On the whole, games companies are cruel. Every day, we hear statements from a company, telling us how fantastic they are, and how terrible their competitors are. Such as how Sony’s PS3 is better for publishers than the Xbox 360, or how the lack of Blu Ray was key to Xbox 360 sales and continued sales dominance over the PS3. Suffice to say, it can all get a little tedious. So it’s refreshing, if incredibly shocking, to see a big company like Nintendo admit their faults.

Speaking to Industry Gamers, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime admitted that Nintendo doesn’t cater to the Bioshock 2 audience sufficiently, and that they need to reinforce the support behind their 3rd party developer community:

“For us, it is important that third parties bring their very best content to our platform. You could say ‘Why?’ It’s because… well, let me focus in on the West. There are 28 million Wiis out there in the marketplace. We know, based on our data, that we’ve got consumers from 5 to 95 playing on that platform. The fact of the matter is we know we create great content for younger consumers, we know we’ve got great content for more casual players, and we want fantastic content for that more active player who loves Metroid or Zelda but maybe also wants something like a BioShock 2 to play as well.”

So how could Nintendo achieve this? According to Reggie, Nintendo has already done its part and now it’s all on the developers to make the good games.

“First, as a platform holder our responsibility is to create a large installed base for developers to create content, to provide them with the tools and the insight to help them create great games, and to have in place a profit model that motivates them to create the content and reap the rewards. We’ve done that; global installed base is over 67 million for Wii and there are 120 million in the DS family. So there’s a large installed base, an easy platform to develop for and a strong set of tools out there…”

It’s well known that titles developed by Nintendo on the Wii have incredibly long lifespans. So it was interesting to see Reggie discuss the sales of games such as Dante’s Inferno and Bioshock 2 , both multiplatform games that aren’t available on the Wii. For Reggie and Nintendo it’s not so much about a single title like Dante’s Inferno, but rather:

“How can the development community create content that will strike a chord with consumers and be financially attractive?”

All in all, it’s certainly refreshing to see Reggie be so open about Nintendo’s flaws. To see Reggie admit they may have been lackadaisical when it comes to that particular audience, well, it’s exciting that Nintendo seems to acknowledge their mistakes in an attempt to fix them.

I know I certainly don’t want Bioshock 2 or Dante’s Inferno my Wii, but what do you want? Do you agree that Nintendo needs to encourage more third party developers to go ahead with more ‘core’ titles?

Source: Industry Gamers

While still actively denied by Nintendo themselves, clues pointing towards a potential Wii HD continue to surface. New trademarks submitted by the Japanese branch of the company number among these, which you can see below:

商願2010-006971 Nintendo∞Wii∞POWER∞Wii
商願2010-006972 Nintendo∞Wii
商願2010-006973 POWER∞Wii

What a "Wii POWER" or "POWER Wii" might be is anyones guess at the moment, although there is a fair chance of it just being a new promotional name. Regardness, heres hoping it ends up better than the SNES peripheral with a similar title.

Could also be the second coming of the forth hourseman of the republic of the new daughters.

Source: NeoGAF

Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime recently discussed third-party support for the Wii and Nintendos position in the third-party publishing world.

Countless times, when it comes to core games, weve seen publishers focus their efforts towards the PS3 and Xbox 360. Fils-Aime responded by citing the DS and the Wiis installed bases as major incentives for developers to create content on those platforms. "[The] global installed base is over 67 million for Wii and there are 120 million in the DS family... [we] provide them with the tools and the insight to help them create great games, and... have in place a profit model that motivates them to create the content and reap the rewards."

In addition, Fils-Aime mentioned how Nintendo challenges developers to come up with imaginative new content by attending conferences like GDC. "To have someone like Sakamoto-san [Metroid co-creator] talk about Tomodachi Collection and Samus and share his experiences really is a way that were trying to encourage developers to open their mind to do different things."

Fils-Aime also remained hesitant on the long-term sales curve of so-called core games, stating that although "developers love to create technically advanced games, and very visually stunning games... the fact of the matter is not all of that content is selling exceptionally well..." With this in mind, Fils-Aime pointed out BioShock 2s (X360, PS3) drop in sales last month. "Its a much bigger question than why arent developers creating core content for the Wii? Its a much broader question: How can the development community create content that will strike a chord with consumers and be financially attractive? "

On the other hand, from a business standpoint, why should Nintendo care about third-parties when they already make squillions from their own games, the majority of which are targeted at the casual consumer? Fils-Aime acknowledged that Nintendo definitely needs to continue encouraging third-party developers to create core content.

"Well, luckily we dont have that mentality. For us, it is important that third parties bring their very best content to our platform. You could say Why? Its because... weve got consumers from 5 to 95 playing on that platform [the Wii]... we know we create great content for younger consumers... [and] for more casual players, and we want fantastic content for that more active player who loves Metroid or Zelda but maybe also wants something like a BioShock 2to play as well. And we also recognize that we dont create that type of content ourselves. Were not good at it and its not a key focus area. So we want that content on our platform, so we have to court third-party developers and encourage them to make [those games], but it also has to be financially viable for them as well."

Alright, fans of giant robot action, time to get caught up with Transformers: War For Cybertron.  High Moon Studios Game Director Matt Tieger and friends take you on a behind the scenes tour of the upcoming third-robot action title.  Set on Cybertron during the civil war between the Autobots and the Decepticons, Transformers: War For Cybertron is a completely fresh take on the Transformers universe.  Check out the Transformers: War For Cybertron behind the scenes video:

The game certainly looks nice.  Plus, it’s great to see a Transformers game that draws from the history of the toys, rather than merely aping the Michael Bay movies.  So, are you ready for War, or will you be sitting this battle out?

Transformers: War For Cybertron breaks out June 22nd on Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Wii, and DS.

The Creative Artists Agency (CAA) has managed to pick up the former heads of Infinity Ward, Jason West and Vince Zampella. An interesting move because not many game developer companies have been represented by talent agencies, but with the huge success of the Modern Warfare franchise, it’s no surprise that West and Zampella count as top tier talent.

West and Zampella are of course the two Infinity Ward heads who were removed due a debacle with publisher Activision over the Modern Warfare franchise. There are now reports that Activision is holding back on promised bonus payouts to remaining Infinity Ward employees and that morale is lower than you can imagine.

What could this mean in the long run? I’m sure that the CAA will have no problems finding the pair a job at another publisher to develop what could be another hugely great franchise. Or maybe the two have already started thinking the future of Modern Warfare and what could lie beyond it. There are a great deal of questions to be asked, but unfortunately, no further information has been provided at this time.

Source: LA Times

Wednesday night, during GDC week, Harmonix held a special surprise for fans of Rock Band, providing press with a glimpse of Green Day: Rock Band.

Held at the RockIt Room in San Francisco (with an open-bar courtesy of MTV Games and Harmonix), press and friends were invited to check out the new product and interact with studio heads.

I interviewed both John Drake, Rock Band Network Manager for Harmonix (who sings a mean Eric Cartman version of “Poker Face”), and Harmonix CEO, Alex Rigopulus.

From what we were shown of Green Day: Rock Band, the game will retain an on-tour motif, the gameplay backgrounds were set to a series of on-stage performances – decorated with features you might find at an actual Green Day concert.

Harmonies will return for Green Day: Rock Band as well, so your multiple mic-stand setups will not be left wanting. Character models were very striking and well put together, right down to minute details on the instruments.

Previously, we detailed a number of tracks you’ll get to hear in Green Day: Rock Band - however, the songs that were featured at the event were:

• “Wake Me Up When September Ends”
• “Hitchin’ A Ride”
• “Brain Stew/Jaded”
• “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”
• “American Idiot”

I spoke with John Drake on a number of subjects:

The look of Green Day: Rock Band:

“I think that the Harmonix style of single-artist games has been to work super closely with the artist and their cadre of people who help manage how the band’s image appear and whenever they’re happy with it, the fans are usually happy with it. So we don’t rush out and throw character models together, we really massage and make sure it’s great and works really well. We’re really happy with the way it looks and It’s looking more polished every day. [Green Day Rock Band has been in development for 18 months].”

Additional content for The Beatles: Rock Band:

“No, we don’t have anything to announce for Beatles Rock Band. With Green Day Rock Band coming out and just having launched the Rock Band Network, cracking 1200-1300 DLC songs total, and we just announced Rock Band 3. We have a lot of projects on the table at the moment, but support for Beatles Rock Band is nothing we will talk about at GDC.”

Rock Band Network:

“[We're] really excited about it. I’m the program manager for Rock Band Network, so part of my job is finding bands to give the game and getting them involved, getting labels setup with tools or partnering them with studios like The Authority in Boston or Rock Gamer Studios in New York who are like authoring houses. The fact that we launched 105 songs for DLC in one day on 360 is crazy and ****ing insane. Essentially the biggest single day ever for title launch, Rock Band 2 previously had 84 songs + 20 on disc, so we managed to beat Rock Band 2 by one song for a single day DLC increase. My band (The Main Drag) has 11 songs on the queue right now and there’s a ton of great stuff on the website that’s not all the way through the process, so we’re going to keep rolling out DLC every day. We have stuff from The Shins coming up, Flight of the Conchords, metal bands, punk bands. We managed to cover a huge amount of ground already and we’re hoping to just continue that growth.

Rock Band Network puts the control of release schedules and stuff like that in the hands of the artists and their community and our online community and not about Harmonix putting a song on the schedule six months in advance. If someone wants to release a whole album, they don’t have to wait on us to do it anymore. The control is totally in the hands of the artists.”

I also spoke with Alex Rigopulus as well – after he performed on stage as a drummer.

Rock Band Network:

“We’re trying to work very closely with our partners to cultivate the platform, but, I think for us, Rock Band Network is a huge aspect to the future of Rock Band. We’re trying to eliminate Harmonix as a bottleneck to getting content on to the platform. What my hope is over the next year or two is that there’s going to be an explosion of content that’s available on Rock Band. Far more if we were just licensing and producing it all ourselves and we’re already seeing that. In the first month after beta and after we launched the thing, there’s an incredibly rich pallet of content available for the platform and that’s just going to explode over the next few months.”

Rock Band 3:

“Unfortunately I can’t say anything about Rock Band 3 at this point except that it’s coming this fall and it’s a big step forward for Rock Band. This has been a two-year development cycle on this title and it’s a pretty significant level up from where we’ve been. We’re pretty excited about unveiling it at E3 this year. Holiday 2010 release.”

Green Day: Rock Band

“As it always is with a product like this, it’s critical that we’re working very closely with the band. It’s all about the band, their music, and what they’re trying to accomplish with their music and we want the gameplay experience to amplify and enhance it. Yes, they were close collaborators with this project and I think that will show with the final result.”

Rock Band’s future

“Big plans, of course, for the franchise, but nothing I can say at this point.”

The rivalry between the Guitar Hero franchise and Rock Band

“Honestly, we don’t spend a lot of time thinking about the rivalry between the two franchises. We’re really just focused on, not just Rock Band, but the [music game] category as a whole and what we need to do to get there. And for us, that’s just a secondary consideration.”

Under the circumstances of an open-bar and on-stage Rock Band play sessions, I was grateful to have been able to spend time with the Harmonix crew – I’m sure all music fans alike will enjoy what’s to come with the future of Rock Band, I certainly am.

Stay tuned to Game Rant for more details on Green Day: Rock Band and Rock Band 3 as they develop.

In the current issue of UK gaming magazine Edge, Codemasters confirms that Dirt 3 is in development.  Says Codemasters Studios vice president Gavin Cheshire, “There’s some great stuff coming from Birmingham that’s going into Dirt 3.”  Though not terribly surprising news, this is the first official word that a third game in the Dirt series is on the way.

Great looking and well reviewed, Codemaster’s Dirt series practically owns the genre of rally racing games on the current generation of consoles.  Sony’s Evolution Studios, once attached to the World Rally Championship PS2 titles, are now fully focused on the Motorstorm games.  However, Gran Turismo 5 does feature WRC events, so perhaps Dirt 3 will have some competition after all.

The racing genre just keeps getting more and more crowded.  As the lone title focused entirely on rally racing, Dirt stands apart from the pack.  But is that enough to keep your interest?  Or are you racing in a different direction?

Dirt 3’s release date and target platforms have yet to be announced.

Source: Edge

This week’s episode of  Spike TV’s GameTrailers TV featured the world premier trailer for EA’s new NBA Jam.  If you’ve been pining for the glory days of 2 on 2 arcade basketball, pine no longer.  This Wii exclusive appears to stay true to what made the original Jam so addictive.  Check out the NBA Jam trailer:

So, does it look to anyone else like those characters have 3D polygonal bodies with 2D bit-mapped faces?  In my opinion, anything that keeps the focus of this game on goofy fun is a good thing, and it looks like the developers agree.  My only question is whether there will be enough content here for a full retail release.  What do you think?  Will you pick this up on disc, or is this a download only title for you?

NBA Jam releases for the Nintendo Wii sometime in 2010.

Source: Game Trailers

What is Wii Emulator? Wii Emulator is an improved version of GameCube. As of today, Dolphin is the Emulator available in the market which is also a GameCube emulator.

However, compatibility of this Wii feature is very low. There is a preliminary Wiimote emulation but unfortunately it’s not working yet. Another version of emulator is Dolphin 64 bit. Dolphin 64 bit is an optimized version of Dolphin Wii emulator as well as GameCube emulator.

What is Dolphin? Dolphin is an open source Nintendo GameCube, Wii and Triforce emulator. Dolphin is only intended for Microsoft Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X.  In fact, this is the only emulator that runs commercially successful on GameCube and Wii games.  And this is the only emulator that capable of running commercial Wii games.

In general, emulators allow computer programs to run a platform like computer architecture or operating system. This kind of emulator is known as software emulator. However, hardware emulator is an emulator in the form of hardware devices like printer emulators.

As of today, there are numerous sites that offer Nintendo Wii Emulator Download with reasonable prices. Wii emulator is an open source project released by July 2008 but it reaches a milestone last February 2009. When this emulation made a breakthrough, it is now successfully boot and run the official Wii system Menuv1.0. And fortunately today, it can boot all versions of Wii OS. 

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Technorati Tags: dophin emulator, Nintendo Wii Emulator, Nintendo Wii Emulator Download, wii emulator

EA Sports rebirth of the NBA Jam series is a step closer to release today, with the first trailer of the game being shown off. Its a pretty cheesy trailer, but then so is the game, though it shows off the new art style in motion and it does look pretty good.

Lets get on the rumour train for this one as word out of GDC is that the DS2 (or whatever it is going to be called) is going to be out this year. According to sources at the event, the new DS will not be a simple iteration update but a whole new machine. Features that are said to be included are even larger screens and a smaller gap between the two screens for one big picture.

Still in the development kit stage, this new DS is said to be about as powerful as the GameCube was, and that anyone who has worked on either the GameCube or Wii will be able to start developing on the system right away. An accelerometer is said to be part of the handheld, too, with this now being the second time that that particular rumour has cropped up.

A release date was also spoken of but not for the actual hardware. Games for the new handheld are on track to be completed before the year is out.

All of the above information is, of course, strictly rumoured for now but itll be interesting to see what is true and false when Nintendo do decide to make the next DS.

Source: RPad

Heres an odd one to be sure. In the latest Iwata Asks feature which covers Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, Pokémon Company boss Tsunekazu Ishihara has revealed that Pokémon Gold and Silver (the originals) were intended to be the last games in the series. "I worked with the assumption that after we put out Gold and Silver, my work as far as Pokémon was concerned would be done," said Ishihara. "I didnt intend to make any more Pokémon titles. I even thought that once we entered the twenty-first century, it would be time for me to do something else entirely."

His sense of completion was so great that he felt that a "burden had finally been lifted from [his] shoulders". He also stated very early on, Gold and Silver had been set as a finish line, and now that the series was completed, he felt he had fulfilled his duty.

So why more Pokémon games? Well Pokémon Gold and Silver sold a ton-load obviously. They sold even faster than Red or Green did.

Source: ONM

The Hanabi Festival should have heralded a new (old) Castlevania hitting the store, but it turns out Nintendo of Europe are evil trolls and thought "no, well give them Lode Runner instead". Never mind, there is already a better Lode Runner on the Virtual Console.

This weeks Virtual Console lineup (wow, it sounds strange saying that) includes the previously mentioned Lode Runner, and Neo Geo title Ironclad. Thats not only the first Neo Geo import but the first Neo Geo title released this year.

WiiWare is not spared either with Military Madness: Nectaris being released. Its a revival of sorts for Hudsons strategy series. Think Advance Wars, but in a hexagon. This one will set you back 1000 Points.

And last but least we have DSiWare - while Europe gets 5 new titles, were left with one. Its a Spanish language trainer that only contains 240 words and is 800 Points. Enough said.

Next week please!

WiiWare
Military Madness: Nectaris (Hudson) – 1000 Points

DSiWare
4 Travellers: Play Spanish (AGENIUS Interactive) – 500 Points

Virtual Console
Lode Runner (NES, Hudson) – 600 Points
Ironclad (NEO GEO, D4 Enterprise) – 1000 Points

Following in the footsteps of the Biggest Loser and Survivor, the Bachelor franchise is about to get a video game treatment – so gamers, will you accept this rose?

According to TV Guide, the game will allow players to “go against the game’s characters for alone time with the Bachelor or Bachelorette. And to keep in the true spirit of the reality show, players can sabotage other dates to up their odds to win the final rose.”

In addition, players will interact with an avatar of host Chris Harrison as well as digital versions of past bachelors and bachelorettes including Jason Mesnick.

The title will set players back a mere $30 (half the cost of drinks during ladies night) and be available for both the Nintendo Wii and DS.

So, if you’re looking for an excuse to talk your girlfriend into letting you buy a Wii or a DS – this may be your golden ticket.

The title doesn’t have a specific release date yet but is scheduled to hit shelves this summer.

Source: TV Guide

Question about the Wii?

If i have a Wii and someone else has a Wii can I play against them in a game if we both have them? LIke xbox live?

Technorati Tags: wii

If you are a first time buyer of Nintendo Wii and its accessories, you may experience headaches like mine.  At first, it made me so hard to choose from so many wii products available in the market. I also have headaches on where to buy the best and quality wii products.

I would suggest you buy online; it would save you gas on going to local malls. Take out the hassle on going to local malls and shop online. There are so many online stores that offer great wii products with great prices.

First of all, you need to find a reputable online store. Some of these are ebay and amazon. These two reliable online stores offers competitive price and delivers faster plus you will have a peace of mind because you know that you are buying from a reputable store.

In buying Nintendo wii, you also have to educate yourself with the product together with all the accessories needed to make your wii game experience more enjoyable.  In buying a new console for example, you have to be knowledgeable with what exactly you need and you don’t need.

If you are not familiar with the game yet, you may buy a guide to help you out. Wii buyers guide is a big help in buying the game. Don’t spend your hard earned cash into something you don’t actually need or you don’t actually want. Try to seek for suggestions online and decide where and what to buy.

Technorati Tags: nintendo wii, tips in buying wii guide, where to buy nintendo wii, Wii Buying Guide, wii guide tips

Uncharted 2 the big winner at annual GDC awards show.

I want some Girl Scout cookies, like bad. I’ve been craving some Samoas or Thin Mints for weeks now and am suffering because it’s impossible to find Girl Scouts selling them. I don’t understand why they don’t have stores selling them year round, or at least let me order them off the internet. Seriously, I’d imagine their sales would explode if they had web ordering year round. I mean, what are the positives of the way they do it now? Is there a point in making me hope some young girl knocks on my door selling some cookies? Do they really think that’s the best option? I know they love their whole “randomly set up tables in Wal-Mart parking lots” version of Russian Roulette they play with my cookie pains, but I think it may be driving me insane. The only explanation I can come up with is that the Girl Scouts is run by a Julia Child-esque old lady who’s never heard of the internet and every time someone suggest online sales she accuses them of witchcraft and then burns them at the stake. (Side-note: Okay, let’s take the whole burning at the stake bit out of that equation and you’ve got to admit, it kinda makes sense. More importantly, it’s effing hilarious to think that’s the way it is. I can just imagine the old lady getting super pissed any time some young troop leader mentions Google or anything else that came about after the year 1965 and orders them to immediately turn in all her badges and never talk about Scouts again.)

I’ve never hid the fact that as far as game developers go, High Voltage Software has the key to my heart. The Conduit is, IMO, the best FPS on Wii and could easily hold its own against most of the big boys the HDC’s could throw at it. When the company announced their four player co-op shooter The Grinder, I was here hyping it up. When the company made the announcement last month that the game was now being developed for all the next-gen consoles, I stood by them like Bonnie would for Clyde. But now I’m afraid they may have gone too far. They held a private showing of the Left 4 Dead style game showing off a level for the 360 at GDC this week. No, I wasn’t there to see it and, frankly, I’m glad of it as I’m not sure I could have contained my emotions. Apparently they have decided that since the 360 & PS3 have an exorbitant amount of FPS’ for gamers to choose from, they needed to make The Grinder a top-down shooter. I KNOW!!! Apparently all the love the company has had for the Wii has gone out the window thanks to the new girls and their shiny graphics. They don’t care about the massive amount of Wii gamers who love and respect the company and expect them to be one of the companies pushing the console to its limits. (Side-note: I’m writing this in a hair salon as I’m waiting for Mrs. Mike to get finished, so let’s blame that for the melodramatic tone this paragraph has taken on…) Look, I’m not at a point right now where I feel ill will towards High Voltage, but I am disappointed. I expected The Grinder to be an amazingly fun experience and one that is unique to the Wii. Sure, it may still be unique, but I also expected them to try their best to deliver a FPS that would be worthy of taking the crown away from The Conduit. While the company has made no statement on the Wii version of the game, I can’t imagine them developing the FPS that we deserve at the same time as the top down abomination that they showed at GDC. Even if they have chosen not to deliver the game we originally saw, it pains me to know that they’ve done so for the sake of Sony & Microsoft fanboys. You cut me High Voltage, you cut me real deep.

I don’t want to end the week on a depressing note, even if it is raining in The A and I feel like the sun is mocking me high above the clouds. Gametrailers has some footage of the monstrosity that has become of The Grinder, but since it’s running on the 360 and I’m pretty sure I’d need a rush dose of Prozac if I put it up, I’m not going to. Follow the link if you enjoy pain and suffering and heart ache. (Side-note: I’m going for an all-time high mark on the depressing post scale, FYI. We can do it!!) While the news of HVS’ possible betrayal certainly is something to be angry about, EA is here to cheer us up. Apparently Spike (the channel not Mr. Lee) is going to have some sort of major NBA Jam blowout tonight that is sure to show the game in action. Thankfully the awesome guys at Kotaku have no patience for waiting and have posted a clip that shows 10 seconds of the game in action. I’m not even sure I have the words to describe the sheer fury of epicness that these 10 seconds hold, so I’ll just let you watch for yourself. As soon as any more videos of NBA Jam show up, you can find it here. Enjoy, and stay thirsty my friends.

Since the beginning of April last year, Nintendo has been offering 1000 free DSi Points with every purchase of a Nintendo DSi. The offer has aimed to encourage users to link their systems online to discover and purchase DSiWare and other applications from the DSi Shop.

However, on March 31, users who have not yet visited the DSi Shop will miss out on the free Points. Those who have already received the Points, dont worry - your Points will remain in your account even after the offer expires.

If you have purchased a DSi and have not yet obtained your free Points, simply visit the DSi Shop at any compatible Wi-Fi hotspot before the end of the month. For more information about connecting your DSi online, consult page 76 of the DSi Operations Manual

Source: Nintendo

While rumours of a return of Kid Icarus in his own game have been floating around for years, series creator Yoshio Sakamoto says while its never been ruled out, they just havent figured out how to bring him back.

Speaking to Kotaku, Sakamoto says that "I dont know personally about any project underway regarding Kid Icarus, but if so many of those people are interested in it and really want to see it on the Wii they should really speak up."

So while he calls on fans to make some noise about Kid Icarus, theres also a another problem - what are they going to bring him back to do? "If we can find some sort of way to bring it to the Wii, a way to make the game for the Wii that makes sense, we would happily do so, but just keep in mind it may not be me making the game."

Well readers? Do we want another Kid Icarus and what should Nintendo do with the game?

Source: Kotaku

The figures are in and its a surprise to say the least. Surprising on two fronts with the DS selling a record 613,000 units in the month of February in the US. The previous record was a mere 597,000 set last year in the same month. Wii sales have chugged along but Nintendo cites shortages as the reason for the figures not being as high as they could have been. Only 397,000 consoles were shifted, positioning the Wii under the Xbox 360 which sold 422,000 consoles. The Playstation 3 was still behind in third, by not much, on 360,000.

On the software side of things, a batch of new releases hasnt slowed down the New Super Mario Bros. Wii juggernaut with another half-a-million copies shifting in the month. Just Dance (sigh) and Wii Sports Resort shifted huge numbers, too, as a rush of new titles like Bioshock 2, Dantes Inferno and Heavy Rain mixed up the top ten.

Hardware Sales

Nintendo DS - 613.2k
Xbox 360 - 422.0k
Wii - 397.9k
PlayStation 3 - 360.1K
PSP - 133.4K
PlayStation 2 - 101.9K

Software Sales

Bioshock 2 [X360, Take 2 Interactive] - Feb. 10, 562.9k
New Super Mario Bros. Wii [Wii, Nintendo Of America] - Nov. 09, 555.6k
Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 [X360, Activision/Blizzard] - Nov. 09, 314.3k
Just Dance [Wii, Ubisoft] - Nov. 09, 275.4k
Wii Sports Resort [Wii, Nintendo Of America] - Jul.09, 272.5k
Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 [PS3, Activision/Blizzard] - Nov. 09, 252.8k
Mass Effect 2 [X360, Electronic Arts] - Jan. 10, 246.5k
Dantes Inferno: Divine Edition [PS3, Electronic Arts] - Feb. 10, 242.5k
Dantes Inferno [X360, Electronic Arts] - Feb. 10, 224.7k
Heavy Rain [PS3, Sony] - Feb. 10, 219.3k

Source: NeoGAF

So, I was pretty sure I put this up yesterday, but I was in a flu/crappy weather induced fog and may have been imagining it. I’m not gonna treat you with one of my staple pre-news rants today, so let’s jump right in…

If you pay any attention to the world of gaming then you know that this week is the annual Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. As with every major gaming conference, my invitation and press passes were lost in the mail. Luckily the interwebs, in all her Nobel Prize nominated glory, has my back. The biggest thing out of GDC so far is Sony’s announcement of Playstation Move, the company’s take on motion controls.

See More PlayStation Move Various at IGN.com

A ton has been made about the obvious similarities between PSMove & Nintendo’s own Wiimote. Yes, the controllers do look a like. Yes, there is a nunchuck styled add-on that Sony has dubbed “the Subcontroller.” (Side-note: Nunchucks are cool and all but I’d be more afraid of a ninja who told me to hold on a second while he prepared his subcontroller than one who had me wait for him to get his nunchucks out. I mean, it sounds like something that could be easily be described as being at Defcon 4. Just sayin’…) And yes, they both are focused on party/family games despite the Kool-Aid each respective company wants us to drink. Basically, Sony realized they liked Wii flavored Skittles so decided to come out with their own flavor and call it something else. I’m sure you’re thinking that as a distinguished and well known author who focuses on the Wii that I’d be appalled by this. Hate to break it to you, but I’m not. In fact, I have high hopes that this will help, rather than hinder, both the Wii and the PS3. I’m gonna put it out there right now: Sony & Ninty will learn to play nice and may even become best friends, even if only for a bit…

I’m known more for being completely BA and a bit cynical than I am for making predictions, but I’ve got three predictions on how this will affect the Wii. (Side-note: I’m aware of the fact that my words carry a bit of weight around the internets, but neither myself nor WiiSpin feel comfortable enough putting any sort of guarantee on these predictions. In fact, let’s go ahead and say that it’s entirely possible that none of these come to fruition. However, if they do then you all need to recognize you heard it here first. Taste the rainbow son!)

1. We’re gonna see more cross platform games specializing in motion control and the number of ports is likely to explode. We already know that the previously Wii exclusive title, The Lord of the Rings: Aragon’s Quest, is being ported to the PS3 with full motion support, don’t be surprised to realize this is just the first of many games on either side to get that fancy port treatment.

2. Nintendo is going to step up it’s game when it comes to online multiplayer gaming. The amount of gamers that list MP support as their top criteria for buying a game is growing exponentially. While Sony’s PSN is not quite as fleshed out as Xbox Live, it completely rapes Nintendo’s lack of anything substantial. I highly doubt Ninty will feel the pressure to announce a Wii HD to compete with Sony, but introducing a plan to make a network that encourages online play could be the next best thing.

3. Sony & Nintendo are about to leave Microsoft in the dust. I know that MS is planning to release their own spin on motion gaming to the 360 via Project Natal, I just don’t think it’s going to have the impact they hope it will. In fact, I kinda think it will fail almost as hard as I believe the iPad is going to. Don’t sleep, MS will still be a major player in the gaming world, I just believe that PSMove & Wii are made by superior companies with a track record of releasing quality products. If you’ve ever been attacked by red rings or blue screens of death you know what I’m talking about.

Well, that was my nearly 700 word reaction to the only keynote from GDC I’ve seen so far, who knows how I’ll react if Ninty responds in a major way. I don’t think it’ll happen, but there’s still a lot more to come from San Fran, you can count on me giving you the best of what’s revealed. Since this post was extremely picture heavy, and stupidly wordy, let’s wrap it up with a brand new video from Big Boi of Outkast. Dude is ridiculous and the absence of he and Andre 3000 have left a gaping hole in the landscape that is hip-hop that will only be filled if and when the duo that put Atlanta on the map get back in the studio. Enjoy, and stay thirsty my friends.

More news from the world of Nintendo and anti-piracy, as we learn that $1.5 million worth of pirated Nintendo goods have been seized by Aussie customs. Among the goods were counterfeit Wii Remotes, Nunchucks and even Wii games. Thats not all though, with a ton of DS flashcards also among the goods.

Nintendo has been on a roll this year with several cases against different forms of piracy and copyright infringement. Foremost of these has been the huge case of New Super Mario Bros. Wii being uploaded to the internet before retail release late last year. In that case, a huge seven-figure settlement was drawn in favour of Nintendo. There was also the case against a retail outlet in Australia for selling flashcards, resulting in a store owner copping a big fine.

Its great to see these counterfeit products getting intercepted before they can reach the streets and into someones unsuspecting hands.

Source: Gamespot

It sounds very much like a movie trailer - a group of media/fans/competition-winners taken by boat to a disused island to slay some mythical beasts. Well alright, maybe not, but holding a Monster Hunter Tri event in a dark and smoke-filled tunnel underground (really) on Cockatoo Island in the middle of Sydney Harbour is pretty cool. Thats exactly what happened to us, our lucky competition winners and a boat-load of media and Nintendo folk. There was also a guy, a Hunter who was encouraging us to partake in the hunting on the island. Here, take a look, it was all really quite amazing.

We got to go hands-on with two modes of Monster Hunter Tri, the split-screen area mode and a few different quests. The game was a new build that was networked between four Wii consoles to simulate what itll be like online (it wont be in the final version) as we got to work slaying monsters. Having never played Monster Hunter before, it probably wasnt the best idea to thrust us into a huge battle from the get-go, but you gotta learn somehow.

The games presentation and graphics stood out first and foremost with vast landscapes filling with monsters for the slaying. We got to play the game with either the Wii Remote and Nunchuk combination or the new Classic Controller Pro which is very comfortable and a great improvement over the standard Classic Controller.

The Arena mode is split-screen and pits two players against a monster that needs to be taken down, and there are seven different weapon classes to choose from. From the slower Hammer to the new Switch Axe or Sword. The various classes all play very differently; youll want find the one that matches your style of play. The other single-player mode we played emulated the online play (as already mentioned, the Wii consoles were networked) in a special build. One person chose a quest to go on and four people tackled the different monsters for each one. You could choose your class too in this mode and load out before you traverse to the area where the main monster is. It sounds pretty simple and it was all set up for us to have a shot. The game really isnt something you can test out in a cave in 15 minutes, well, maybe for a cave, but the game looks to be huge.

Monster Hunter Tri is out in Australia on April 29th and you can buy it with a black Classic Controller Pro for $99.95 or by itself for a mere $79.95.

Thanks to Nintendo Australia for hosting us at the awesome event.

We won’t have to “Wake You Up When September Ends” – Green Day: Rock Band will be premiering on consoles everywhere on June 8, 2010.

The release information comes just a month after the game was officially announced.

MTV and Harmonix, also highlighted the fact players will see notable improvements from the regular Rock Band 2 – though, features like the 3-part vocal harmonies introduced in Beatles: Rock Band will be also be re-used here. The game will feature 47 tracks, with songs titles including: “Brain Stew,” “Jaded,” “Hitchin’ a Ride,” “American Idiot,” “Wake Me Up When September Ends” and “Boulevard of Broken Dreams.”

The game is being released simultaneously for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and Wii ($59.99 for the first two, $49.99 for the latter) and will have a special edition game entitled Green Day: Rock Band Plus. The Plus retails on PS3 and Xbox 360 for an additional ten dollars, and includes ’special packaging’, free song export to regular Rock Band – which normally costs $9.99 – and an additional six Green Day tracks – the specific titles have yet to be revealed.

I’m definitely intrigued by the Plus package; though, since when has “special packaging” been a bonus feature?

Are you excited for Green Day: Rock Band or do you think the game will walk the “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”?

Green Day: Rock Band is scheduled for a June 8th release on PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii.

We won’t have to “Wake You Up When September Ends” – Green Day: Rock Band will be premiering on consoles everywhere on June 8, 2010.

The release information comes just a month after the game was officially announced.

MTV and Harmonix, also highlighted the fact players will see notable improvements from the regular Rock Band 2 – though, features like the 3-part vocal harmonies introduced in Beatles: Rock Band will be also be re-used here. The game will feature 47 tracks, with songs titles including: “Brain Stew,” “Jaded,” “Hitchin’ a Ride,” “American Idiot,” “Wake Me Up When September Ends” and “Boulevard of Broken Dreams.”

The game is being released simultaneously for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and Wii ($59.99 for the first two, $49.99 for the latter) and will have a special edition game entitled Green Day: Rock Band Plus. The Plus retails on PS3 and Xbox 360 for an additional ten dollars, and includes ’special packaging’, free song export to regular Rock Band – which normally costs $9.99 – and an additional six Green Day tracks – the specific titles have yet to be revealed.

I’m definitely intrigued by the Plus package; though, since when has “special packaging” been a bonus feature?

Are you excited for Green Day: Rock Band or do you think the game will walk the “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”?

Green Day: Rock Band is scheduled for a June 8th release on PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii.

Green Day: Rock Band (Wii)
Standalone title to celebrate trio’s career.

Last week 2K Games announced that it would be bringing NHL 2K11 to the Wii. This seemed like a logical decision; lower developing costs and no competition made the Wii look like their best bet.

Unfortunately for 2K, it would appear as if EA has decided to take its long anticipated shot at hockey on the Wii as well with NHL 11.

Yesterday, the official Wal-Mart website updated its blog confirming that NHL 11 would indeed be coming to the Wii this year.

“EA is going to be bringing their NHL game to the Wii system this year for the 1st time. They showed us a video last week and it really looks like it could be something special.”

Wal-Mart has since taken down the blog for obvious reasons.

This isn’t an official confirmation, but it’s a safe bet that NHL 11 will be coming to Wii. The NHL 2K series is already in a state of uncertainty and it’s not looking great for the franchise’s future, but Game Rant thinks that EA will finally be able to bring a fun (not to mention award-winning) hockey series to the Wii later this year.

What do you think? Ready to perfect your motion-control slapshot?

Source: Pastapadre

Nintendo Australia last night confirmed the Australian release date for Monster Hunter Tri. The game will launch on April 29th and come in two flavours. You’ll be be able to pick up the game with a black Classic Controller Pro for $99.95 RRP or by itself for $79.95 RRP.

Nintendo also confirmed that the game will have free online play for Australians, which we pretty much assumed at this point. The Monster Hunter series is huge in Japan so we’ll wait and see just how well it does here - Nintendo seems to pushing it very hard.

We’ve gone hands-on with the game at a event recently and our write-up for the event will be up tomorrow.

Ok so 3 more posts today that I’ve dug up – I’m an information JUNKIE on this stuff lately. Give em a browse and let me know what ya reckon. They’re just from a few different sites I’ve been surfing lately that are generally good for information like this…

Iwata: Wii successor needs ’something new’ beyond HD

In Nintendo's recent quarterly investor Q&A, president Satoru Iwata discussed the possibility of an HD-followup to the Wii. "If asked if making the Wii compatible with high definition — just making it compatible with high resolution …

Analyst: PS3 to keep December momentum, January Wii sales affected …

QJ.net, a world leading gaming network has the best News and Reviews for PC gaming, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii / DS, Playstation Portable / PS 3, iPhone games, World of Warcraft and all other MMORPG's.

Gaming Nexus – Shinobii bringing Wii remote alternative to Europe …

Today is a lucky day for European Wii owners, as Shinobii is bringing a new Wii remote called the Xcross Remote to market. The Xcross is fully compatible with the Wii and supports all add-ons and accessories and follow the original Wii …

Hope you enjoy the read as much as I did and please if you have something to say, use the comments form below to let everyone know your thoughts.

Have a great day!

Technorati Tags: wii

Australias Club Nintendo, to us, has been like a toy to a five-year-old kid. When the other kid was playing with it, we really wanted it, and now that we have it, we have quickly become uninterested. In this feature, we will explore the good and bad points of the Club, your thoughts on it as previously posted on the forums, compare the Club to others around the world, and suggest how the Club could improve in the future.

Lets go back to April 2008. News that Club Nintendo was heading our way started trickling through from people with early copies of Mario Kart Wii. Surprisingly, the reaction on the forums was rather pessimistic. During a time when Nintendo Australia was pretty much looked down upon, there was an undeniable air of doubt as to whether they could pull off the scheme at the same standard as the Japanese Club. Many of us viewed the Clubs introduction as a last-ditch attempt by Nintendo to console us during a string of lengthy game delays, foremost of which was the unforgettable Super Smash Bros. Brawl delay.

At first, we could only register Mario Kart Wii and Wii Fit. Fair enough, the full site wasnt quite ready and perhaps Nintendo didnt want to miss out on promoting these titles for the potential rewards incentive. So the waiting game began. When was the full site going to launch? Surely with the release of Super Smash Bros. Brawl? Nope. We werent shocked - this WAS Nintendo Australia we were dealing with here. But then why, really, had Nintendo introduced the program so early? Were they simply having trouble getting it off the ground? Or were they actually intending to foil the plans of a certain, sinister, group of Australian gamers?

Importers. Obviously by teasing gamers with an incentive to buy locally, Nintendo Australia (and retailers) would end up with a more satisfying bottom line. A poll of importers conducted on the forums revealed that 40% said Club Nintendo wouldnt stop them from importing, as "being able to buy some shitty AC wallpaper does not make up for the long delays and inflated price". So despite doubts that the store wouldnt offer the sorts of awesome stuff that Japan had, there was still a large number of people who still thought that Nintendo Australia would pull through with this thing. Point in case: "Loot probably will be epic, so yes I believe I will be buying local if it means that I can eventually buy some tacky Nintendo crap" (PlasmaDavid).

At the end of the day, its safe to say that, for now, Club Nintendo has been unsuccessful at deterring importers due to the lack of limited-edition-type items available (which well talk about later). In retrospect, the introduction of the Club was probably a knee-jerk reaction by Nintendo at the prospect of seeing a vast number of frustrated gamers importing the extremely-delayed Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Of course, Club Nintendo wasnt meant to be the ultimate solution for stopping importers as games are still generally released first overseas and are cheaper too.

Fast-forward to October 2008, the Club site still hadnt gone live and we were all at our wits end, with many of us having amassed a nice pile of invites ready for registration. Then the unthinkable happened. Nintendo of America finally relented to customer demand by announcing that the program would be launched in North America soon. There was no way it could launch before the Aussie site, right? Well, at the launch night of the Nintendo Experience in Melbourne (as reported by forum member NX-Danny), NAL reps claimed the Club would launch in Australia "either before Christmas, or shortly thereafter, in the New Year", that "much of the delay [had] been attributed to Nintendos website redesign... which [had] kept them busy for much of 2008." Righty-o. Anyway, launch it did the North American Club, and here we were, still waiting patiently for almost a year after its announcement for a fantastic Club Nintendo, or there would be blood.

At precisely midnight on March 11 last year, a link to the new site popped up here, and we were finally able to see the rewards that awaited us. They were all physical items, so we were happy indeed.

Below well critique the features (and non-features) of our Club, and look at some ways the Club can improve.

Wii DSiWare shop linking

Just under a month after its launch, the Wii Shop Channel and DSi Shop were updated to allow purchases to appear on your Club Nintendo account. Previous purchases were not retroactively added. To this day, you still dont get any Stars for downloaded games. What gives?

Not being able to register old games

Its really only those who DO have lots of old games that whinged about this. Frankly, Nintendos not that stupid to recognise this. Look at it this way, how would Nintendo pitch the prices of rewards if half of people are new to Nintendo games and the other half have shelves full of them? Too low and Nintendo would lose out to fanboys who could redeem tonnes of rewards, too high and new Nintendo gamers would take ages to redeem anything. By only being able to register games beginning from Mario Kart Wii, Nintendo has better control over the right cost for rewards, making it fair for everyone.

Not being able to register third-party games

This is one of the more important issues. Its commonly said that people buy Nintendo consoles for Nintendo games, and Club Nintendo is, unfortunately, a driving force for this. The lack of a similar incentive to buy third-party games means developers of those games lose out. There are loads of fantastic games out there that arent made by Nintendo, but if people dont buy them, then developers will be less and less supportive of the Wii and DS, meaning well miss out on great titles.

On the contrary, Nintendo has recently begun supporting third-party developers by offering to publish Monster Hunter Tri on Wii and, later, Dragon Quest IX on the DS, so these games will soon be eligible for registration on Club Nintendo. We need to see much more of this from a greedy Nintendo, but its the first step towards a better future for third-parties and, ultimately, Nintendo gamers.

Lack of a tiered reward system

By a tiered reward system, we mean a system akin to North Americas Platinum and Gold statuses, whereby Club Nintendo members gain access to exclusive rewards if they earn over a certain amount of Club credit in a year. Despite third-party titles not being part of the program, enough Nintendo-published titles are released each year to justify having this sort of system. On the other hand, a tier system would only exist to give bragging rights to those who can afford (or actually want) to buy the games required. As we see it, its better not having to spend a minimum amount of money on games for a reward that could be offered to everyone.

Birthday bonus Stars

Besides the initial registration bonus, this is the only form of bonus Stars on our Club. You get 50 Stars on your birthday, okay cool, but theyre not added automatically on the day. You actually have to work for it by turning on your computer, opening up your browser and logging in to the site. Pathetic.

Expiration of Stars

We actually have it pretty good here in Australia with our Stars expiring 3 years after registration. The European Club allows for 2 years before expiration, the North American Club allows for 1-2 years (depending on when during the Club Nintendo year you registered a game) and, if Google Translate is anything to go by, the Japanese Club is the same deal as North America. We really shouldnt worry about our Stars expiring as they will only begin disappearing from March 11, 2012. That gives Nintendo Australia two more years to begin offering some much better items to blow our Stars on.

Lack of other means to earn Stars, and other incentives to even use Club Nintendo

This is where our Club should really take note from the North American one. Over there, not only can you earn Coins (their store currency) by registering Wii and DS games, but also by purchasing games/channels from the Wii Shop Channel, indicating your intent to buy a game, registering a game within 4 weeks of launch and completing Post Play surveys for games. Another great aspect of their Club is that if you register a new Wii, DS Lite or DSi, you get a free 90-day extension on your warranty, a welcome little perk for sure. Another feature that should be implemented, especially since the European system has it, is the ability to earn Stars through referrals, similar to the Wii Shop Channels Ambassador Promotion.

Although having more chances to earn Stars would mean rewards would be more pricey, all of these things would make our Club more fun and rewarding to use, and it would just be more satisfying to be able to use the Club on a more frequent basis.

And finally, what would a rant about our lousy Club be if we didnt mention the rewards? For starters, as we all know, we still have the same five items on offer since the Clubs inception - the Wii Remote Stand (the most useless product there), Mario Print Face Towels (which youd probably never use), the decent Nintendo DS Case/Stylus Set along with the DS Game Wallet, and the Game & Watch Collection (a game worth of only a couple of spins before you put it away). Bottom line: we need more/better items. And without any further ado, heres a list of some of the overseas rewards that weve missed out on:

• The Legend of Zelda 3-Poster Series
• Mario Nintendo DS Game Rack
• Hanafuda cards
• Various soundtracks, including Super Mario Galaxy, Animal Crossing, Kirby Ultra Super Deluxe and Mario & Luigi RPG series
• Mario pins
• Kirby Frisbee (lawl)
• Super Famicom Classic Controller
• Star TenBillion puzzle
• Various Nintendo DS colours
• Various GameCube/Wavebird controller colours/designs
• The Legend of Zelda Collection
• Tingles Balloon Fight
• Wii TV Remote Control (yeah, thats never gonna happen)
• Golden Wii Wheel
• Game & Watch BALL (neither is this)
• Wii Business Cards
• The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Statue
• Mario Statue
• Nintendo Points Cards

As you can see, there is a great deal of fantastic rewards that could be offered to us. So there is no reason for Nintendo to contemplate offering wallpapers, ringtones or other crap. But for now, thanks to sites like eBay and Play-Asia, many of these items can be purchased outright.

In late October last year, the site went down for a couple of days. Naturally, we anticipated new items would be put up, but it was to be a false sense of hope.

According to an article written by Nintendo Life a couple of months ago, Club Nintendo isnt officially run by Nintendo Australia. Hence, its not up to them when they offer new rewards. Apparently, "big" decisions like that are handled overseas, though they remained vague on the specifics. In other words, theyre left just as in the dark about the situation as the rest of us are.

Has Club Nintendo lived up to our expectations? Hell no. So how would you like Club Nintendo to improve in the future? What new items would you like to see (regardless of whether they are offered on other Clubs)? In what new ways would you like to be able to earn Stars?

For a regularly updated list of Club Nintendo-eligible titles and the most in-depth information about our Club Nintendo program, head on over to my Club Nintendo Guide in the Forums.

First off, were having a Tatsunoko vs. Capcom Wi-Fi event this Friday the 12th of March with a tournament to determine the best fighter. Its not too late to apply for the tournament so post in the forum thread here to register interest.

With Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver coming out in Australia at the end of the month, were also having a little tournament to gear up for it with the DS games Pokémon Diamond, Pearl and Platinum. That one will be held on the 19th of March - the Friday before the new games are released - and you can find all the rules and details for the tournament in this forum thread.

Also, a reminder that every Wednesday is Animal Crossing Wednesday at Vooks. So if you happen to play Wild World on the DS or Lets Go to the City on the Wii, or want to get back into the titles, youll find an active Animal Crossing community on Vooks every Wednesday.

Well this could explain why the Virtual Console has been all dry this year. Nintendo of Europe, grand-lord controllers of all of the PAL regions Virtual Console releases, has announced that the next import fest, aka Hanabi Festival, will kick off this Friday.

The first weeks titles will be Castlevania: Rondo of Blood from the Turbografx. The game, like all Hanabi titles, was never previously released in PAL regions. This of course means itll be a nice 100 Points more than regular Turbografx titles.

Future titles include (but are not limited to) Milons Secret Castle and Ironclad, among others.

We dont know how many weeks this festival will last for, but its better than nothing for sure!

EA Sports today announced that EA Sports Active 2.0 is on the way, but the Wii wont be the only system enjoying the fun this time around as versions are coming to the Playstation 3, iPhone and iPod Touch as well.

EA Sports Active has been a hit for the company, going on to sell millions of copies worldwide. So whats new this time around? Well this time, your fitness will be measured by new leg and arm straps that not only have motion sensors, but also a heart rate monitor. Its not the Wii Vitality Sensor but EAs own little device.

EA Sports press release says that the game will have an online hub which will allow you to track and share your workout data with the world, but were not sure if that includes the Wii version or not.

Will Wright knows a thing or two about developing games and building new businesses. He is an industry veteran, having founded game shop Maxis in 1987, later sold to EA. Now he runs an entertainment think tank called Stupid Fun Club.

At the 2010 Game Developers Conference, he gave an interview with IndustryGamers which included his thoughts about the Wii. Check out what he had to say after the jump.

The Wii’s success, he said, is based on its uniqueness:

I think the Wii provides very fun experiences for the most part, but it’s kind of a different level of experience; it’s not like these 40-hour involved RPG games as much as it is like these fun toys to pick up and start playing in five minutes. And it’s really fun with a group of people sitting around… It really is more into what I would call the toy market, because most of the Wii games I’ve enjoyed felt more like toys than like games.

The press is all over this quote. Is the Wii really destined for the toy aisle, next to Pokemon and dusty boxes of Trivial Pursuit? In fact, Wright is talking about the creation of niche markets among the consoles.

I think if you have a hardcore gamer that’s 22 years old and he wants to play a first-person shooter, he’s going to go buy an Xbox to play Halo. Microsoft has done a great job of covering that market. So Nintendo said, ‘Ok, we’re not going to go head-to-head with that.’ So Nintendo decided to lean younger and they took the industry in a really interesting direction, where we have games appearing on the Wii that people never would have dreamed of five years ago. And that broadened the market in really interesting ways.

Wright himself is no stranger to creating niche markets. He is best known for making Sim City, the first city-building simulation game, and the many games afterward, including The Sims and Spore. Almost single-handedly, he created a game that spawned an entire industry, one that is still entertaining to this day. Collectively, The Sims line is the bestselling PC franchise in history. Last month was the ten-year anniversary of the first Sim City; since then it has sold 125 million units and generated over $2.5 billion for EA. Figures like that make Avatar seem like a Lego set from 1985.

At Stupid Fun Club, Wright is working on three unannounced projects. They’re not just games though — “the projects span from the world of toys to the information superhighway we all know and love.” Well, he certainly loves that highway: “Every product that we are working on has a web component,” he said. Maybe there will be a new DLC for that classic Sim City on your PC.

It is not entirely clear where the Wii is going to fall in all of this. Sony and Microsoft have defined niches for the PS3 and Xbox. “Each of these platforms is kind of finding their specialty,” Wright said. “It’s just that Nintendo kind of tripped over an unexpectedly larger void.”

Whether Nintendo tripped over anything is open for debate. If the void Wright mentioned was, for instance, the female gaming community, Nintendo knew exactly what it was doing. According to a recent report, Wii has an 80% dominance in the market among women gamers. That’s a stronger showing than Apple in the portable music player market.

Does Wii seem like more of a toy to you than a gaming machine?

Source: Joystiq

Red Steel is game that everyone has a differently opinion on. Most people, however, side with ‘it was a bit rubbish and rushed,’ including Ubisoft themselves. Instead of that getting them down, though, Ubisoft set to work on Red Steel 2, a sequel only by number as this game is a completely different experience. It’s the game we all wished the first one was.

I got to go hands on with the latest build of the game. It wasn’t the final one that went to Gold just a few days ago but it was pretty damn near finished says Ubisoft, and it shows. In late 2009 we got to go hands on with the game at eGames, but that was an ancient TGS build though and even the difference between then and now is outstanding.

I played about an hour and a half of game, starting just after the beginning (skipping all the tutorial stuff). Moving around is as you would expect for an FPS on the Wii, the only difference now is that you can flick to the sword on the fly. No more stilted transitions to ‘sword fight’ mode; you can take down enemies any way you want. Shooting them works but you’ll want to mix it up. The B button fires, while holding it down (with A) will get the sword out and get you chopping. And it’s not just simple waggling anymore, with the requirement of MotionPlus comes effort. You’ll need to swing it hard to get a good chop at someone, and blocking either vertically or horizontally this time around actually works. The Wii MotionPlus means that sword fighting not only is accurate, but they’ve ramped up the difficulty, too, you’ll need to be on your toes. The ‘special’ moves in the first game that required you to ‘fist pump’ the screen or tilt the Wii Remote on certain angles are back, but now they work and are easier to pull off.

The moves you start off with are basic but as you learn more they’re all explained with a little video box as you’re trained on them. Sword fights go from just simple slashes and blocks to intricate moves like upper-cutting enemies into the air, jumping up and then slamming them into the ground, or if you like you can fill them full of lead while they’re flying through the air. It’s great stuff; fights are quick and fluid and you can run, smack, slash all on the fly. Defence moves are also pivotal and you’ll learn some great ones.

The other part of the game that is fluid is the gameplay’s framerate. Over the time I played it if it dropped under 60 FPS I couldn’t notice it. It’s not just that, though, as the game just looks smooth even on a HD TV. The art style, as you know, is a complete departure from the first and it works well. The high/low tech Eastern infused western style is bloody brilliant. It looks like an old western movie which someone has gone and thrown crazy japanese adverts and styles into. At no point does the game ever try to be realistic; it gave me a very Wind Waker vibe from it. No, it’s not green and blue and colourful, but the simplistic presentation works for the better compared to a generic realistic design which the Wii isn’t as good at. The Eastern influence is also there in the music, which is a bit like typical wild west music but still different, making for quite a brilliant sound.

The game’s transitions from cutscen, to quick time events is mostly seamless, too. Yes, the game has quicktime events during pivotal scenes. In some games they can be annoying, but here they work well. Some longer loading times when walking from zone to zone and waiting for a door to open are awkward in some areas, though.

The games story is presented in both cutscenes and an in-ear microphone keeping you in touch with your crew. You’ll return to bases in each area in order to upgrade your weapons and moves along the way. The upgraded double shotgun is a complete beast; you’ll be able to lay waste to enemies and stop them dead in their tracks just before you slice and dice them.

The first time I played Red Steel 2 I came away impressed but not astounded. This time I was blown away. It was genuinely fun to play and I just wanted to keep going and going with it. The swordplay/gunplay mashup is awesome fun and you’ll find different combos and moves that work better.

While the first Red Steel was an undercooked turkey, this one is coming up to a perfect roast. Red Steel 2 is really only a sequel in name; they’ve taken a bland FPS and made a stylish and swish first person action game. I can’t wait for the finished product and to play through what looks to be an interesting story.

Red Steel 2 is out in Australia on March 25th.

Thanks to Ubisoft for allowing us to sample the game.

Team USA and Vancouver Canucks Center Ryan Kesler has been chosen by 2K to be their cover athlete for the upcoming Wii only title NHL 2K 11. After scoring a late goal in Team USA’s first meeting with Canada in the Olympics, USA fell to Canada in overtime of the Gold Medal game.

Kesler is already a very well-established international player after taking home Gold Medals in the 2002 World 18U Championship and 2004 World Junior Championship. With his 2010 Winter Olympics Silver Medal in hand, he will get another chance at Gold in Russia in 2014 (assuming the NHL agrees to play along).

Kesler, who was asked to be on the cover the day after winning his Silver Medal, is not a stranger to 2K as he has been working with 2K sports over the last four years as a consultant on the NHL 2K series. “It’s a dream come true for me. … I grew up playing and to be on the cover of 2K is unbelievable,” Kesler Said.

This will be the first time since NHL 2K2 that the series has not appeared on a Sony or Microsoft console. 2K has opted to only release NHL 2K11 on the Nintendo Wii this year while they re-tool their PS3 and Xbox 360 versions to give EA’s NHL series a stronger challenge in the years to come.

Hopefully, Ryan Kesler on the cover will can satisfy a large range of North American hockey video game players, since he is an American playing for a Canadian team. He should also be able to tow the line of great hockey players to grace the cover of the 2K series along with Joe Thornton, Jason Spezza, Rick Nash and most recently, Alexander Ovechkin.

Expect 2K Sports NHL 2K11 to be out this fall exclusively on the Nintendo Wii

Source: TSN

Rose Lappin has retired from Nintendo Australia after 16 years at the company, before it was even Nintendo Australia. Ms Lappin began working at Nintendo as a State Manager in 1994 (in the then Queensland branch), moving up to be the General Manager of Sales from 2000 to 2003 and the Director of Sales and Marketing from 2003 to 2007 and most recently as the Manager Director.

Rose has been involved with Nintendo before the formation of Nintendo Australia in 1994, with her working with Mattel who distributed Nintendo products here before that.

Speaking to ChannelNews.com.au Rose has told of her time at the company "I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Nintendo Australia and have enjoyed working with everybody here. Nintendo Australia, and Nintendo globally, is made up of some fantastic people, and it has been an honour to be the Managing Director for almost three years,". says Rose. "Nintendo has been through many exciting changes during my time here, so it has been great to be a part of that. I love the gaming industry, and will definitely miss it,"

Rose has been with Nintendo through the hard times and now the good times but she says that in 2003, "many people had written Nintendo off, but we had to keep the business going. Now in 2010, we have new products, and business is going well, but we have to make sure that we don’t get complacent. I believe it is critical to have focus and drive the business at all times,". The GameCube launched in 2002 only sold 160,000 consoles in it’s lifetime, the Wii currently sites at 1.75 million. Rose was also the behind the feud with Harvey Norman over trading terms and the Wii. She denied the retailer access to the product after they tried to dictate trading terms. Eventually after the Wii became the hit it became they relented.

Rose’s postition will be taken by Mr Yuji Bando who is currently residing in Japan. We at Vooks wish Rose the very best with whatever she does next.

Photo: The Age

Rock Band is releasing a four pack of Lady Gaga’s music, including the songs: “Bad Romance,” “Just Dance,” “Monster,” and “Poker Face.” Starting next week the pack will be available on the PS3 and Xbox 360, and individual songs will be available for all three major consoles. In addition, a special cover of “Poker Face” done by South Park’s Eric Cartman will also be made available.

I’m probably the last person to be giving my opinion on Rock Band or Lady Gaga. Any love I have for the plastic music peripheral genre slowly dies with every track pack or expansion released. And Lady Gaga gives me the creeps. Nonetheless I’m sure there’s a good many of you out there who just can’t wait until next week to sing some “Bad Romance.” Have fun!

The pack will sell for $7, or you can buy the individual tracks for $2 apiece. Expect the music to hit respective marketplaces next week.

That’s right guys and gals, it’s time to pick up your plastic guitars, prepare your drum kits, and massage your throat - Rock Band 3 is coming to town.

Just moments ago, Viacom President and CEO Philippe Dauman confirmed that Rock Band 3 is on schedule for a Holiday 2010 release and… well, that’s all he did. There’s absolutely no news as to which songs will be featured, whether the title will be backwards-compatible or what format the “career” mode will take.

All we have is a name and a timeframe. So here’s where we hand it over to you, our dear Game Rant readers. What do you want to see from Rock Band 3?

Maybe some Guns N Roses? Black Sabbath? Iron Maiden? Heaven forbid, Lady Gaga?

What about the instruments? Care for more instruments cluttering up your living room? Personally, I’m not sold on RB3 unless they bring out a Harmonica peripheral so that I can truly own up some classic Aerosmith – but that’s just me.

What can Harmonix do to make you want Rock Band 3? Honestly, I think it would be kickass if the entire setlist was live. Everybody knows that live performances are superior to studio recordings, right?

Rock Band 3 will be rocking its way into your lives Holiday 2010.

So, I had some friends come up a couple weeks ago for a bachelor party and one of the things we did was go to a Hawks game. After showing up like halfway through the second quarter due to poor planning, we kinda started to enjoy ourselves. That is, until the ridiculously obnoxious pack of 10 year old hyenas two rows down became almost unbearable. Ugh. I mean, is there anything more annoying than a group of 10-12 year old boys? I really don’t think there could be. If I was like terminally ill and got accepted to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, I’d wish that I could beat up an 11 year old boy. Don’t get freaked out, I don’t want to like cripple him or break his nose or do any kind of permanent damage. I’d want it to be like a videogame or something. Probably more Tekken than Mortal Kombat, even I may feel bad when I “FATALITY” an 11 year old. (Side-note: If the whole fight thing wasn’t allowed I’d wish that I could take an 11 year old to his favorite place or game or whatever and buy myself every snack, hat, jersey and anything else he’d want while I didn’t get him anything. The look on his face would be priceless!!) I’d want it to be like nothing happened to him afterwards, but he’d sure as hell remember it and that would allow me to go in peace…

Yesterday was Monday, and on Monday we get new WiiWare & VC games to download. The cream of the crop this week is Max & The Magic Marker. The game is your typical 2D platformer which stars Max as he uses his “Magic” marker to get around the world and defeat the bad guys. As you’d suspect, the Wiimote acts as the marker and everything you “draw” shows up in the game. If Max needs a bridge to get over a gap, just draw it. If Max needs a hill to roll down, just draw it. It’s that simple really. The game, and it’s developers Press Play, have received tons of awards and accolades for this innovative title, so you may want to go ahead and drop the 1000 points on this one. If you’re interested in checking out what the game looks like in motion, just look below. And, just for fun, here’s a link where you can see everything that’s new on WiiWare & the VC this week, which includes the SNES classic Final Fantasy 2. Finally, because I’m hyped over their return, I’m gonna give you the newest video from Reflection Eternal whose album is set to drop April 6. It rarely gets better than Kweli & Hi-Tek teaming up, and I can’t wait to hear the rest. Enjoy, and stay thirsty my friends.

Reflection Eternal - In This World (Official Video)

Reflection Eternal | MySpace Music Videos

A Wii game based on the series of exercise DVDs, 10 Minute Solution, is coming out this spring. Activision, partnered with Anchor Bay Entertainment, will be bringing the series to your living room where you can exercise without embarrassment. 10 Minute Solution revolves around building exercise regiments that last, you guessed it, ten minutes a day.

Players can pick from aerobics, cardio boxing, and assorted mini-games. Coupled with the the Wii Fitness Board, gamers will participate in games that double as routines rather than just following an instructor on the screen. David Oxford of Activision comments on the game’s effectiveness.

“10 Minute Solution DVDs give users a unique fitness experience: customizable routines that fit into any lifestyle. We’ve taken this concept and combined it with the interactivity of the Wii, creating a new kind of workout that gets results.”

I’m not an owner of Wii Fit or own a Wii Fit exercise board, so I can’t really attest to how effective this could really be. I’ve always looked at any exercise as good exercise at all, especially if you’re at home playing a lot of games. For the hundreds upon hundreds of Wii Fitness owners though, I’m sure they could possibly attest to something.

What do you think? Is this just going to be another gimmick exercise game or is it going to be a real deal?

Ubisoft Montreal has just released the first gameplay video of the upcoming Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands and, well, it looks interesting to say the least.

A mix between developers interviews and gameplay snippets, the new video shows off many of the acrobatic skills that played such a prominent part in making The Sands of Time the huge success that it was. And thankfully, the team seems to be incredibly hyped about the upcoming title ( it would’ve been rather disconcerting if it had been otherwise). I’m not sure if I like the look of the new Prince, but hey, Sands of Time was always about the gameplay, right?

The only real problem I have with the trailer is this: the Prince’s legs. There is no way on Earth that a man could jump that high. The Sands of Time’s jumping looked and felt fluid, and yet in The Forgotten Sands, it just looks horribly out of place. I’m sure that it’s been meticulously designed to take full advantage of the world around the Prince, but from where I’m standing it just looks wrong.

All in all, the new Forgotten Sands gameplay video seems to capture the right tone for the series, one of fluid gameplay and awesome combat. What more could you want?*

Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands is due for release on May 18th for Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3.

Source: CVG

*Oh yes, that’s right. A return to the awesome Prince of Persia (2008)!

Kotaku has published a new list of the Wii’s most played  games.  Though the list has experienced terribly little churn for many months, it is still fascinating to see which games are helping keep Nintendo’s casual powerhouse on top of the heap.  Titles are ranked on total play time per person per month (Game Rant’s summary of these numbers is approximate).  Let’s have a look:

1. Super Smash Bros. Brawl 75
2. Animal Crossing: City Folk 68
3. Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock 58
4. Call Of Duty: World At War 50
5. Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn 50
6. Harvest Moon: Tree Of Tranquility 49
7. Rune Factory: Frontier 48
8. The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess 47
9. Rock Band 2 46
10. Harvest Moon: Animal Parade 44

It’s no surprise that Smash Bros. remains on top, or that Animal Crossing is holding strong at number two.  However, it is tough to imagine anyone still playing 58 hours of Guitar Hero 3 per month, given that so many newer installments exist.  That tenth ranked (and sole new entry) Harvest Moon: Animal Parade has already accrued play times in excess of 40 hours is, frankly, astonishing.

Omissions from the list are equally surprising.  Where are the Mario titles (and, no, Smash Bros. doesn’t count)?  What about new releases like Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing?  Where is Wii Fit?  What happened to  Wii Sports Resort?  After all, several of those titles are among Wii’s best selling games.  For the record, fully half of the top ten selling games for January were Wii exclusives.  Here they are:

• New Super Mario Bros. Wii 656,700
• Wii Fit Plus w/Balance Board 555,700
• Mario Kart Wii w/Wheel 310,900
• Wii Sports Resort w/Motion Plus 297,600
• Just Dance 191,900

Now, those are the titles I think of when I think of Wii (other than Just Dance, which — apologies to Ubisoft — I know practically nothing about).  In the end, the most played list really underlines the divide between the broad Wii customer-base  and traditional gamers.  Whatever your opinion of the games on the list, that Nintendo has managed to attract and maintain this wide audience is remarkable.

Wii is about to see some potentially important titles join its lineup, particularly Monster Hunter Tri and Red Steel 2.  Will they make the list of Wii’s most played games?  We shall see.  In the mean time, which Wii game are you playing most?  Which Wii game are you most looking forward to?

Source: Kotaku

If you feel bored doing exercise, Nintendo Wii Fit is what you are looking for. It has a game concept as exercise.  Wii fit uses a unique Wii balanced board that allows software to calculate players or users body mass index and determine user’s height.  It has 50 different activities which includes yoga poses, push ups, and some other exercises.  

Wii fit really takes a whole new concept of games in the form of exercise. Indeed, Nintendo takes a new level of games as exercise. If you wanted to lose weight, this game might be the one you are looking for.

Interesting exercise from Wii fit is:

1. Yoga – yoga posses starts off with simple and easy at first. It teaches right and deep breathing and some light stretches. As you go along,  if you reached enough points by keeping balanced in every exercises, you will unlock new yoga posses or number of repititions.
2. Strength training – Strength training includes push ups, plank poses, leg lifts, squats, and others that improves your core strength and muscle tone.
3. Aerobics – Aerobics exercises includes jogging, hula hoop and rhythm boxing.

Wii fit is really doing something right! This is a new way of losing weight. Actually, it’s not a game, it is an exercise. After 15 – 30 minutes you will surely feel great towards Wii fitness. This game, or shall we say exercise comes on a single disc and a board as mentioned earlier. This balanced board communicates with Wii console wirelessly. Most exercise are short and basic at first. But the as you do more, and the longer time you spend with it, new exercise will be added.

Technorati Tags: cheap wii fit, wii fit, wii fit for sale, wii fit review

The latest update in Activision and Infinity Ward’s legal battle (previous posts are here and here) is Activision’s search for internal documents pertaining to Infinity Ward’s alleged “insubordination” and “breach of contract”. An internal memo that was in circulation around Activision before the lawsuit was filed details what they are looking for, exactly:

Documents regarding past, current or future IW projects, including but not limited to any and all businesses analyses of future projects (e.g. Modern Warfare 3)

Documents regarding any potential ’spin out’ of IW, including but not limited to any communications with IW employees, West or Zampella regarding forming a new studio independent of Activision

Documents regarding West and Zampella’s communications with Activision’s competitors, including but not limited to Electronic Arts

It’s a safe bet to say even if Modern Warfare 3 was in development, it would be in the very early stages. Seems to me that since this memo was sent prior to the lawsuit being filed, that Activision may have planned, on the contingency of their winning, that they would obtain any and all materials Infinity Ward had already worked on for MW3. Meaning, Activision would have all this material to work with that they didn’t have to come up with. Of course, that’s just my theory.

The memo goes on to talk about Activision’s steadfast stance on their not doing anything wrong.

The Dispute involves West and Zampella’s management of IW, as well as the development and marketing of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2  (”MW2″), and potential subsequent games developed by IW. Activision believes that it has done nothing wrong and intends to vigorously defend any claims asserted by West and Zampella.

Realistically, this is going to be a long drawn-out situation that will result in one of the companies taking a big hit on both the fiscal and business side of things. I don’t want to pick favorites, but from the initial looks of things, big companies who fire small studios because they don’t want to pay them is pretty damn low. Also, it doesn’t serve Activision to not have proof of this insubordination or contract breaching prior to the firing of Jason West and Vince Zampella.

Game Rant will continue to report updates on this story as they come in.

Source: G4

My friend plugged in her wii and turned it on, when she did only the audio was playing but there was no image appearing on the screen. She tried unplugging it and plugging it back in. She also tried taking the game out and putting it back in, and she checked all the cables to make sure they were all plugged in properly. I dont think there is a possibility that any of the parts are worn out because she barely uses it, and it practically new she bought in december.

Is this a popular defect with wii's?

Does anyone know what is wrong with it and how to fix it?

If we have to go out and have it fixed how much would it cost?

Technorati Tags: wii

Yes, you read that right; the Shaun White series is moving off of the snow and onto the pavement.

Ubisoft announced Shaun White Skateboarding today, which is set set to be developed by their Montreal counterpart. This game marks the first skateboarding installment of the Shaun White series. Shaun White’s impression?

I can’t describe how excited I am about the skateboard game. We’ve been working on it for a while now and it’s ready to melt minds.

Ubisoft has promised that this game will bring innovation to the skateboarding series, which scares me after they tried to get innovative with the Tony Hawk series. Those who are a little confused by this announcement should be informed that Shaun White is actually the first athlete to win both gold medals for snowboarding and skateboarding at the Winter and Summer X Games, so a skateboarding game makes sense.Are you excited for Shaun White Skateboarding?

Shaun White Skateboarding should be ollieing onto Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, and PC sometime this holiday season.

All day long the heavens have been dumping this horrible rain/snow/slush mix all over The A. It’s almost like it can’t decide what it wants to be, or exactly how much it wants to inconvenience me. I mean, snow I can handle, and we’ve had a bit this year. Sure, I won’t be getting off early or have a day off, but at least it looks nice. Rain is about the same, only without the pretty, though it is nice to curl up on the couch and stay inside on cold, rainy days. This, though, is about unbearable. I bet the weatherman have no idea what to do since it’s snowing in parts of what they call “The Atlanta Area” and other parts are probably only getting cold rain. (Side-note: Am I the only one who lives in a metro area who doesn’t give a damn what happens in the suburbs? Seriously, I don’t even know where some of these places are, yet I have to hear about a tree falling in someone’s yard, or a sinkhole eating someone’s house. I’m watching a news station based in Atlanta, just give me Atlanta news. Let those other places handle themselves. I mean, I really don’t care what happens in Kennesaw unless it’s like they found Santa Clause and he wants to give me the winning lotto numbers…) Maybe one of the “meteorologists”, I use this term loosely because I feel like they probably got their degree from Devry “University”, will get so confused his circuits will cross and we’ll find out he’s really a robot spy sent by the Decepticons to lead the first wave of attacks.

As I’ve mentioned here a ridiculous amount of times, I am retardedly hyped over the upcoming title, Red Steel 2. The sequel to Ubisoft’s launch title flop is more than just a game; it is, in my humble opinion, a measuring stick for the future of Wii gaming. The fact that Ubi has made WiiMotion+ a necessity to play the game is a bold move that many developers are sure to follow, especially if it’s a gamble that pays off. We all know the original Red Steel was a bit terrible, but RS2 looks like it will make us completely forget its flawed namesake. Not only is the game going to be stupid fun to play, it is also looking to set a major bar for game design and graphics. Everything I’ve seen of the game I’ve loved and shared. I truly believe that when Red Steel 2 launches in a few weeks, gamers everywhere will take a step back and realize how good the Wii is, and how amazingly fun it can be to play a game that incorporates motion control in an engaging manner without feeling like a dumbed down title, or even worse, a tech-demo. If you want to get a true feel of the graphics, there’s an amazing new video which shows the process of fleshing out one of the characters, Tamiko. It’s a speed drawing that, in my opinion, is jaw-dropping. Playing at 200% speed you can see almost the full process of the developers drawing out the badass love interest in the game. I will embed it in SD, but I highly recommend you checking the video in 720p, it’s absolutely gorgeous! There’s also a fairly new video showcasing some ridiculous gameplay elements that I’ll post for you guys too. Enjoy, and stay thirsty my friends.

Remember how I was bitching about needing a vacuum but being in the conundrum of thinking that only a Dyson was worth buying, even though they are super expensive? Well, Mrs. Mike and I finally had enough and purchased the miracle vacuum yesterday. (Side-note: This is where I’m at in life. Excited about buying a vacuum cleaner. Is this as good as it gets…) We had kind of had enough of looking at the dirty carpet and trying to sweep stuff off it with our hands, so when we saw one for a great price yesterday we made the leap. It’s actually really nice. I didn’t get to use it yesterday, but once we deciphered the Ikea-style directions for assembly, Mrs. Mike put it through it’s paces. (Side-note: Seriously, whoever thought of including only pictures in instruction manuals should be shot. I don’t need to read a book about how to put together a vacuum, but more than some pictures and the word “Click!”, which is used to signify it clicks into place and is right, would be nice to see. I just spent $200+ on this thing, gimme something that doesn’t make me want to punch someone in the face!!) By paces I mean she cleaned the 8×10 rug that is essentially the only thing we bought the damned thing for. Still, that rug is nice and clean again, which is quite the relief. Supposedly we can use it on all floors, which will rock because I hate sweeping almost as much as loathe Gwyneth Paltrow…

You know something I don’t loathe? Old school videogames. There’s just something about the old school/8-bit games that will always make you feel good. That’s why it’s kinda awesome that Capcom has stuck to its roots when it comes to the Mega Man franchise. Today sees the launch of the tenth game in the series, Mega Man 10. Catchy name, huh? Anyone remember the Mega Man cartoon? That was my junk for real! The game will be the one everyone has come to know and love, but will also be the first one in the series to feature an Easy Mode. That’s awesome because these games are notoriously and stupidly hard. If you’re dying to play as Proto Man, then hop onto the WiiWare channel and buy the game today for 1000 points. For a full list of all the titles hitting WiiWare & Virtual Console today, I’ll post it just below.

I also want to send big hopes, well wishes and love to Guru (of Gang Starr) and his family. The MC half of one of the most influential hip-hop duos of all time, Gang Starr, had a heart attack over the weekend and is now in a coma. Guru was a long time staple in my top 5 of all time, and his Jazzmatazz albums are true classics. If you took those alone you’d have a legend, but the work he did with DJ Premier in Gang Starr is just about second to none. My heart goes out to his family, and my wishes go out to him making a full recovery, hip-hop won’t be the same without him. I’m gonna post my all-time fave Gang Starr track, Moment of Truth, for anyone who may not know exactly how sick this dude was. Enjoy, and stay thirsty my friends.

NINTENDO DOWNLOAD: MARCH IS A MEGA MONTH FOR NINTENDO GAME DOWNLOADS

The number 10 can mean a lot of things: perfection, loud volume or, in the case of this week’s downloadable game lineup, the return of a true gaming icon. Fans will thrill to see the legendary blue bomber landing on their Wii™ console with the arrival of Mega Man™ 10 for the WiiWare™ service. Elsewhere, players can test their skill at tossing darts, bashing moles, conquering the tennis court or tackling exotic golf courses. Whether you’re stocking up on living room-ready titles for your Wii console or grabbing on-the-go games via the Nintendo DSiWare™ service, March is off to a truly magnificent start.

WiiWare

Mega Man 10
Publisher: Capcom Entertainment, Inc.
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) – Mild Cartoon Violence
Price: 1,000 Wii Points™
Description: Fans of all ages can enjoy the newest entry in this historic 8-bit franchise. As a special service to new players, there’s an Easy Mode – a first for a Mega Man game. This new feature means novices and longtime fans alike can all have a shot at making it to the end of a Mega Man game. Also, you can now play as Proto Man and try Time Attack Mode from the beginning, or watch play-through videos from players all over the world.

Dart Rage
Publisher: JV Games Inc.
Players: 1-4
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) – Alcohol Reference
Price: 600 Wii Points
Description: Grab your Wii Remote™ controller and prepare for the ultimate game of darts on your Wii console. Dart Rage features the most realistic throwing system available today. With pixel-perfect accuracy and no buttons to push, you’ll be completely immersed in the game’s realism. Dart Rage puts you in the spotlight as you compete against friends, the computer or both. With four great games to choose from – including 301-901, Cricket, Poker and American (Baseball) darts – Dart Rage has plenty of options to keep the game fresh. There’s also a VS mode in which multiple players can compete at the same time in a race to the finish. Rock out to a sizzling soundtrack as a commentator announces your every shot.

Happy Hammerin’
Publisher: GAMEBRIDGE
Players: 1-4
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) – Mild Cartoon Violence
Price: 500 Wii Points
Description: Happy Hammerin’ is a party game suitable for friends and families. Compete against each other by bashing moles using the Wii Remote controller. Use the Wii Remote like a hammer and let off some steam as you frantically try to bash the moles popping up all over the screen. Play against the CPU or go head-to-head with up to four players. (Additional accessories are required for the multiplayer modes and are sold separately.) Players can challenge themselves in three different modes: Mole Adventure (1-2 players), Mole Marathon (1 player) and Party Battle (1-4 players). Mole Adventure consists of four stages with three difficulty types. The faster you bash, the more points you get. With broadband Internet access, register your scores online and compete against the best mole bashers from around the world.

Virtual Console™

FATAL FURY SPECIAL
Original platform: NEOGEO
Publisher: D4 Enterprise
Players: 1-2
ESRB Rating: T (Teen) – Mild Suggestive Themes, Violence
Price: 900 Wii Points
Description: Originally released in 1993, this fighting game pits 15 different fighters against each other. The cast includes the original eight characters from Fatal Fury 2, as well as three new characters (Billy, Axel and Laurence) and a new boss (Wolfgang). Also, three characters from the original Fatal Fury (Duck, Dan and Geese) have returned to the fight. Building on the appeal of the previous game with two-line battles, special moves and powerful finishers, this game is truly worthy of its “special” distinction. And if certain special conditions are met, special guest Ryuu Sakazaki will make an appearance.

Nintendo DSiWare

Let’s Golf
Publisher: Gameloft
Players: 1-2
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 800 Nintendo DSi Points™
Description: Grab a club, take a swing and pray for a birdie in Let’s Golf. Discover a fun-filled experience that’s accessible to anyone. Choose from four customizable characters and play 45 holes in three beautiful 3-D locations: Fiji Beach, the English Countryside and the Scottish Lochs. Enjoy easy-to-learn controls that even let you blow into the microphone to add spin to your ball. Take photos with your Nintendo DSi™ system’s built-in camera and add them to your personal profile. For the most fun, play Hot Seat Multiplayer with friends on a single Nintendo DSi system and see who’s the best.

Globulos Party
Publisher: GlobZ
Players: 1-2
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) – Comic Mischief
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: Globulos Party is a collection of mini-games that are very simple to understand and fun to master. The 20 games are: 4-Square, Arena, Basket, Bomber, Bomber-King, Croquet, Darts, Darts-King, Soccer, Funky-Soccer, Ice Hockey, Monster, Pétanque, Pinball, Rally, Football, Snooker, Sumo, Tic-Tac-Toe and Volley. Enjoy more than 15 hours of solo fun and nearly unlimited game play with the three multiplayer modes.

VT Tennis
Publisher: Virtual Toys
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: VT Tennis is an ace of a tennis game for the Nintendo DSi system. Using the innovative stylus and touch-screen controls, train your budding tennis star to serve, lob and smash his way to victory with precision swipes in all directions. Advance your player statistics in this fast-paced tournament of game modes, featuring Quickmatch, Tennis School and World Championship. The objective is to reach No. 1 in the world rankings. To do this, players will have to unlock courts as they compete in championships all over the world. At the start of career mode, players will find themselves in last place in the rankings. From this moment on, you must battle your way up. You can play on all types of surfaces – grass, clay, hard courts and wood – and learn the best techniques for winning each tournament on the different surfaces. Seventeen tough courts, each more difficult than the last, stand between you and your final victory.

Flips: Terror in Cubicle Four
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Players: 1
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: There’s something strange going on with the loo in cubicle four of the girls’ toilet. It’s spewed green goo on Stacey’s shoes and almost had new boy James for lunch. Can he and his friends, Alexander and Lenny, flush out the cause of the trouble, or will the terrifying toilet plague the school with problems forever?

Nintendo adds new titles to the Nintendo DSi Shop and the Wii Shop Channel at 9 a.m. Pacific time on Mondays. Users with broadband Internet access can redeem Wii Points or Nintendo DSi Points to download the games. Wii Points can be purchased in the Wii Shop Channel. Nintendo DSi Points can be purchased in the Nintendo DSi Shop. A Nintendo Points Card™ can be purchased at retail locations. All points from one Nintendo Points Card must be redeemed in either the Nintendo DSi Shop or the Wii Shop Channel. They are not transferable and cannot be divided between the two systems.

Remember that both Wii and Nintendo DSi feature parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about this and other features, visit Wii.com or NintendoDSi.com.

Latest New Wii Tennis Racket Is Used To Play The Game Of Tennis

The Wii video game consoles which are very famous in the world were developed and produced by the Nintendo Company. These consoles were first released in North America along with Japan, Australia and Europe. There are many models of Wii games. These games can be played well with the accessories available of the company which is licensed ones. Wii tennis racket is one of them. The tennis game is very popular among various ages of people and everybody who loves the tennis game in real loves to play with the game console also. This game is a collection of five sports which is designed to demonstrate the motion- sensing capabilities of the Wii remote to the players who are new.

These sports include baseball, bowling, golf, boxing and tennis. So players use the remote to mimic actions performed in real life sports such as swinging the tennis racket through the remote like in real life. The rules of each game are so simple that even a new player can play the game easily. These games feature training and fitness modes that monitor player progress in the game. The licensed Wii tennis racket is compatible with these games. By using this Wii tennis racket it gives you the feel as if you are playing the game of tennis in real. This Wii tennis racket is available in plastic shaped racket like the sports one. This racket was introduced because the remote waving didn’t give the realistic experience. So this tennis racket gives you the realistic experience of your game.The Wii video game consoles which are very famous in the world were developed and produced by the Nintendo Company. These consoles were first released in North America along with Japan, Australia and Europe. There are many models of Wii games. These games can be played well with the accessories available of the company which is licensed ones. Wii tennis racket is one of them. The tennis game is very popular among various ages of people and everybody who loves the tennis game in real loves to play with the game console also. This game is a collection of five sports which is designed to demonstrate the motion- sensing capabilities of the Wii remote to the players who are new.

The Wii video game consoles which are very famous in the world were developed and produced by the Nintendo Company. These consoles were first released in North America along with Japan, Australia and
1000
Europe. There are many models of Wii games. These games can be played well with the accessories available of the company which is licensed ones. Wii tennis racket is one of them. The tennis game is very popular among various ages of people and everybody who loves the tennis game in real loves to play with the game console also. This game is a collection of five sports which is designed to demonstrate the motion- sensing capabilities of the Wii remote to the players who are new.

By: dollyrenis

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

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TOKYO (AFP) –
Nintendo Co. said Thursday a Wii price cut and the popularity of new games had helped to reinvigorate sales of the hit video game console over the crucial year-end shopping season.

Nintendo has been seeking to reverse a decline in sales of the Wii, which has easily outsold Sony’s PlayStation 3 and Microsoft’s Xbox 360 since its launch in 2006 but has been struggling recently due to a lack of new games.

Wii sales got a boost over the crucial year-end season from the launch of the latest title in the “Super Mario Bros.” series for the Wii, as well as “Wii Sports Resort,” Nintendo said.

“These strong software titles, coupled with the price reduction on Wii hardware and other factors, combined to drive sales of Wii hardware strongly in the holiday season,” a company statement said.

But due to weak sales earlier in 2009, Nintendo’s net profit fell 9.4 percent to 192.6 billion yen (2.1 billion dollars) in the nine months to December from a year earlier as revenue fell 23 percent to 1.18 trillion yen.

Nintendo, which competes with Sony and Microsoft in the multi-billion dollar video game industry, sold 17.05 million Wii machines worldwide in the nine-month period, down from 20.52 million a year earlier.

Last September, Nintendo cut the price of the Wii by a fifth, the first such move since the family-friendly console was launched in 2006 with a motion-sensing controller that can simulate a gun, sword or golf club.

The Kyoto-based company maintained its forecast for a net profit of 230 billion yen in the full year to March 2010, down 17.6 percent from the previous year.

Nintendo also kept its goal of selling 20 million Wii consoles in the year.

It has sold 67.45 million Wii machines worldwide since the launch in 2006. The console was the fastest to reach the 50 million milestone, trouncing Sony’s more powerful PlayStation 3 which targeted mainly hardcore gamers.

But analysts warned Nintendo was likely to face tough competition ahead from Sony and Microsoft, which both plan to launch their own motion-sensing controllers later this year in a bid to challenge the Wii’s success.

“Nintendo had better come out with a new console or else it may lose its position,” said UBS game analyst Yuki Nakayasu. “It will all depend on who comes out with a next-generation game console.”

Technorati Tags: wii

You guys remember “Parker Lewis Can’t Lose”, the show that was basically a weekly, half hour version of Ferris Bueller? I remember I used to love that show, especially Kube. Dude was like a gentle giant. That was back when TV used to be good, especially TV that was geared towards the teen/tween market. (Side-note: I’m pretty sure that when I was what would now be considered a “tween” that phrase hadn’t been invented by Disney yet. We were just called kids back then.) Nowadays it’s so crap, but there’s one show that takes the cake, “Secret Life of the American Teenager”.. Mrs. Mike watches the show because she got sucked in during a sick day when there was a marathon of it on TV. Isn’t it funny how you can get sucked into marathons? I remember one weekend I think I didn’t watch anything but “Law & Order:SVU”. Anyway, the basic premise of this show is about a moron girl who got impregnated by a moron guy and they are surrounded by more morons. The worst part is the acting; they don’t so much act as just read the lines. (And. They. Do. It. Like. This. Sentence. By. Sentence. Apparently. The. Writers. Have. Never. Had. A. Real. Conversation.) The girls dad on the show only takes advice from his other, younger, daughter and their dog; Ricky (the guy who got the girl pregnant) only wants to have sex and loves his son; and the girl with the baby pretty much hates everyone, especially her baby. I don’t even want to get into the other characters on the show, but The Tominator is by far the best one; Tom plays a friend’s brother on the show and has Downs Syndrome and still manages to out act and entertain more than anyone else there. Ugh. This show is awful. If I didn’t know any better I’d think it was made by Canadians or something, probably the same ones who came up with the worst Opening Ceremony ever for this years Olympics. Basically, for one hour each week while this show is being watched in my household, I kind of want to just bang my head against a wall, that would probably even be more productive…

Looking back on yesterday’s posts, you’d think that the only thing that happened at the Nintendo Summit, or anywhere else for that matter, was Samus and Mario love. Well, there was a bit more and we’re going to talk about one of the other games that made an appearance now. “Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands” is Ubisoft’s true sequel to “Sands of Time” and will be acrobatting onto store shelves May 18. As I already reported, the game is reportedly going to be one of the best looking Wii games yet. The game is a multi-platform release, but the Wii version is being developed as a completely separate game and story. There are a few new gameplay elements in Forgotten Sands, including an interesting one when it comes to combat. The larger groups of foes will have a “boss” amongst them that supposedly has a bit of a glow about him, I’m pretty sure it’s not because he’s pregnant, but who knows. Anyway, if you don’t feel like fighting all of his goons, just go after him. Once you take him out, his cronies will go away. I’m not sure if it makes a difference other than saving time and the fact you won’t get level points for anyone but him. Still, if the fights are repetitive this could come in handy; there’s nothing worse than games with the “Travel here. Unlock door A by solving puzzle B. Fight 5 guys that respawn 3 times each before the boss shows up. Then repeat the process until you’ve done it for 6 hours” formula. The Forgotten Sands also includes jump-in/jump-out co-op mode that takes a cue from Mario Galaxy; a second Wiimote will control a reticule that can be used to help solve puzzles. No, there’s no other character that can be on screen with you duking it out “Double Dragons” style, that would be sweet though. “Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands” is an ambitious title, and one that could set the bar for graphics when it comes to future Wii titles. For a few pictures of the pretty all you have to do is check ‘em below. I’m also giving you a video of Jay Electronica on stage with Mos Def & Diddy, because it’s just sick. Enjoy, and stay thirsty my friends.

See More Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands Screenshot at IGN.com
See More Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands Screenshot at IGN.com
See More Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands Screenshot at IGN.com

Jay Electronica Calls On Diddy to perform “Exhibit C” from Mikey Fresh on Vimeo.

Everyone who are fond of Nintendo Wii is constantly looking for what’s new and what could make their game better.  Wii homebrew is one of them. When we say Wii homebrew it refers to the reuse of Nintendo Wii game console hardware, accessories and its software.  Homebrew channel is also worth learning with regards to wii.

Homebrew channel is a self updating homebrew application that allows users to load any homebrew applications without the hassle of running the exploit.  Once this is installed you will be able to access the channel from wii system menu. This is also a very good option to the Twilight hack.

You can download wii homebrew from reputable websites. Video gamers won’t be satisfied with a gaming console that just play games, it is important to them to satisfy their needs and could give them excitement that they were looking for.

There are some reasons for you to download and use Wii Homebrew:

1. You wanted to know and how can you benefit from it. What it exactly give you and your wii.
2. You wanted to fix your wii and made many mistakes to unlock your wii.
3. You wanted to unlock your wii to a better console but you are not sure do it

Wii Homebrew installer is the answer to these problems. So, what are you looking for? Unlock your wii and play whatever you want without the hassle of using complicated Zelda hack.

Technorati Tags: nintendo wii, wii, wii game console, Wii Homebrew, Wii Homebrew Channel, Wii Homebrew review

So, the big news today is that Tiger Woods finally broke his silence and issued a public apology. Honestly, I find it a bit unnecessary and, now that I’ve seen the apology looped on ESPN for the past four hours, a bit annoying. Dude plays golf, Mrs. Mike doesn’t even consider that a real sport. Why is it any of our business if he had an affair and got caught then tried to drive away in some kind of strange drunken-pill induced sex coma only to crash his car like 15 feet from his house and then falling asleep in the grass? Sure, he’s kind of dumb, but I don’t care what he does in his personal time. If anything, he should be apologizing to me for Debo’ing ESPN for the past 4 hours!! It’s so ridiculous, surely something else happened in the world of sports at some point in the past 24 hours!! I mean, there is the Olympics and all happening right now. But nooooo, we need to hear some guy who probably feels like the only person he should be apologizing to is himself and maybe his wife go on and on about how he messed up and hopes we forgive him. Tell you what, if ESPN stops showing this in time for me to watch PTI, I’ll forgive you. If not, you better start writing more apologies!! (Side-note: Since we’re on a sports kick so far, check the quote from Vitali Klitchscko, boxings Heavyweight Champion of the World from his retirement announcement: “I only have to win one belt. So this year I will hang up my boxing gloves. And I’ll stop visiting different cities to beat somebody’s face in.” WHAT!!?!?! That is the most BA retirement announcement of all time. I just hope he gets the chance to beat David Haye’s face in first.)

Now that we’ve got that bit of ultra-violence out of the way, let’s get all wholesome for a bit, SEGA style. I haven’t done a single post on “Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing”, and I’ve got good reason for that. You see, I’m sick of half-assed “Mario Kart” clones; since the definitive “character” racer debuted on SNES years ago, there’s been no shortage of them, and almost all of them have been crap. It seems that SEGA and Sumo Digital feel the same way, because their upcoming title actually looks pretty good. Don’t sleep, it’s still very much a Kart clone, but it looks to be one that’s done with as much individuality as possible, and with the intent of ensuring that all the fun Ninty delivers is there as well. (Side-note: I almost got uber-lame and called it a “Kart Klone”, but I chose not to. Seriously, my finger was paused above the letter k for at least a minute as I weighed the ramifications of going down that road. Yeah, these are the things I think about as I write TheSpin.) Yes, the game is going to have power ups that you drive over to collect. Yes, the game is going to be very arcadey. Yes, the game is basically going to be “Mario Kart” but with SEGA characters instead of a Nintendo cast. That’s a good thing though. If you can take all the things that Kart does right, and put your own name, label, and spin on the game, while managing to keep all the fun factors intact, then go for it. We’ll have to wait until February 23 to see if SEGA pulls it off, but judging by the trailers below, “Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing” will be giving “Mario Kart” a run for its money. (Side-note: Try to ignore the obnoxious people in the first trailer, it’s like SEGA paid them to be as cliche as possible…) Enjoy, and stay thirsty my friends.

(Side-note: As I wrote this up I had the TV on ESPN and I’m pretty sure they showed Tiger’s apology in entirety, went to a commercial break, and then started it from the beginning when they got back from the break. This is going to make me hate ESPN…)

Ok so you might find the next few links interesting. These are from around the web, just random snippets that I’ve picked up in my reading, but I found some very cool information in them. You might too. Here goes…

Wii arcade fighter gamepad good for Hadokens and Shoryukens

At last count, there are something like six Street Fighter games available for download from the Wii's Virtual Console section. And for that …

Nintendo’s Iwata dismisses Wii HD News | Wii | Eurogamer

Read our Nintendo's Iwata dismisses Wii HD News for Wii.

After Mario, The Next Nintendo Wii Game With Depth – Endless ocean …

In late February, more than three months after its last Wii release, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Nintendo will finally launch its next, Endless Ocean: Blue World. This sequel has a twist: It's more of a game than its predecessor.

Hope you enjoy the read as much as I did and please if you have something to say, use the comments form below to let everyone know your thoughts.

Have a great day!

Technorati Tags: wii

Just so you know, it’s totally blizzarding outside. Okay, maybe it’s not so much blizzarding but it’s definitely snowing. A lot. Of course, working where I work we are still open and I am sitting at my desk doing nothing, which I’ve been doing all day. I don’t even know why we are open. It’s like the powers that be have some sort of aversion to closing the office for weather related reasons. It doesn’t make any sense at all, especially when you consider the fact that Atlanta is the most ill-prepared city for winter weather. Oh well, I get off soon and get to put my life in peril for the 10 minute journey home. (Side-note: Yes, I live about 10 minutes from work and it’s actually a very simple drive, whatever. I’m still gonna be all drama queen about it!)

You wanna know what else is dramatic? The ocean! There’s fish eating fish and coral and all sorts of action going on. Like my favorite comedian Mitch Hedberg once said, “If fish could scream the ocean would be loud as shit.” He’s right, fish murder the crap out of fish all the time and get away with it. I wonder if there’s some sort of unrealized fish justice system… Anyway, Endless Ocean: Blue World is set to drop stateside this month, so the Ocean is getting it’s chance to be king once again. If you are one of the millions of people who played Endless Ocean, then you are no doubt aware that in the game you play a scuba diver who is an ocean explorer, and that was pretty much it. If somehow you missed the game, well that was it. You dove, swam, and explored. The developers are mixing it up this go round by making it an actual *gasp* game!! I KNOW!! I guess they figured that since every other game on the market has a plot and some sort of story, they should as well. I have no clue if the story holds up, but apparently at some point you get attacked by a whale, which would be as frightening as it gets. If you’re feeling frosty and want to live the fear, the video below is for you. Enjoy, and stay thirsty my friends.

Nintendo Wii has really goes on sale this past month. Along with this, Nintendo Wii accessories are also going up on sale. As we all know, Nintendo Wii accessories maximize our Wii experience.

If you’re buying Nintendo Wii as a gift then you must also buy its accessories.  Wii is really a fun game straight out of the box.  Choose from a wide variety of Nintendo accessories from online stores.  There are so many online stores that offer cheap prices with great quality products.

Some of these accessories are:

1. Wii remote controllers.  It is a single handed control device. It is very responsive to pointing movements, and is user friendly.  Wii remote has a wireless functions and works using a short range Bluetooth radio.  This remote controller is a multi functional remote and allows nimble use that can be used horizontally. Remote design according to experts enables experienced users to hold this remote in both hands.
2. The Nunchuk. This device can be plug into the Wii remote itself. It contains an analog stick and two buttons that can be used in playing Red steel and Twilight Princess. Its motion sensors allow every gamer to perform specific character actions such as spinning slash attack.
3. Extra controllers. Wii always ships a single controller, one wii remote and a nunchuk.  But the real fun of this game is playing head to head with Wii sports games like tennis and boxing. In order to enjoy this game you will need extra controllers.

Other Wii accessories are Rechargeable batteries, GameCube controllers, GameCube memory cards, Nintendo Classic Controller, and so much more! So, what are you waiting for? Go grab your own wii accessories now and experienced wii like no other.

Technorati Tags: Nintendo Wii Accessories, nunchuk, wii accessories, Wii remote, wiimote

The Nintendo Wii is possibly the best games console we will see in our lifetime, but installing a modchip is like feeding the Nintendo Wii crack!

But why bother with installing the best wii modchip? Basically the best wii modchip will enable you to play copied games from a disc, or games you have downloaded from bit torrent for example.

But thats all you can do with the best wii modchip.


You can do this and more without installing a modchip

The HomeBreWare software mod lets you do everything a modchip can do as well as run any homebrew app, watch DVD’s and play backed up games.

Once you have installed the soft mod, you have a huge library of homebrew applications to choose from that will add new functionality to your Wii; Including console emulators for the Playstation 1, Sega Megadrive, Super Nintendo and the good ole N64.

Another great feature is the media centre. The media centre is only accessible to Nintendo Wii’s with the HomeBreWare soft mod and is not something that the best wii modchip can do. You can use the media centre to watch all of your download films and listen to your favourite music directly through the Nintendo Wii.

Using HomeBreWare will mean you can install homebrew software on your Nintendo Wii in complete safety, without taking the unnessecary risk of taking your console apart to install the best wii modchip. If you do install a modchip, it can be hit and miss as the process is very difficult and requires a high level of skill in soldering to avoid major damage to your Nintendo Wii.

HomeBreWare is quick and simple to install and comes with video instructions on how to do it.

HomeBreWare soft mod features-

Play backup games

Play imported games that are region locked

Make backups of the existing games you own

Play games from classic consoles like the PS1, SNES, N64 and Mega Drive + more

Safely modifys your console without risking damage to the hardware

Does not invalidate your warranty

Easy to follow instructions

A full 60 day money back guarantee

About The Author

All of this is available once you have downloaded and installed the http://www.free-nintendowii.co.uk/HomeBrewWare in less than 20 minutes flat.

Even the http://bestwiichip.blogspot.com/2009/08/what-best-wii-modchip-cant-do.html cant compete with http://www.free-nintendowii.co.uk/HomeBrewWare, its cheaper, easier to fit and opens up powerful features.

The 10 Most Avidly-Played Wii Games In America (As Of Feb 1) – Wii …

Welcome to a month of declines. Every month we at Kotaku show which Wii games have racked up the most playing time, per player, since launch. And this month, all but two of the 10 declined or were flat.

NCBI ROFL: Beware of Wii tennis. | Discoblog | Discover Magazine

NCBI ROFL | Wii have a problem: a review of self-reported Wii related injuries.PURPOSE: The increasing popularity of the Wii video game console has been associated with an.

Analyst: PS3 continues to set records, Wii and software sales down

Bhatia also says that the Wii's sales are being hurt by “meaningful shortages,” and points out that just 28% of the stores NPD checked in January had Nintendo's console in stock. Bhatia also suggests that Xbox 360 sales would be up …

Hope you enjoy the read as much as I did and please if you have something to say, use the comments form below to let everyone know your thoughts.

Have a great day!

Technorati Tags: wii

In a racing game, the need for speed is a major step to forward for all racing games. The more adrenaline packed aplayer, the better because it adds up excitement into the game. The need for speed in wii is really an award winning experience.  Also, the Need for Speed Shift is a great racing game that combines a true driver’s experience with the real word of physics.

It has a perfect pixel car models plus a wide range of authentic race tracks. It creates a simulation experience for you to experience the real feeling of driving high end performance cars.

The Need for Speed series is going through a bit of changes this year.  This year, they released an HD version towards Shift. Shift is a highly recommended, most realistic plus it is great for technical racer. Both Wii and DS versions has going forward with an intense style together with Nitro. If you are a Nintendo fan, you’ll surely appreciate the Need for Speed as a regular addition to Wii. Actually, EA is planning to change it with Need for Speed: Nitro.

Nitro is not your regular Need for Speed experience. Traditional and realistic designs are gone  and being replaced by over the top arcade renditions. Nitro is really good and fun. It is whacky but not that par for the Need for Speed course.  It also delivers a more customize cars, fun and exhilaration of high speed racing.

With the Need for Speed you will improve your racing skills but this skills is not the only way to success. Boost your advanced techniques as well. If you choose to race, never count on victory until you reached the finish line.

Technorati Tags: Need for Speed, Need for Speed nitro, Need for Speed shift, wii Need for Speed

This holiday season, Boys will always be boys. And he would love video games as a present.  There are so many best wii games for him that is out in the market today. It would be quite difficult for anyone who is not a video game or Nintendo follower. Here are some of the top Nintendo Games for 2009:

New Super Mario Bros. Wii on Nintendo Wii – This game is really perfect because it gave birth to many lifetime video game fans. 2D and 3D Mario games have so many die hard supporters.  This game features a simultaneous 4 multiplayer with playing in turns anymore. Players can also work together in order for them to run, hop and stomp their way to success. Or they can also sabotage one another in order for them to steal coins. And that definitely adds up excitement into the game.
Wii Fit Plus – This game is actually the update to the most successful Wii Fit game. This game is updated with 15 new balance board games, and 6 new Yoga training exercises.

DJ Hero – The latest Guitar Hero franchise has amazed everyone with its DJ Hero look. It is also packed with a turntable controller kit and some of the biggest names in music that is associated with this game. This game also has an exclusive version commonly known as Renegade Edition. This edition features Jay-Z and Eminem.
James Cameron Avatar – Together with the great success of the movie Avatar, comes this new and exciting game. This video game is really spectacular just like the movie itself. In fact, there are rumours circulating that just like the movie it can also be played in 3D using polarised glasses. This exciting and most anticipated game will be released on December 30, 2009.

Muramasa: The Demon Blade on Nintendo Wii – This game is packed with action. The game features voices in Japanese along with English subtitles. All of the enemies in this game are based on Japanese mythology. This game also features a 2D art style with many animations and backgrounds.

Guy gamers or even Female gamers who loves to play Wii games would surely appreciate this gift not just for holidays but to other occasions as well or even without occasion. So, what are you waiting for? Create your own best Wii game list now and picked nothing but the best.

Technorati Tags: avatar video game, latest wii games, wii, wii games, Wii Games of 2009

As of today, there are so many video games being released from time to time. Are you familiar with Super Monkey Ball – Banana Blitz for Nintendo Wii? For the first time, Super Monkey Ball has franchise Ai Ai and his friends and now they do have the ability to flick using Nintendo Wii controller in upward position.

Super Monkey Ball will expand your gaming experience and game designers added the ability to jump in this game and it also allows each gamer a new way to interact. This time, this game has so much to offer. And this time, this game comes with three dimensional fashions.

If you are not familiar with this franchise, you might be confused with what this game is all about. Super Monkey Ball is in fact one of the puzzle franchise wherein it combines a single player game of skill that packed with super entertaining features and multiplayer party games.

This game has a total of one hundred main game levels and fifty mini games. Each game uses a controller but in different way.  Unlike the previous games, this latest franchise features an eight boss battles.

Wii controller in this game is being held parallel to the ground. The monkey character is rolling based on game world slope. It also a Nunchuck attach that controls the camera, however, this is optional.

Super Monkey Ball will surely entertain each player with every quick jump. Lovers of this game will also appreciate its newly added features such as character specific abilities and stats for puzzle stages.

Indeed, this game is brilliantly made and showcases unique capabilities with regards to Wii and is undeniably one of the most enjoyable games ever.

Technorati Tags: nintendo, Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz, Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz for Nintendo Wii, wii

If you are fond of playing video games, Nintendo Wii might be one of your favourites. No matter what level of gaming experience, a remote control is always present. Also, if you are fond of playing video games, you know how hard it is to play with a remote control with cords.

With Wii, you will never experience it.  Wii remote control will provide you hours of entertainment together with your family. This remote control only uses a Bluetooth adapter with BlueSoleil software. But this remote control can also be connected to running Windows.

Wii remote is also known as Wiimote is the main input device. It is a wireless device being used when playing Wii. It is the primary controller of Nintendo Wii console. It has a motion sensing capability that allows Nintendo Wii user to interact and manipulate items on screen.

And with the use of attachments, it features expandability. The attachment being bundled with Wii console is commonly called as Nunchuk.

Wiimote can be also use a mouse on windows. All you need to do is to set up your Bluetooth on your computer, download BlueSoleil, install BlueSoleil and open it and then follow instructions.  This remote control gives Wii players the ability to lay games without any hassles from cords.

With this great Wii remote control, users have the freedom of motion and are very sensitive. This will surely take average game playing experience into the new age of technology.

Technorati Tags: wii console, Wii remote, Wii remote control, wiimote

So, what is new with Wii? One of the latest products with Wii is Wii Sports Resort. Wii sports is a casual friendlyminigame collection from Nintendo packages. This new Wii game has takes the same pick up and formula with the help of MotionPlus accessory.

Like other Wii sports, this minigame is really worth of your time. One of the most favourite minigame resort is Swordplay. It’s MotionPlus adapter offers one to one level control. You’ll surely love the smashing and its free for all showdown mode and feels immediately natural.

Wii Sports Resort really has a lot to offer. This game offers five games but it has twelve and about two or three modes for its other games. WiiMotion plus is really accurate. This game is built to show off wii motion plus and it really shows. Games are really well done.

Generally speaking, this game is really enjoyable. As expected, this game really contains a playful nature of Nintendo.

This all new Nintendo game is not only packed with new MotionPlus add ons but with a dozen of all new family friendly Mii sporting games to Nintendo’ Wii Console. Who would thought that this mini game collection will soar high.

This coming holiday season, giving Wii Sport resort as a gift would surely be the best experienced together with friends. This game is extremely fun. Playing this game solo would be boring because this game is really designed for multiplayers. It is a collection of sports games for Wii video game console, a sequel to Wii sports.

Technorati Tags: wii, wii games, wii sport, Wii Sport Resort

The DSTTI - next generation flash card for DSi.

Requirements:

• DSTTi Card (this is an adapter so you can use your MicroSD card with the DSi)
• DSi
• MicroSD to USB adapter (to connect MicroSD card with PC)
• Micro SD Card

Kernel Download

The DSTTi is an emulator for a real DS card, load the kernel into the Micro SD card (the kernel is an OS for the DS card). Download it here.

Once you have your program, unzip it and drag the three files into th MicroSD card and done!

ROM

Just download whichever games you want (lots of sites provide these) download, unzip and drag into the MicroSD card.

DSi

To connect to the DSi first connect your MicroSd card to your DSTTi card and then that connects to the DSi, that easy! Next you will have a list of games availablea nd are ready to play!

Bionic games has really changed things up with Spypborgs since the first time Capcom unveiled the game to Wii lovers in June 2008. Bionics Games got rid of the minigames and made the gameplay a little more grown up which is good because I don’t really want to feel like I am playng a cheap cartoon version of the Power Ranges. It still has that cartoony vibe about it, but if that really is your cup of tea you are sure to be impressed.

Spyborgs has some easy basic controls to move your characters around, it is a game played best with a second player but if you prefer single player action you can alternate between both characters quite easily so that you can utilize characters best assets. It is fun to explore different combinations of characters as each have unique finishing moves and combos.

The game is still under development so there are a lot of improvements to be made. It is said that Wii MotionPlus support may feature which is indeed very exciting and makes this game more appealing.

Look out for the Spyborgs title which will be out later in the year. But for now check out this mad trailer!

Red Steel 2 has been announced to come out this Autumn. The follow up in this gun/sword slinging series is said to be built around the Wii MotionPlus Controller adding 1:1 position sensing to Wiimote meaning that now the game can sense the strength and power behind your swing yeah! Now you can add gauging the accuracy of your movements to the gameplay, lets hope this turns out to be as exciting as it sounds!

Ubisoft are now placing the gamer in a high tech desert like metropolis, have a look:

The artwork for Red Steel 2 looks amazing! A strong taste of the Old West with some metal.

From the team at Blobber we have Last Flight

Larry Adelman a crazy food critic out to kill the undead with his whip dipped in holy water.

Here is Larry on a flight killing vampires with whatever he can find lying around. Check out the splashing blood.

Romanian dhampir named Anna helps Larry Adleman with killing the undead with items found in the plane cabin.

Larry must kill the undead before the virus spreads.

When is this cel shaded awesomeness coming to a Wii near me?

The game Feel is based on The Grudge and is the new brain child of the awesome Japanese director Takashi Shimizu.

From the few images we have seen of this game it promises that specific brand of Japanese horror we have come to know and love so well with dark ghost out for revenge with long hair and creaking necks. Now you can basically shit your pants in fear while waving around a Wii remote! How awesome.

All we can do now is wait and see, but I am not going to hold my breath to see if Feel will be released in the States.

Last year the game Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles was released by Capcom on the Wii and was an enormous hit selling millions of copies world wide. Now the awesome people at Capcom are promising that the next version in the popular series will have better graphics and be improved in almost every way with a great atmosphere that will scare the living day lights out of you. The camera is being tweaked to now make you feel like you are part of The Blair Witch Project with a shaky hand held camera feel.

For now all you can do is enjoy the trailer below as there is no release date of yet. But soon Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield will be back to fight solo or combining forces (that’s right you heard it here first).

Enjoy!

New rumour out: Nintendo Wii thinking of developing games for your iPhone! Cool right, I wonder how that will work, will we just wave around our iPhone or will it come with a mini Wii remote, or will the game control be through the touch D-pad, I just can’t imagine it.

But don’t alarm yourselves just yet or start planning your train trip with a portable gaming inter phone, this is just a rumour, one that does make me droll thought. Ahh the iPhone is just awesome!

Play Wii games on your mobile

Not to talk badly about any nintendo Wii games but sometimes I cannot help but wonder how and why some games where invented.So I will now let all you lovely nintendo Wii fans in on the games that I think are the worst Nintendo Wii games ever!

Jumper:

Just because someone made a movie does not mean that a video game should automatically follow suit. If you want to know what I mean then rent (probably wouldn't buy) this game! It just makes NO sense.

Haneru no Tobira Wii: Girigirissu:

I can't say that I am into games based on TV Gameshows, even if this is a quirky Japanese weird as F gameshow. It is a pure rip-off of the TV show and will fail to maintain your interest for very long, unless your have a strange ass Japanese game show fetish!

Ninjabread Man:

Only buy this if you are into throwing your games against the wall in a fit of rage at how shit this is. Probably worst game EVER! But I will leave it up to you to decide for yourself muahahahaha

Check out this neat little trailer for the eagerly awaited EA's Grand Slam Tennis. I have been waiting for this game to come out for a looong time, the hype says that the incorporation of the Wii-Motion Plus is meant to be perfect in this game. I think this may just be the best Wii sport game yet.

Enough rambling from me, have a look for yourselves!

It appears that the developer Rockstar (of GTA fame) and publishers Take 2 are finally warming up to the Nintendo Wii. If ´Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars´ on the DS turns out to be successful then hopefully Rockstar will be prompted to bring the wonderful GTA franchise to the Nintendo Wii.

EA Sports Active is an awesome game that is designed to keep you fit by working out specific parts of your body. Have a look at the following trailer to see EA Sports Active in action.

What do you make of this Nintendo Wii game?

Here are some recommended sites for the best walkthroughs and games cheats for Resident Evil 4. This si a top game that I have played and enjoyed countless times and there are always new things I haven't discovered. Anyways check out all these awesome games cheats and games tricks sites for Resident Evil 4.

Weapon Analysis

Cheats and Codes

FAQ Walkthrough

One of the best things about video games is that it takes you back to simpler times. I remember playing Mike Tyson's Punch-Out! as a kid and the amount of time and devotion that went into learning by heart when it was secure to go for Iron mike or when a punch was going to come at me from Bald Bull. It was totally insane! The accomplishment I felt from beating Mike Tyson for the first time was indescribable and you better believe I invited the neighbour kids over to witness my accomplishment.

Nintendo chose to bring back this old favourite! although 8-bit glory for Little Mac and Doc Louis is a thing of the past, from the looks of this new game it appears that Next Level Games is going for a cartoon looking game which is not that bad. Luckly this is a Nintendo classic game as I don't believe that XBOX or PS3 would do it justice. This version of Punch Out! is as you would expect (from the trailers anyway) going to deliver much of what we used to love as kids with the added benefits of awesome graphics, with the use of the classic controller for those of your who want to play the old way (yay! just like when we were kids), if you do not feel like going old school you can use the Wii mote and Nunchuck to throw punches and block.

The new Punchout! will have 13 fighters. With old favourites such as Von Kaiser and Glass Joe and new ones like Disco Kid. Punch-Out! will be out on the 19th of May. Below are some cool teaser trailers!

Wii Fit is an enormous success all over the world. The balance board is often very difficult to obtain as it sells out instantly. This could be hailed as a indication that many people are getting the Wii Fit for their family, to keep them fit, healthy and in good shape. It is no surprise that Wii Fit is hailed as one of the best fitness products out there particularly when combined with EA Sports Active.

EA Sports Active is amazing as it follows all all the movements you make. Just maintain the nunchuk strapped to your leg and you will see movements on the screens depending on the parts of your body that you are moving.This way you can track your work outs more accurately and target specific parts of your body.

Make sure you also get the resistance band that comes with EA Sports Active. It is so easy to use and eliminates the need for weights.

You get reports from your personal trainer telling you about your achievements and other cool stats. Make sure you try out the 30 days challenge mode, you will be losing weight in no time by working out 20 mins a day and burning up those calories while having fun.

1. Go to the lost and found run by Booker at Town Gate
2. Collect it as a buried item in a town (1 or 2 appear daily).

People often don’t realize that throughout a console’s lifespan, its internal components are constantly changing with newer releases. Game console developers take advantage of the technological improvements that take place during the console’s life to make it cheaper and more efficient. Nintendo is reportedly considering changing the accelerometer in the Wii remote. The change would most likely make the console cheaper to produce and more reliable. So far Nintendo has neither confirmed nor denied the rumor. Some analysts are skeptical as to a Wii price cut however. With the Wii still enjoying unprecedented popularity, Nintendo has no reason to make the cut. Stay tuned for more developments on this story.

-Derek

[Source:1up]