The pricing and date aren’t set, but after he showed it to the audience at GDC, Takahashi said he’d like to release it for free. We’ll see about that — but I think a buck or two is probably a fair price for the amount of nonsense fun this game will provide on subway and plane rides.

All you have to do is leave a comment! Rhythm Heaven is all about minigames that let you demonstrate your rhythm or lack thereof — for most of us it’ll be a learning experience rather than a way to show off. So tell us why you need more rhythm. For example: I need more rhythm because when I walk, I get out of step with the song I’m listening to in my head. This is true, and I probably need Rizumu Tengoku more than any of you jokers.

You’ve got until Friday to share your story, at which point we’ll pick the best and ship you your sweet new DS game — plus maybe a shirt.

Devin and I are on the ground at Hideo Kojima’s keynote.

This is his first keynote at GDC.

Unfortunately we won’t be getting any free games like Nintendo gave out yesterday.

Mr. Kojima’s keynote will focus on making the impossible possible. It doesn’t look like there will be a lot of non-developer news coming out of this keynote.

So, hitting on the “making the impossible possible” concept, Kojima showed us Snake walking along and encountering a short wall that he easily jumps over. But then he encounters the “wall of impossibility” and can’t get over it. Mario makes an appearance and jumps over the wall making Snake look like a chump.

The “wall of impossibility” is a metaphor for game design if you haven’t figured that out by now.

Kojima started work on a division of the MSX2 to create a combat game in 1986. He was influenced by Rambo: First Blood.

What is a combat game? Back then they were 2D action games and you needed a player and, at least, four enemies. Then you need bullets to eliminate the enemies.

Back then developers were limited by hardware. Only 32 Sprites were supported back then. Gameplay of Nemesis on the screen. Something about a ninth Sprite. For example, your player consists of 2 sprites and your two enemies also consist of 2 sprites each. Then each bullet you shoot is one sprite and then the ninth sprite disappears horizontally. These were the limitations back then.

Kojima then thought of making a combat game where there were no weapons. That obviously didn’t work. Then he thought about a game where the player would just run around. That’s not very cool. What about having the player hide? That’d be great! But your hero hiding the whole time wasn’t very heroic. He then thought of making an infiltration game. Could this be the first stealth infiltration game? This all lead to the creation of Metal Gear Solid.

The early iterations of MGS were like a puzzle game. Move Snake around and try not to get spotted.

Those of you in the US might be familiar with the NES version, but that was a “crap game” because I wasn’t involved with it. It was nothing like the original that was released for the MSX2.

The game design concept was “infiltration” and that included “enemies with range of sight,” “dynamic enemy AI,” and because there weren’t voice overs back then Kojima just added “!” to alert Snake.

For the sequel, Kojima and his team wanted to make it better and adaptable to the next generation of hardware, but the hardware didn’t change. So, the team encountered another wall.

In Metal Gear Solid 2: Solid Snake, Kojima expanded the range of sight for Snake and decided to change the “puzzle game” style for the sequel. The enemies could now hear. It was released only in Japan in 1990.

There was another NES game called Snake’s Revenge that was also a little “crap game” because I wasn’t involved with it.

We’re going to take it easy from here until something big blows up. Our batteries are starting to get depleted and this keynote is really geared towards developers. We’ll be back shortly.

Things changed drastically in 1994 when the Sony PlayStation was released because, at the time, only super computers were able to display 3D polygon shapes. Because Metal Gear Solid was now in 3D you could hide Snake in an air duct and zoom in and out if you had a sniper rifle.

In 1998 Kojima released Metal Gear Solid for the PlayStation. The game was delayed for Europe because the game was localized for all the various languages because Solid had voice-overs. Six voice-over samples are being played for Solid. During the German voice-over, Kojima remarks that he wants some sausage. During the Italian voice-over, Kojima feels like having some pasta and during the Spanish version he’s in the mood for paella.

Matthew Dominick made this clever Mario mash-up in which the plumber blows the warp whistle and ends up in Chicago, a city that probably already has a surfeit of mustachioed ethnic plumbers but could always use one more.

It’s a little long in the middle but the ending, with a very important burger cameo, is worth it.

via BB

A few things went unannounced during Nintendo’s GDC keynote this morning and the biggest news on the DSi front is the confirmation of 1000 free DSi points if you purchase the third generation DS within the first six months of launch. That’s quite a bit of free swag considering DSiWare games and apps will be divvied up into four price tiers: free, 200 points, 500 points and 800+ points. The DSi point to $ ratio is 100 to 1, so 1000 points is a considerable amount of free booty. So be sure to pick up your DSi between April 5th and October 5th if you want to cash in.

If you’re interested, there’s more information over at Polytron’s site.

[via TIGSource]

In case you’re stuck at work or away from your precious Wii, Doug was kind of enough to take this quick video of today’s update to the Wii Menu System. Enjoy.

Douglas did a fine job detailing what OnLive is yesterday and today we’re bringing you a hands-on demo of the cloud gaming service from the GDC show floor. The chap who gave us the demo does a find job of explaining how OnLive works in case you missed yesterday’s post. Sit tight and watch Devin suck at GRID.

We questioned one of the OnLive developers about possible bandwidth issues because of the nature of this service, but he says that ISPs like Comcast are fully aware and on-board with what OnLive is doing. It worked well in this isolated situation but we’ll have to wait and see what happens when it hits the market and thousands of folks are hitting their servers at once. But so far, so good.

I’m not trying to rag on the game, but from what I can tell, it’s almost literally, punch for punch, the same game as before. I’m sure there’s other stuff we didn’t get to see, though. Also, for the record, you don’t have to punch for real like I did. Little twitches served just fine for other, less dangerous people than myself. And, as Penny Arcade notes, it made them toolboxes.

My only recollection of Titan’s Fat Princess was the initial controversy over the games title and how it degrades those who are overweight and women and all that hoopla. All that aside, the game is incredibly fun to play and rather brutal considering it looks like a kid’s game. It reminds me of Team Fortress 2 and neither myself, Greg or Devin have successfully saved our Princesses. Fat Princess will be available for download from the PlayStation Store this coming Spring.

Today, Activision and Sony announced “Backstage with Guitar Hero” for PlayStation Home so players can congregate and accost each other virtually while watching GH videos and sharing their own greatest hits. There’s a GH themed mini-game that tests your mind, body and soul. Heh. Actually, it’s more like Simon Says where you have to follow a lead guitarist and mimic what he/she does by matching notes and colors, which sounds exactly like what the game makes you do. Anyway, check it out tomorrow when it launches in Home. Check out the rest of the details at the PlayStation Blog.

I’m squealing like a pig on its way to the slaughterhouse over confirmation from Capcom that Bionic Commando will be hitting the US on May 19th. The PC version is said to be shipping shortly after the console launch. Who’s excited?

Reloaded for the latest generation of hardware, Bionic Commando sees the return of the ultimate fusion of man and machine as Nathan Spencer is back as a government operative who, after distinguishing himself in a fierce conflict against the Imperials, is betrayed and falsely imprisoned by the very people he unquestioningly served. However, when bio terrorists detonate an experimental device over Ascension City and then occupy it, there is only one option open to the authorities – reactivate Nathan Spencer. The upcoming new generation game, first released 20 years ago with the 8-bit original on the NES, is making a big comeback when it hits retail shelves this spring as it features an in-depth multiplayer mode that will have you swinging with friends around the globe via Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network.

It’s a known fact that the PS3 is a developer’s nightmare but Sony is hoping that a price cut to all existing dev kits will increase development. Sony reduced the price of Reference Tool model DECR-1400A to $2000 in the US and will go for €1,700 in Europe and PAL nations. Let’s hope this stirs up some more interest in Sony’s console that results in better games for the platform. Because they’re going to need a strong push in third party titles this year if they want to stay competitive with the Xbox 360 and Wii.

Sony also introduced their brand new graphics rendering engine, PhyreEngine, at GDC.

Provided as a full package along with its source code, and incorporated with many updated features including the linkage with the physics engines, this graphics rendering engine is adaptable to various game development styles. Furthermore, documents describing the technical aspects and overview of PhyreEngine have been made available to help the game developer community in creating games more efficiently using this graphics engine. The latest version 2.40, released in March 2009, includes a new “foliage rendering” system that provides tools and technology to render ultra-realistic trees and plants to be easily integrated into games, helping game developers to express their creativity more freely on the PS3 system.

Isn’t it gorgeous? Microsoft introduced a new dev kit at GDC and it’s ditched the old cream and grey color scheme for a more aesthetically pleasing getup that comes in black and blue or black and grey. Hit the jump for more images.

Sorry about the delay, folks, but you didn’t miss much from Nintendo’s keynote this morning at GDC and we managed to get you the most important news as it was happening anyways. So here’s a quick recap of a few facts that you might find interesting. We’ll have video of a few tasty treats as quickly as the press room’s Wi-Fi lets us upload to YouTube.

President and CEO Satoru Iwata delivered the keynote and we spotted US President Reggie Fils-Aime in the audience. We had high hopes that he would deliver some exciting news, but he was only a spectator today.

The Wii has sold more than 50 million units globally making it the fastest selling console of all time.

Mr. Miyamoto has a specific way of doing things that Iwata dubbed “Miyamoto’s Way” or the “Upward Spiral.” It’s nothing terribly interesting but we did learn that Mr. Miyamoto loves to kidnap employees and force them to enjoy themselves while working on a project. Apparently, he likes to “kidnap” first time devs and force a Wiimote or DS upon them and tells them to have fun.

DS title Rhythmn Heaven or Rizumu Tengoku in Japanese was first launched in Japan in August of 2006 after pop star Tsunku approached Nintendo about working on a game. Yoshio Sakamoto (WarioWare Touched) was brought on board to build the game as well as Kazuyoshi Osawa (WarioWare Twisted) and because it’s a rhythmn-based game all of the developers had to take dance classes. Because, you know, developers have no rhythm. To date, the game has sold more than 1.7 million copies and will reach US shelves in 11 days. Luckily for us, Nintendo gave out copies of the game and we’ll have a contest for a copy today.

NPD numbers revealed that 20 percent of new Wii owners were first time game console buyers. And 47 percent of DS buyers last year were female.

Wii sold more third party games sales in 2008 than everyone else. Ironically, the Wii Balance Board’s Global LTD Install Base is just shy of 15 million and it’s nipping at the PS3’s heels. You read that correctly, kids. The Wii Balance Board’s install base is only a few million behind that of the PS3.

A new Wii title was showcased today and it’s got the weirdest gameplay of anything we’ve seen. Using the balance board and Wiimote, you’re climbing up a rock wall and when you get to the top your reward is a guitar that your avatar starts to rock out on. It’s called Rock and Roll Climber. Please be patient while the video renders.