Giant Bomb Video Game News

One month from today, the newest Legend of Zelda game, Spirit Tracks, will hit the DS. Choo-choo? Yeah, OK, I've got nothing (but I'm sincerely excited to play the game when it comes out).
 
And I hope a few of you are too, because Nintendo will be providing us four extra copies of Spirit Tracks to send your way, provided you live in the United States. We'll give away one copy per week for the next four weeks until the game's release, along with a few other goodies like a train whistle, T-shirt, and DSiWare points card.
 
But you'll have to work for this stuff! There's no such thing as a free lunch, or a free Spirit Tracks, either. Instead of our usual random-drawing format, this time you'll have to be the first one to answer these five obscure Zelda trivia questions in the comments on this story to win. And I warn you, these questions are not kind. Put on your thinking (Minish) caps, find the answers to these questions, and be the first to drop them in the comments to win this week's game. Of course, if you just want to discuss the game or talk about how hard these questions are, that's fine too.
 

1. What is the only Zelda game that Octoroks have not appeared in?
2. Which piece of the Triforce does Link earn in the original Legend of Zelda?
3. In what game besides Link’s Awakening did the Ballad of the Windfish appear?
4. At the beginning of A Link to the Past, where are all three pieces of the Triforce?
5. Who is the Oracle of Ages?

 

That's it. I suspect some of these will take a little digging, so I'll let you get to work. The winner will be contacted via private message, so keep an eye on your inboxes here in the site once you enter.

 

And don't forget, you'll have three more chances to win, so come back next week for the next round of questions. 

 
UPDATE: We have a winner! And that winner will be contacted via private message.  
 
An important note: The three subsequent trivia challenges will post at 1pm Pacific Standard Time on the next three Mondays, so you won't have to worry about missing your next chance to win. Just make sure you've got your eyes on the forums or news feed at that time so you can take a stab at being the first with the correct answers.

Ubisoft has announced plans to release a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game this November. The game, known as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Arcade Attack, is under development at Ubisoft Nagoya for the DS. As you might expect from the "Arcade Attack" subtitle, it's being designed to be reminiscent of the old Konami arcade brawlers.

Ubisoft bills the game as a "tribute to the original coin-op classics that made the Turtles into video game legends," which sounds like a pretty tall order. It looks like the game will be a constantly co-operative experience, meaning that even if you aren't playing with another human, you'll select an AI-controlled partner and bring him along an adventure that pits you against several TMNT enemies, including Baxter Stockman and the inevitable confrontation with Shredder. According to the released information, parts of the game will take place in New York City, but the story will also take you into cyberspace at some point.

Also worth noting is that the game seems to max out at two players. That sort of disqualifies it from "tribute to the games that helped make four-player games cool" status to me. Either way, the game's on track for November. Here are some screenshots! 
 

Hey, did you know there's a new Professor Layton game right around the corner? There is! It doesn't feel like it's been that long since the Prof's inaugural case, The Curious Village (maybe because I just finished that one a month ago), but good Dr. Layton is ready to keep it mad British once again next week with The Diabolical Box, which I've been digging into over the last few days.

I don't want to alarm you, but if you liked the first game's mix of brain-tickling puzzles and mysterious, whimsical intrigue, you'll find more of that in the sequel. And since I personally thought Curious Village was one of the most engaging, charming, and well-produced DS games in a long time, that is A-OK in my book. The artwork and menus are the same, the flow of the game--explore areas looking for clues to the mystery while solving dozens of puzzles offered to you by the people and surroundings you encounter--is basically identical, even the puzzle-solving music remains basically unchanged.

The game has Layton and Luke investigating the Elysian Box, an old artifact that's said to instantly strike anyone dead who opens it. After the box may (or may not?) have claimed the life of Layton's old friend, the pair sets off aboard a luxury passenger train the Molentary Express in pursuit of their first shred of clues. Initially I missed the old-world charm of St. Mystere, the setting of the first game, but it didn't take me long to get in the groove of this new story. What better place for a mystery than a speeding train?

Sure, there are a few minor changes to the game, including new minigames inside the professor's trunk. The most welcome new feature for me so far is the ability to pull out a "memo" overlay on any puzzle and make notes anywhere on top of the puzzle you need. That's come in handy in more than one tricky puzzle so far. I'll be back with a review of Diabolical Box next week to fill in some more details, but since the game should be hitting stores this weekend, I'll tell you this: If you loved Curious Village and you wanted more when it was over, you're going to want to get this one as soon as you see it.

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment issued a press release this morning announcing the first two products that, until recently, would have been coming out with the Midway name on the box.

No, it's not Toobin'. It's not Sinistar. It's not even a new Spy Hunter game using the Wheelman engine. It's Game Party 3 for the Wii and TouchMaster 3 for the DS! 

Game Party 3 continues the minigame collection series that Midway started on the Wii, and it's no surprise that the series will continue, as apparently the previous installments in the franchise sold quite well, proving the whole "put 'Party' in the name if you want it to sell on Wii" thing especially nicely. It'll offer 19 games including "Rootbeer Tapper." That'll probably be some sort of updated version of the original classic, Tapper.

TouchMaster 3 continues the series of DS editions of the long-running TouchMaster arcade series. Those are those touch-screen machines that sit in bars, letting drunk people play solitaire or, if it's a very cool bar, strip poker. Sadly, things like "naked lady photo hunt" or whatever will continue to not be in the DS version of the game. At least that's my assumption by the way the press release uses words like "family fun." Maybe their families are into strip poker, who can say? TouchMaster 3 on the DS will have 20 different minigames including something called "Dice King 2."

So, yeah, not an exceptionally exciting start to WBIE's new position as owners of the old Midway intellectual properties, but they'll probably be solid-selling collections nonetheless... unless people have finally figured out that they don't need to own every Wii game with "Party" in the title.  

Activision has announced plans to release another Call of Duty on the DS, called Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Mobilized. Multi-colon titles always make me feel all icky inside. Don't ask me why.

The game will offer multiplayer for up to six players online, and will include the ability for "friends to host their own server." That sort of seems like a weird thing to specifically mention in a press release. Makes me wonder if that just means you'll be able to configure your settings when playing a match or if it'll have some kind of weird dedicated server software.

Development is being handled by n-Space, which also developed Call of Duty 4 and Call of Duty: World at War on the DS. For some reason I can only think of Duke Nukem: Time to Kill whenever n-Space is brought up. I'm really not sure why that is.

Oh, and just because you can't have a game in this series/franchise these days without having some confusing fun with the names, the game will be known by its British English spelling over in that part of the world, where it will be called Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Mobilised.

After really enjoying the first Mario & Luigi on the Game Boy Advance (but not quite finishing it) and then completely failing to try the second game, Partners in Time, I'm a bit behind on Nintendo's portable RPG series starring the brothers Mario. But that isn't stopping the company from trundling right along with the third installment, Bowser's Inside Story, two new clips of which you may view below. 
 
The first is a simple instructive video showing off some of the gameplay, which looks pretty similar to the last two games.

 
    
 
The second is, well... just watch.
 
 
 
  
Show of hands: Who's totally stoked to go Bowser-spelunking?

While I might not be the biggest fan of Activision's approach to bringing Guitar Hero to the DS, the On Tour games have apparently sold like gangbusters, so they must be doing something right. It's an approach that is now being taken to its logical conclusion with the newly announced Band Hero for the DS. While the Band Hero name on other platforms mostly seems to suggest a more family-friendly playlist and aesthetic than a regular Guitar Hero game, it will also bring significant new gameplay options to the DS. In addition to the screen-strumming guitar gameplay that has been the staple of three Guitar Hero: On Tour games so far, Band Hero will also feature support for vocals and drums, with the percussion gameplay necessitating the new drum grip seen below.
As far as I can tell, the drum grip, unlike the guitar grip, doesn't actually introduce any new functionality. Furthermore, Activision's press release specifically names the DS Lite in its press release for Band Hero, suggesting that original DS and DSi owners will be left out in the cold, a move that just seems, well, kinda crappy. I can appreciate the attempt to cram as much rhythm action into the DS as possible, but the idea of singing into my DS sounds even more socially awkward than your usual karaoke. Still, if the DS is your sole gaming platform, and bands like blink-182, Avril Lavigne, The Killers, KT Tunstall, and Fall Out Boy are appealing to you, Band Hero might just be the ticket.
 
UPDATE: I sent an email to Activision concerning Band Hero's focus on the DS Lite specifically, and received this response from the game's executive producer, David Nathanielsz:

For Band Hero DS we chose to focus our development efforts on the primary DS platform, where millions of fans have already embraced the handheld innovation we brought to the Guitar Hero On Tour games. The new Drum Grip does not require the use of DS Lite’s expansion port.  The grip itself slips over the DS Lite replacing the directional arrows and buttons with 4 drum pad buttons that allow for a more natural, responsive and enjoyable play experience.  While we will continue to innovate the portable music game experience and we are very excited about the emerging technologies available with the DSi, Band Hero is not compatible with DSi at this time.

Band Hero for the DS will be available this November.
 
UPDATE #2: Some actual gameplay screenshots. Whee!

Until today, the following image from a teaser site was the only indication that Square Enix was on the verge of announcing a new game, and forget about trying to actually figure out what that game is. Little kids, swords, dragons... It's Square we're talking about. That could be anything.
   
Today, via some scans of Jump magazine on Joystiq, we know a whole lot more. Seems this is a new Final Fantasy game for the DS, full title Final Fantasy Gaiden: The Warriors of Light. I'm all for what Square's been doing with Final Fantasy games on the DS, and I must admit the idea of a brand new FF game in that style is only slightly less intoxicating than a DS remake of my beloved Final Fantasy VI, which is something I'm totally still hoping for.