StreetPass Princeton: Event 5 Report!

The Nintendo 3DS is entering its first Fall season, and StreetPass Princeton is entering its first Fall season, too. StreetPass is the wireless communication between 3DSs and allows players to swap data without the need to directly connect with each other. StreetPass Princeton was formed to allow Princeton gamers a means to collect StreetPass data for their 3DSs and has since evolved into a regional gaming group for the 3DS and potentially other platforms in the future.

Since its inception, StreetPass Princeton has been to Princeton's Panera Bread,the Quakerbridge Mall GameStop for a Dead or Alive: Dimensions tournament, a park picnic just inside Princeton, and an online gathering in light of Hurricane Irene.

This month, StreetPass Princeton returned to the Quakerbridge Mall Gamestop to hold an event dedicated to Nintendo’s newest multiplayer 3DS title: Star Fox 64 3D. As people walked in, they could see a flyer for the event hanging on a promotional poster, and just below that stood the heads of StreetPass Princeton, holding their handhelds and playing a match of the title game’s Battle Mode. If attendees were a little hungry, free cookies and snacks were provided in the back of the store, where the other members gathered around.

No time for Zynga. More time for SNACKS!

Those who approached the event were handed a sign-up sheet, on which attendees could list contact information as well as opinions on the group and what they could do for the group in the future. From there, people joining the tournament were asked to provide a dollar for an entry fee in order to participate; otherwise, the event was free for gamers to have fun.

Here be dragons...er, or Star Fox Tournaments...

The Star Fox 64 3D Aerial Ace Tournament set players in groups of four against one another in Battle Mode, using random levels, new power-ups, and large health bars. Some of the matches were set to five kills, while others were set to seven kills. Those in last place would be eliminated, leaving the final group of four in a face-off in the Meteo battleground. The action got hectic at times, and those who were not there to witness the matches, StreetPass Princeton has created a video of the event on their Youtube page, which you can see below. The top winners received a five-dollar, ten-dollar, and fifteen-dollar gift card for Gamestop, although first place also had the option to select a used DS game for up to fifteen dollars. The tournament was a bit on the quick side, but at least it happened!

Even after the tournament was completed, Star Fox 64 3D remained the main meal of the day, especially for co-founder Nick Oehlberg, who proceeded to run through the game’s expert campaign and collect medals along the way (he even let us photograph the images of him beating this mode: here, here, and here. Other multiplayer matches were held for the fun of it, because as for a number of attendees, this was the first way to play multiplayer Star Fox 64 3D at all, and needless to say, it was quite fun. Furthermore, Agent Spectre, who runs the StreetPass Princeton forum, was selling Pokemon models and candy for five dollars apiece, which was quite a deal according to some of the people there. The money earned from the sales of said Pokemon items will be going into producing a banner for StreetPass Princeton’s future events.

I never knew Pokeball technology had been implemented into cardboard cartons...

As time progressed, the event moved outside of the store to the benches, and from there, other people looked at the handhelds to see what we were playing, and a few more 3DS owners new and old stopped by to see what was happening. A group photo was made just before the end of the event, with most of the attendees in the shot. It was a bit smaller than the Dead or Alive tournament in June, but considering the game of choice, I was not entirely surprised. Still, it was a fun event!

We barely escaped the Gamestop alive. We celebrated with games!

A jolly bunch of gamers, we!

The future of StreetPass Princeton is looking pretty intense for the rest of the year. On October 21st, the group will be heading back to Panera Bread on Nassau Street, where cosplay is encouraged, Just Dance 3 will be appearing, as will Skylanders and the Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition! Then, come November 6th, the group will gather at Princeton's Palmer Square to witness the official tree-lighting ceremony, and probably enjoy 3DS gaming fun along the way! December is still floating around, but no doubt Mario Kart 7 will take the event by storm. As for next year, co-founder Rob Oehlberg said to expect some adventures outside of Mercer County for the first few months, as the group continues to grow.

Rob runs around setting up the event while gamers play on.


The paparazzi has become paparazzied. That's a word now. I made it. Copyright!!


Apparently Wolf is a Dunkin Donuts kind of a guy.

If you are interested in learning more about StreetPass Princeton and its events, follow the group on Facebook, Google+, Twitter, or join the Official Forums!

Third Rate Game Play: Ivy the Kiwi?

Game: Ivy the Kiwi? System: Wii Developer: PROPE (Let's Catch, Let's Tap) Publisher: XSEED Games Player: Alex (and together for MP) Experience: Played up to 4-1

Over the last few years, a number of development heads, best known for creating and building up some of the biggest franchises of yesteryear, are leaving their respective big-time publishers in favor of creating new, smaller development companies. One example is that, over time, Sonic the Hedgehog’s three “fathers” eventually left Sonic Team and Sega, with Yuji Naka being the last, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

Yuji Naka joined Sega around 1983, when the company was hiring programming assistants. His first game would be Girl’s Garden for the Sega SG-1000, and from there, his programming skills helped build Sega classics such as Phantasy Star and its first two sequels. However, what really pushed Yuji Naka upward in Sega was the programming behind Sonic the Hedgehog; the other two leads for Sonic were Naoto Ōshima, who designed the characters, and Hirokazu Yasuhara, who created the stages. Naka continued his work with the Sonic franchise, moving to work with Sega Technical Institute on collaborated projects Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic & Knuckles. As development moved onto the Sega Saturn, it is believed that the Producer-promoted Naka and his development of NiGHTS into Dreams caused friction between STI and Sonic Team, eventually resulting in Sonic X-treme’s cancellation.

While in the Producer seat for Sonic Team, Yuji Naka helped produce Burning Rangers, Phantasy Star Online, Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg, and every Sonic Team project until 2006. His only listed directorial role since the promotion was for Chu Chu Rocket! During this time, the other two core creators of Sonic left, with Yasuhara leaving to Naughty Dog and Ōshima creating his own company Artoon.

While Sonic Team was producing Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) for PS3 and Xbox 360, Naka announced his departure from Sega and the creation of his own development studio, PROPE. Since its inception, PROPE has developed a number of games for both Nintendo platforms and other handheld devices. The company’s first major releases were Let’s Catch and Let’s Tap for Wii, the latter of which was split up into multiple games on the App Store a year later. Under the iPROPE sub-label, PROPE had released 10 Count Boxer and Fluffy Bear onto the App Store before Ivy the Kiwi? was released. Ivy began as a Windows Phone game, but the main version happens to be on the Wii.

Publisher XSEED Games was founded in late 2004 by ex-members of Square Enix USA. XSEED’s main goal is to provide unique gaming experiences to American audiences, including a number of games from Japanese developers who are looking for budget publishers. Before Ivy the Kiwi?, XSEED Games had begun working alongside Marvelous Interactive, and the publisher had brought over such games as Little King’s Story, Flower, Sun and Rain, and Half-Minute Hero. The company also published a number of games in the Wild Arms franchise beforehand.



“Play the latest game from the creator of Sonic!

Pillowed on a pile of leaves in the middle of a dark forest, a baby bird is breaking out of a curious egg. Her bright orange head and beak poke out the top of a polka dot shell and she cries for her mother. The forest animals watch her curiously, but apart from them there is no one to claim her. Still trapped in the shell except for her head and feet, Ivy begins walking through the forest calling out for her mother. She meets many other kinds of birds but none are like her and she wanders searchingly for traces of her kind until she finds a glowing orange feather. With a clue now in beak Ivy sets out to follow the trail that will lead her to her mother.”

“One of the ideas was to have consumers be curious about the game. It also plays a role in the game's story, on what Ivy really is. We wanted to have a bit of a deeper meaning… The perfect scenario is to have the customer wonder why there is a question mark, and then after playing the game and seeing the ending, figure it out and say 'oh, that's why there's a question mark.' You'll understand the meaning of this when you see the whole story. We tried our best to put a lot of meaning in a small detail. If you finish the game and find that you have more emotional feelings toward the game, I'll be really happy.”

-Yuji Naka, Producer (Destructoid)

“This project initially started among some of my young employees; they were just doing experiments, and I saw the game, and thought it was a real interesting concept, so we decided to make it into a company-wide project. As someone that's been involved in games, at first I didn't think it would work using a pointer in an action-type game, but just by making two points [in creating the vines used to guide Ivy along], you can control the character somewhat freely, so that was a big discovery for me.”

-Yuji Naka, Producer (1UP)

Ivy the Kiwi? is an arcade title in which players help guide the newborn bird Ivy through multiple worlds in search to find her mother. As stated in the Official Word, she has no idea where her mother is, and being mostly in an egg, she cannot fly. So, she continues to walk onward in hopes to reach her destination, with or without your help.

Players do not control Ivy, who walks continually until she hits a wall and turns back around. Instead, players have to guide Ivy by drawing vines across the world which she can use to climb or be thrown onto higher ground. As the game progresses, players can use the ivy as a slingshot and send the chick bolting across the sky like a rocket. The vines can not only control Ivy but can also protect her from enemies and obstacles which populate the rest of the storybook-designed worlds. While the goal of each level is to land Ivy onto a pedestal at the end of the path, there are also ten feathers located around each level which can boost scores and potentially unlock extra content down the road.

Outside of the main game, there is a multiplayer option in which up to four players are tasked to guide their own Ivy to the exit. Unlike the main mode, however, players can draw their vines on other players’ screens, causing progress problems and potential sabotaging for increased competitiveness.

The game in this episode is the Wii version, although the game is also available on DS.



PROPE has continued its game development on the iOS platform as well as Nintendo-based platforms. Since Ivy the Kiwi?, PROPE released a number of unique games on the App Store, including Just Half (in which you must cut the screen as close to 50% as possible) and PD –prope discover-, a short first-person adventure game in a large floating castle. Outside of iOS, PROPE is developing Family Fishing for Wii via Namco Bandai; XSEED will also be publishing this game in the US this holiday, albeit without the fishing-pole accessory. PROPE is also producing an action title Rodea the Sky Soldier via Kadokawa Games for both Wii and 3DS; while no US publisher has been named, XSEED’s relationship with PROPE appears to be healthy enough for a publishing deal in the future.

Just before Ivy’s release, XSEED Games announced a collaboration with Nihon Falcom to bring over a number of games in the Ys series (Ys Seven, Ys: The Oath in Felghana, and Ys I & II Chronicles) and The Legend of Heroes: Trails to the Skies for the Playstation Portable. Along with that, XSEED has been announcing smaller projects over time, including CyberConnect2’s adventure title Solatarobo: Red the Hunter, expected for release September 2011 for the Nintendo DS.

Ivy the Kiwi? does not appear to have a sequel planned, but shortly after the retail releases of Ivy the Kiwi?, XSEED and PROPE published Ivy the Kiwi? mini for DSiWare. This version lacks the multiplayer modes and extra content in the main game, but it is available for a cheap 500 DSi Points.



After playing a bit of the game for himself, Alex decides to show off the adventure for about a half hour or so before he and Tony take multiplayer for an impromptu spin. While at the beginning, he hunts a little for the feathers, Alex decides to go off and just try to get further into the game with the time he is given, which does not get him too much further.



Ivy the Kiwi? is a nice little title with a unique game mechanic, but its length and more passive gameplay might work against it. The original Japanese version of the game lacked as much color as this version, and I feel it benefited with that extra tweak. The game’s music and sound effects were not of the quality one should expect from a game at this day and age, which is a shame. Furthermore, those not willing to take the time to collect the feathers or get the best time will likely find the game to be short.

Thankfully the multiplayer mode was great, and it made me see how hectic the 4-player modes would be with three people constantly trying to sabotage your adventure while you try to do the same to them. As you find in the video, even with two players the humor and intensity grows quickly as the games progress.

The episode was pretty good in light of this, but there are moments of inactivity from the both of us, so it starts slow but accelerates perhaps a little later than I would have preferred. Still, it was a nice game with a quiet, modest atmosphere around it.

This episode was filmed last year, and it was originally in SD resolution, thus the black bars upon uploading.

3RM Says: Is Ivy a bird? Or is she a fruit? Why am I even asking these silly questions?
Why can't I stop asking questions? Can someone help me?

eShop Rating-Sales: August 2011

The Nintendo eShop is Nintendo's online shop through the 3DS where people can download games from old Nintendo hardware, DSiWare games, and new download software specific for the 3DS. Because Nintendo does not disclose sales numbers, and developers are most likely barred from revealing them, we do not know how games are doing on the service.

But we might have at least a small hint.

After playing a game on the 3DS for over a hour, players are capable of rating these games via the eShop, and the totals are shown on each game page, showing up to five stars based on what the population thinks. At the very least, we now have minimum sales figures for the games, but with a very large disclaimer: these numbers represent the users who have done the following:

1) Purchased the game
2) Played the game for over an hour on the 3DS, and
3) Chose to rate the game on the eShop.

People who play the games on their DSi systems cannot rate games, nor can people who have not played the games for less than one hour. Since rating cannot be done outside of the eShop, some might have forgotten to or chosen not to rate said games. Also note that a rating does not necessarily correspond with a sale in the month in which it appears, only emphasizing the number of additional people who completed the above steps.

With that disclaimer in mind, let us take a look at how the games performed.

---

Free Apps

1. Nintendo Video	8847	12048
2. Pokedex 3D	6874	26093
3. Netflix	5274	10816

As we can see, the most-rated product on the eShop is clearly Pokedex 3D, which has just over 26,000 ratings. I figure that will remain the most-rated product on the eShop for the foreseeable future. As Nintendo Video appeared late July, this outcome does not appear surprising to me, but it seems that, even though Netflix is highly rated, it is growing slower than the other two.


Pre-eShop DSiWare*

1. Plants vs. Zombies	790	2976
2. Photo Dojo	682	2147
3. Cave Story	637	2367
5. Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again!	602	1983
6. Inchworm Animation	505	1288
7. Shantae: Risky's Revenge	440	1630
8. Anonymous Notes Chapter 1 - From the Abyss	368	1038
9. Bomberman Blitz	311	880
10. GO Series: 10 Second Run	311	636
11. Zenonia	310	829
12. Tetris Party Live	279	805
13. Mario Clock	263	763
14. Pop Island - Paperfield	210	620
15. Soul of Darkness	198	473
16. Army Defender	176	452
17. Dark Void Zero	170	503
18. Dr. Mario Express	150	484
19. Extreme Hangman	95	365
20. Anonymous Notes Chapter 2 - From the Abyss	89	315
21. GO Series: Defense Wars	51	103
22. WarioWare: Snapped!	40	149

*These select games have made appearances on the eShop recent releases charts. This chart might be missing other DSiWare games with greater ratings and rating totals.

Something tells me the top five will be close to unchanging as the eShop continues. This month, two more games appeared to my knowledge on the eShop DSiWare charts:

JellyCar 2 (477 Ratings Total)
Arcade Bowling (211 Ratings Total)

We will be adding more games from the older DSiWare selection as time progresses.


Post-eShop DSiWare

1. Afterzoom	166	296
2. Extreme Hangman 2	98	157
3. The Lost Town: The Dust	61	122
4. Antipole	57	91
5. Go! Go! Kokopolo	45	45
6. My Australian Farm	39	44
7. Moto eXtreme	35	74
8. Stratego: Next Edition	32	75
9. Make-Up & Style	32	65
10. GO Series: Portable Shrine Wars	30	32
11. Jewel Keepers: Easter Island	24	37
12. Pro Jumper! Guilty Gear Tangent!?	19	54
13. My Asian Farm	17	17
14. Farm Frenzy	16	25
15. Heart Spaces Euchre	13	24
16. Let's Create! Pottery	13	13
17. Puzzle Fever	12	21
18. Magical Whip	11	11
19. Kung Fu Dragon	9	11
20. Build-a-lot	9	9
21. Beach Party Craze	8	18
22. Trollboarder	7	10
23. Blockado - Puzzle Island	7	7
24. Delbo	6	22
25. Roller Angels	6	19
26. Crazy Hamster	6	6
27. Zimo: Mahjong Fanatic	5	13
28. Hidden Photo	5	15
29. Oscar's World Tour	5	5
30. Play & Learn Spanish	5	5
31. Zoonies - Escape from Makatu	4	4
32. Calculator	3	3
33. Gold Fever	2	15
34. Boardwalk Ball Toss	2	11
35. Just SING! 80s Collection	2	2
36. Go Fetch! 2	2	2
37. B-Team - Episode 2: Ice & Venom	1	1

To think, nearly 40 DSiWare games came out over the summer months! That's a lot of games, but it seems that not too many have been getting a ton of reception compared to the more well-known DSiWare games. Afterzoom has been getting the most reception, but even so, the game would barely chart on the older DSiWare game chart above. Hopefully the actual sales for these games are not as low as they appear here.

Go! Go! Kokopolo from indie group Tanukii Studios and Room 4 Games was the new release this past month with the most response. Even with a modest 45 ratings, it sits in the top 5. Total-wise it has a little ways to go, but it is doing well from the looks of it. Meanwhile, The Lost Town and Antipole appear to be doing well for themselves a month after their releases, which tells me good things about their ratings for the future. A big sad-face for B-Team Episode 2 and Go Fetch! 2, both sequels and both having done poorly for ratings. At least they got ratings in their release month: both Oscar's World Tour and Just SING! 80s Collection had no ratings when they came out and only just got their first ratings in August.

Virtual Console

1. Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX	2469	12759
2. Super Mario Land	1653	7458
3. Donkey Kong	807	2856
4. Kirby's Dream Land	798	1977
5. Mario's Picross	568	568
6. Game & Watch Gallery	326	617
7. Gargoyle's Quest	125	125
8. Alleyway	107	521
9. Avenging Spirit	71	71
10. Qix	60	140
11. Baseball	49	99
12. Radar Mission	41	180
13. Fortified Zone	32	76
14. Tennis	30	121

While there have been a few great games released on the Virtual Console thus far, you would think more than three games would be released in August before the big Fall season. Mario's Picross released at the beginning of the month, and its ratings show that quite well. Gargoyle's Quest, the first Capcom title for the Virtual Console, was only out for a week when the month ended, but it seems to have gotten quite a number of ratings thus far, and quite a few of them are positive! Avenging Spirit currently sits with the least ratings of all Virtual Console games (behind another Jaleco game, Fortified Zone), but it will most likely climb in number as time progresses.

It should be noted that the top four has remained that way consistently in both sales and ratings charts. Link's Awakening DX is, to date, the most-rated and probably highest-selling game on the Nintendo eShop that has never been free.


3DS Download Software

1. 3D Classics: Excitebike*	2807	16091
2. Let's Golf! 3D	759	895
3. 3D Classics: Xevious	417	660
4. 3D Classics: Urban Champion	191	191

*This game was available for free in June. Most ratings are most likely not purchases.

It is a shame to see so few unique 3DS software being sold on the eShop months into its existence. Nintendo will most likely be releasing three more 3D Classics over the rest of the year, but I imagine more 3DS games in general must be coming, especially when you look at Japan's output of 3DS software already.

Excitebike will most likely be the most-rated game for a long while. 3D Classics: Urban Champion, which released in the second half of the month, is the only 3DS download game to debut in August, and it looks like it will be moving slowly, as general thoughts are negative on its inclusion. From last month, 3D Classics: Xevious is doing pretty well, and Lets Golf! 3D is looking to accelerate without any competition. Looking at the Coming Soon section, I don't think it will have much for a bit longer yet!


Overall

1. 3D Classics: Excitebike*	2807	16091
2. Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX	2469	12759
3. Super Mario Land	1653	7458
4. Donkey Kong	807	2856
5. Kirby's Dream Land	798	1977
6. Plants vs. Zombies	790	2976
7. Let's Golf! 3D	759	895
8. Photo Dojo	682	2147
9. Cave Story	637	2367
10. Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again!	602	1983

*This game was available for free in June. Most ratings are most likely not purchases.

And so ends what appears to be a pretty quiet month for the eShop. Mario's Picross was number 11, just shy of the list (if you include Excitebike), and the the second and third-highest debuts are 3D Classics: Urban Champion at 24 and Gargoyle's Quest at 29. Go! Go! Kokopolo sat at 40, showing that new DSiWare seems to be getting the short end of the stick, while the older popular DSiWare continue to sell.

What's up for this month? Well, the Ambassador program started last week, so I somehow picture those games appearing in its own section for the time being. Meanwhile, Four Swords is expected to appear for DSiWare, although the game is supposedly free and will be treated as such here.

Hope anyone out there enjoys my number obsession.

StreetPass Princeton Event #4

Not every meeting can be as planned, especially during Hurricane season! August's StreetPass Princeton's fourth event happened to be one such event, even though it turned out to be a fun time regardless of the situation.

StreetPass Princeton is a group of Central-New Jersey gamers who share their delight in the Nintendo 3DS and its games, including the usage of StreetPass, a proximity-based data-swap feature unique to the new Nintendo handheld. For the last few months, StreetPass Princeton has held events dedicated to the 3DS community: an early get-together at Panera Bread, a Dead or Alive Dimensions tournament at the local Gamestop, and most recently a Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D event at a small park in Princeton.

August was not the best month for 3DS owners, particularly with minimal releases to fill the gap. Without any new product to push, a retro event was planned at an apartment in Princeton but was shifted to Panera Bread as the date grew nearer. Unfortunately, Hurricane Irene prevented such an event from happening, so an online gathering on Google+ was created quickly as a substitute event.

The Google+ chat event was very much like most chatrooms, where people were able to use a text chat or camera and mic setup for more vocal and visual communication. While it could have focused on the older DS online titles, most of the conversations remained either 3DS-focused or drifted off into humorous obscurity.

The most recent retail release at the event was Devil Survivor: Overclocked from Atlus, although discussion on it was brief. Without much multiplayer to experience, all that could be expressed was how good it was, even if it is a port of the DS game. Meanwhile, Dead or Alive: Dimensions matches were fought over the Internet, and Friend Codes were swapped through the text chat in order to help spread StreetPass Princeton's community. The group even had someone from New York involved!

A screen of the chatroom, complete with Devil Survivor boxart!

Over the course of the event, a couple of the members downloaded and started playing through a new GameBoy Virtual Console game: Gargoyle's Quest. From my time playing it, I can say it is not the ordinary (or easy) platformer one might expect! Finally, before the event ended, I asked for impressions on Nintendo Video. Most were not positive; some had removed the application entirely by now. The general consensus was that the new R&B video was poor and the College Humor videos demonstrated the best use of the service, thus far.

Looks like someone is going to Comic-Con!

Hopefully hurricanes will stay away from the next events from StreetPass Princeton. On September 17th, SPP will be back at the Quakerbridge Mall Gamestop to hold a Star Fox 64 3D tournament (complete with a Dead or Alive: Dimensions bonus challenge for the brave). Taking preparations one step further, StreetPass Princeton is already setting up its October event; on October 22nd, a cosplay Halloween party is expected, including a fun run through Just Dance 3. At least one of the heads will also be attending this year's New York Comic-Con, although it will not be an official event for StreetPass Princeton. Still, bring around your 3DS, and who knows who you'll StreetPass?

Those interested for more information on StreetPass Princeton can check out its Facebook page, its Google+ Page, or its new Forums!

Third Rate Game Play: Anubis II

Game: Anubis II System: Wii Developer: Data Design Interactive (Ninjabread Man, Rock 'N' Roll Adventure) Publisher: Conspiracy Entertainment Player: Alex Experience: Watched videos, heard reviews

The Wii’s success surprised many developers and publishers, provoking quickly-developed products in an attempt to receive some benefit from the system’s immediate consumer demand. Several budget publishers took the Wii's mass popularity with its similarity to the PlayStation 2 to create quick ports of budget PS2 games onto the Wii in order to gain a quick buck. Unfortunately, this deluge of poor-quality games ultimately helped poison the software lineup for the Wii, especially without top-tier third party games which would have clouded out the “shovelware” within the lineup.

Anubis II was the product of Data Design Interactive, developed originally for the PlayStation 2 in 2005. According to the company website, Data Design started game development on the Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, and Atari ST back in the late 1980’s, but Wikipedia states its formation as late as 1999, when it began developing a proprietary game engine. Anubis II was one of a number of titles developed using the “'Game Orientated Development System” or GODS Engine. This engine was supposedly designed for rapid game development and easy manipulation of games onto multiple platforms. This engine was used for a large number of games developed by DDI, but in relation to Anubis II, at least three other games use the same platforming engine through the GODS Engine: Ninjabread Man, Rock ‘N’ Roll Adventure, and Myth Makers: Trixie in Toyland. These games, along with the rest of Data Design Interactive’s catalog, were released in Europe for the PlayStation 2, but the games never appeared on US soil as SCEA refused to allow the games there due to quality concerns. As the Wii did not have the same restrictions, porting these games and releasing them anew was highly desirable.

The publisher of Anubis II, as well as several budget games for Wii and DS this past generation, is Conspiracy Entertainment. The company was formed in 1997 with the purpose to publish games from smaller developers whose games would otherwise miss the opportunity to be brought to retail. Its software releases began with a PC port of Taito’s Darius Gaiden, and it also acted as the publisher for a number of Warner Brothers franchise titles, including Warthog Plc’s Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster Saves the Day. Shortly thereafter, the company published a number of unique games onto Dreamcast, Playstation 2 and Xbox, including Treasure’s Stretch Panic and Bangai-O, and Starbreeze’s Enclave. Of course, the company had been publishing lower-tier games as well, but until the Wii’s launch, the company had been publishing a few hidden gems in the budget category. Conspiracy even worked alongside Sega to bring over Sega Classics Collection, which was a compilation of PS2 Sega AGES games developed by D3 Publishing in Japan. A compilation of the Sega AGES Phantasy Star remakes was in development but never made it to completion.



“Long ago, an evil spirit known as Mumm'hotep plunged the Land of Egypt into Darkness. The Gods have called on the only one that could save Egypt and rid the sands of evil monsters... The mighty Anubis, Guardian of the Underworld! Armed with the Golden Sceptre of Ra and the fire of the Gods, Anubis must battle his way through the Ancient cities of Egypt. On his quest, Anubis will encounter maniac Mummies, stinging mosquitoes and Swarms of deadly locusts! Journey through Egyptian Tombs in your search for the Golden Pyramids of Power that will help Anubis complete his quest. Solve puzzles and progress through the monster infested Tombs until you reach your goal and confront the evil Mumm'hotep in a FINAL battle that only the hardiest of warriors will reach!”



Anubis II is a platforming adventure title in which players assume the role of Anubis, protector of the underworld and the only force which can stop the evil Mumm’hotep and his minions from taking over the Land of Egypt. The player moves Anubis through each level and must escape through teleporters at the end. These warps are only available once every artifact orb is collected within a level, and in order to help guide players to them, an on-screen arrow points in the direction to the next orb.

On the way, however, Anubis faces many dangers. Levels are infested with a variety of monsters, many of which chase you constantly upon acknowledging your presence. There are two major ways to deal with enemies: give them a hard thwack with his Golden Sceptre of Ra or use it to shoot magic from afar. These magic blasts, upon repeat use, actually grow stronger in power, marked by a gauge on the bottom left corner of the screen. In the Wii version, attacking via Sceptre is regulated to swings with the Wii Remote, which may or may not work. Even jumping is regulated to motion controls, specifically the nunchuk; the Z-button jumps as well, although the game never explains this in any fashion. Players can also toss magic grenades by holding the A button and mimicking a throwing motion with the Wii Remote, but they require great timing and can still hurt Anubis in the blast. Sometimes it is easier to avoid enemies, considering the large amount of enemies within each area.

Certain puzzles populate the game’s five levels. At specific monoliths, Anubis can move objects in the world by twirling the Sceptre in the air, which can be implemented by mimicking the motion with the Wii Remote. This, complimented by battling baddies and basic platforming elements, makes Anubis II’s core game mechanics.

After completing a level, players are subject to a Bonus Stage. Set in an overhead perspective, Anubis is set to collect as many scarab beetles as possible in an attempt to get a high score and maybe extra lives. Once the game itself is completed, you can replay the levels with extra modes, which include a time attack and artifact collection mode, in which players must collect as many as 300 items within the level before they can exit via the teleporter. No other extra content exists within the completed game.



Despite the great critical negativity toward its games, Data Design Interactive apparently did very well financially through its license agreements with budget publishers on the Wii. Its release lineup grew quiet after the deluge of PS2 ports, but the company proclaimed that a sequel to one of its platform games, Ninjabread Man 2, would emerge in the future, although it never arrived. Instead, the company pushed a new unique brand, called NuYu, which acted as the company’s proprietary character creation system, akin to Nintendo’s Mii designs. To date, the only games to use the NuYu system have been Kidz Sports Crazy Mini Golf and its sequel, Kidz Sports Crazy Mini Golf 2, the latter of which launched early 2010. Other than that, the company’s site has not seen a new game announcement since 2009, in which it announced My Personal Golf Trainer for European audiences. One can question whether DDI still exists, but we cannot be too sure either way.

Conspiracy remains active in its releases since it released DDI's Wii projects. Since then, it has brought other low-budget games onto the Wii and Nintendo DS. Critically-acceptable games from the company include projects from Epicenter Studios: Real Heroes: Firefighter for Wii and Rock of the Dead for PS3 (UFO Interactive published the Xbox 360 version). Its latest release was Smack Down Production’s Witches & Vampires: The Secrets of Ashbury for DS, which released late 2010. It is currently listing one title as “Coming Soon:” Emily the Strange for DS.

Anubis II and Data Design Interactive’s platforming adventures have not been ported to any other system nor have they seen sequels of any sort since their releases on Wii.



Alex and Tony have a death wish, or at least Alex does. While Ninjabread Man would have been the better game to try, Anubis II was the game on the menu. Hearing that the game itself was fairly short, Alex takes it upon himself to declare a full walkthrough of the game for this episode. Perhaps he should think more than twice about that decision.

After completing the game, the duo run through the credits and give a very brief look at one of the game’s post-game modes. Only a very brief one, though.



Anubis II is the pinnacle of Wii’s poor game lineup during the 2007-2008 timeframe. Third parties rushed the system with poorly-designed ports with waggle-for-button game designs tossed in to make them “fit” with the control system. Unfortunately, this clearly backfired in the long-run, as software sales from new gamers shifted sharply away from third party games and remained toward safer products for the most part. While Nintendo is clearly partially to blame for the lack of quality control or keeping up with the competition's online features and graphical equivalence, publishers were also to blame for tainting the software lineup and causing the software disparity we see today. It is the first time in gaming history that the leading hardware seller is not the leader in software support.

Notice I shifted away from talking about the game itself? Because it is pretty darn bad. I can see where DDI wanted to make a good game: there is an effort to make a unique game mechanic (the Sceptre) and bring in a friendly theme for use in the game. Unfortunately, the engine is exceedingly glitchy. Enemies can hit you many times more than you can hit them back, especially as they chase you without fear. The swing mechanic for the Sceptre fails to be receptive, and the jump mechanic was clearly shoehorned into the Wii’s motion controls. So many things are not explained right, and to top it off, the presentation is dodgy at best. Anubis II, as well as DDI’s other platformers, come off as a good scenario crushed under ineffective quality control and poor engine design. I would chalk up Anubis II’s quality to a small and inexperienced team rushed for budget, but after so many faults and years later, this game unfortunately calls out to me as a cheap cash-grab on the Wii platform in the US and little else.

Anubis II should have stayed on European PS2s.

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