carnival-games posts (Subscribe to this feed)

2K Play announced today that it plans on creating a Wii and DS game based on the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Beyond that ... there's really not much information. The image above was taken at Madison Square Garden, in "celebration" of the partnership with 2K, where the high-wire artist walked the tightrope using a Wiimote and Nunchuk for balance. 2K's press release states this "no doubt was a precursor of what to expect in the upcoming video games."

Given 2K's surprising cash infusion from the Carnival Games series, it wouldn't be surprising to see the publisher tap into that voodoo with this upcoming Ringling Bros-licensed title. According to 2K, more info will be made available at E3.

2K Games Global President Christoph Hartmann doesn't see 2009 as a great year for casual publishers. He sees the console flooded in a flurry of casual games, what he dubs "crappy titles." He thinks that for every ten casual titles produced, publishers expect two to be hits, financing the other eight. The problem is that all of those titles flood the market, making it tougher for casual games to prosper and only servies to confuse consumers.

He points to his own 2K-published Carnival Games as an example. "Had we released it last week, it would have been much tougher," he says. "There's far too much stuff in the Wii market [now] and it's hard to shine."

Regardless of a game's focus, we've always been big advocates of fun. If a game is only a collection of minigames, it's fine so long as they're fun to play. We think even pushing for that ten can mean that more than two are engaging and not "crappy," as he puts it. What do you all think? Too many casual games out there?

[Via Joystiq]

2K Games Global President Christoph Hartmann is back with another warning. Speaking with MCV, he expressed his belief that publishers bringing non-licensed casual games to Wii this year could struggle because the console is flooded by "crappy titles." Hartmann's example has publishers releasing ten games in the hopes that two hits will pay for the other eight. All this does, he said, is flood the market and confuse consumers.

According to the executive, if 2K's hit casual title Carnival Games were released today it would struggle to find an audience. Despite the Wii selling incredibly well, new casual brands seem to be lost in the flood of shovelware, with retailers already having little shelf space to spare.

Take-Two expects Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars on the DS to do quite well. The company hasn't really been putting their Mature-rated content on Nintendo systems that often, aside from the notorious Manhunt 2. But that's probably going to change in the near future, and, according to CEO Ben Feder, the company will be looking at the performance of GTA to help guide their plans on Wii:

"... Even the M-rated content that we think is much more appropriate for the PS3 or 360," he said in a financial earnings call, "we have to look at the Wii as a viable platform across all our labels." Not just the sports games and the Carnival Games! Feder said that Take-Two is going to do "a lot of learning" with Chinatown Wars.

We're of the opinion that all Take-Two really has to do is make some high-quality original games and market them like they would any of their mature titles. At least they aren't just taking the easy way out and putting out an exclusively Carnival Games lineup.

After a delay, Carnival Games: Mini-Golf has arrived -- at least, in screenshot form. Now with a few more options, too, from the look of the shots.

Gamers are pretty split on the first title. Many think it's horrible beyond belief, and others defend it as a fun game for multiplayer get-togethers. The real judge, however, is the fact that it sold tons and tons, more than many other Wii titles! Think the sequel will live up to that?

We like to bash the shovelware as much as anyone, but Take Two's Carnival Games must have been a real gem, because it has sold well consistently and "exceeded expectations" since its release. That's why Take Two has been taking their good old time in churning out a sequel to the game, which is now in the works.

"We saw the original title was a big success, and we had the developers [Cat Daddy] thinking down the line for the brand," said 2K Play marketing director Christina Recchio. "So there will be a 'Carnival Games 2,' but when that is, I can't say that right now. We just have to assess the market and see when the right time is to release the title." What does this mean? Well, that they won't need to rush development on the sequel so long as the first title keeps on selling.

Any of you play the original Carnival Games? Think it got a bad rap from the critics? Or was it just a bad game?

DS demo updates on the Nintendo Channel often get a disappointed reaction from us, but this week's batch does contain at least one interesting addition: Sonic Powered's Air Traffic Chaos, as localized (complete with generic and terrible boxart) by Majesco. At the very least, we're hopeful that the game can replicate the frenzied, panicked pace of a Trauma Center game.

The rest of this week's update is fairly humdrum, consisting of a Crosswords DS wordsearch, a Pictoimage demo, and a chance to try out Carnival Games, which has stuck around like a bad smell. The full list of both old and new demos is past the break!

For people longing to play new demos via the Nintendo Channel, the frustration continues. All we saw on the channel today was the return of two demos that we never really missed in the first place (we're looking at you, Carnival Games and Crosswords DS Wordsearch).

Nintendo also extended the availability dates on three of the existing demos, probably because offering three new ones would have been too satisfying (/bitter). The good news is, you have another week to try out Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 and Contra 4 if you haven't done so already.

Click past the break to see yet another underwhelming list of demos.

This week brings plenty of videos for you to watch on the Everyone's Nintendo Channel. From a look at how All-Play works in Tiger Woods 09, right down to another video of Alyson with Wii Fit. So, check out the list below, situated in handy bullet-point form:

• Get Wii Fit with Alyson: Balance Games
• Major League Eating info video
• MLB Power Pros 2008 info video
• Carnival Games info video (DS)
• Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility info video
• Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness info video (DS)
  
• The Sims 2 Apartment Pets info video (DS)
• Tiger Woods: PGA Tour 09 All-Play Video 2

With Trauma Center 2 and Contra 4 on the Nintendo Channel's demos list, you may wonder why exactly we're unimpressed. Perhaps it's because there's nothing new offered this week, unless you count the reappearance of certain demos on the list as "new." We don't.

To see why we're thoroughly uninspired, check past the break for the full list of "been there, done that" demos.

Civilization Revolution may be a wacky departure from the main Civilization series, but as of this week it has at least one thing in common with its predecessors: people can buy it! It's also related, however tenuously, to the only other DS game coming out this week, Carnival Games. Both are published by 2K, yes, and both are designed for casual play, to wildly varying degrees. For Civilization Revolution, "casual" means "more casual than Civ," and for Carnival Games, it means "let the dog play while you take a break to make lunch."

• Carnival Games
• Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution

After the break, the rest of the world's releases. Europe gets more than two! Japan gets way more than two, including the new Stafy game!

It's Monday, which means the Wii's Nintendo Channel is due to unleash some new DS demos for us to enjoy. Following last week's offerings isn't easy, that's for sure. Actually, it might be impossible. We're talking about one of the most awesome DS games available, after all.

So what's available this week? Head on past the break for the details.

One of the most well-known development tools in the world has been secured by 2K Games for some upoming titles. The Havok physics engine is used in squillions of high-profile games like Halo 3, Oblivion, BioShock and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Naturally, 2K wanted to acquire the license for none other than Carnival Games: Mini-Golf.

Before crying shovelware, the original Carnival Games sold over a million copies, so 2K is doing the right thing by wanting to get the best software for improving the series. A few other titles are also in line to use Havok, but no word on specific names as yet.

Step right up, ladies and gentlemen! You there, the big winner with the pretty lady! How about taking a shot at our fantastic Take-Em-Out game -- where everybody wins! The rules are simple -- grab your wallet, skillfully dig deep and take out $40! Hand it over to the smiling gentleman, and you have scored a great prize for your girlfriend! It's true, Take-Em-Out is the easiest way to have fun!

If there wasn't any reason to pick up Carnival Games before, is the promise of a free t-shirt going to tip the scales in Wal-Mart's favor? Well, probably - Carnival Games is one popular piece of software, free T-shirt or not. If you buy (and wear) this, hundreds of Wii owners are sure to point and nod approvingly. Best of all, there's even more opportunities on the horizon to become popular with the Carnies.

[Via GoNintendo]

Still hunting for a Wii? If so, Circuit City's online store has them in around about ... now.

Think supplies are going to last long? Hell no! Even though Circuit City is selling the things with an extra Wiimote, nunchuk and two of the titles listed below, we estimate these puppies will be gone soon. We'd usually criticize the practice of forcing customers to buy bundles, but we estimate that at least three or four of the six games being offered are must-haves:

• Super Mario Galaxy
• Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
• Wii Play
• Carnival Games
• Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl

You're still here!? Go! Go! Go!

[Via Go Nintendo]