The game's Power Cruising mode looks to have a couple of variations.

A little unenthused about Wii Sports Resort after Nintendo’s lacklustre onstage presentation at E3? This here video could well change your mind.

If you can cope with the frequent pauses (it seems Nintendo of Japan hasn’t quite got the hang of how to make a video buffer effectively), then you’ll see a game with much more to it than the original - a fact which was hardly made clear by the game’s E3 showing. Twelve events, some of which appear to have multiple modes, and from the looks of things there are certain individual challenges (that basketball clip near the end as some sort of certificate is awarded is surely evidence of that).

I’m also really keen on the resort hub. While Wii Sports was fun, the events felt disconnected. There’s much more charm to an island environment filled with Miis, and I’m hoping that during the aeroplane sections you’ll be able to swoop down and see characters from your Mii Plaza duking it out with swords, shooting hoops, or wakeboarding in the surf.

The clip instantly shot the game to the very top of my wanted list for this year, and the thrilling news that I’ll likely be getting my hands on it in three weeks (when the Japanese version launches) has me very excited indeed.

Bookmark It

Kotaku has posted an excerpt of Nintendo’s financial results for fiscal year 2009, pointing out a note from Nintendo to its investors that the forthcoming Zelda: Spirit Tracks “will appeal to a wider age group of people”.

Naturally, this has led to speculation that it may be even more casual-friendly than Phantom Hourglass, though this may just be Nintendo trying to explain to its investors why it’s still making core-focused titles alongside its multi-million-selling Wii- branded range. That said, the results for Wii Music were considered disappointing, the instrument sim shifting a ‘mere’ two-and-a-half million unit.

It may, of course, be a reference to that patented hint system which was revealed not so long ago - will Spirit Tracks guide less experienced players through its dungeons should they find themselves getting stuck? The patent originally seemed to be for a Wii game, but it’s quite possible.

Expect to see more of Spirit Tracks at E3 this June.

Bookmark It

If you said Call of Duty or FIFA 09 (or, indeed, anything other than Wii Fit) then hide your face in shame.

If, however, you said Wii Fit (which I’ll presume is just about everyone, given that you’re clearly an intelligent bunch for visiting this here blog) then you’d be entirely right, as the chart-shagging megahit managed to top the All-Formats Chart with room to spare, holding off the challenge of FIFA 09 and Call of Duty: World at War.

In truth, it’s a pretty slow week - Wii Fit merely has the lowest drop in sales (a tiny 2%) of all the top ten as the credit crunch nibbles away at a few more wallets. That’s not to say that no-one’s buying - the week’s highest new entry is the casual-pleasing Mystery Case Files: Millionheir - a kind of Where’s Wally with bad puns. Not content with nabbing two of the top four, Nintendo greedily hang onto positions five to seven, with Mario Kart Wii and Wii Play standing firm and Professor Layton perched just above ‘em.

Elsewhere, it’s not quite so good news for nostalgia fans, with neither Chrono Trigger DS nor New Play Control! Pikmin anywhere to be seen. The latter’s price-point (and distinct lack of marketing presence) seems to have hurt its chances, but it’s sad to see the former underperforming. Have most people imported, is the game just not well-known enough, or has piracy - so rife on the DS - harmed its sales? Perhaps it’s a combination of the three.

One more bright spot on Nintendo’s consoles - EA’s Sim Animals, as is often the way with Wii and DS titles these days - sees a massive weekly sales increase on its debut week (up a whopping 90%), the game entering at number 22.

This Friday sees the release of Bolt on about twelve different formats, plus the surprisingly excellent FEAR 2 and House of the Dead: Overkill, which I shall be getting this week. All of which surely pose some kind of challenge to Wii Fit’s throne. Can it hold on for a fifth week in a row? Tune in same time, same place in seven days’ time to find out.

Bookmark It

 

In what represents something of a departure for the brick-busting, block-building (or should that be the other way round?) franchise, the next LEGO game won’t be based on a film nor a comic book character.

Instead, LEGO Battles is a handheld-focused experience, offering gameplay that’s all about ‘build and battle’ (it says here).  “Through six distinct story lines, players build their own LEGO bases and battle teams as they engage in over 70 different levels, mixing and matching units to create the ultimate customized LEGO squad, ” claims the press release.

Apparently this will mean battles between pirates and aliens, with wizards, dragons and ninjas thrown in for good measure. With LEGO’s innate customisational possibilities, presumably you’ll be able to create a ninja dragon or an alien wizard - which sounds all kinds of awesome. I’ll be honest; they had me at ‘pirates’.

There’s a wireless multiplayer mode, too - though it suggests you’ll need more than one copy of the game to take advantage of that. Still: pirates versus ninjas in a fight to the death in LEGO form. Childish wish-fulfilment doesn’t really get any better than that.

Bookmark It

According to MTV Multiplayer (courtesy of NPD), it’s Wii Play.

1. Wii Play 5.28
2. Madden NFL ‘09 5.25
3. Grand Theft Auto IV 5.22
4. Mario Kart w/ Wheel 5.00
5. Call of Duty: World at War 4.63

So should it count? Debatable, given that most people are clearly buying it for the new controller, and it makes sense to get another game for a few quid extra. That said, the same post also refers to the play data which suggests Wii owners spend on average nine hours with Wii Play. Which seemed a little high to me, but then I realised I’ve played it for at least six or seven hours, and possibly a lot more - well, laser hockey is pretty addictive, and that tanks game, too.

Mario Kart on five million, though - that’s really good going. Amazing what bundling your game with a little plastic wheel can do. It’s by far the biggest-selling Mario Kart to date, beating the original, which some - though not I - would say is still the best.

Bets on Nintendo releasing a Wii Play 2, showcasing the beauty of MotionPlus? I’d say chances of that happening are fairly high, but then perhaps Nintendo thinks Wii Sports Resort alone is enough. Either way, we’re in for another fascinating year. Will 2009 be the year Wii truly goes hardcore? Will sales of those evergreen Nintendo titles start to tail off?  Will Wii Play top the charts for two years in a row (surely not)?

Patience, WiiWii.tv readers. The answers are coming.

Bookmark It

…to Nintendo’s ever-growing money pile, topping the UK All-Formats Top 40 once more. Brits concerned with having gained a bit of Christmas weight are evidently throwing caution to the wind in these rough economic times and chucking seventy quid a time into making themselves thinner with Nintendo’s help.

It’s one of only three chart entries whose sales have increased this week, joining gaming heavyweights GTA IV and Halo 3, both of which are benefitting from price reductions in certain stores.

Back on a Nintendo tip, Wii Play continues to hold onto the top ten like a limpet, while Mario Kart Wii drops back a few places, no doubt thanks to a well-timed blue shell. Its handheld cousin, Mario Kart DS, amazingly rises a few places, selling fewer copies than last week, but not by as significant a percentage as those above it. And Kawashima’s pair of Brain Trainers are still doing well.

In a quiet time for new releases, it’s amazing to see a game - and a rather expensive one at that - sell 18% higher than its previous week’s tally, but that’s New Nintendo for you. Given that Wii Fit prevented the awful Lord of the Rings: Conquest from reaching the top, perhaps we should all be grateful that so many overindulged on the turkey and pudding over the festive season.

Chart-Track

Bookmark It

EA has been busy today, announcing three new titles for Nintendo systems.

Joining Football Academy - a game designed to expand youngsters’ knowledge of football - are two games involving those cute little MySims. The brand could do with a hit - MySims sold solidly, but follow-up Kingdom surprisingly flopped, seemingly ignored in the Christmas rush (not only by gamers but by critics - it has a measly 17 reviews on Metacritic).

Anyway, EA has gone for two failsafes - a minigame compendium and a kart racer, with MySims Party and MySims Racing coming to both Wii and DS in March and Summer respectively.

The former has fifty minigames (forty on DS, though they’re different from the Wii ones) and the promotional video suggests there’ll be plenty of waggling going on, with the odd pointer-based challenge and a few which require tilt control. The latter allows you to design and customise your own vehicle, and features some wacky power-ups, such as a flying saucer which picks you up and deposits you further down the track, and even one which turns everything upside-down.

It’s unlikely Mario Kart’s throne as top arcade racer is in any danger - especially as only the DS version of MySims Racing will include online play - but MySims Party could offer a more solidly enjoyable minigame experience than Mario’s own effort, without the bother of all that boardgame nonsense.

Bookmark It

 

EA has quite a few titles lined up for Wii and DS in 2009, and early indications suggest it’s likely to fund significant marketing campaigns to get these games in the public eye. Perhaps its biggest hope is its Wii Fit rival, EA Sports Active, but I think the January release of Sim Animals is equally likely to further swell the already overflowing company coffers.

Available on Wii and DS, it seems perfectly attuned to the casual and younger demographics both consoles are attracting - it’s easily the most accessible - and console-friendly - version of The Sims yet, even if there’s not a single person featured in the game. The MySims titles offered something a little different from the standard Sims template, and while Sim Animals isn’t a traditional Sims title, it still feels like it belongs to that franchise - with the intuitive controls and freeform nature (not to mention cute-funny styling and humour) that are the series hallmarks.

I was one of the first journalists to see Sim Animals up and running in the middle of last year, and while it was at a very rough stage during my visit to Redwood Shores, it already looked hugely appealing. Recent shots suggest it’s had a significant graphical touch-up in the intervening months, and if EA can promote this well enough, it’ll almost certainly be the first big third-party hit of 2009.

Bookmark It

Books - knowledge-enhancing, life-enriching, train-journey-killing books. They might make you look pretty clever if you’ve got a hundred of the buggers lined up on your shelves, but unless you’re some kind of neat-freak, they’re bound to gather a fair bit of dust. To save those of us with mite allergies, Nintendo has teamed up with publisher HarperCollins to bring us 100: Classic Book Collection - as its name suggests, a collection of 100 classic books, which are all stored on the one thumbnail-sized cartridge. Technology be a wonderful thing, arrr.

(Sorry, I’ve been reading Treasure Island all day.)

It’s certainly a space saver, but is the DS really well suited to this sort of thing? Well, yes and no. It’s undoubtedly more convenient than lugging around a hundred novels, but there’s no real substitute for paper and print, and the DS screens don’t offer too many words per page - on the smallest font setting, Les Miserables runs to a whopping 11,600 pages. Myopics can increase the text size, but that ups the page count to 17,938. It’s a good job Tolstoy isn’t represented, really.

Still, given the DS’s limitations, developer Genius Sonority has done a pretty good job here. You can simply rifle through the virtual bookshelf by swiping the stylus to either side, then tap to select the novel you want. If you’re unsure what to go for, then you can choose to be asked a series of questions to see which title suits your mood. If it suggests MacBeth, then your mates will know it’s probably not the best day to ask you for that fiver back.

From Adam Bede to Wuthering Heights, there’s a decent mix of genres covered, though the selection is fairly safe. You won’t find any Catcher In the Ryes, 1984s or Clockwork Oranges here, while Shakespeare seems a little over-represented. But then again, these are all titles where copyright has expired, so we were hardly going to get modern classics like The Road or Jordan: A Whole New World.

If you’ve got an iPhone, you might be better off with an e-reader, with which you can grab hold of a much larger selection of titles, with plenty available legitimately for download if you know where to look. But does that give you ambient background noise of parks and train journeys to listen to as you flick through hundreds of virtual pages with your stylus? Nope. There’s even a neat virtual bookmark which saves your place.

Once you’re done with each tome, you can review it with a star rating and pick from a series of words which best represent your feelings on what you just read. You can then upload your rankings via the Wi-Fi connection, which also allows you to download a further 10 novels to add to your already-impressive collection.

It’s certainly well-presented, and at around £19 is fairly attractively-priced. Libraryphobes will find this a worthwhile purchase - others might just prefer the pleasures of a well-thumbed, dog-eared paperback.

Bookmark It

 

The long tail has wagged. Wii Music had a sizeable sales spike for the holiday season, perhaps helped by positive word-of-mouth by those who’d actually spent more than five minutes playing the game. Though comfortably the least-successful Wii-branded game so far, it managed to comfortably outsell Sony’s great white hope LittleBIGPlanet in the month of November, with almost 300,000 Americans shaking their maracas to Miyamoto’s latest slice of casual genius.

Meanwhile, plenty of those pounds piled on over Thanksgiving will soon be shifted, with Wii Fit selling nearly 700,000 copies to hit number four, while people invited more plastic peripherals into their houses as Mario Kart Wii and Wii Play (with added remote) sandwiched Nintendo’s health-booster at five and three respectively.

Worthy of note is the performance of Guitar Hero World Tour - the Wii SKU being the only one to make it into the top ten, rocking a total just 25k shy of half a million copies. Impressive. Most impressive.

COGs and COD were the other big winners, with Treyarch’s WWII shooter being pipped by Epic’s third-person, er, epic to top spot, both on 360. Well, those Americans do love bigger, better and more badass.

Once again, glance below to see the full rundown.

1. Gears of War 2 - Xbox 360 – Microsoft – 1.56M
2. Call of Duty: World at War - Xbox 360 – Activision – 1.41M
3. Wii Play w/ remote - Wii – Nintendo – 796K
4. Wii Fit - Wii – Nintendo – 697K
5. Mario Kart - Wii – Nintendo – 637K
6. Call of Duty: World at War - PS3 – Activision – 597K
7. Guitar Hero: World Tour - Wii – Activision – 475K
8. Left 4 Dead - Xbox 360 – EA – 410K
9. Resistance 2 - PS3 – Sony – 385K
10. Wii Music - Wii – Nintendo – 297K

Bookmark It