Archive for the ‘Wii’ Category
Nintendo: New Super Mario Bros Wii
June 3rd, 2009 by Sean
Below is a video from E3 2009 showing the world premiere announcement and demonstration of the new Nintendo Wii game, “New Super Mario Bros Wii”:
The actual gameplay demonstration starts around 1:45 in the video.
What I’m really excited about in this game is the ability for up to 4 players to cooperatively play together in a classic Super Mario Bros setting.
We can expect the “New Super Mario Bros Wii” game to be launched in Christmas 2009. I’ll be pre-ordering for sure.
Posted in Industry News, Nintendo, Videos, Wii
Nintendo Mario Kart Wii Used In Driver’s Ed
May 19th, 2009 by Sean
Students at Vail Christian High School in Colorado are learning the importance of not driving while distracted. They’re doing this with the help of Mario Kart Wii.
The high school created the “distracted and drowsy driving project” with the help of the Eagle County Sheriff’s Department, the Colorado State Patrol, the Eagle Country Fire Fighters and the Vail Valley Medical Center.
The kids “drive” Mario Kart Wii while trying to contend with text messages, turtle shells and powerslides.
Source: 9NEWS.com
Nintendo Wii: Punch-Out!!
May 10th, 2009 by Sean
Now, with a little over a week between us and Little Mac’s ringside return in Punch-Out!! for the Wii, he’s getting back in shape with a bit of help from his bike riding den mother, Doc Louis:
For 15 years Little Mac has regretted losing the World Circuit Title to King Hippo, but now he’s throwing a welcome home party and he’s serving up some punch.
They say a comeback is like a yo-yo… you gonna go down, but you coming right back up… then you may end up walking the dog.
– Doc Louis
I’m really looking forward to the release of Punch-Out for the Nintendo Wii.
Until then, I’ll just have to play my classic Nintendo NES cartridge and get warmed up for the Wii version.
Nintendo Wii: MotionPlus Support
April 15th, 2009 by Sean
Do you think that – like trophy support on the Sony PS3 – there is scope on the Wii for the new MotionPlus technology to be introduced for older games?
Don’t be so optimistic. Responding to speculation that developers would be doing just that, Nintendo have told GameDaily:
“The Wii MotionPlus accessory is only for games that are designed to make use of its abilities.”
Now, that’s not a “no, not ever, never” but it’s certainly not promising. It also seemed like a very negative tone.
So if you were quietly hoping Nintendo’s MotionPlus would improve, say, the putting in Wii Golf, you might be better off trying to enjoy them for what they are, not what they could be.
Source: GameDaily
Posted in Game Development, Nintendo, Wii
Wii 4.0 Firmware Update: SD Card Menu
April 9th, 2009 by Sean
This might be old news to a few modern classic gamers, but I just found this out moments ago when I fired up my Nintendo Wii.
Nintendo recently released a Wii firmware update that now solves the storage issue of the Wii by adding a new SD Card Menu that allows you to do the following:
- Store more—Add more Wii storage using SD Cards or the high capacity SDHC Card format (up to 32GB)
- Improved SD Card support—launch WiiWare titles, Virtual Console games, or channels directly from an SD/SDHC Card
- Let your Wii console move games and channels to an SD/SDHC Card with Auto Manage when system memory fills up
- Download titles from the Wii Shop Channel to Wii system memory or directly to an SD/SDHC Card
This is so awesome! I currently have a 2GB SD card for my Wii because until this firmware update, Wii’s only supported a max of 2GB.
I really like that you can now launch channels saved on SD Cards by temporarily utilizing the Wii System Memory.
If your system memory is full, you still have to delete stuff, but there’s now a streamlined, automated process to do that from this new SD Card Menu. It will even choose stuff for you, if you want.
As mentioned by Nintendo, the new Wii system update also adds support for SDHC cards up to 32 GB — that’s a ton of Virtual Console games folks.
Even though we now have support for huge SD cards, I won’t be running out and purchasing a 32GB SD card anytime soon since they are still around $100.00 USD, but this is still great news for Wii owners.
Posted in Nintendo, Virtual Console, Wii
Nielsen’s Revised Video Game Market Chart
April 9th, 2009 by Sean
Remember that study of video gamer habits Nielsen released earlier this week showing the Wii in third place and the Playstation 3 in seventh, last even after the GameCube and original Xbox? It was wrong.
Fast Company reports that they’ve been told that the graph was mislabeled. The real graph, which now appears in the official report and in the image above, shows that the Wii is in second place, after the PS2, for console usage and the PS3 is in fifth place, beating out the GameCube and original Xbox.
Whoops. I hope there aren’t any other mistakes in the oft-cited, typically trusted data. Reached for comment this morning, a Nielsen representative said the report does not contain any other errors.
Source: Fast Company
Posted in Industry News, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360
Report: Average Game Console Usage
April 8th, 2009 by Sean
The Nielsen group has released a new report on usage of the three major consoles.
Coming as little surprise, Nielsen’s study has placed Wii in dead last, with the average player using the console 6.8 percent of the time during Nielsen’s study in December, 2008.
During that same period, those involved in the study played Xbox 360 10.2 percent and PS3 10.6 percent — nearly double the Wii average. Clearly, the average gamer doesn’t have the endurance necessary for long-term waggling.
Nintendo Wii also ranked the lowest in average days used over the course of the study, with users only partaking an average of 5 days.
The Sony PS3 ranked second place, with users spending an average of 6.8 days days, which leaves us with Xbox 360, the top dog in this category with an average of 7.1 days.
Lastly, Nielsen tracked the daily average number of sessions, and, again, Wii was last with 1.78 sessions, whereas the Xbox 360 and PS3 had much higher averages of 2.15 and 2.74 sessions, respectively.
So, the question is, how would you rank your gaming console usage?
Source: Nielsen report
Posted in Industry News, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360
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GameStop Mission – Guitar Hero: Metallica
March 30th, 2009 by Sean
So early Sunday morning (March 29) I picked up my pre-ordered copy of Guitar Hero: Metallica from my local GameStop.
My friend Mik came over early, we headed out to the Game Stop to get in line since I’d be getting a free kick pedal for some double bass action and rumor had it that stores would have a very limited supply.
We arrive at GameStop and no one is waiting outside the store. We are first. After a few minutes, others show up, some even wearing Metallica shirts. It was like waiting for a Metallica concert.
After about 30-40 minutes, the management opens the doors and we rush into the store. I’m first to the cash register. They have two lines. I start to pay the balance for the game and hear the other cashier say to the guy next to me:
“Well you are lucky and getting only one of seven pedals we were shipped for the Guitar Hero Metallica pre-release…”
Hearing that I might not get a free kick pedal for pre-ordering, my heart skipped a beat and I quickly reply with:
“So that means I get one of six pedals right?”
The funny thing is at the exact moment, my cashier reaches into the box and pulls one out for me. Sweet! Thanks for looking out Ashley I’m thinking.
Apparently there was a total of 44 pre-orders done at my local GameStop and they only received 7 kick pedals. That’s just crazy. There are going to be some pissed off Guitar Hero gamers that’s for sure.
Now having my new Guitar Hero Metallica in hand (and free kick pedal) for my Xbox 360, we head back to my house for some guitar solos and heavy hitting power chords capable of turning even the sturdiest fingers into tiny puddles of red goo. Heavy Metal at it’s finest!
Needless to say Mik and I played Guitar Hero Metallica for hours yesterday. It’s probably one of the best releases of Guitar Hero to date. Thanks Activision.
I’ll have a full review of the game in the coming days once I finish Riding the lightning and beating the game. So far it’s pretty awesome and even on easy, some of the older Metallica songs are pretty finger intensive, just ask Mik 
Posted in Console Games, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360