Newsbriefs: Naruto Wii Fighter, Viva Piñata Demo, WCG Gets amBX

Author: by Staff

[UPDATED: 1:45pm PST] Today's regularly updated newsbriefs include a newly announced Naruto branded fighting game for the Wii, and a newly released demo for Microsoft and Rare's Xbox 360 exclusive Viva Piñata, and Philips becoming an official partner of the World Cyber Games with its amBX peripherals. - Japanese toy maker Tomy and Japanese-headquartered video game publisher D3Publisher have jointly announced plans to release Naruto: Clash of Ninja MVZ a new fighting game for the Wii this fall. Tomy, which last month blamed a cut in its full year financial forecasts on competition from the Nintendo DS and Wii, also noted that the Eighting developed will include content in the game that will be exclusive to the North American market as well as characters that have never been featured in the Clash of Ninja game series. While little has been revealed regarding how the game will make use of the Wii's remote, a statement announcing the game commented that players will “launch attacks with the Wii Remote using Ninja-like movements,” and participate in mini-games “created exclusively for use with the Wii remote.” - Microsoft has released a demo for Rare's Xbox 360 exclusive Viva Piñata. The demo will be available exclusively to Xbox Live Gold members for one week before being made available to all subscribers afterward. This demo will be available in the U.S. only starting today, with localized versions to follow soon after in Japan, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the U.K. While the sandbox game's initial November release was perhaps overshadowed by the higher profile Gears of War, Viva Piñata has still enjoyed a high degree of media acclaim, with the game currently carrying a score of 84 with aggregate review website Metacritic. - The World Cyber Games competition group has announced a new partnership with Philips Electronics to make Philips a three year "official global partner" of the WCG, and specifically its amBX accessories the official "Ambient Gaming Environment Systems" at select WCG events. The deal will see the WCG adding a new element to its competitions, the "WCG Philips amBX Cup Challenge," and installing amBX devices into select gaming stations. “Working with the World Cyber Games is a great opportunity for Philips to showcase the power of amBX and further immerse gamers into the competition,” said Philips' Engelbert van Pelt, general manager of new business development. “Both Philips’ and the World Cyber Games’ goal is to create an amazing experience for the gamers. We believe the amBX peripherals and the amBX Cup adds a new level of immersive playing never before experienced in the World Cyber Game events.”