VG Tribune

Above and below are some of the products of just about any game that releases ever. Eventually someone WILL make a Team Fortress 2 parody of them, in this case Rhythm Heaven Fever is the latest to get the TF2 treatment.

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Those who pre-ordered the PlayStation Vita First Edition Bundle are no doubt sitting around playing with the system right now. Those of you who didn't get the bundle have to wait until next week to get your system. That doesn't mean you have to miss out on all the fun! So we’re going to unveil the system in our short but detailed unboxing for you all to enjoy. This is Sony’s latest handheld, are you excited for it?

First Edition Vita Box Contents:

• PlayStation Vita System (Wi-fi model for Canadian users, 3G for American)
• 4GB Memory Card
• Retail copy of Little Deviants
• USB Cable
• AC Adaptor and Power Cord
• Limited Edition PS Vita Case
• Set of AR cards

Impressions to come later this week.

Toy Fair 2012, the E3 of toys, kicked off the four day event yesterday morning in New York City.  One of the items on display is ThinkGeek's iCade's little brother, the iCade 8-Bitty.

The iCade 8-Bitty is a battery-operated wireless controller, similar in design to Nintendo's NES controller, with four buttons instead of two.  Since it uses Bluetooth to connect to the iOS device like the iCade, it will also be usable on Android devices with games that support the iCade input controls, which is different from your standard wireless joystick.

Any game that supports the iCade controller can be played with the iCade 8-Bitty.  A growing list of iCade compatible games and other information about the iCade 8-Bitty can be found here.

No release date has been announced other than "Later this year", but it has been priced at $24.99.  You can be put on a mailing list to let you know when additional information is available at the iCade 8-Bitty product page.

What are your thoughts on this?  Do you have the original iCade?  Would you be interested in picking up the iCade 8-Bitty when it is available?  Is the price right?  Let us know in the comments below.

Title: Rhythm Heaven Fever
Developer: Nintendo SPD Group No. 1, TNX
Publisher: Nintendo
Platform:  Wii
Review Platform: Wii
Released: February 13, 2012 (NA)

Rhythm Heaven Fever, the third installment in Nintendo's distinctly Japanese Rhythm Heaven series is finally hitting North American shores. The franchise's music, presentation level and sense of humor have always been top notch but do these tropes carry over into the series' Wii entry? The short answer is, unquestionably, yes. 
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Jesse, Zack, Roger, and Alexis discuss the latest in gaming news.

Links to articles referenced in this episode:

• Sony UMD Passport Program a No-Go for North America
• Portal 2 + Skyrim = Official Space Core Mod!
• Adventures In Skyrim: The Fall Of The Space Core: Volume 1
• Simple Hack Brings Nintendo Zone Content Home
• Meet Nintendo's first spokesdog, Uggie! How can you resist those puppy dog eyes?

Let us know how we're doing by entering comments below or writing an e-mail to us at tips@vgtribune.com.

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While I'd love to see characters like Mega Man and Neku from The World Ends with You make it into the next Smash Bros. game, their inclusions seem pretty unlikely at this point. It seems like Capcom has given on Mega Man since Inafune's departure and even though Neku is making an appearance in the upcoming Kingdom Hearts 3DS, I don't really think he's a big enough third party character to warrant a playable slot yet. After about a month of deliberation, I've made up a list of the 16 characters that I think will make appearances in the upcoming Smash games for Wii U and 3DS. I've based my choices for this list not only on the 16 characters' importance to Nintendo as a whole but also on some playable character trends that I've noticed over the past two games. So, without further ado, here's who I think we'll see enter the fray very soon.

Also, keep in mind this list assumes that all of the characters in Brawl will return, including Snake and Sonic.
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So about that wrestler interview meme that's been floating around on the Internet. Did you know that it's from Rhythm Heaven? No, not the one on the DS--The one for the Wii, Rhythm Heaven Fever! I just had to find out more about this game after getting spammed Terry Crews, the Heavy, and Apple Jack grooving to the beat.

Luckily, Nintendo teamed up with iam8bit and Giant Robot to run a Rhythm Heaven Fever launch event in Los Angeles, where California video game fans and music and art lovers of all ages can try the game out before it releases in the US on February 13th, 2 days away as of this post.

Check out more photos of and thoughts about the event after the jump! Read the rest of this entry »

Making the rounds today is speculation and mock ups of a 'Tablet' for Microsoft's new system, the Xbox "720", which is speculated to be that is supposed to be unveiled this year at E3. According to various sources, the Tablet is designed similarly to that of the WiiU's touch screen controller, sporting a high-definition screen with traditional buttons and sticks as well. Although, from the mock up above, you couldn't actually tell if it has those buttons or not.

CVG, also covering Microsoft's tablet, has stated that they are still "experimenting with tablet-like touchscreen controller" and as of right now the controller is looking to sport a form factor similar to Sony's PlayStation Vita. Claiming that the screen is smaller than the Wii U's tablet, which boasts a 6.2 inch screen.

"That touchscreen will be second only to Kinect in how you operate your console," it claims. "It could be a remote control when you're watching TV, a browser when you're on the internet, extra buttons and information when you're playing a game or a portable display when you want to take your game with you."

If you're starting to think this sounds awfully expensive, says XBW, you're right - the mag speculates Xbox 720 could come in at as much as £399 which would be about 600+ USD. However, the question remains, how do gamers feel about tablets entering the game space? Do you think it will add any value to the way we play games? Or is it doomed to be a fad and fail?

So users can download and publish custom mods using the Steam Workshop, right? Well, now you can use it to tinker Skyrim to your heart's content!

To celebrate the Dragonborn's further adventures, Valve and Bethesda joined forces to you a mod called "Fall of the Space Core, Vol. 1", "which'll let the aggressively space-centric little robot tag along on your adventures in Tamriel".

So what are you waiting for!? SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCEEEEE!!

Sony told Kotaku this morning that there will not be a North American version of the UMD Passport program, which allows PlayStation Vita users to transfer their PSP discs to their new system.

While I'm not exactly surprised by this news, I definitely think this is going to turn off a lot of perspective buyers who were looking forward to bringing their existing PSP libraries over to their shiny new Vita.

Revelations is the most recent story in the Resident Evil story sans the upcoming R.E. 6 that was just announced by Capcom a week or so ago. It is also the first handheld game to be considered canon in the series. Set between RE 4 and 5, Revelations follows an untold story of series’ favorites, Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine, while throwing in some new faces for the better or worse depending on your tastes in dialogue.

Jill Valentine and her new partner, Parker, are on a rescue mission to find Chris and his new partner, Jessica Sharewat who went missing on the abandoned cruise ship, the S.S. Queen Zenobia, and like almost all the other RE games in the series past. The protagonists are completely ignorant of the ghoulish creatures are waiting for them.

For more info visit the official site: Resident Evil

Earlier this week, Double Fine head Tim Schafer told Digital Spy that he would love to work on a sequel to his PS2/Xbox platformer Psychonauts and has pitched the concept to several publishers but "no-one has taken the bait so far". He stated that "I'd love to do that game, but I'd have to convince someone to just give me a few million dollars. That's all."

Then along came Minecraft's creator and the video game industry's current "it" guy: Markus "Notch" Persson.

Notch tweeted at Schafer, saying "Let's make Psychonauts 2 happen."

Could this potentially mean the beginning of a beautiful partnership? Only time will tell but if anyone has the power to get a game off its feet right now, it's certainly Notch. His Minecraft game has become so popular that they're even creating a Lego set based on the game.