Australian gamers recently took part in a Metroid Prime: Hunters tournament for a grand prize of $1,000 dollars AUD (about $760 dollars US). With 8 of the country's finest bounty hunters going at it, the competition was fierce and only one man was able to walk away victorious. Jeff Hawthorne of Brisbane was able to win in the end using the character Sylux. Jeff explains how he managed to best his competition:
"The Battle was in Processor Core, and I got Lucky to have the Spawn Point closest to the Jump pad so I could race and get the Death-alt only moments before eXc35um (Ali) could get it. I got a quick 4 or 5 points with that, then just mainly Magmauled and used my shock coil when I needed health. Not to forget laying trap wires around the arena."
You can see the other 7 finalists here as well as view pictures from the event here.
By way of Go Nintendo, the comprehensive rundown of the next generation of Download Station demos has finally been revealed. Some of the available downloads are questionable (Metroid Prime: Hunters demo?), but the Magnetica demo has us thoroughly intrigued.
If you're one of the folk that purchased Metroid Prime
Pinball, you've no doubt been playing Metroid Prime Hunters all this time with your free Rumble Pak as it
realistically vibrated the echo of missile damage through the handheld, then your fingertips, and finally on into your
brain. You could've also purchased the GBA slot-fitting add-on direct from Nintendo, or at a more expensive
price, through importer Lik-Sang, to experience
the tremors of gameplay. Or, if you're one of the dozens of people on the globe who've yet to acquire Metroid Prime
Hunters, you could finally pick up the bounty-hunting simulation and get the accessory for free as it's
now included in copies of the game, yet only while supplies last. No word yet on if the bundle will be available for
those in Europe.
Showing some true
1up-manship, Jeremy Parish has updated his blog with tantalizing non-details about a secret, pre-E3 Nintendo DS press
event. Like all of the attending journalists, Parish was allowed to experience some new DS titles ("pretty cool
surprises") at the cost of having to keep his opinions bottled up until Nintendo yanks the cork out. Expect
the yanking to occur as soon as E3 is upon us.
Parish does share one minor detail, though. There wasn't a
single new Metroid game. If you had any dreams of playing a traditional, 2D Metroid game on the DS, consider
them decisively stomped to teeny, unrecognizable smithereens. At least for now. It's not that I don't like
Hunters--it's just that I tend to prefer exploring an intricate network of ancient ruins to repeatedly
shooting menacing bounty hunters in the face. Chalk that up to a deranged childhood, if you want.
Though it's devoid of the
actual numbers we know and
love, the NPD group has released a list of the top 20 best-selling US games for the merry month of March. The list
isn't terribly exciting, but it does reveal a shocking and unspeakable truth about Nintendo gamers. They've been
purchasing copies of Metroid Prime: Hunters and Super Princess Peach, playing the games in grimy
alleys, their depraved faces lit up only by the flicker of two LCD screens. All that for a shameful heroine fix.
The Top 20 best-selling titles for March according to NPD:
Kingdom Hearts II (PS2)
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter
(360)
Hot on the heels of some evidence that the guys and
gals at Nintendo of Europe have been dragging their feet when it
comes to release dates, comes a fresh list of their forthcoming titles. Things are looking considerably less dire here,
but I still feel a bit sorry for those Europeans that were unable to import and had to wait so long for Trauma
Center. It's almost criminal.
Megaman Battle Network 5 Double Team DS
(Capcom/Nintendo) - 14 April
Tetris DS (Nintendo) - 21 April
Trauma Centre:
Under the Knife (Atlus/Nintendo) - 28 April
Pokémon Link! (Nintendo) - 5 May
Metroid Prime Hunters (Nintendo) - 5 May
Super Princess Peach (Nintendo) - 26
May
Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training: How Old Is Your Brain? (Nintendo) - 9 June
New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo) - 30 June
Also worthy of note is the Euro release date of what
is undoubtedly the biggest GBA game this year--Final Fantasy IV arrives on 2 June.
When you ask DS Fanboy readers to do something for you, they don't waste much time. This is a valuable lesson
I've now learned after putting out a call to you guys to let us know where and when you stumble across one of the many
Wi-Fi tendrils of Nintendo's download station network currently spreading across the world. My online persona was
buried beneath an avalanche of tips, comments and the usual death threats, but it has now surfaced and is ready to
start compiling the information in an epic list that's sure to inspire a major motion picture. This is just the second
part of our ongoing quest and I hope to keep adding new locations on a weekly basis.
A big, slightly
overzealous "thank you" to everyone that contributed to this round. If you don't see your highlighted area in
the list, be sure to check back later in the month. A few brave souls have also added some new locations to the Frappr map--quite a feat given that working with that application is about as
pleasant as a sturdy kick in the head. The format of this list is probably far from optimal, so please let me know how you'd like me to change it in the future.
Also, the information from
readers isn't always exact, but if you see that one Best Buy (or another store) has a download station in your region,
chances are decent that others will have too. You'll know you're close to one by either recognizing a small banner and
a DS set in wireless mode behind some plastic or experiencing a lightheaded sensation as Wi-Fi beams scramble your
brains.
Keep the details (we want street names!), pictures and experiences coming! The full list is but a
click away.
For all you forum-frequenters out there, DS Fanboy reader Will (and we assume he is also a genius, because those
are the types of people who read our site) has dropped an interesting link into our tip jar that allows Metroid Prime Hunters players to create an image for
use in forums or on their webspace. The image updates every two hours and is perfect for forum signatures, compacting
key information in regards to your WiFi experience into one handy little place for all to laugh marvel
at. Props should be directed to KAAOSA at the Official Nintendo Nsider Forums for creating this awesome little
utility.
Though our own efforts at finding
the DS download kiosks that were supposedly hitting US retailers this month have thus far been rather abysmal,
those living in the UK or Ireland will soon have a much easier time when attempting to do the same. Nintendo has
declared that over 600 new Wi-Fi hotspots will be installed in GAME, Gamestation, HMV, Toys R US
and Smyths Toys shops, along with a smattering of smaller retailers.
Over 500 download stations will also be
installed, with initial demos including Meteos and Polarium. Demos of Brain Age and
Trauma Center: Under the Knife, some Animal Crossing goodies and a Metroid Prime Hunters
video will follow shortly in April and May. Let us know when you spot one!
Do you enjoy blasting well-armed blocks to smithereens or strategically arranging bounty hunters to score
loads of points? Well then...wait, I think I got something wrong there. Regardless, Metroid Prime Hunters and
Tetris DS are released today! Get yourself to the nearest retailer and exchange your money for gaming
goodness. And while you're there, be on the lookout for those sneaky Wi-Fi download kiosks.
DS Releases this week:
Metroid Prime Hunters (3/20)
Tetris DS (3/20)
Tao's Adventure: Curse of the Demon Seal (3/21)
Worms: Open Warfare (3/22)
[Update: Lack of invertebrate killing machines
corrected, EB release list punished accordingly.]
G4TV has a video
preview of the upcoming Metroid Prime Hunters, showcasing some of the other bounty hunters in the game, along
with revealing a certain boss that Samus engages during her travels. While it's light on the content in regards to
what's actually in the game (GASP!), all of the juicy multiplayer footage and cinematics should be enough to motivate
you to head on over and check out the video.
It's almost here; who else is preparing to slam on some
chumps? Which bounty hunter are
you most looking forward to try?
Oh
disconnectors, how we loathe thee and thy cowardly response to defeat. According to an interesting
interview hype piece at the official Nintendo site, Metroid Prime: Hunters will be keeping
track of those who disconnect from a Wi-Fi game in an effort to avoid tarnishing their online records. Mario Kart
DS was another game that fell victim to this "strategy", a fact that has encouraged Nintendo to
implement and liberally dish out "chump points".
"We track a stat that the game calls
Connection Percentage, but that I've been calling the Chump Meter. It keeps track of anyone who boots off. So, if I'm
beating some kid and he tries to disconnect to avoid the loss, he'll be punished for that. When he turns the game back
on, the game will know what happened and it will then hand out some Chump Points."
The game will
also be able to distinguish between intentional disconnections and the forgivable ones caused by your router
unexpectedly exploding. This is certainly excellent news that will soothe many a temper, especially considering that
Metroid Prime: Hunters is likely to be one of the most aggressively competitive games on Nintendo's Wi-Fi
service thus far.
And they're all playing Mario Kart DS.
Shortly after a dramatic website countdown hit
six digits, Nintendo has officially announced that their Wi-Fi service has managed to ensnare over 1 million hapless
users. According to Reggie Fils-Aime, all those users represent more than 27 million game sessions. That's certainly an
impressive number, but we expect it to grow even further once Metroid Prime: Hunters finds its way into the
hands of eager online gamers. The total number of hours that will be lost to Nintendo's Wi-Fi nexus in the next few
months is nigh incalculable.
So anxious for the impending release of
Metroid Prime Hunters that you're on the verge of a mental breakdown? Of course you are. Intent on devouring every last
bit of information about the game that spews forth from the dark recesses of the Internet? Yes, that's you alright. Want
to check out the IGN forums and discover a hands-on report, brimming with both major and minor details?
Obviously, you do. Getting annoyed by this terrible question-answer approach to what should have been a simple
introductory paragraph? Most definitely.
One of the IGN staffers posted some of his early
experiences with the game and we have to admit--there's plenty of information to glean here. The game's scan-happy
single-player section is supposedly looking superb, a revelation that is sure to put many Prime fans at ease.
Well, at least until they get to this part: "And
that's exactly what Hunters is: a FPS. None of this First-person 'adventure' crap." Hmm.
Other
highlights include:
Samus starts the adventure with all her equipment intact.
Overall playtime of the single-player portion is just under the Gamecube's Metroid Prime.
The game has a "Rival Radar" mode which tracks a rival's stats on the web. It works a bit like
Nintendog's "bark" mode.
19 multiplayer arenas are present in the tested
version.
Each player gets a "Hunter's License". Penalties will be incurred on that following a
forced disconnection.
In order to initiate voice chat, the X button must be held down.
It's
almost here.
[Thanks, dwarpdesign!] [Update: Corrected "a" typing error.]
The chaps over at the
British Gaming Blog have posted a glut of Metroid Prime
Hunters images for your personal and potentially depraved enjoyment. By "glut", of course, mean 42. If we
had said "plethora" or "volley", we would have obviously meant considerably less than 42. However,
had we said "cornucopia"...well, you'd be even happier than you are now.
As you gaze at these
lovely screens (some old, some new), be sure to constantly remind yourself that the game's release is but a scant few weeks away.
Australian gamers recently took part in a Metroid Prime: Hunters tournament for a grand prize of $1,000 dollars AUD (about $760 dollars US). With 8 of the country's finest bounty hunters going at it, the competition was fierce and only one man was able to walk away victorious. Jeff Hawthorne of Brisbane was able to win in the end using the character Sylux. Jeff explains how he managed to best his competition:
When you ask DS Fanboy readers to do something for you, they don't waste much time. This is a valuable lesson
I've now learned after putting out a call to you guys to let us know where and when you stumble across one of the many
Wi-Fi tendrils of Nintendo's download station network currently spreading across the world. My online persona was
buried beneath an avalanche of tips, comments and the usual death threats, but it has now surfaced and is ready to
start compiling the information in an epic list that's sure to inspire a major motion picture. This is just the second
part of our ongoing quest and I hope to keep adding new locations on a weekly basis.
Do you enjoy blasting well-armed blocks to smithereens or strategically arranging bounty hunters to score
loads of points? Well then...wait, I think I got something wrong there. Regardless, Metroid Prime Hunters and
Tetris DS are released today! Get yourself to the nearest retailer and exchange your money for gaming
goodness. And while you're there, be on the lookout for those 
