’s not that much of a shooter, it’s more about the water/lava puzzles.

Regardless, great game, definitely worth trying for $10 on the Playstation Network.

This week’s game release post only had three games, all for the DS, but there was a big one: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks. The last DS Zelda game, Phantom Hourglass, let you steer a ship, and this one lets you drive a train, which was kind of unexpected for a medieval-fantasy-type game. So, based on that pattern of each DS Zelda game having a new type of transportation in it, here are my best guesses at what the next Zelda game’s title might be:

• The Legend of Zelda: Mysterious Biplane
• The Legend of Zelda: The Forest Halfpipe
• The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Pneumatic Tube
• The Legend of Zelda: Rally Car Rumble
• The Legend of Zelda: Segway of Truth

In our latest gaming releases post, we covered three new DS games, because apparently they’re all that’s coming out now. We had only six Kidzworld-qualified games come out this week, and only five last week. There were, I don’t know, twenty or more the week before that. But don’t worry, we’ve got some big games coming up this month, though certainly not as awesome as November was.

First off, we’ve got the next DS Zelda title next week! The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks should be amazing, and it fits in your stocking!

A bit on towards Christmas, we get Guitar Hero Van Halen, which I don’t think I even have to look up to make sure is a new Guitar Hero game featuring mostly Van Halen music. Sounds like some classic guitar solos are coming up, if you’re in for a bit of a challenge.

And for a change of pace, on the day after Christmas, the next Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles comes out.

So, don’t lose hope, there are still some great titles coming out this month.

This week’s news post talked about the new Karaoke Revolution. Here’s the full tracklist.

1. “7 Things” – Miley Cyrus
2. “99 Times” – Kate Voegele
3. “A Labio Dulce” – Iskander (en Español)
4. “ABC” – The Jackson 5
5. “Addicted to Love – Robert Palmer
6. “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now” – McFadden & Whitehead
7. “American Boy” – Estelle feat. Kanye West
8. “Beautiful” – Akon feat. Colby O’Donis
9. “Ben” – Michael Jackson
10. “Black Horse and The Cherry Tree” – KT Tunstall
11. “Burning Down the House” – Talking Heads
12. “Crazy” – Seal
13. “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?” – Rod Stewart
14. “Dancing Machine” – The Jackson 5
15. “Disturbia” – Rihanna
16. “Enamorada” – Miranda! (en Español)
17. “Feels Like Tonight” – Daughtry
18. “Gives You Hell” – All American Rejects
19. “Human” – The Killers
20. “I Kissed a Girl” – Katy Perry
21. “I Melt With You” – Modern English
22. “I Ran (So Far Away)” – Flock Of Seagulls
23. “I Want You Back” – The Jackson 5
24. “I’ll Be There” – The Jackson 5
25. “I’m Yours” – Jason Mraz
26. “Just Dance” – Lady Gaga feat. Colby O’Donis
27. “Love Hurts” – Incubus
28. “Love Is a Battlefield” – Pat Benatar
29. “Love Story” – Taylor Swift
30. “Man On The Moon” – R.E.M.
31. “My Life Would Suck Without You” – Kelly Clarkson
32. “No Me Doy Por Vencido” – Luis Fonsi (en Español)
33. “Pocketful of Sunshine” – Natasha Bedingfield
34. “Rehab” – Amy Winehouse
35. “Ser o parecer” – RBD (en Español)
36. “Sex On Fire” – Kings of Leon
37. “Shout” – Tears for Fears
38. “Si Me Besas” – Lola (en Español)
39. “Smile” – Lily Allen
40. “So What” – Pink
41. “Solid” – Ashford and Simpson
42. “Soul Meets Body” – Death Cab For Cutie
43. “Space Oddity” – David Bowie
44. “The Logical Song” – Supertramp
45. “This Love” – Maroon 5
46. “Viva La Vida” – Coldplay
47. “What Have I Done to Deserve This?” – Pet Shop Boys & Dusty Springfield
48. “What Hurts The Most” – Rascal Flatts
49. “Wicked Game” – Chris Isaak
50. “You Found Me” – The Fray

In our latest releases post, we mentioned the release of New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and there are a few cool things related to that to share with you here. First of all, the game is in a red box, which is kind of crazy given that every other Wii game to date has been in a white one.

Second, Nintendo has made a lot out of saying how difficult this game will be, much like the classics, but there is a new “Super Guide” feature that will let Luigi take on an especially tough level for you, basically.

As bonus material, check out this video of the Super Mario museum at New York City’s Nintendo Store.

Our latest releases post announced that Konami’s legendarily difficult rhythm game is coming to North America, but much easier than the Japanese games. But, the real question is: Who has the hardest rhythm titles? Guitar Hero/Rock Band representing the west, or the Bemani rhythm games representing the east? These YouTube videos should let you decide for yourself.

Guitar Hero/Rock Band:

• Extreme difficulty drums on Baba O’ Riley

• Extreme difficulty Guitar on Bark at the Moon solo

• Extreme difficulty Guitar on Cliffs of Dover

Pop ‘n Music:

• a song apparently called “Super Japanesque“

• Classic 4 hyper, lets you see exactly what’s going on in the arcade version

• a song called Fantasia, in a performance that the game rates “No bad!”

Battle of the Bands

We’ve got two more Rock Band/Guitar Hero games this week, according to this here news post I just wrote. That’s added onto Beatles Rock Band, DJ Hero, Guitar Hero 5, Rock Band Unplugged, and Guitar Hero Smash Hits already over the past couple of months, and then we’ve still got Guitar Hero: Van Halen set for later this year. Time for them to battle, I’ve decided, in my own little tournament, to see which game is most likely to garner the most purchases.

1st Matchup: Guitar Hero 5 v. Rock Band Unplugged

GH5 moves on. I’m glad there’s a portable Rock Band now, and at least it’s original, but it’s still no contest.

2nd Matchup: Beatles Rock Band v. Guitar Hero: Van Halen

Well, let’s compare the album sales of the bands each game is using. Van Halen: 200,000,000 albums sold. Wow, that’s a lot. The Beatles: 200,000,000 albums sold… in the US alone. Beatles Rock Band moves on.

3rd Matchup: DJ Hero v. Band Hero

Two “Hero” games? Which will sell more? I have no idea. But DJ Hero is more interesting to me, so I’ll give it the edge.

4th Matchup: LEGO Rock Band v. Guitar Hero Smash Hits

Guitar Hero Smash Hits was basically just all the old Guitar Hero songs, but allowing you to play them with any instrument. Not a horrible idea, but it’s just an expansion, so LEGO Rock Band has to win.

2nd Round, 1st Matchup: Guitar Hero 5 v. DJ Hero

Guitar Hero 5. It’s the main series, and DJ Hero is just getting off the ground with its new turntable peripheral. GH5 will sell more than twice as many copies, I’m afraid.

2nd Round, 2nd Matchup: Beatles Rock Band v. LEGO Rock Band

Not even close, slightly modified Beatles will beat LEGO David Bowie any day of the week.

FINAL MATCHUP: Guitar Hero 5 v. Beatles Rock Band

Well, in the US Beatles Rock Band has sold more so far, and almost paradoxically, Guitar Hero 5 won in the UK. Is it a tie? Yes, but I’m not going to let that happen. Beatles Rock Band is the winner, by a coin flip. It landed tails.

Well, we learned in today’s Kidzworld gaming new releases post that in Wii Fit Plus, you can weigh your dog or cat, even though they can’t really play any activities! Well, I’m here to give Nintendo some ideas on how to better integrate our pets into the game:

1. If you have a dog, then the screen should show a picture of a kitten and make meowing sounds. That’ll get your dog running, or barking, or jumping, or something. At least he’ll be burning calories. Just switch roles if you have a cat.
2. Let’s add in some really high pitched notes into the game at various points, just see how your dog reacts.
3. Toy bone-shaped Wiimotes are a must.
4. Wii vitality sensor technology inside a tempting ball of yarn for your cat.
5. Maybe a new Wii balance board that can double as a scratching post?

And today’s question for you all: Do your pets ever even react to what’s on your TV screen?