Kotaku: cruis'n

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

Michael McWhertor — Fri, 09 May 2008 16:20:00 MDT

Last night we had a bit of a gaming bender at Kotaku Towers West, a night filled with Wii Fit, We Ski, and Rock Band. The highlight, of course, was a two hour Cruis'n session—the Wii shitware title that was finally freed from its shrinkwrap confines last night to much amusement. It's absolutely the most unintentionally hilarious game I've ever played, with some of the sloppiest game design ever... even for a Cruis'n title. Rarely has a game brought me to tears with laughter, so Cruis'n should at least be lauded for that. Highly recommended for your next game night, especially if booze is available.

This weekend I'll be ditching the Cruis'n as I get back to R-Type Command and continue my Rock Band duties, now with added Boston. How about you? Weekend plans?

Midway Planning "Fewer, Bigger, Better" Games In 2008

Michael McWhertor — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 15:20:49 MST

Chicago-based Midway Games hasn't posted a profit since 1999. This year wasn't so hot either. That may have something to do with publishing broken, puerile crap like Hour of Victory, Game Party, Aqua Teen Hunger Force Zombie Ninja Pro-Am and Cruis'n. Delays for Stranglehold, Blacksite: Area 51 and Unreal Tournament III aren't helping matters either, but it may have more to do with Midway's close association with software diarrhea that could prevent it from returning to glory. Maybe that's why Midway CEO David Zucker is promising that the company will produce "fewer, bigger, better" titles next year. Fewer Cruis'ns? Yes, please and thank you!

Zucker points to games like Vin Diesel vehicle Wheelman and the next-gen debut of Mortal Kombat as some of the "bigger" titles, the latter of which is planned for the end of 2008. There's also mention of more John Woo games, now that Stranglehold is somewhat of a success. Yay? Maybe Zucker and crew should focus less on publishing shovelware crap and try to make the Midway name less of a punchline in the coming years. It might just be crazy enough to work.

Midway resets for 2008 [Chicago Tribune via Game|Life]

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

Michael McWhertor — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 14:40:01 MST

Following a Team Fortress 2 bender last night that saw me kicking insane amounts of Spy ass with my Pyro's flamethrower skills and a tutorial on Soldier rocket-leading techniques from my roommate, I can't imagine us doing anything but stealing enemy intelligence all weekend. I've also finally unwrapped my copy of Cruis'n for the Wii and Neo Geo Battle Colosseum for the PlayStation 2, which should make for so bad it's good and actually pretty good diversions. I've also charged up the Nintendo DS and plan on wasting plenty of my time playing Picross. It may very well make it into my top ten of 2007. No joke.

Anyone want to get a game of TF2 on this weekend? If not, what else are you playing? Hit us square in the comments as soon as possible.

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

Michael McWhertor — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 14:40:00 MST

Having gone on a bit of Rock Band bender last night, it might be time to give my pipes—which some have referred to as having a "golden ring" and "the tone of pure honey"—some down time. This borrowed copy of Dead Rising may very well fit the bill, but I might take The King of Fighters XI out for a spin this weekend. Other than that, I'm hoping my copy of Cruis'n for the Wii shows up at some point today or tomorrow, adding some giggles to my days off. Anyone else pick up something worth playing from that Amazon sale?

Let us know what will be keeping you indoors, safe from sun, snow and outdoor fun, this weekend in the comments.

Midway Having Some Wii Problems

Michael McWhertor — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 19:40:58 MDT

Calling the Wii "a victim of its own success", Midway execs revealed during today's earnings conference call that production problems at Nintendo may have a financial impact on the Chicago based publisher this holiday. After speaking of delays in Europe for a number of products on Nintendo platforms, including the gorgeous Wii racer Cruis'n, the team warned of "reduced availability of Wii product to meet reorder demands for our existing Wii catalog of titles as a result of Nintendo's software production constraints."

The upcoming holidays and impressive Wii sales have "put a pretty big strain on Nintendo's production capacity" and may result in some older Midway titles being understocked. Look, as long as we get our copies of Cruis'n in the US of A, we're cool. Otherwise, I'm heading to the Nintendo factory myself and stamping out a disc for my own use.

Midway To End Wii Party Game Drought With Game Party

Michael McWhertor — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 18:20:19 MDT

Among the games announced today by Midway exclusively for Nintendo consoles, including Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 for the Nintendo DS and Cruis'n for Wii, was a welcome respite from the current barren wasteland of bite-sized, casual games on the Wii. Promising the "ultimate party game" in the masterfully titled Game Party, the collection of classic skills games from around the world includes darts, Skee Ball, basketball, air hockey and trivia contests.

Altogether, we're getting more than a half-dozen games (!!!) in Game Party, which will quantitatively make it the best mini-game collection released for the Wii by a third party in November. Maybe.

Did I mention it also features a virtual beer pong game? I mean root beer pong, of course. Where's my martini?