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Would You Like a Glass of Wii?
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Accessories, Hot Deals, Rumors, Wii,
Chances are, your reactions to the above photo falls into one of two groups: there’s the “Whoa! Where can I get me one of those!?” camp and the “Why the hell does Nintendo have to put their new namebrand on everything? This is worse than those freaking dog tags and lapel pins” group.
For those of you in the former - sorry, it looks like you won’t be able to get your hands on these too easily. This image comes from a friend of a friend who works at Nintendo, and picked them up at the Nintendo Company Store. So unless you happen to know someone who works for Nintendo, you might be out of luck.
And to those of you in the latter camp - oh please, this isn’t THAT bad. Need we remind you of the $700 Playstation-branded watch?
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Nintendo To Add New Virtual Console Titles Monday
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Nintendo, Retro, Wii,
On December 4, Nintendo will release four new titles for their Virtual Console game service. The releases include Donkey Kong Jr. for 500 Wii Points, Victory Run for the TurboGrafx16 for 600 Points, and Columns and Ristar from the Sega Genesis for 800 Wii Points each. The games will be available starting at 9 AM Pacific time, and Nintendo has promised that each Monday after this will also feature new Virtual Console titles. While the previous selection of Virtual Console titles has been a little uneven in terms of quality, having new releases every week may mean that gamers will get to see more of their past favorites or forgotten cult classics a little sooner.
Read More 
| Nintendo
Wii Sports Bowling Easter Egg: The 91 Pin Strike
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Nintendo, Sports, Wii,
It will take a bit of skill, but no doubt, this is one cool Easter Egg. In the training mode of Wii Sports Bowling, you are able to try your luck against an ever-growing number of pins, capping at a 91-pin setup. Rather than going for broke trying to legitimately knock down all 91 of those bad boys, you can apparently trigger an explosion of atomic levels if you just send the ball straight down the bumper. Check the video to see what we mean.
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Nintendo seems to be all over the press lately, trumpeting their successes with the Wii and receiving generally favorable reviews for their new console. Reggie Fils-Aime recently talked to MTV about this, and their aims for the future as they try to keep moving forward with the Wii. In addition to their massive tie rate with The Legend of Zelda, Fils-Aime claims that third-party titles like Red Steel, Rayman, Madden 2007, and Trauma Center: Second Opinion have sold well with the Wii.
Reggie also talked upcoming first-party releases. January should bring a new Wario Ware title and Wii Play, with Mario Party 8 coming by March. The new Metroid and Super Mario titles will come some time after that, but before the end of next year. Third-party support was also praised, something which was somewhat problematic with the Gamecube.
Other topics covered include Reggie’s opinions of some of the reviews Wii titles have been receiving, online play (the first title will be Pokemon Battle Revolution in Japan), and Virtual Console Mondays, Nintendo’s weekly release of software titles for their Virtual Console, much like Microsoft’s Live Arcade Wednesdays. While the interview doesn’t give a whole lot away on Nintendo’s strategies, it is interesting to see Reggie’s viewpoint on the console launch.
Read More | MTV
Wii Sells 600,000 In Eight Days
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Corporate News, Nintendo, Wii,
Nintendo has released their sales data for the Wii during its first eight days of availability. According to their press release, the company moved over 600,000 consoles, and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess has sold 454,000 copies. Assuming that Nintendo can re-supply retailers quickly enough, the company should easily sell more than a million consoles this holiday season. Certainly, Nintendo has had more success than Sony in filling the retail demand for the console, and early indications are that the console is attracting more non-gamers. It remains to be seen, however, if Nintendo can sustain this momentum and grow their user base.
The full press release continues after the jump.
Click to continue reading Wii Sells 600,000 In Eight Days
Will Virtual Console Games Ever Be Improved?
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Internet, Nintendo, Rumors, Wii,
A few weeks before the Wii launch, details started to filter in about the Wii’s Virtual Console, the software that would allow you to play classic NES, SNES, TG-16, Genesis, and N-64 games on your shiny white box. In general, Nintendo stated that each of the Virtual Console games would play exactly as they did when they were released for their respective consoles. This was great news for retro gamers who hated seeing “improved” graphics ruin their classic games, but bad news for a lot of fans that wanted to see online-enabled versions of their old favorites. Nintendo’s general line was “if it wasn’t featured in the original game, it won’t be featured in the VC game”, dashing the hopes of folks looking for some online retro gaming.
Well, it sounds like Nintendo may soon give in (or will at least have the ability to!). According to Wii fan-site The Wiire:
According to the Q & A section of Wii Shop Channel on the Wii console, software developers can update already released Virtual Console games free of charge.
The section reads as follows:
The “Update” button indicates there are enhancements for the game. If you have already downloaded the game, you may select “Update” to download the enhancements free of charge. Please note, downloading the update may impact the saved game data.
What could these aforementioned “enhancements” be? Does this just mean “enhancements” in the Microsoft sense (i.e., bug fixes?), or could it genuinely mean that Nintendo is considering adding on to their old classics? I, for one, can’t wait to see some online play in some of these oldies-but-goodies
Read More | The Wiire
Gamer Builds Wireless Wii Sensor Bar
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Hardware, Mods/Hacks, Wii,
Once gamers figured out that the Wii sensor bar was little more than a housing for an array of LEDs, one had to figure some hacks would come soon. First, someone figured out that a couple of IR-based television remotes could replace the sensor bar. Of course, this was hardly practical. Now, Brian “DoctaBu” Moore has built a wireless sensor bar. The homemade bar is a little ugly, but apparently functional according to the video posted on the site. With a little work, a cleaner wireless sensor bar could be built for those gamers that have AV setups that aren’t really conducive to the wired sensor bar placement.
Read More | Doctabu's Livejournal
Wii Firmware Updates Bricking Some Consoles
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Hardware, Nintendo, Wii,
Some new Nintendo Wii owners have had problems with their consoles after downloading Nintendo’s firmware updates through the Wii Connect24 service. After applying one of the updates, the next time the console tries to connect the user will get an 110213 error. Users with this error will need to have Nintendo replace the console, through one of two options. First, gamers can have Nintendo ship a replacement immediately with a hold on their credit card. If the broken console is received within 21 days, there will be no charge. Second, gamers can opt to send their console in, and Nintendo will ship a replacement when the old console is received. This method does not require a credit card, but gamers may be without a Wii for several days while the consoles are shipped. Hopefully this glitch is not widespread, but it is unclear exactly what percentage of consoles have been affected.
Read More | NSider Forums
Wii: Super Monkey Ball Sucks, Excite Truck Is Boring
Posted by Rob Stevens Categories: Driving, Editorial, Features, Party Games, Puzzle, Wii,
I suppose that with 50 mini games packed into Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz, there were bound to be some good ones and some bad ones. So riddle me this ... how is it that Monkey Target, by far the most fun mini game in the previous titles, is so abysmally bad now? One frickin level, this wierd “Option Ball” thing, and what feels like a wind factor without any sort of on-screen wind indicator? How do you manage to take a great game and make it so terrible? By getting rid of the power-ups and other stuff that made the game so interesting.
Luckily, there are some bright spots. Monkey Wars is fun, even if my wife hated it. Two handed independent controls are just too much for her to get her head around. But by far, the most entertaining game was Monkey Darts. That’s right ... darts. You don’t have to, but we held the Wiimote like an actual dart, and you basically make a quick stabbing motion at the screen to fling the dart. The IR receiver in the Wiimote can sense depth from the screen (sensor bar, really) and you can actually see your dart hovering there in 3D space before you throw it. You can play Countdown, 301, or 501, and it’s an absolute blast. All you really need to complete the atmosphere is a chain-smoking retiree in the corner, 80’s hair rock, some beer, and a steak that’s nothing more than charred gristle. Or maybe that’s just the places I’ve played darts.
Click to continue reading Wii: Super Monkey Ball Sucks, Excite Truck Is Boring
JoyTech announces Hunks-O-Plastic for Wii (Oh, and Charging Cradles!)
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Accessories, Hardware, Wii,
Joytech announced yesterday that they will be producing a variety of peripherals for Nintendo’s new Wii gaming console. Most of the new peripherals fall into the “big hunk o plastic” category, including a tennis racket-shaped attachment for tennis games, “protective” controller gloves, and a white steering wheel attachment similar to what will be included on Ubisoft’s GT Pro Series.
The one product of note, pictured above, is a Wii controller docking/recharging station which will feature a pop-in battery pack that charges over the console’s USB port. Now that would seem to be some great functionality - no extra power cords, plus a nifty looking stand for your Wiimotes. Nice work on that one, Joytech!
Click the jump to see the rest of Joytech’s offerings…
Click to continue reading JoyTech announces Hunks-O-Plastic for Wii (Oh, and Charging Cradles!)
Read More | MaxConsole
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