Wii Price Drop and Holiday Buyer’s Guide

Posted on September 29th, 2009 in News & Events by Joshua O'Neal

With the Nintendo Wii price being dropped $50 to a nice cool $200 I figured it was time for us to look at the most anticipated games coming out this holiday season.  Normally, the holiday season marks a time when publishers put all their eggs in one basket and release a slew of high profile games.  This time of year is also known as the “fall rush” or “poor college gamer becomes in debt college gamer”.

Wii Fit Plus
Release Date: October 4th, 2009

It’s more Wii Fit – which includes all the content from the first game plus 15 new balance games, six new strength training games and yoga activities. Wii Fit Plus will be bundled with the balance board and also be available separately for people who already own Wii Fit.

Mario & Sonic At The Olympic Winter Games
Release Date: October 13th, 2009

The second game in the Olympic Games crossover series sees Mario and Sonic along with their friends competing in the Winter Games. Since the game is family oriented you won’t see any big changes in how it plays, but you can now use the Wii balance board for some of the events. All of the characters from the previous game were brought over and Nintendo has announced two new playable characters Donkey Kong and Silver the Hedgehog. Another new feature is the ability to use WiiConnect24 and import your Miis into the game. You can outfit your Mii with clothes and accessories if you are into that sort of thing.

A Boy And His Blob
Release Date: October 13th, 2009

This remake of the classis NES game was developed by WayForward technologies and published by Majesco Games. In the game, the boy feeds his blob jellybeans, which transforms him into whatever is needed to solve the task that is put in front of you. This side-scrolling 2D plat former will have eighty levels of jellybean goodness (forty standard and an additional forty hidden challenge levels) with the standard levels consisting of an average of ten hours of gameplay.

Rabbids Go Home
Release Date: October 27th, 2009

First shown at E3 2009, Rabbids Go Home is an action-adventure platformer in which Ubisoft has decided to drop Rayman from the title and game. The premise of the game is that two rabbids decide they are tired of living the party lifestyle and decide to go home. Thing is, they have no idea where they come from, so they start piling up a bunch of junk to try and reach the moon. You’ll control two rabbids with one sitting in a shopping cart and the other one pushing. Man, that sounds like a bad Internet video. Two Rabbids, one shopping cart.  Jacques Exertier, the game’s director, has confirmed that Rayman will return for more action-adventure video games.

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
Release Date: November 3rd, 2009

‘Shattered Memories’ is a “re-imagining” of the first Silent Hill game released in 1999 on the original PlayStation.  Shattered Memories follows a similar plot to the original, which has Henry Mason searching for his daughter, Cheryl, in the town of Silent Hill.  Mason, equipped with only a cell phone and a flashlight, must avoid all encounters with monsters since combat has been taken out of the game entirely. The most publicized feature is how the game will monitor and evaluate how you are playing and your actions will have an effect on multiple things within the town.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii
Release Date: November 15th, 2009

New Super Mario Bros was another exciting Nintendo Wii game announced at this years E3 Expo. SMB Wii is the sequel to the DS title and the first Mario game to have simultaneous multiplayer gameplay in normal levels since the original Mario Brothers. The four players are Mario (first player), Luigi (second player), and two Toads characters: one blue (third player) and one yellow (forth player). It’s strange that with all the characters in the Mushroom Kingdom that Nintendo decided to go with two Toad characters. They also have added two new suits to the game; the propeller and penguin suits, and will allow players to ride on a Yoshi.  Nintendo also announced that the Koopalings, Koopa Kids from Mario 3, will be the major villains in the game.

SC3 Arcade/Retro Party Fun – Sept 2009!

Posted on September 27th, 2009 in News & Events by admin

Those lucky enough to live in the Los Angeles area have a chance to attend the SC3 parties which come around twice a year.  Just imagine everything you love about your favorite backyard party with friends, toss in 20 year old classic arcade machines and surround yourself with retro consoles all over the place.  SC3 is all of these things plus pizza, booze and more!  Each party brings new faces and a bigger turnout!

More party photos from Radnerd –
http://www.flickr.com/photos/techknowtv/sets/72157622463822930/

Wanna know more about the party and people involved -
then visit: http://www.myspace.com/sc3videogames

Army of Two: the 40th Day interview

Posted on September 25th, 2009 in COIN-OP TV vidcast by admin

Exclusive early look at Army of Two: the 40th Day with Matt Turner – a producer on the game from EA. Find out if this sequel plans to exceed expectations with information about weapons customizing, computer AI and more!

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 interview

Posted on September 23rd, 2009 in COIN-OP TV vidcast by admin

Hailey Bright of COIN-OP TV interviews Robert Bowling (Infinity Ward) on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. An inside look at the story, multiplayer features and upcoming comic book adaptation!

TheStream.TV Celebrates 1,000 Episodes!

Posted on September 21st, 2009 in News & Events by admin

Brian Gramo, founder of TheStream.TV and partners Evo, sponsored a party in Los Angeles over the weekend to celebrate TheStream.TV’s 1,000 episode!  The Stream.TV launched in Sept 2006 as the world’s first live and interactive independent streaming network.  The network has gone on to exceed expectations and entertain live viewers across the world with a variety of shows.  The party was a big ‘thanks’ to all former guests and industry friends of the network.  Celebs and other industry ‘big wigs’ came out for drinks, dancing and all around fun!

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Video coverage on WireImage.com
http://www.wireimage.com/ItemListings.aspx?igi=393024&nbc1=17

Photo sets from party:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/techknowtv/sets/72157622415301212/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/71845948@N00/sets/72157622304288719/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/djrome/sets/72157622429895322/

Tron interview with director Steven Lisberger

Posted on September 18th, 2009 in COIN-OP TV vidcast by admin

Robert Welkner of COIN-OP TV interviews Tron director Steven Lisberger at the Disney D23 Expo 2009. We take a look at the impact of the original 1982 film and find out what is in store for the upcoming movie called Tron Legacy.

Legend of Neil star Tony Janning on COIN-OP TV LIVE

Posted on September 18th, 2009 in News & Events by admin

The Legend of Neil star Tony Janning joins us in the studio. The Legend of Neil was picked up for a second season by Comedy Central. A comedy web series about what happens when a slacker gets sucked into the fantasy world of Zelda. We had Sandeep Parikh as a guest (episode 251) on the show during season 1 but now feature the star of the show during season 2.

coinoptv_episode_314

COIN-OP TV LIVE episode 314:
http://www.thestream.tv/watch.php?v=1697

watch The Legend of Neil here:
http://www.effinfunny.com/legend-of-neil

Combat Arms from Nexon America interview

Posted on September 18th, 2009 in COIN-OP TV vidcast by admin

Hailey Bright of COIN-OP TV interviews Graham Kays from Nexon American at PAX 2009. Graham, a producer on the game, gave us the inside scoop on what makes Combat Arms a fun and unique first person shooter. Hailey also asked about the new ‘Quarantine’ mode of the game.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 Pre-Order Confusion

Posted on September 15th, 2009 in News & Events by Joshua O'Neal

This week marks the release of Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 from Activision.  Ultimate Alliance 2 is an action RPG with a top down perspective in the vein of Diablo, Baldur’s gate, and X-Men Legends.  It is available on every platform known to man except the PC. Unfortunately, much like the ‘Civil War’ portrayed in the game, a good deal of fans are confused about where to shop as specific retailers are offering their own set of unlockable characters.

MUA2_artsidebyside_ambush

If you pre-ordered the game at GameStop you will get a code that allows you to play as Juggernaut. As far as I know this is the only way to unlock him, but I heard a rumor that he might be in some post-game DLC. Wal-Mart gives you a comic book based on the Civil War storyline with cover art done by artist Gabrielle Del’Otto that highlights the key moments in the game. Here is where things get tricky. If you pre-ordered at Best Buy then you will receive a code to unlock Thor and retailer GameCrazy has exclusive access to The Incredible Hulk. Both of these characters are playable on the normal retail disc but your code allows you to unlock them earlier in the game.

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Pre-orders can be lucrative by offering special content to help sell a game before it comes out, but do retailers really need to make it so difficult?  Are there some hardcore Hulk or Thor fans that can’t wait a few hours to play as their favorite characters?

D23 Expo meant Disney Fans United!

Posted on September 14th, 2009 in News & Events by admin

The D23 Expo went down in Anaheim, California over the weekend and was hailed as ‘The Ultimate Disney Fan Experience’.  The convention center floor was sparsely filled with both vendors and Disney related exhibitors.  Fun things on the show floor were the Mad Hatter Tea Party, arts & crafts with EK Success and the Disney art pieces on display.  Upstairs were exhibits that featured wardrobe from Disney movies of the past, a very cool Tron Legacy setup and a Prince of Persia display for the upcoming video game turned movie.

The D23 Expo ran 4-days long with panels and guests like celebrities Donny Osmond and Cheryl Burke from Dancing with the Stars.  The show-stopper was on Friday morning when Nicolas Cage, John Travolta, Miley Cyrus, Tim Burton, Robert Zemeckis appeared on-stage preceeding a surprise appearance by Johnny Depp in full ‘Jack Sparrow’ garb where he announced that another Pirates sequel was in production called ‘On Stranger Tides’.


Like most first time expos, D23 was not without its ups and downs.  Trying to figure out where to go for a screening or an autograph was a task.  Our media badges helped us get around but we were still in the dark with most events and had to check our gear in for all the panels.  On a positive note – because the D23 was attended mostly by hardcore Disney fans, this meant no huge crowds and lots of time to explore.
(Photos: BlankLogo Photography / Additional Photos Courtesy of the D23 Expo)