Wii Sports Bowling robot

On March 30th, 2007 by WiiWii

I must say that up until this point I thought I was kinda okay at the bowling in Wii Sports. I’ve practised weird technique after weird technique in an attempt to hit those all-important strikes. I even figured out that if I hold the wiimote in just the right way and bowled backwards, I could get all 10 pins down… most of the time. However this video of a Lego robot — called the WiigoBot — scoring a perfect 300 has put all my efforts to shame. This is the first sign of our inevitable destruction, fellow human. Source.

Related posts: Control a robot with Wii | Wii Robosapien

Sonic & Mario’s Wii Olympic game: Shigsy’s in charge!

On March 30th, 2007 by Stuart Dredge

miyamoto1.gifIf you were worrying that the upcoming Mario & Sonic At The Olympic Games title might not do justice to Nintendo’s stable of characters, you can breathe a sigh of relief.

The Big N has confirmed that Shigeru Miyamoto will be overseeing the project. “The majority of the physical development is being done by the Sega Sports team, with very heavy supervision from Mr. Miyamoto and his team as well,” says Sega of America boss Simon Jeffery. “Miyamoto will absolutely be involved. That’s what makes it particularly exciting.”

Better still, Nintendo has been making noises about this not being the last collaboration between the two companies. I’m assuming this means Nintendogs running across the court during Virtua Tennis 4 matches. Maybe.

(via MCV)

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Now you can play Wii on your swanky cruise holiday

On March 30th, 2007 by Stuart Dredge

norwaycruise.jpgGot a severe Wii Sports habit, and don’t want to go cold turkey on your expensive cruise holiday? Oh, I feel for you. I really do. Tsk.

But there’s a solution. Norwegian Cruise Line has announced that it’s installed Wiis on its new Norwegian Pearl ship, and plans to roll Nintendo’s console out across the rest of its fleet too.

They’ll be located in the ships’ public areas, as well as in the kids’ zones, with games including Wii Sports, Wii Play, WarioWare: Smooth Moves and Excite Truck.

“With the addition of Wii to our on-board activities, we can now offer bowling, boxing, golf, tennis and baseball across the entire fleet,” says NCL chief Colin Veitch. “Cheering, yelling and high-fives WILL be highly encouraged.”

Well, it beats quoits…

Punch Out! hits Wii Virtual Console

On March 30th, 2007 by Stuart Dredge

punch-out.gifNintendo has announced three new games for the Wii’s Virtual Console, including NES boxing game Punch Out!.

I’m in two minds about this: in my head, Punch Out! was marvellous, the most fun boxing game ever made. But I’ve got this nagging fear that I might be wearing rose-tinted specs, and even for 500 Wii Points it might end up being a disappointment.

Also launching this week is SNES game The Legend Of The Mystical Ninja for 800 points, complete with a two-player mode, and Turbografx “classic” Dragon’s Curse for 600 points. Ho hum.

As I’ve said before, I’d love to see some original games making their way onto the Virtual Console soon, like you’d find on Xbox Live Marketplace or the PlayStation Store.

Youngest Wii Sports player ever

On March 29th, 2007 by WiiWii

From some of the oldest gamers to the youngest, the Wii just seems to keep on hooking in everyone who gives it a first glance. This 22-month old Wii fan — start them young, that’s what I say — is a very good example of the latter. His technique sure needs some work but I give him a few more months practise and I’ll bet that he could kick my ass in a game of tennis no problem. Source.

Related posts: Child-free Wii | Elderly Wii

Retirement home embraces Wii

On March 29th, 2007 by WiiWii

Retirement Wii on WiiWiiThe Big N always said that they were going to target the audiences that no other games companies dared with the Wii; the untapped markets. Understandably, most laughed. It couldn’t be done. Non-gamers were non-gamers and that was that. Well, to those who didn’t believe, I give you the Sedgebrook Retirement Community in Chicago. They are the latest group of newbies (oldies?) to be converted over to the ways of Nintendo. He who laughs last, as they say, laughs longest.

The majority of the residents — average age: 77 years — had never played a games console until the Wii arrived in their clubhouse lounge, but now it’s a favourite pass time. Twenty residents have even organised and signed up for a Wii Sports Bowling tournament and, get this, they’ve even got one of those hand-drying fan thingys installed just like a real bowling alley! Got room for 1 more competitor, folks? Lets hope this catches on in retirement homes the world over. I won’t resent my kids for packing me up and shipping me off to a home quite as much providing they send me to one with a Nintendo to spend my final hours playing. In fact, I wouldn’t mind moving in now. Fifty-odd years is an awful long time to wait. Source.

Related posts: Child-free Wii | Wii Sports

Why the Wii should be a child-free console

On March 29th, 2007 by Stuart Dredge

hoodie.jpgNintendo consoles are for kids aren’t they? One step up from those LeapFrog toys you buy for toddlers. Forget adult themes or violent games: Nintendo won’t even let publishers release them, leaving the way clear for a sappy cartoon plumber and his sappy cartoon mates to appear in sappy games that appeal to kids and, well, saps.

Okay, so us Wii owners know this simply isn’t true any more. Wii already has one gritty first-person shooter in the form of Red Steel, the ultra-gory Manhunt 2 is on the way later this year, and rumour has it that Nintendo is even lobbying hard to persuade Rockstar to bring Grand Theft Auto to Wii. The bad old days of The Big N playing prim nanny to its gamers are long gone.

It has to be said though, you can understand why these old stereotypes are lingering on.
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Twilight Princess microsite launched

On March 29th, 2007 by WiiWii

Zelda + Midna on WiiWiiI didn’t get a chance to mention this when it first launched but better late than never and all that, right? With all the success Nintendo have been having with The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess on Wii and Gamcube they felt the game was the lacking the online presence it so rightfully deserved. To ease the pain of this virtual emptiness, they launched this microsite. It’s very pretty and has got all the usual things you might expect from an official game site (with Midna as your guide): story, actions and controls, gallery and a neat little character page. But there’s more.

There’s a little game to play too. Those who have played Twilight Princess — or those who are reading our game diary here on WiiWii — will recognise the tears of light gameplay element where you must use your senses to find invisible bugs and drain them of these tears, collecting enough to restore light to the land. Well, some have made their way over onto the site and it’s your job to catch them all. I was amused to find that it actually requires far more effort to find them on here than in the Wii game, but the reward is worth it: a secret download page with themed wallpapers, mp3s and icons. Happy hunting.

Related posts: Zelda: Twilight Princess | Zelda Wii mod

What else could come from Nintendo and SEGA sleeping in the same bed together?

On March 29th, 2007 by Katherine Hannaford

seganintylove.jpg With news that SEGA have teamed up with Nintendo to produce Mario & Sonic At The Olympic Games together, rumours are circling the intertubes, claiming that this partnership adds fuel to the fire of the possiblity that Sonic could appear in the Super Smash Bros. Brawl which is swinging our way late this year.

Looking at past history with previous partnership deals, considering SEGA are making the title and are featuring a Nintendo character, it seems only obvious that a SEGA character would appear in a Nintendo title - in this case, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, which would be a perfect opportunity for Sonic to display some of his smooth fighting skillzorz. A deal to this degree, with both companies scratching each others’ backs would prove hugely profitable for one another, and even pave the way for future shared titles to be made.

Or could we see a mutant Sonic and Mario hybrid character be introduced, the inevitable conclusion to SEGA and Ninty having a few too many drinks and porking under the covers? What do you want to see come from this partnership? Sadly I don’t think we’re going to see a Dreamcast and Wii mash-up just yet.

NiGHTS for Wii: the rumours gather strength

On March 28th, 2007 by Stuart Dredge

nights1.jpgWe wrote a couple of weeks ago about the rumours that Sega might be resuscitating its NiGHTS game for Wii, sparked by a teaser ad in the UK’s Official Nintendo Magazine. Well, it looks like the rumours are true.

Eurogamer is reporting that Swedish games mag GameReactor has revealed it’ll be running a cover story on NiGHTS in its next issue, while Spong is saying that the US-based Sonic Team will be developing the Wii game. So it looks like our cheeky hunch that ONM’s teaser actually related to a Wii Halo isn’t true then ;o)

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