With bigger studios putting more dollars into production of video game-based movies, we’re definitely starting to see the quality of such movies pick up significantly. The latest in this trend will be Disney’s production of a Prince of Persia movie in 2008 which will hopefully spawn a new movie franchise.

Disney’s definately stepped up their live action adventure movies, with the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, The Chronicles of Narnia, and more recently Bridge to Terabithia. In partnership with Jerry Bruckheimer Films, who I will always remember most for Armageddon, a Persia movie will definately be visually appealing, and with Disney’s ability to find good writers for a big budget film like this, it’s definitely a movie I’ll want to go see.

Video Games Blogger

Our friend Beeks over at N+ has come across some very retro video game books at the library!

Apparently, the author of one book has categorized several NES games by how “violent” each game is. Metal Gear and Double Dragon take top honors with “high levels of violence”, while Super Mario Bros. 2 looked to destroy yesterday’s youth (that’s me!) with “moderate levels of violence!”

What could possibly be so violent about a game featuring a weird bird creature shooting eggs from his nostril?

Of course! Bombs! Thanks Nintendo for providing this fabulous murder simulator for me to grow up with…

Obviously, these books can provide hours upon hours worth of entertainment. Somebody should remind me to dig around my attic one day for some of them. Until then, check out the rest of the article!

N+

Random Nintendo is reporting that EA Montreal will be creating an entirely new rhythm game for the Wii, requiring players to dance with the Wii remote and nunchuk. Sporting a 1970s theme, the game so far differs from Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party (Konami) in that there is no mention of a dance pad/mat. Hopefully this is one of the many new games to come out of EA’s new strategy of backing the Wii rather than supporting a single one of its competitors too heavily.

Random Nintendo

This song is actually my ringtone for my phone right now! It’s just so addicting…

So when is Nintendo finally going to make a sequel to Mario Paint? Don’t make me beg.

Direct Link

Matt Casamassina posted on his blog yesterday that even though he’s not allowed to talk about the details, there are some great games on the way for the Wii. Here’s what he had to say:

There are some potentially crazy-awesome games coming down the pipeline for Wii, by the way. You guys have no idea. I know that’s vague — has to be, but I’ve seen some stuff that you simply have no idea even exists and frankly, if you did, you’d flip out. Comments like these have a way of backfiring on me and i’m sure some people will be annoyed that I’ve even brought up, since I’m unable to give even a hint about the projects in question. Others will undoubtedly say that I’m merely making crap up because there’s no way anybody can disprove statements that are intentionally so unrevealing. But whatev. I know that if I was in your position, I’d be happy just to know that some very cool, unexpected stuff is brewing somewhere way behind-the-scenes. I swear, when this stuff finally shows up, I’ll let you know that I blogged about it way back when.

Good to know that even though we can’t have details, we can get a confirmation that this year and next are going to rock for the Wii, and that we’ve made a good investment on our new game systems. Alright, maybe someone should start a topic on our forums predicting what’s to come out of GDC next week, or maybe E3 in May. Remember to check back at The Tanooki for up-to-date news from the Game Developers Conference next week!

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Like the rest of you, I had heard mostly praise for Sonic and the Secret Rings leading up to the game’s release. When I posted my initial impressions Wednesday night, I definitely acknowledged how fun the game was to play with the new control system. However, I noted the seemingly sluggish sensitivity in the controls. The game wasn’t that fast, movement from left to right wasn’t as smooth as I would have expected, and homing attacks weren’t perfect. I was looking forward to the rest of the game, but I have to be honest and say my expectations for the game had lowered slightly after trying out the game for a few hours. How does my opinion stand now?

Toss out those impressions.

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Nearly 2 million shares, or 1.4% of Nintendo’s shares outstanding, will be made available to the public next week, after a state-backed corporation decided to entrust the shares to a trust bank. The shares are collectively worth about 67.3 billion yen, or $554 million when converted to USD.

I guess now’s as good a time as any to be cashing in on Nintendo’s success - though I’m not exactly sure that’s the reason for the sales.

Extreme Tech

Apparently, GameStop wants in on the Wii hype, and will release its own brand name Wii accessories including WiiSports-type attachments in the form of a baseball bat, tennis racket, and golf club attachment. Also, a gripped battery cover will be release, of course in a wide assortment of colors.

What’s actually worth mentioning, however, is their Afterglow Cooler accessory. The Wii stand has a built-in cooling fan to assist in ventilating the already power- and heat-efficient Wii. In addition, the entire stand seems to be transparent, effectively allowing for a light to reflect along the entire inside of the stand, illuminating the entire base with the blue glow we all wish the disc slot had 24/7.

IGN Gear

Stephen Plumb has posted on his 1UP blog his views on uninnovative games for an innovative console. Check it out, and hit the link for the rest:

The Wii isn’t just a gorified Eye-Toy. As a control mechanism it actually works, allowing non-gamers like my parents to quickly get deep into a game without the usual learning curve. The console as a whole lends itself towards fun and immersive if somewhat short gaming sessions and even conjures a feeling of worth. By hitting a virtual tennis ball over a virtual net using real-life muscles you actually feel as if you might be on the way to improving your health. It’s as if computer games have finally picked up a use.

However, everyone’s written about the Wii now and this blog post is a little late, so I’m going to present you with a question:

Will we actually see any innovation beyond the hardware itself?Â

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Oh the thrills of running for a public office! You can’t deny the satisfaction of being in the media and just waiting for a candidate to misword something, or even better, make a reference to an out of date video game system!

In Obama’s latest tour stop in Austin, he told the crowd to start recruiting their friends by telling them to turn off the TV and “stop playing Game Boy, we have work to do”.

There goes the election.

Joystiq