Hudson has just officially announced Bomberman Blast, an all-new installment of the classic franchise created exclusively for Nintendo's WiiWare line that not only allows you to compete online along with seven other players - it allows *you* to compete online. The game will allow you to bring your own Miis into the action, letting you watch tiny superdeformed versions of yourself being immolated by explosives. Joy!

“The Bomberman franchise is one of Hudson Entertainment’s most popular,” said Sabine Duvall, Vice President of Product Development at Hudson Entertainment. “We’re driven by the support of the fans and strive to provide unique new gameplay features with each new Bomberman title to please the longtime fans, as well as make the game accessible to newcomers.”

The game will support leaderboards as well as online Bomberman tournaments, including one that will kick off with the launch of the game. When is the game launching? *scans press release, finds nothing* Eventually.

My Aquarium Brings Relaxing Aquatic Landscapes to WiiWare

Blue Oasis - or My Aquarium as it will be called in the states - is coming to WiiWare sometime later this year. What can we expect? gravel, plant life and 40 different types of fish. Hopefully the game will cost 500 points like it does on the Japanese store; I can't imagine paying much more for an aquarium simulator. Regardless, it's kinda nice to see someone taking a twist on the whole Nintendogs craze. The only thing I want to know is can I get my fish to fetch?

Hudson's Adidas ad sports title DECA SPORTS. Since putting the game on sale earlier this year, Hudson has shipped 700,000 copies to Japan, North America and Europe, selling 500,000 of them worldwide. That's a pretty good ship-to-sales ratio right there, folks!

『DECA SPORTA（デカスポルタ） Wiiでスポーツ“10”種目！』が全世界で70万本を出荷 [Famitsu]

Ernie Hudson's Role Reduced In Original Ghostbusters

Ernie Hudson's doing the promotional tour thing for the upcoming multi-platform Ghostbusters game. And that means that we all get a chance to ask him incessantly geeky questions about the Ghostbusters films and learn things we never knew. Things like:

He also accepts the fact he'll always be remembered as the fourth Ghostbuster, although he had a much bigger part in the original script. "I was the guy who got slimed in the hotel, but I guess the studio felt they wanted more stuff for Bill Murray," Hudson reveals. "I was the guy who thought of the marshmallow man on the rooftop, but then it became Danny [Aykroyd]'s character." It was only after he won the part of Winston that the decision was made to reduce the character's role. "And they didn't do that till the day before we started shooting, so I didn't have time to adjust," Hudson says. "Yeah, when the part was cut there was some frustrating stuff associated with that. But it was what it was, and it is what it is. 24 years later, people still like the movie, and I'm glad."

Other tidbit bits include Bill Murray's reluctance to sign-off on a Ghostbuster sequel that would pass the proton packs off to some younger dudes.

Ghostbusters' Ernie Hudson [Eurogamer] [Pic]

Takahashi Meijin: New Adventure Island Coming, Maybe Star Soldier As Well

No platforming, no Western "re-imaginings", none of that mess. This is just Bomberman. Walkin' on a grid, droppi'n bombs, blowin' shit up. Like he does best. These screens are from the as-yet-untitled Bomberman for the Wii, which since we last saw it has been announced as appearing on both WiiWare and as a retail version (which will have some SP missions the downloadable version will not). Cannot. Wait.

Hudson only released their WiiWare title Star Soldier R last week in North American, and already they're holding a tournament and sweepstakes that could see you crowned the top Star Soldier R player in the nation, nab you some nifty prizes, and maybe - just maybe - get you recruited by the Star League to defend the frontier against Xur and the Ko-Dan armada.

The Star Soldier R "Shoot Now, Win Prizes Later" kicks off today and runs through June 24th, when players with certain scores in five-minute mode being awarded prizes. The reason I say certain scores, is that Hudson, attempting to be crafty, is awarding prizes to 1st, 10th, and 16th place, with ten users chosen at random out of the remaining players who register to win random prizes.

Up for grabs? The grand prize is 16,000 Wii points and "Hudson's Top 5 Wii Games", which pretty much equates to 16,000 Wii points, give or take a few bucks. Head over to Hudson's web page to sign up for the festivities, and don't be afraid to use the death blossom maneuver if you find yourself in a pinch.

Hudson Gets DS Lite Hinge Cracks, Too

Arrrrrrgh! DS Lite hinge cracks know no bounds!! Even Hudson's human mascot and human turbo switch Takahashi Meijin has been hit with crackage. He blogs:

Well, well, the other day my DS Lite got a hinge crack.

Didn't the white DS Lite go on sale in Fall 2006? I've used this for the past two years, and then like that, a mysterious crack.

Well, Takahashi Meijin was carting around a DS from the faulty batch. Nintendo's long since fixed that crack problem. Correct?
Master Higgins DS Problem [16Shot via my game news flash]

XBLA Game Music Is Getting Better, Yo

As far as video game music is concerned, when the service first started, we either had to limit the number of the tracks or use built-in synth to play each tune in order to accommodate the capacity restrictions. I think that most of these technical problems can be solved now because of recent improvements in the technology. I think that it would be truly interesting if games come about using the powerful sound capabilities of the Xbox 360 while incorporating a system that manipulates sound in real-time so that the music interacts on a deep level with the gameplay.

Hudson President Greiner Steps Down

Hudson Entertainment president and CEO John Greiner is stepping down after 20 years with the company, to spend more time with his family and pursue "personal interests."

After spending 15 years with Hudson Soft in Japan, Greiner launched the company's U.S. business in 2003 and has led North American operations ever since. The company says that instead of seeking an outside replacement, the U.S division's senior executive and chairman Seiichi Ishigaki will assume Greiner's responsibilities effective May 15th.

"Twenty years at one company is a testament to the quality of the Hudson culture," said Greiner. "When you are with a company for that long, the people become a major part of your life. My blood is Hudson blue. I will continue to support them long after my departure."

Up ahead for Hudson? The upcoming launch of Deca Sports for Wii, what the company calls its "key summer release." Hudson also says it will soon announce new products for WiiWare and other digital download platforms slated for Fall 2008.

Hudson's classic Star Soldier series has already appeared in four different iterations on the Wii Virtual Console (Super Star Soldier, Soldier Blade, Blazing Lazers and Star Soldier), so now it's time for the next step. Introducing Star Soldier R for WiiWare, the tournament-style rebirth of the classic series. What's tournament style? Well players can compete in three modes - 2-Minute, 5-Minute, and Quick Shot. Gamers are challenged to get the best (or fastest) score in any mode, with online leaderboards keeping track of things. You still collect power-ups and take on waves of enemies...just not as long as you normally would. It's an interesting idea...promoting bite-sized snippits of gameplay over a full, multi-level experience, but it could work. If anything it'd be perfect for that quick morning gaming fix, and Hudson could very well offer more downloadable challenges in the future. We'll see once the game comes out whether the concept works out or it proves to be a little short for a Star Soldier.

Hudson Doing Well With Wii

Two years from now will be the time when game-software developers' profits are expected to grow the most, after the winner and loser for consoles becomes clear. I will ensure earnings jump in the next three years by promoting licensing of our games and increasing spending on promotions.

Wii Getting A SingStar-Killer?

New Bomberman Game Headed For Wii

I've been drooling over it for months, and now it's finally here! Is Omega Five everything I had hoped it would be? Well, yes and no. It has all of the shoot-em up action I was expecting, and it is one of the most beautiful games you're likely to find on Xbox Live Arcade, but the limitations of the format inevitably shine through on the presentation end of things. After playing with the game just about every free moment I've had in the day, I can't shake the feeling that this would have been a truly spectacular game had it just been fleshed out a bit.

As I said, it is one of the prettiest games on XBLA, and the visuals alone are worth the $10 worth of points I dropped for it. Playing through as Ruby, one of the two initially available characters, I was really impressed by the variety of enemies, the colorful effects, and the sheer amount of things flying across my screen at the same time. Then I played as Tempest and my jaw completely dropped.