Newsbriefs: Tamagotchi Goes Wii, Acclaim _Dance_s, Twelve Interactive On Wii

Author: by Staff

[UPDATED: 3:09pm PST] Today's regularly updated newsbriefs include news Tamagotchi's vying for popularity on Nintendo's Wii, Acclaim Games gearing players up to Dance! online, and news of Twelve Interactive (Crash Dummy) officially developing for the Wii. - Publisher Namco Bandai Games has announced that the latest in the long-running Tamagotchi franchise, Tamagotchi Party On! will be released in the U.S. for Nintendo's Wii in spring 2007. Following the commercially successful Tamagotchi DS releases from developer Nana-On Sha (Parappa the Rapper), the new Wii iteration is a 4-player 3D party game in which players race to become the most popular Tamagotchi on Tamagotchi Planet through 15 mini-games including shaking hands, finding lost children, and testing your public speaking skills. “Tamagotchi Party On!DANCE! Online, supported by in-game ads and purchases provided by IGA Worldwide. In the game, players can dance with friends to hit songs and compete in online dance competitions using either the keyboard or a supported dance pad peripheral. Said project head and veteran director David Perry, “I’m certainly proud to launch the first ever massively multiplayer dancing game in the USA. A free game with real hit songs to dance to, this has never happened before. We've come up with an entirely new way to work with the music industry, on a game that costs nothing to play. DANCE! Online is going to completely revolutionize the online game space. I'm expecting that this dancing game will create a new culture, changing the way gamers and music artists interact in today’s virtual world." Interested players can register for the closed beta at the game's website. - Representatives from Italy based Twelve Interactive (Crash Dummy) announced that company is now an officially licensed developer for the Wii. “The Nintendo Wii is a perfect console to work on for small independent developers like us. It give us the opportunity to work on triple A games, with very reduced budget,” commented Giuseppe Crugliano, managing director and founder of Twelve Interactive. “Crash Dummy Vs The Evil D-Troit Wii version (published by Oxygen), will take full advantage of the innovative Wiimote and Nunchuck controllers, transforming the game experience in a fresh brand new experience.” Twelve Interactive also recently announced that the company is a licensed developer for the PlayStation 3. The company is currently working on the previously announced futuristic action game Starblaze – Ultimate Battle, which is in development for the PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PSP, DS, and Windows Vista. - The latest updates on Gamasutra sister alt.gaming weblog GameSetWatch include a look at a pair of Game Boy Advance titles from Graffiti Entertainment, a new internet parody of working for a video game company, and the year in review for adventure gaming from the International House Of Mojo. - The latest updates from Gamasutra sister website Game Career Guide include a wrap up from the recent Game Design Expo in Vancouver, British Columbia. - Also updated today: the latest Gamasutra job postings, including openings from Crystal Dynamics, LeapFrog Enterprises, S2 Games, and Volition.