By John Walker on September 2nd, 2009 at 11:04 pm.
IO’s surprisingly cute third-person action game, Mini Ninjas, appears on the 8th for US types, and the 11th for those in Europe. Not perhaps the inevitable follow-up to Hitman and Kane & Lynch, the ker-choppy silliness seems like it could be pretty fun. You can play the demo for yourself to test your prelikings. Meanwhile, somewhat prematurely, there’s a ‘launch trailer’ that’s just appeared.
Whoever started this launch must have put their T-minus (is that tautology?) clock waaaaaaaay too far back. Anyhow, it’s a splendid teaser of the game for your eyes to enjoy. Even more usefully, you can read Jim’s impressions of the demo and thoughts for the game here.
Just to be clear, braunch occurs somewhere between breakfaust and launch.
02/09/2009 at 23:12 linfosoma says:
The game looked cute, but the graphics reminded me to a PS2 game, not that kids will care about but still.
02/09/2009 at 23:18 Inanimotioon says:
The demo was quite fun. I recommend it.
02/09/2009 at 23:26 Lewis says:
A few things still baffle me about Mini Ninjas.
1) That people are calling it a kids’ game. It’s suitable for all ages, and that was part of the developmental remit, but a kids’ game? Cannot see it at all. It’s a kids’ game in the same way that Zelda is. Which is to say, not really. Are people associating traditional, vibrantly coloured games as being ‘for kids’? Are we reverting?
2) The complete lack of pre-release attention. Where the bloody hell did it come from? I knew it was happening, and then suddely, it’s here.
3) That only me and Phill Cameron seemed so enthralled by the demo. It’s the best, most captivating, magical and absolutely joyous demo I’ve played for anything since World of Goo. I was trying to come up with something I didn’t enjoy about the demo a few days ago, when someone said something “didn’t feel quite right” but couldn’t work out what. I tried, then concluded he was simply insane. Utterly wonderful.
My copy, because I’m a bastard, should be arriving sometime soon, I’d expect. Cannot wait.
02/09/2009 at 23:35 mez says:
I will play a MMO game of that. For all my life.
03/09/2009 at 00:11 Radiant says:
breakfaust! hahahahahahaha
03/09/2009 at 00:43 abhishek says:
I thought the demo was ok. Kind of fun, but it’s something I’d pick up as a Steam weekend deal, not at full retail price.
03/09/2009 at 01:06 Wooly says:
I got a legend of Zelda-ish vibe from this. Looks to be pretty good!
03/09/2009 at 01:17 Phill Cameron says:
Everything in this game is so right.
03/09/2009 at 01:25 Spectre-7 says:
I really liked the demo. It was fun, stylish, and gave a pretty good indication of where the rest of the game likely goes. I was a little less than thrilled about some of their control choices for the PC (the inventory system felt like it probably works better on consoles, and I can’t rebind jump?), but I’m still impressed with the product overall.
I’m a little saddened by the number of people who are commenting that this should be a budget title, but what’s a man to do?
03/09/2009 at 01:30 luminosity says:
I believe I saw an underground river in that trailer. Sold!
03/09/2009 at 01:32 toni says:
i loved the demo, replayed it 4 times. I’m sure gonna get it. there’s just so many things to do and fun ways to play with the stupid enemies :)
03/09/2009 at 02:00 Krondonian says:
I enjoyed the demo. Instant character swtiching, the variety of powers/weapons, the animal possessing, the stealth. I was very surprised how much stuff they managed to cram in and have it still work.
The only real criticism I can think of from the demo was that the levels were a little too narrow. It’s a shame that their aesthetic choice will put off some of the audience.
03/09/2009 at 02:03 abhishek says:
Spectre-7 : The fact that I would buy it when it’s on sale is just what it’s worth to me. It’s not a comment on what I think it should be priced at. For example, I bought Trine at 30$ because I thought it was worth it, even though a lot of people seemed to think it should have cost less. Value is a subjective concept :)
03/09/2009 at 02:24 Spectre-7 says:
abhishek: My comment wasn’t specifically directed at you. In a number of other forums, I’ve run across a large contingent who thinks it should be priced like an XBLA title.
03/09/2009 at 04:06 Post Maker says:
“…thinks it should be priced like an XBLA title.”
Wait wait wait, what?. Really?
03/09/2009 at 04:22 Spectre-7 says:
Post Maker: Sad but true. Here’s an assortment of quotes from a single thread at the forum I normally haunt. They actually outnumber any other sort of comments in that thread.
03/09/2009 at 06:11 JSutcliffe says:
I am interested in this, but find the lack of co-op play puzzling. This looks like it’d be perfect to play with another person.
03/09/2009 at 06:47 Rudolfo says:
yeah, it’s DLC for the next-gen console owners. because anything fullprice must look like a transformers movie, you know, all high-end polished robot to max out the insane graphics power of those next-gen consoles….
then again, I bet there’s enough people out there that are looking for gameplay value instead of graphic polish…thank god.
03/09/2009 at 06:56 Spectre-7 says:
We can only hope. It really ticks me off that clean, simple design (with loads of personality, none-the-less) apparently means cheap to so many of today’s gamers.
03/09/2009 at 07:46 Toby says:
Provided they can combine the lovely design and explorational yumminess seen in the demo (likely) with some genuinely challenging combat (less likely) I’ll love it to pieces. I don’t need Ninja Gaiden (please Jesus Christ and the Fonz give us Ninja Gaiden on PC please please) just a challenge on hard mode.
Awww what am I saying, I’ll love it anyway. IO always make gorgeous games even if the game element is a little lacking. Show me good looks and my other standards plummet.
03/09/2009 at 08:55 Vinraith says:
It feels oddly like a platformer, to the extent that the demo mostly just made me want to go back and play Maximo on my PS2. I’ll be the first to admit this is an odd reaction. Regardless, there’s really nothing about it that grabbed me.
03/09/2009 at 09:12 Heliocentric says:
I love the idea that my 5 year old can play a game by the same hands that craft the beautiful hitman games without me teaching him how to become a professional killer.
But no, it looks to be more than just a kids game, if only because of the freedom of playstyle which has been inferred. I hope io are rewarded for stepping back from realism to focus on content with sales, but the console players expect +AAA, vasiline enriched graphics included unless the game is $10. Eh?
I hope we see a chibi hitman, even if only as a cheat for hitman5. That great big bald head and those angry little eyes. Also, breckfaust sounds like an anti tank weapon.
03/09/2009 at 09:28 Lewis says:
I wonder if this will be more readily received on the Wii than the other consoles.
Or whether Nintendo’s followers will compare it unfavourably to Zelda, while the POWER MAN CONSOLE crowd will dismiss it as too cutesy to be worthy of their MAN POUNDS*, meaning it loses out all round.
*Clearly in jest, before anyone leaps down my throat.
03/09/2009 at 10:05 dingo says:
To be fair the retailers / game industry conditioned us buyers to:
It will hit the bargain bin in 3-6 months so why buy day one.
Why should I waste money if the whole system is based on this (as flawed as it might be)?
I win if I can control the urge to not having everything on day one. Those who can’t suck it up.
03/09/2009 at 10:12 Heliocentric says:
As much as i like this title i won’t be buying it at release unless it flies in at budget price. But thats not an attack on this game, i don’t pay full retail whack for anything. To enjoy this hobby with limited income you need to manage your costs, all you rich people go ahead.
03/09/2009 at 10:15 jon_hill987 says:
I take good gameplay over graphics any day, don’t get me wrong, I like good graphics, my PC has a GTX275 in it for that reason, but without good gameplay to back it up you might as well just watch the latest transformers film as at least that has Megan Fox in it.
03/09/2009 at 10:28 Toby says:
To be fair, as an aside, Ms. Fox looked like a horrible trampy tart in the latest Transformers flick. Gosh that film was awful.
03/09/2009 at 10:55 SirDorius says:
This is unexpectedly cool, but I hope they get back to Hitman ASAP when they finish this.
03/09/2009 at 11:05 jon_hill987 says:
@Toby: Well that ruins my example, I should probably used a film I had actually watched…
03/09/2009 at 11:45 TotalBiscuit says:
“I’ve run across a large contingent who thinks it should be priced like an XBLA title.”
This is everything that’s wrong with the modern gaming crowd right here. Don’t have $100,000,000 to invest in Hollywood level special effects, visuals and system-crushing HD graphics? THEN YOUR GAME IS ONLY WORTH 10 BUCKS.
Bollocks. These are the kind of people that enable people like Bob Kotick to hike prices and cite ‘increased development costs’. Graphics serve purely as a means to engage the player. They do not have to be super-hyper realistic in order to do so, in fact, most of the time, I’d prefer they weren’t. These same people bitched about Wolfenstein, claiming with oh-so-much stupid hyperbole that it ‘looked like a PS2 game’. No, everything that isn’t quite up to the level of Crysis does not look like a PS2 game and you are a retard if you believe that to be the case. And no, that does not mean you get to pirate it, or whine and complain that it should be ’10 bucks’.
God I hate gamers today.
03/09/2009 at 12:39 MonkeyMonster says:
Snowboarding in a teacup! Woop Woop :D
03/09/2009 at 14:43 Subject 706 says:
“This is everything that’s wrong with the modern gaming crowd right here. Don’t have $100,000,000 to invest in Hollywood level special effects, visuals and system-crushing HD graphics? THEN YOUR GAME IS ONLY WORTH 10 BUCKS.”
Word.
03/09/2009 at 15:03 Psychopomp says:
@Biscuit
I would totally have sex with you right now if you swang that way.
03/09/2009 at 15:06 Sonic Goo says:
Anything that looks fun, friendly and non-steroid gets an extra point from me regardless. That’s what we’ve come to.
04/09/2009 at 00:41 neems says:
As an aside, most uber graphic HD console titles either don’t have uber graphics, or they don’t have HD, as the current generation of consoles apparently can’t do both (WipeOut HD excepted). Wave of the future people!