Also, Figure of the Day has been updated! The daily feature on figures you might have but might not-- either way, here's what you've been missing! Spanning from the original Power of the Force series of 1995 to the latest of the 30th Anniversary Collection, it's almost like a history lesson!
From left to right: Stuff, things you should click on. Go to Galactic Hunter for the next update, with the latest installment in our ongoing series!
The people at ACToys.net posted-- a while ago, sorry-- a boxed three-pack for Wal-Mart. The set features movie-style packaging with three versions of the classic character. One, the "classics" mold repainted with racing stripes, just like the movie. Two, the movie "premium" mold, complete with battle-helmet head. (It's pretty cool.) And three, the animated version of the toy, apparently with no changes. No release date (or official announcement) has been given, but it's a nice set, no?
After snagging it a few days ago, we play-tested Wii Fit a little on Sunday. While we heard reports of people being declared unfairly overweight, both test subject in 16bit Labs were delcared underweight, and under their actual weights. Perhaps there is something wrong with the scale, but it seems our users were something like 5-10 pounds lighter. In light of reports indicating users were being called fat, either it means we're far thinner than we thought, or they're far fatter than they thought. (Update: Apparently this is why they gave carpet extenders. Odd, as our carpet is incredibly un-thick.)
The early mini-games (we hesitate to call them exercises) are pretty neat, and some are a little maddening to figure out. Slightly more specific instructions would help in some cases, but some just seem to be simply a matter of discovering the rules. If you're a guy standing around with soccer balls, severed panda heads, and shoes flying at your head, what's your initial reaction? Should you hit some, or avoid them all? It's issues like this that make some parts of the game more than a little tricky.
While we're still playing with it and unlocking parts of it, the game itself aspires to be a cross between some basic exercise program and a sequel to Wii Sports. Several of the minigames involving your Mii feel like a part of the pack-in sports package, which isn't necessarily a dig at them. They're fun, mostly fairly easy to understand, and enjoyable so far. A "running" game was particularly interesting in that, like Duck Hunt of old, you'll probably want to outrun the pacing guy-- which, like shooting the dog, you really can't do. Well, you can, but then your guy gets lost and you have to wait for your guide to catch up to show you where you're supposed to go when you hit a fork in the road.
At a price tag of US $89.99, it's expensive-- and popular. In this new era of video gaming which seems to be largely defined by the kind of input device you use more than anything else, this should fit right in with the Rock Band drums and Guitar Hero instruments you're collecting. Given that Nintendo now has discovered a great way to boost profits-- bundling enticing hardware with software-- we fully expect to see a lot more of this in the future, or at the very least one or two titles of this nature per year.
We're posting a little less news lately because we're in the midst of a potentially difficult revamp-- some things are being reformatted, moved around, reorganized, and so forth. As such, updates may continue to appear in their usual spotty way, and we thank you for your continued patience and continued readership.
Star Wars Figure of the Day Updated at Galactic Hunter
Galactic Hunter has updated Figure of the Day! The daily feature on figures you might have but might not-- either way, here's what you've been missing! Spanning from the original Power of the Force series of 1995 to the latest of the 30th Anniversary Collection, it's almost like a history lesson!
Go to Galactic Hunter for the next update, with the next installment in our ongoing series!
We went hunting last night to find lots of Transformers Animated toys. Specifically, the Battle Begins 2-pack, Grimlock, Lugnut, Blackarachnia, and some other stuff in cases we left sealed. This was at a Los Angeles-area Wal-Mart, and yes, we picked up some, and yes, we posted impressions of Grimlock (so far) here. It's a new project, read it won't you?
You'll excuse us for not dawdling, but we've got a flight in a few hours and lots of crap to post before then.
During our toy run, we spotted piles of newly released LEGO Castle toys. Not all the sets were available but several other kits were out there for the buying. Good stuff, too. Expensive, but pretty awesome.
This week, you can grab two games. Aces of the Galaxy is described as yet another space-shooter. There's a lot of them, many coming from Japan and therefore being pretty great, so it's unlikely yet another one will tickle your fancy unless you're crazy for such things.
The other new selection on the menu is Roogoo, which is a puzzle game whose graphics seem to take a cue from preschool toys and the Katamari Damacy series. We haven't heard much of it yet but it certainly looks distinctive.
Fans of the newly launched WiiWare service, this is another decent week. Toki Tori is a remake of the classic GameBoy Color title, except with a crazy gorgeous facelift and the kind of 2D gameplay you live for, if you run a site with a name like 16bit.com. Protothea from UUUbisoft is, shock, another shooter. It used to be a PC game, and now it's a Wii game. It's a start, we guess.
For the Virtual Console: Neo-Geo's Ninja Combat, a game we have been told sounds more fun than it actually is. Which makes sense, as we love ninjas and combat, and putting the two together can only mean suffering for us all.
Ad: Entertainment Earth Reveals New Hasbro Exclusive
AD: ...sort of. Online merchant Entertainment Earth posted a sneak peek of its new 2008 Hasbro action figure exclusive. There are six shadowy figures, but it isn't clear which is actually part of the set. Click through to see if you can determine what they are, or pre-order the box of 6 for $35.99.
Also, Figure of the Day has been updated! The daily feature on figures you might have but might not-- either way, here's what you've been missing! Spanning from the original Power of the Force series of 1995 to the latest of the 30th Anniversary Collection, it's almost like a history lesson!
From left to right: Stuff, things you should click on. Go to Galactic Hunter for the next update, with the latest installment in our ongoing series!
We went hunting over the weekend and found yet more new animated Transformers toys, including Bulkhead (Voyager), Starscream (Voyager), Ratchet (Deluxe), and Blackarachnia (Deluxe). No sign of leaders or other toys, but hey, we're pretty stoked. For continuing coverage and impressions on these toys, go to our new Transformers blog.
We will say, however, we "lucked out" again and got a bum Starscream with a missing screw in his arm, so he's gotta go back to the store. Due to how the figure was packaged, there's no way to see this until you open it, so be sure to keep your peepers peeled for missing parts.
Blackarachnia is largely excellent. Decent Spider, great Robot, so-so accessories and a couple of easily lost pieces. Ratchet is simple, but tons of fun. More fun if you like the character in the show. Actually, were it not for his characterization on the show, we don't think we'd like him nearly so much.
We'd post more but we're running on fumes. More tomorrow.
Star Wars Figure of the Day Updated at Galactic Hunter
Galactic Hunter has updated Figure of the Day! The daily feature on figures you might have but might not-- either way, here's what you've been missing! Spanning from the original Power of the Force series of 1995 to the latest of the 30th Anniversary Collection, it's almost like a history lesson!
Go to Galactic Hunter for the next update, with the next installment in our ongoing series!
We went hunting last night to find more of the new Transformers Animated toys. Specifically, Bumblebee and Lockdown. We posted packaged photos to our Flickr account and impressions are coming to our Transformers News Blog.
Here's the super-short version. Bumblebee: Decent car mode, rotten deco, OK sculpt, iffy transformation. Still fun enough to buy. Lockdown: Doesn't hold together well, huge robot mode, wonderful paint job, good sculpt, fun transformation. Except for the falling apart bit. Between the two, it's a tough call because each is fun and worth having for different reasons.
The new issue of Lee's Toy Review is previewed at TNI, and the cover sports a new AVAC with Firebat! The figure recycles the Flash body from earlier in the year, but with a new head. The vehicle seems to be the original, or a silghtly tweaked reissue. It looks great!
This week, you can grab two games. Frogger 2 is a sequel to a classic arcade game. Since the original is always a strong seller, it makes sense to do another one. It comes from Konami, so that should bode well.
The other new selection on the menu is Commando 3: Wolf of the Battlefield, which is a new entry in the classic Capcom series. In other words, we have high hopes for it, and hope it's excellent.
Fans of the newly launched WiiWare service can grab My Pokemon Ranch, a title where you can import your Miis and your Pokemon from your DS. Sounds fun if you're twelve.
For the Virtual Console: NES Dig Dug, which probably offers no real surprises beyond it not being as arcade-accurate or achievement-riffic as its Xbox 360 sibling. Also for the NES, Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa, which we've never, ever played or heard of. Has anyone played it? Is it good?
Also, Figure of the Day has been updated! The daily feature on figures you might have but might not-- either way, here's what you've been missing! Spanning from the original Power of the Force series of 1995 to the latest of the 30th Anniversary Collection, it's almost like a history lesson!
From left to right: Stuff, things you should click on. Go to Galactic Hunter for the next update, with the latest installment in our ongoing series!
Hulk opened in the USA with an estimated $55 million take-- not bad! We took out lunch at Burger King last week and got this little monster.
It's called "Hulk Smash." How original. You pick it up and slam it down, hearing a springy smashing sound. We guess it's kind of neat, and should give any child literally minute of fun. (That's not a typo.) The other toys looked pretty good, as there were a lot of little figures and other gimmicky things. We'll post more if/as I get them.
First, we discovered that Transformers Animated are everywhere. We saw them in person at Kay-Bee Toys, Toys "R" Us, Target, and Wal-Mart. We also saw them online at Entertainment Earth. So if you want them, go get some.
The Deep Space Starscream toy, which is exclusive to Target, is showing up for $19.99. Apparently some stores are placing them out early, so you're going to have to go check a few stores.
A Japanese site Ambelo has shots of Thundercracker from the new pre-orderable exclusive. From Japan.
Canada's TFCon has confirmed more regional favoritism with Hasbro launching the new Universe line in Canada to coincide with the TFCon fan convention. No definite word on a US release, but apparently if you're there, you can get yourself some Prowl action.
And on the blog, we posted Bumblebee if you missed it. Which you probably didn't, as you weren't looking to read it in the first place. We're gonna have more soon.
Star Wars Figure of the Day Updated at Galactic Hunter
Galactic Hunter has updated Figure of the Day! The daily feature on figures you might have but might not-- either way, here's what you've been missing! Spanning from the original Power of the Force series of 1995 to the latest of the 30th Anniversary Collection, it's almost like a history lesson!
Go to Galactic Hunter for the next update, with the next installment in our ongoing series!
We went hunting last weekend to find more of the new Transformers Animated toys. This time, we got Cybertron Mode Optimus Prime. We posted photos to our Flickr account and impressions to our Transformers News Blog. We really dig it, it's quite colorful and nicely done.
Also, fans are reporting the Voyager-class Optimus Prime is hitting. Good news, indeed!
This week Taito released a whopping two games. Arkanoid DS and Space Invaders Extreme were both released several months ago in Japan, but man, let us tell you, they're great. Each is $19.99 and while we haven't seen US versions in stores ourselves, we've been assured they're out there.
This week, you can grab two games. Elements of Destruction seems to take all the ways you could destroy a city in SimCity or ActRaiser, but that seems to be pretty much the point-- just blow up stuff real good. So it's like a Godzilla game, minus the lizard, we guess.
For younger gamers who enjoyed the likes of Finding Nemo, Sierra hopes you'll enjoy Sea Life Safari, which allows you to swim around and examine undersea life with your camera. So it's like Aquanaut's Holiday/Pokemon Snap, but not. It looks like fun for the younger set, sure.
Fans of the newly launched WiiWare service can grab Block Breaker Deluxe, which is like Arkanoid minus the Arkanoid, and Fishing Master, which we presume lets you hunt deer in the forest.
For the Virtual Console: Neo Geo's Samurai Showdown, a 2D fighting classic from SNK.
Also, Figure of the Day has been updated! The daily feature on figures you might have but might not-- either way, here's what you've been missing! Spanning from the original Power of the Force series of 1995 to the latest of the 30th Anniversary Collection, it's almost like a history lesson!
From left to right: Stuff, things you should click on. Go to Galactic Hunter for the next update, with the latest installment in our ongoing series!
We went hunting over the weekend yet again to find Animated pretty much everywhere. The first six deluxe figures continue to be widely available, and it's almost just as easy to find Grimlock, Lugnut, Bulkhead, Megatron, and Starscream. We're also seeing quite a bit of Voyager class Optimus Prime (earth mode)
We're also hearing more rumblings of US releases for the Leader-class Bulkhead and Megatron toys, but haven't seen them yet. Considering these things weren't supposed to be out until like now, it's great to see the line rolling out so well at this point.
The Cobra Island guys have links to some new comic packs, including the Iron Grenadier and Destro. That's the only one we could get to open, so yeah, that's disappointing. But still, nice to see the next round is almost ready.
UPDATE: Reader Mark sent along information that you can also find his photos at YoJoe, where they are slightly more visible and higher res.
This week, you have a couple of options, one of which sounds supremely compelling. Ticket to Ride is another German board game which makes the conversion to the Xbox Live service, and in it you plan train routes. It actually sounds like a lot of fun, and we'll be giving it a shot. The one review at Metacritic is not particularly telling.
Having us shrug and walk away isn't too uncommon, so we're not paying lots of attention to the Happy Tree Friends False Alarm game. Apparently there's a lot of cut scenes and violence, and the publisher is Sega. So we're not sure what to make of it just yet.
Fans of the newly launched WiiWare service can grab Gyrostarr, which is yet another shooter. Hardly enough of those to be had, aren't there?
For the Virtual Console: Neo Geo's Burning Fight, where you can punch things. Also available is the Sega Master System title Alex Kidd in Miracle World which we don't recall playing, but we do recall a lot of marketing for it, so maybe it's good.
Star Wars Figure of the Day Updated at Galactic Hunter
Galactic Hunter has updated Figure of the Day! The daily feature on figures you might have but might not-- either way, here's what you've been missing! Spanning from the original Power of the Force series of 1995 to the latest of the 30th Anniversary Collection, it's almost like a history lesson!
Go to Galactic Hunter for the next update, with the next installment in our ongoing series!
Reports around the web of Transformers Animated Activators, Transformers Universe Deluxe, Transformers Universe Robot Heroes, and Transformers Universe Legends showing up are all over! As such, may your toy hunting be happy this weekend.
One of the biggest and best franchises on the planet right now is Guitar Hero. Just this week, we saw the Nintendo DS version of the game with its fancy-pants keypad and all of that, plus the new World Tour game is due later this year. It's freaking huge. So what to do next? Action figures.
Online store Entertainment Earth is selling pre-orders for McFarlane Toys' latest line, due this November. Included are avatars from the game, not actual musicians which may have a cameo. Choose from God of Rock, Lars Umlaut, Johnny Napalm, and/or Axel Steel. We're not at liberty to discuss much about how they look (we're not unhappy), and final images are showing up in the media we're told. It's a hot property, but the interest in these characters is unknown to us. We wish to hear more.
The big annual G.I. Joe convention is going on like right now, and there's a lot of new stuff to tell you about, which we're reading around the web.
Convention exclusives: SWAT RTV with Bullhorn, Hotwire with Mech, SKYBAT figure with parachute sets are all available to those who go to the show, in limited numbers. HISSTank.com has pictures. There are also shots of the boxed set. There seem to be other goodies but it's unclear as to how all are obtained.
New items: 12-inch figures, more Toys "R" Us exclusive sets with more Crimson Guards and Greenshirts, Command sets with the likes of Iron Grenadiers, Cutter, and aquatic figures, Cobra Extreme Conditions sets (more on those in a day or so), early wax sculpts, and some other stuff. Early pictures are here. Beware, some are customs and not actual items slated for production.
...blood, that is! No really, in all seriousness, it's probably going to be bad.
Nintendo Power (by way of GoNintendo announced Castlevania Judgment, a 3D fighter for the console. Seeing as the classic series has had numerous games developed, announced, and ultimately unreleased, we're kinda hoping that's what happens here. Because this really sounds awful.
Also, Figure of the Day has been updated! The daily feature on figures you might have but might not-- either way, here's what you've been missing! Spanning from the original Power of the Force series of 1995 to the latest of the 30th Anniversary Collection, it's almost like a history lesson!
From left to right: Stuff, things you should click on. Go to Galactic Hunter for the next update, with the latest installment in our ongoing series!
Target stores have a number of toys on sale this week. Deluxe-class toys from Animated and the movie are down to $8 (unless a clearance is involved), and Voyager-class Animated toys are down to $18. Not bad!
What's more, we spotted loads of new toys. Marvel Transformers are hitting Wal-Mart and Toys "R" Us. Deluxe Animated Wave 3 is hitting Target. Universe Legends and Robot Masters are hitting Toys "R" Us. Selection varies by store, so you're going to have to hunt, but the good news is that so much new stuff is out there you'll likely score something good.
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We're posting a little less news lately because we're in the midst of a potentially difficult revamp-- some things are being reformatted, moved around, reorganized, and so forth. As such, updates may continue to appear in their usual spotty way, and we thank you for your continued patience and continued readership.
Hulk opened in the USA with an estimated $55 million take-- not bad! We took out lunch at Burger King last week and got this little monster.
