Love 2D action with a challenge? Why not try Red Square v0.2 for your Wii? It's a classic 2D game, just grab onto the red square and move it without touching walls and the blue blocks. It gets pretty challenging, especially when using the Wiimote. Try it out!


Download: Red Square v0.2

Joining the hype of Leipzig, Nintendo has announced its lineup for another popular Games Convention, the Penny Arcade Expo. Those of you planning to make the trip to PAX at Washington State Trade and Convention Center will find Nintendo at booth 810.

Visitors will be able to play Metroid Prime 3: Corruption for the Wii and The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass for the DS in anticipation for their release. Other games they'll be featuring for hands-on gameplay are:

Wii

• Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
• Fire Emblem
• Mario Strikers Charged
• Pokemon Battle Revolution

Nintendo DS

• The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
• Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day
• Chibi-Robo: Park Patrol
• DK Jungle Climber
• Flash Focus: Train Your Vision in Minutes a Day

PAX will be held on August 24 to 26, and set to be the biggest gaming convention in America. Last year, 20,000 gamers made it to the Expo. And this year is expected to see even more with triple the space from last year, plus the fact that the floorspace already sold out to game developers.

French video game news site JeuxFrance has put up a new video of the upcoming next gen Wii racer Donkey Jet. It's essentially a presentation of the game's gameplay and control scheme. The whole video is in French, but check it out nevertheless.

Donkey Jet is the reworked and retitled version of the GameCube title DK Bongo Blast. It's a racing game, so of course the goal is to get to the finish line before your opponents do. Players can get an edge over their opponents by grabbing as many bananas as they can to power up their barrels' boost.

While Donkey Jet is already out in Japan, North American and European gamers will have to wait until an official announcement is made regarding the game's release outside Japan.

It seems that a lot of hype has been building for Electonic Arts latest video game, EA Playground. Currently being developed by EA Canada, it's slated to be released for the Nintendo Wii and DS. Dave McCarthy, the executive producer for the game, was recently interviewed by IGN and had a lot to say about their project.

He discussed four things: what the game is about, the controls, multiplayer, and surprisingly the storyline. The game, McCarthy said, is intended to capture "the sheer fun of being a kid." Set in a playground, they filled it "full of interesting characters, cool collectables, and most importantly, a mix of easy to pick up and incredibly fun playground games." He even mentioned a single-player campaign mode, but we'll go into that later.

With regards to controls, he assured that the Wii and DS versions of the game would take advantage of the unique controls of both systems. He mentioned of the use of the stylus in the DS for a game he called Bug Hunt and the microphone for Spitballs. He also said that there are a lot of other games but he "won't get into all the games and mechanics quite yet." Oh phooey.

With regards to multiplayer, it seems that this title is ideally a party game, and it is "the ideal way to play EA Playground. Whether you do four-player local parties on the Wii or wireless sessions on the DS, you'll find that all games are multiplayer supported and that frantic simultaneous play is the order of the day." This could be interesting considering that Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Mario Party 8, and DK Jet are all set to be out this year as well.

The full article awaits after the jump!

Nintendo's Donkey Kong turns into a true silverback gorilla as he celebrates his 25th year this month. Donkey Kong was created by Shigeru Miyamoto and has appeared in many video games since 1981. But it wasn't until 1994 that he started wearing his one and only article of clothing - the necktie!

Donkey Kong was born to help sell the poorly received RadarScope to American gamers and to say he did a good job would be an understatement. Donkey Kong became a sensational breakthrough not only for Nintendo but for the entire videogame industry as the game became one of the best-selling arcade machines of the 1980s.

Some sources say over 80,000 Donkey Kong machines were shipped in the US alone. In contrast, Street Fighter II's total global sales was only around 60,000 machines.

Due to the game's success, Nintendo released Donkey Kong Junior and Donkey Kong 3, eight titles for the Game & Watch platform, and Donkey Kong based on the arcade versions. In the 1990's, a new wave of Donkey Kong franchise was released for various platforms including Donkey Kong Country, Donkey Kong Country 2, and Donkey Kong Country 3 (SNES), Diddy Kong Racing and Donkey Kong 64 (Nintendo 64).

Donkey Kong also appeared on Mario sport and party spinoffs and the Super Smash Bros. franchise. As far as his solo career is concerned, he starred Donkey Konga, Donkey Konga 2, Donkey Konga 3, and Donkey Kong Jungle Beat.

Unlike many Hollywood stars who started their careers 25 years ago, Donkey Kong's career is still alive and swinging. He will be seen in a number of new projects such as Mario Hoops 3-on-3, DK-King of Swing DS, Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis, and Yoshi's Island 2 (Nintendo DS) DK Bongo Blast (GC) and Donkey Kong Wii.

Not bad for an 800-pound monkey wearing nothing but a necktie! Happy Birthday, Donkey Kong!

While browsing CheapAssGamer, I came across the greatest Canadian sale since the Toys R Us pricing issue a few months ago. EB Games is having a "Game of the Day" sale for the rest of June and the first half of July. How good is this deal? $9.89 for games that aren't crap, that's how good. However, if you don't have a Nintendo system it might not be as great. Most of the "OMFG" games are on the GameCube with some gems on the GBA and DS. Here is a list I got from going through CheapAssGamer and RedFlagDeals.

June 12: Ape Escape 3 (PS2), Operation EyeToy (PS2)
June 13: Odama (GCN), Battalion Wars (GCN)
June 14: The Getaway Black Monday (PS2), Jak X Racing (PS2) for $20
June 15: Ape Escape Academy (PSP), Pariah (XBX) for $0.01 with purchase of Xbox title
June 16: The CON (PSP)
June 17: MLB 05 (PSP)
June 19: DK King of Swing (GBA), Mario Tennis (GBA)
June 20: Urban Reign (PS2), TimeSplitters (PS2)
June 21: Viewtiful Joe 2 (GCN)
June 22: Operation Eye Toy (PS2)
June 23: Without Warning (PS2)
June 26: Metroid Prime Pinball (NDS)
June 27: DK King of Swing (GBA), Mario Tennis (GBA)
June 29: Battalion Wars (GCN), Odama (GCN)
July 02: Viewtiful Joe 2 (GCN)
July 05: Donkey Konga w/ Bongo (GCN), DK Jungle Beat w/o Bongo (GCN)
July 06: Operation Shadow (NGAGE) for $.89
July 11: DK Jungle Beat w/ Bongo (GCN), Donkey Konga w/o Bongo (GCN)
July 18: SSX: Out of Bounds (NGAGE) for $.89
July 19: DK King of Swing (GBA), Mario Tennis (GBA)

This list should be for the most part correct. Some games may be added to it. Also, there are gaps so those should eventually be filled. I went to EB today and Pariah was indeed only $0.01 with the purchase of an Xbox game. I'm sad I missed Battalion Wars and Odama for $10, but I'll be sure to go by and pick those up the next time around. Same goes for Mario Tennis, Metroid Prime Pinball, and Donkey Kong Jungle Beat! Remember, this deal is good across Canada. Not in the US though, sorry neighbours.