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Release dates:

OUT NOW IN NORTH AMERICA

EUROPE: NOVEMBER 4TH 2011

NEW LAUNCH TRAILER

FINAL TRAILER

E3 TRAILER

TRAILER 3

JAPANESE COMMERCIAL COLLECTION

Go Vacation is set on the diverse resort of Kawawii Island, where players can traverse an open-ended world of exploration and adventure that includes dozens of fun and engaging activities for the whole family to enjoy. With a huge variety of different resorts to explore and activities to play, gamers will experience a fun vacation that never ends.

From snowcapped mountains to the bright lights of a bustling cityscape, Go Vacation gives gamers the option to take part in heated street races, relaxing scuba diving excursions, pulse-pounding skydiving sessions and much more—all accessed by actually visiting each location in-game instead of simply choosing from a menu. With support for a whole suite of Wii hardware accessories, including the Wii Balance Board™, Wii Zapper™ and Wii MotionPlus™, every activity offers a fun and natural control scheme that allows gamers to easily jump in and play.

Other features:

Taking Pictures of All Your Fun

Bring along your camera to capture all of the fun memories with friends and family!

Bring Your Dog Along

Adopt a dog to join in on the fun! Your new best friend is fully customizable and a smart, loveable companion on your travels!

Your Own Vacation Home

Design your ideal vacation home! Customize the interior by arranging trophies and furniture. Show off your style to everyone!

Easy and Intuitive Controls

Every activity is fun to play and like the Wii, easy to use! Go Vacation is compatible with the Wii Balance Board, Wii MotionPlus, Wii Zapper, and Wii Wheel.

THE RESORTS:

SNOW RESORT

CITY RESORT

MOUNTAIN RESORT

BEACH RESORT

ANIMAL CROSSING STYLE VILLA BUILDING ASPECT: SCREENS:

MORE SCREENS


MEDIA:

50 Pics here

GAMEPLAY VIDEO COLLECTION 1

GAMEPLAY VIDEO COLLECTION 2

GAMEPLAY VIDEO COLLECTION 3

GAMEPLAY VIDEO COLLECTION 4

OPEN WORLD GAMEPLAY VIDEO 1

OPEN WORLD GAMEPLAY VIDEO 2

BUTTLOAD OF NEW VIDEOS FROM NWR

Love this Hand gliding video - the music

Nintendo world report Preview

• It tears the concept of an island resort filled with mini games right out of Nintendo's hands.
• Go Vacation adds to the Wii _____ formula by tying mini-games together with an open world mechanic.Players can traverse four large resorts across various terrain types.
• Tricks performed along the way to an event of choice will contribute to the unlocking of game modes and items.
• Traversal of the environment appears to be fluid and enjoyable, though the world isn't tied to any sort of continuous narrative.
• The 50 mini games are what Wii gamers will expect from a resort-centric party game.
• Each mini-game looks to be executed with surprising competency.
• The unlockable villas are a touted feature.
• Players can earn the use of a vacation home, that can be decorated using items earned through successful play of the mini games or stylish traversal of the environments.

Go Vacation surprised me. While I would wait until after playing a retail copy to say if I think it is actually a good game, I can say that it appears to have everything one would want from a party game and even a little bit more.

This four-player, Motion Plus enabled party game launches soon.

Gamespot preview

Read the preview for details of the areas they saw and games they played

"Go Vacation is an open-world game that's simultaneously reminiscent of Wave Race 64, We Ski & Snowboard, Wii Sports, Pilotwings Resort, and a host of other games. While visiting the island on which Go Vacation is set, you can visit four distinct resorts (Marine, City, Mountain, and Snow) and take part in no fewer than 50 sporting activities"

"In addition to taking part in the numerous activities, you'll be free to explore Go Vacation's island any way you choose. You may want to rollerblade until you find an off-road truck, drive that truck to the ocean, climb out of it, and then scuba dive around the shoreline, for example. It all sounds very liberating, and furthermore, there will be hidden bonus items to search for in your travels. We look forward to finding some of those and bringing you more information on this promising game just as soon as we can get our hands on a copy of it."

IGN PREVIEW: GO VACATION IS WORTH THE TRIP

"No, you won't be slapping any prostitutes in Go Vacation, but you will get the opportunity to run around a giant island boasting four vastly different resorts and an impressive open world mechanic. The worst part about Wii Sports Resort was that you had to observe this beautiful island paradise from afar, never actually getting the chance to explore it. Go Vacation changes everything, as romping around the island is a huge part of the experience, lending some much needed depth to the experience."

More at the link^

INTERVIEW WITH Masaya Kobayashi, producer of the game

NINTENDO UK spoke with Masaya Kobayashi, producer of the game at NAMCO BANDAI, to find out more about turning Go Vacation’s Kawawii Island into the perfect destination for players of all ages

Famitsu review:

Go Vavaction (Wii, Bandai Namco): 8 / 8 / 8 / 7 - (31/40)

This cannot be said enough, and should probably be put into the OP: Mini games need to be played more than once! I think Namco did a huge disservice to the game by presenting the first run of each mini game in such a boring and simplistic way. Volleyball practically plays itself, jet skiing race down a straight path, etc. Even the presentation sucks.

Then you visit it a 2nd time and it's totally different. You get a "splash" screen for the activity, allowing you to see all the various control options, select different modes (and each mini-game has a ton of them), and view the game's equivalent to achievement or medals, called silver keys. It's a completionist's wet dream!

For example, the jet ski alone is actually composed of nine courses, 3 for each mode (single lap, multi lap, and going through rings). It's a minor thing, perhaps, but the game is far more deeper than I thought

I'll write up a more detailed hands on later, but man, so far Go Vacation : Mini Game Collections :: Defense Grid : Tower Defense

10 minute video review with tons of new footage and an explanation of the gameplay and modes.

http://www.screwattack.com/news/go-vacation-wii-review

He has a ton of issues with it, yet still says it can be a blast to play.

 

[gamingeek]

More stuff:

It looks like you build your own villa room by room.

There seem to be floor plans to tinker with

You build it

Then you deck it out in furniture, presumably gained from gameplay

And you get to place everything on a grid structure.

More detail from that interview on the villa building aspect. Up to 8 people can have personal villas in the same game.

In Animal Crossing it's 4 houses right?

As you’re progressing throughout the game you’ll earn trophies or stamps for your achievements, and one really fun thing that you can unlock and earn is a villa of your own, adding to that whole “resort life” feeling. And then as you progress in the game you can acquire furniture to decorate your villa with and really customise it and make it your own. So you go out there and you play the activities, win things, and then you can show off in your own villa.

Another way you can have a little competitive element in there comes from the fact that you’re free to explore other people’s villas. So let’s say your father has one; you can go into his and he has a trophy that you didn’t get – and he’s showing it off and you’re thinking “I want to get that too!” Up to eight people can have villas. It’s just another way to add depth and a sense of immersion in the game.

Also:

"there are treasure boxes that are distributed throughout and when the player finds them by exploring the island, such discoveries will be rewarded with new costumes and things like that."

There also seems to be a sort of achievement system

"Playing with a knack for exploration and adventure is also rewarded with what we call Challenge Stars, small rewards for a curious player. Just picture this massive environment at your disposal, and if you’re curious enough to think “What happens if I jump between this cliff and that cliff just for fun?”, you could be rewarded for that kind of stunt. And by collecting these stars you can then unlock further features."

Seems motionplus is required for a few of the activities. And 17 of the activities have balance board functionality.

Can you tell us a bit more about Wii Remote Plus/Wii MotionPlus and Wii Balance Board integration? Are there some games that only work with these controllers?

For Wii MotionPlus, some activities require it and some activities are just compatible with it. I think there are only three that absolutely require it – sword fighting, windsurfing and pitching. An example where Wii MotionPlus technology is optional would be tennis. You can play without it for a regular experience, but if you have it, you can do more precise movements like top spins and slices.

There are 17 different activities that are compatible with the Wii Balance Board. We thought the Wii Balance Board could bring an extra element to activities like paragliding, dog sledding and, as in Family Ski, skis and snowboards can be used with the Wii Balance Board as well.

The Wii Balance Board was of course very important in Family Ski, as you mentioned. But in this game there are so many more activities, and we tried to incorporate the use of the Wii Balance Board as much as possible to give a different feeling when playing. So now you can use it when you’re controlling the marine bike, or for other things like hang gliding or paragliding, where we encourage the player to sit on the board and then lean to control the game.

Check out this pic, split screen all exploring the street in their own way.

Or this train journey

Then all of sudden they show of motorcycle and off road buggy racing

And a base/softball throwing game, using motionplus this will be sweet.

Then new tube skate action

Then Windsurfing action

Fishing looks better

Bungee diving off a cliff anyone?

Or do you want to have your own Animal Crossing lovely room?

Or lets ride some buggys

Tons more here

 

[Skiesofwonder]

This will be the first game I buy in a LONG time without actually reading any extensive hands-on reports. The Concept alone is worth the $30.

 

[Plinko]

Release-date delivery on its way this afternoon. Cannot wait.

Hoping for the best, expecting mediocrity.

 

[GDGF]

Great OP.

This is the ubergame.

 

[nincompoop]

Fucking Amazon still hasn't shipped my preorder... I forgot how sucky not having Gold is.

 

[gamingeek]

So this game is out today and no reviews.

And since the game was announced at E3 we've had 2 previews.

2.

WTF is going on?

 

[Brazil]

I'll definitely pick this one up.

 

[Salih]

thread-title is so appropriate.
can't wait!

 

[nincompoop]

So this game is out today and no reviews.

And since the game was announced at E3 we've had 2 previews.

2.

WTF is going on?

If you need a gaming journalist to tell you what games you should be interested in, maybe the Wii isn't the best console for you.

 

[Ranger X]

Cool! You people noticed the Pacman bay?

 

[Skiesofwonder]

My Gamestop has it! Gf gets off of work at 3:30, trying to decide if I should pick it up now or then.....hmmmm

Edit: In line to get it now!

Edit 2: picked up the only copy they had lol. Will be posting initial Impressions within a hour or two!

 

[Kiriku]

There's something strangely tempting about this game. Makes me think of Hot Shots Golf and how I used to move around the camera just to explore the environments and imagining what the rest of the Hot Shots Golf world would be like (outside the golf course). This seems close enough.

 

[cacildo]

Great Op.

the only thing missing is online play

(and i still fear it will suffer from poor motion control)

 

[Fantastical]

Is there not an airplane minigame? I know you can take an aerial tour of the island, but nothing like Wii Sports Resort?

 

[jogarrr]

Looking forward to trying this out later today. Hurry up UPS!

 

[drspeedy]

Man, that cover art is busy. Not that there's a good way to cover all the things the game includes, but I found myself looking for Waldo on there...

also: dude on the front totally needs a fanny pack.

 

[Azure Dream]

Great job on the OP. I hope Amazon ships my copy soon.

 

[Alrus]

Looks pretty great, might pick it up for christmas if it's good. I still can't get over the french translation of "Balance bords support" on the american box-art though

 

[sfried]

Release date delivery fuck yeah!

Perhaps this should give me my Life Sim fix since RF:ToD had only a simplified version of farming.

 

[OrangeYouGlad]

Best Buy Canada priced this wrong at $20. Ordering right now.

Edit: Placed order. $22 after tax. Going to be a great game to play with the girlfriend.

 

[timetokill]

Really interested to see some reviews for this. If the minigames are actually fun I may have to add this to the buy list.

 

[UncleSporky]

The snowy mountain resort looks like the entire game of We Ski duplicated here, on top of all the rest.

This is neat, like a culmination of everything the Wii is all about, here at the end of its lifespan.

 

[Kerub]

Uhh.

I feel an overwhelming need to play this game.

 

[Skiesofwonder]

Note: typing with iphone so I apologize for spelling/grammar mistakes.

Basically Go Vacation is we ski with four other resorts and over 50 mini-games sprinkled within. Each resort can be fully explored on foot or in vehicles/bikes/skates/snowboards/horses/etc. All transportation pretty much control the same, Using the tilt functions of both the nunchuck and wiimote. All the resorts are not open to visit from the beginning. You have to complete mini-games to earn badges which give you access to the islands and later on unlocks prizes. The Islands are not connected to each other, therefore you have to warp to each one.

Impressions on mini-games I played so far:

- water skiing race uses wiimote and nunchuck tilt to control, has waves but the physics and controls aren't as intutive or fun as wii sports resort jet skiing.
- scuba diving so far is a search and find-type thing. Has a time limit too. Hopefully there is an opition to free roam scuba dive.
- volleyball you just swing to hit the ball and jump to spike it. Pretty simple, no control over movement of the ball or your avatars.
- tennis is the same, no control over avatars. Wii sports tennis blows this away even though it does support motionplus :/
- pie dodging is like soccerball wii fit but with a controller. No idea if it has balance board support, but it's actually pretty fun.
- horse riding has you trying to collect coins while going through a course. kinda lame.
- skydiving is a very poor man version of wii sport resort's. Horrible pacing, weird controls, and long waits in between tricks...
- snowball fighting Is simple but kinda fun. Plays like a Mario party mini game.
- hang gliding has you flying through rings like pilotwings. Seems really easy so far and control I'd kinda off...
- Surfing is kinda neat, but the trick system is too simple.
- wind sailing is motion+ exclusive. Controls work well and it plays completely different then everything else, but for some reason it didnt click so well with me...
- dancing...... Hahaha either controls don't work or I suck. Didn't enjoy it at all.
- car racing uses excitebot tilt controls. Seems like a rather lackluster racing experience so far.

As I feared it seems that the best part of the game is the exploring aspect similar to we ski. Not saying it's a bad game (we ski is a good game afterall) I just wish the minigames had more depth and were more compelling. Best moments I had so far were just driving around sighting seeing or discovering something new. The graphics are good but not as good as what has been shown in pics. Maybe it's my HD tv or something distorting the SD image. Music so far is annoyingly happy, like Saturday morning cartoon stuff. Having a balance board to ski with and use to control some of the vehicles will make the experience more enjoyable. NPCS basically have nothing to say and our there just to make the islands seem alive.

Now Obviously this game was meant to be played with friends so I'll post some multiplayer impressions later tonight. Right now though if you liked we ski and/or love relaxing worlds to explore then it's most likely worth the $30. If gameplay is your main priority, look else where.

 

[shadyspace]

Is this worth getting if I'm not planning on playing it with other people?

 

[blu]

I might get this for the mountain vistas train ride alone.

 

[OrangeYouGlad]

Best Buy Canada priced this wrong at $20. Ordering right now.

Edit: Placed order. $22 after tax. Going to be a great game to play with the girlfriend.

Screencap of the page before they change it for anyone who wants to try and get it discounted. Sorry about my first name being at the top and store availability.

 

[Kai Dracon]

I just got it this morning - to add a note, certain games like volleyball unlock "pro" modes after you play the initial tutorial. Go back to volleyball again and you can play with nunchuk and directly control your character.

There are also tiers to unlock when you play an event again with higher levels of difficulty / new courses / variations.

If you're playing by yourself there's still a hell of a lot to do, and for fun the game populates the island with mii-headed people from your system mii list. These are AI friends you can have follow you around. They even enter some events with you.

The presentation and quality is generally top notch (AAAAAAAA by typical 3rd party Wii standards).

My only real criticism is they use wiimote+nunchuk tilt steering for the explorable gear like the ATV and inline skates. I feel it would have been better to let you steer with the nunchuk analog stick so that you could really relax while exploring and save the motion control for the events. The motion control steering isn't BAD... it's just a tad more work than it should be for what should be the relaxing part of the game. You do control your character with the stick when on foot.

If you do play with other people, this game actually has proper local profile support. It tracks profiles for all 2 - 4 human players, even awards scores, records, stamps, and unlocks individually after each event as appropriate for everyone's play history. Imagine that! You can have up to 8 profiles on the system as well. You can also use your Mii instead of in-game avatar, and it sticks your Mii head on the body of an avatar, and matches their skin color to the head of your Mii.

This is a very quality game IMO and it doesn't "feel" cheap or as if it was programmed by C-tier juniors from the mail room, as most Wii games do. There's just a tad more depth than there appears at first due to unlocking tiers of events. The overall total modest depth of everything is made up for by the sheer scope.

There are also several kinds of secret unlocks, including some categories that involve exploration and are really hidden. I'm curious to see what is unlocked further into the game.

Also, in the events me and a friend have played so far, the events do seem tuned really well to be lots of fun in multiplayer.

Outside of Wii Sports Resort this seems like the ultimate variety collection on the Wii hands down.

 

[Skiesofwonder]

Is this worth getting if I'm not planning on playing it with other people?

Depends on if you are fine with mediocre gameplay/mini-games but neat islands to explore and play around on. Honestly I played we ski and snowboard with a balance board by myself and had a blast. It's my favorite snowboarding game of this Generation. Going to the top of the mountain and snowboarding down to the bottom wad a blast, and the races were fun too! But then again the balance board controls is really what made that game and while thiamine supports balance board control, I haven't played it yet with the accessory. Go vacation has that with four more islands/themes to play around with. And I haven't even unlocked the villa building which looks pretty darn awesome actually.

But anyone wanting npc interaction, storyline, or gameplay incentive to keep playing is going to be disappointed. This is a game to just pick up and roam around for a bit. Do some exploring and have fun! Obviously having people to do that with would raise the enjoyment greatly, but it still could easily be an enjoyable single player experience.

Edit: I'll go back and try that kaijama. I Hope the same can be said for most of the mini-games because the first few badges for each were rather lackluster.

 

[Boerseun]

Note: typing with iphone so I apologize for spelling/grammar mistakes.

[EDIT: Please refer to quoted post for content.]

Thanks for the write-up! One question though -- did you use the balance board at all? I get the impression the experience as a whole is kind of lacking without it, considering so many of the minigames were built to incorporate the board into their controls.

 

[Poyunch]

Oh man I hope this doesn't stop printing any time soon. I want to eventually try this out but not right now.

 

[Skiesofwonder]

Thanks for the write-up! One question though -- did you use the balance board at all? I get the impression the experience as a whole is kind of lacking without it, considering so many of the minigames were built to incorporate the board into their controls.

No not yet. I'm hoping that (like we ski and snowboard) it greatly adds to the experience.

 

[ShellyDeKiller]

I just got it this morning - to add a note, certain games like volleyball unlock "pro" modes after you play the initial tutorial. Go back to volleyball again and you can play with nunchuk and directly control your character.

There are also tiers to unlock when you play an event again with higher levels of difficulty / new courses / variations.

If you're playing by yourself there's still a hell of a lot to do, and for fun the game populates the island with mii-headed people from your system mii list. These are AI friends you can have follow you around. They even enter some events with you.

The presentation and quality is generally top notch (AAAAAAAA by typical 3rd party Wii standards).

My only real criticism is they use wiimote+nunchuk tilt steering for the explorable gear like the ATV and inline skates. I feel it would have been better to let you steer with the nunchuk analog stick so that you could really relax while exploring and save the motion control for the events. The motion control steering isn't BAD... it's just a tad more work than it should be for what should be the relaxing part of the game. You do control your character with the stick when on foot.

If you do play with other people, this game actually has proper local profile support. It tracks profiles for all 2 - 4 human players, even awards scores, records, stamps, and unlocks individually after each event as appropriate for everyone's play history. Imagine that! You can have up to 8 profiles on the system as well. You can also use your Mii instead of in-game avatar, and it sticks your Mii head on the body of an avatar, and matches their skin color to the head of your Mii.

This is a very quality game IMO and it doesn't "feel" cheap or as if it was programmed by C-tier juniors from the mail room, as most Wii games do. There's just a tad more depth than there appears at first due to unlocking tiers of events. The overall total modest depth of everything is made up for by the sheer scope.

There are also several kinds of secret unlocks, including some categories that involve exploration and are really hidden. I'm curious to see what is unlocked further into the game.

Also, in the events me and a friend have played so far, the events do seem tuned really well to be lots of fun in multiplayer.

Outside of Wii Sports Resort this seems like the ultimate variety collection on the Wii hands down.

What do you think of the Motion+ controls?

 

[Fantastical]

Can't you make a town or something? How is that?

 

[Plinko]

I've played for a couple of hours and so far I'm really enjoying it. I was surprised with the multiple levels included with many of the minigames--I was worried each game would have one track/field/etc and that would be it, but it isn't the case in the games I've seen. The controls are good (although I agree with the above poster that rotating the wiimote to steer isn't the most ideal method...I'm a bit puzzled as to why they went that route) for the most part and the games are fun. I'm only 6 minigames in but there appears to be a TON to do and find on the island. I absolutely adore it so far.

 

[Plinko]

Can't you make a town or something? How is that?

It's a house and I think you have to unlock it later on because it isn't available at the start.

 

[Kai Dracon]

What do you think of the Motion+ controls?

I haven't gotten to the like 3 (?) events that are M+ only yet. I'm under the impression M+ is enhancing a lot of other events if plugged in; events that use tumbling, like sky diving, seem very responsive and reliable.

Will post more later.

 

[ryūkotsusei]

Looks like a screen from an HD Pokemon MMO game I'll never get.

I died a little inside.

 

[Brainiac 8]

Is this published by Nintendo? Do we get coins for it?

 

[LeleSocho]

I really hope this will sell a lot... it's fantastic!

sadly I won't buy it :/

 

[cacildo]

I haven't gotten to the like 3 (?) events that are M+ only yet. I'm under the impression M+ is enhancing a lot of other events if plugged in; events that use tumbling, like sky diving, seem very responsive and reliable.

Will post more later.

mnmnmn, only 3 motion plus specific events???

 

[sfried]

Right now I'm having more fun with Go Vacation that Rune Factory ToD...

This game has gone beyond the impossible. So many nooks and crannies to explore. And then there's that

Spoiler

abandoned shack in the caves

.

As for Motion+, I've played the wind surfing game with it so far, and that was a "hidden" activity. I feel there's more tucked away somewhere.

As for ATV/Waterski controls, as soon as I remembered the Wii Sports Resort waterski it became second nature. I understand the philosophy of using those controls, since the whole mastery thing does give it a feel of "never having ridien an ATV before", but there some very few places I wish it let you use the standard control stick.

 

[ShellyDeKiller]

How come amazon.com don't have it in stock?

 

[sfried]

How come amazon.com don't have it in stock?

Probably because I took the last copy... j/k. I preordered back in Sept. with GAF previews and I'm glad I did.

But anyone wanting npc interaction, storyline, or gameplay incentive to keep playing is going to be disappointed. This is a game to just pick up and roam around for a bit. Do some exploring and have fun! Obviously having people to do that with would raise the enjoyment greatly, but it still could easily be an enjoyable single player experience.

I don't think you'll be able to talk with all of the resort goers (there are a lot of people rendered on the beach alone) for obvious reasons, but everytime they have something to say, it usually clues you in to an activity. That said, it's the best laid back game out there, and unlike Wii Sports if you want to go the extra mile to get something extra, it's there. The trick system, for one, is kinda wierd that they mapped with button presses in conjunction with gestures. But it helps you get Golds on score mode.

 

[60_gig_PS3]

I picked this up. its ok...so far I like the exploration. Hopefully theres plenty of hidden stuff.

You know what this is? Its like PS3 home only without the online.

 

[Anasui Kishibe]

I really hope this will sell a lot... it's fantastic!

sadly I won't buy it :/

 

[60_gig_PS3]

I think I figured out the deal with the controls. Its much easier to explore just using the Wiimote without the nunchuck.

Just steer the ATV by tilting.

 

[sfried]

I think I figured out the deal with the controls. Its much easier to explore just using the Wiimote without the nunchuck.

Just steer the ATV by tilting.

Wait, you can move around without nunchuck?

Good lord...

 

[Talladega Knight]

where are the reviews at?