Carnival Games Exclusively For Nintendo's Wii

Tuesday, 22 May 2007

Global Star Software, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc., announced today that Carnival Games is coming this summer exclusively for Nintendo's Wii. The title is being developed by Cat Daddy Games, the Take-Two studio that created the popular "Deal or No Deal" PC game.

Designed for families and children of all ages, Carnival Games brings home all the excitement and fanfare of a day at the carnival. The game will premiere among a select group of titles chosen by Nintendo at the May Media Summit on May 22 and 23 in Seattle.

"The moment you step into Carnival Games you can almost smell the funnel cakes as you are greeted by the barker and the sights and sounds of a classic carnival," said Steve Lux, Vice President of Publishing for Global Star Software. "The game was built from the ground up to take full advantage of the capabilities of the Wii Remote™, so the flick of your wrist in 'Alley Ball' makes the difference between scoring an impressive 100 points and a lowly 10 points. The ability to pound the Wii Remote like a sledgehammer with the right mix of power and finesse in 'Test of Strength' determines whether you are a Contender or a Grandma."

Carnival Games is designed for up to four players and features over 25 of the most popular games seen in midways and boardwalks throughout the world, including Clown Splash, Milk Can Toss, Nerves of Steel, Lucky Cups, Hoops, Day at the Races and the crowd-favorite Dunk Tank.

To add to the festivities, you can win over 250 unique, upgradeable virtual prizes in Carnival Games, from a goldfish to a giant stuffed animal twice as big as you are. Additionally, you can win rewards to customize your in-game characters, ranging from a Pirate's wardrobe to Viking horns.

No carnival experience would be complete without a mysterious fortune teller. Drop a ticket into the Great Swami machine and your future - whether the boy in your class has a crush on you or if you are going to get that promotion at work - may be instantly revealed.

The ability to pound the Wii Remote like a sledgehammer with the right mix of power and finesse

Carnival Games Hands-On

We hit Global Star's Wii-powered carnival game collection and score tickets and stuffed animals.

Global Star was on hand at Nintendo's recent press event to show off its upcoming Wii game, Carnival Games. The themed minigame collection drops you into a virtual carnival and lets you have a go at a bunch of atypical games. We had the chance to try out a work-in-progress version of the game to see how the Wii handles the carnival merriment.

The demo on display at the event offered a sampling of the single-player and multiplayer experiences. The framework of the game is a collection of different avenues within a carnival to explore. Each themed arena will initially offer a handful of games to try and several more to unlock. You'll start out with 20 games to play, with 15 more to open up, for a grand total of 35.

The games will run the gamut, from alley ball and strength tests, to shooting galleries, ball throwing, and dunk tanks. As with real-life carnival games, you'll earn prizes and tickets you can redeem for assorted goodies. The game's reward system is pretty robust and will cough up goodies such as new costumes and accessories you can equip on your character. At the same time, like at a real-life carnival, you'll also score small, medium, and large prizes that include all manner of stuffed animals.

Control in the games we tried takes a cue from Nintendo's crop of breezy, fun titles: Wii Sports and Wii Play. Many of the games we tried kept the action simple with variants on the standard array of motions, and some equally user-friendly variations have been added to the mix of familiar motions. For example, the Test Your Strength game requires you to shake the Wii remote to build up a power meter and then wave downward to bring your virtual hammer down with enough strength to send a widget up and ring a bell. We also tried our hand at a more-complicated use of the remote that required us to guide a metal ring across a curvy electrified pole. The minigame read our motion in 3D, which forced us to keep a steady hand. Global Star reps noted that the game will make use of 18 unique motions of the Wii remote.

The visuals are on the youthful side and offer modestly detailed graphics for the environments and objects as well as Mii-inspired characters. As a result, you shouldn't come in expecting cutting-edge visuals. The levels draw inspiration from real-life carnival booths and locales. The character models, which can be customized with the unlockables we mentioned, seem to answer the question of what would happen if Rayman and a Mii hooked up. The cartoony character models have detailed faces and bodies, but oddly enough, they lack arms. Though it's a bit odd, the quirky look works with the game's whimsical touch.

The audio is pretty basic so far. You'll hear some bouncy tunes, carnival ambience, and assorted effects for your actions. The sound effects and music fit the game well, though they could stand to be a bit beefier in spots to give the game some punch.

Based on what we played, Carnival Games is looking like a solid minigame collection in the Wii Play/Wii Sports vein with a bit more in the way of a breadcrumb trail to keep you coming back for more. The games we tried were pretty fun, though the control on some could stand to be tightened up, and there was a respectable amount of variety on display. The game's look and theme may skew a bit young, but, as in real life, the carnival games have an ageless appeal. If the controls can be tightened up, Carnival Games looks as though it will be a solid little game worth slotting into the Wii party-game rotation. The game is slated to ship later this year exclusively for the Wii.

By Ricardo Torres
Posted May 23, 2007 10:43 am PT

Hands-On with Carnival Games
Calling all casual gamers.
by Bozon

May 22, 2007 - It's not all about hardcore gaming this week at Nintendo's Washington gaming event. In fact, casual games are taking over the list of playable titles, and third party developers are following suit. Playable today is a new title for Wii directed at the uber-casual, titled Carnival Games. Similar to the import carnival title that exists only in Japan by Namco, Carnival Games is all about visiting a virtual carnival in either a single player or multiplayer situation, and just enjoying the relaxing game-to-game feel of a old-fashioned midway game alley.

In Carnival Games, your sole purpose is to cruise the carnival, and play games. Simple, right? Precisely, and that's the intent. Carnival Games brings over 30 mini-games based on popular carnival attractions, each specifically tailored for the Wii remote. Whether it's a virtual shooting gallery, dunk tank, or test of strength, Carnival Games is all about simple control, a casual feel, and pure good old fun. And while the title won't be a must-have blow-out for hardcore gamers (if you're reading this right now, it's most likely going to be a game for your son, daughter, little brother, or little sister), it's a pretty decent compilation of mini-games for the casual Wii players.

Listed in the games we had a chance to play today are a few classics of the carnival world. Alley Ball is a direct take on Skee-Ball, using the Wii remote in a rolling motion similar to Wii Sports bowling. It doesn't feel quite as precise as Nintendo's effort, but it was solid enough to have us nailing 50 point rolls after a few rounds of play. Also included was Test Your Strength, which is the classic strong-man hammer swing, having players shake the controller to build up strength and then slam it down to deliver a decisive smash with the hammer. It worked fine, and felt like a more basic version of a lost Rayman Raving Rabbids event.

Step-Right-Up!

The list of playable carnival games went on, including a horse race game where you roll a tiny ball into various holes to make your horse gain speed (we've all seen that one at arcades and fairs), the classic gun game where you attempt to shoot out a paper star with tiny BB's, a dunk tank with timing-based throwing (the cursor moves, and you make the throwing motion when it's over the target), and a shooting gallery complete with scrolling dunks and four-player target-shooting mayhem. Each of the games were a bit simple for our tastes, but as a casual game with a budget price Carnival Games could prove to be a decent venture.

After completing challenges, players will start to unlock tickets for more elaborate special games known as "Sideshow Games", can buy prizes from each of the booths and upgrade from small to large sizes (just like an actual carnival), or get new accessories to outfit your virtual character a la MySims. Again, the entire experience is simple, but it's pretty fun, and we can see more casual gamers getting into collecting tickets and maxing out each game's prizes as mini-achievements.

As for the multiplayer, Carnival Games seamlessly integrates it into the experience, so when jumping into a two, three, or four player game, any of the 30 mini-games can be selected. Some of them - such as the aforementioned shooting gallery - are simultaneous, while others are turn-based in nature instead. The game makes use of only the Wii remote, so as to cut down on the cost for players. In fact, even if you have only one remote the game will differentiate what titles are there to choose from, enabling a mode with only switch-off games included.

There's no denying Carnival Games is for the casual audience of Wii players. Still, most of the games we went hands-on with today played fine, and were fun on the most basic of levels. Carnival Games has the basic look and feel of Nintendo's new direction, so as long as the mini-games have enough variety and depth to make the bundle worth more than just a rental, we can see where it'd be a solid budget title for Wii gamers. We'll have more on Carnival Games as it reaches release, so be sure to keep checking back for more news and media, and don't forget to check out our first gameplay footage in the video gallery below. Carnival Games is currently set as a $39.99 title.

We also tried our hand at a more-complicated use of the remote that required us to guide a metal ring across a curvy electrified pole.

As for the multiplayer, Carnival Games seamlessly integrates it into the experience, so when jumping into a two, three, or four player game, any of the 30 mini-games can be selected. Some of them - such as the aforementioned shooting gallery - are simultaneous, while others are turn-based in nature instead. The game makes use of only the Wii remote, so as to cut down on the cost for players. In fact, even if you have only one remote the game will differentiate what titles are there to choose from, enabling a mode with only switch-off games included.