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Kotaku
Kotaku (www.kotaku.com) has great Wii news, photos, videos and more
Today
Kotaku Originals: Dog Gone
The old dog-ate-my-controller excuse got a guy out of a 5,000 Microsoft Point purchase, plus Gamertag immortality for the scape-pooch, in the No. 1 story of a news-packed week delivered by your humble editors. Rumor Xbox 360 with $100 Card for $200 This Weekend?
Nintendo Won't Commit To A 2010 Zelda
During an interview on GameTrailers TV yesterday, Nintendo of America's Reggie Fils-Aime was quizzed on whether we'd see Zelda on the Wii next year. His response? Hedge-betting. Especially when it's a "proper" Zelda game, the last one of which took about 173 years to come out.
Tales Of Vesperia Is Wii Bound?!
Popular Japanese voice actor Rikiya Koyama appears to have leaked the news that Namco Bandai role-playing-game Tales of Vesperia is Wii-bound. Ooops! Koyama voices the character of Duke in Tales of Vesperia, which was originally released as a timed Xbox 360 exclusive in 2008. The PS3 ver...
Rooms Preview: Sliding Under The Fun Fence
Platform-Specific Features: The Wii version will have a 2 player versus mode where you race each other to complete the puzzle (I assume in shortest amount of time as opposed to least number of moves). Meanwhile, the DS version will let you create your own levels to upload using Wifi for othe...
Notebook Dump: Mass Effect 2's New Helpers, A Failed Quest And More
There comes a time in the week to reflect on what got into my reporter's notebook but didn't turn into Kotaku blog posts. Shall we? Games I Got But Didn't Write About (Yet?): Hasbro Family Game Night 2 (Wii and DS), Jewel Master Egypt (DS), and three other games.
Rabbids Go Home Review: Strip-Platforming
The only game this fall that lets you shout the clothes of Santa Claus is a platformer without a jump button, a mix of Katamari Damacy and Mario, and another strong third-party original for the Wii. Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ.
Rock Band Next Week: The White Stripes
If you can't handle those restrictions, you're probably better off playing The Damned's "Smash it Up (Part II)" or Kasabian's "Club Foot," the two other songs coming to the console versions of Rock Band next week, or No Doubt's "Excuse Me Mr." and the Dropkick Murphys' "I'm Shipping Up To B...
I Would Like A Burrito Please
What you missed last night Nintendo: There Is No Wii HD Fresh Mass Effect 2 Trailers Show The Darker, Boozier Side Of The Galaxy Mass Effect 2 Impressions: Looks Better, Shoots Differently, Doesn't Overheat Two Minutes Of God Of War III Gameplay
Nintendo: There Is No Wii HD
Speaking on GameTrailers TV, Nintendo of America's Reggie Fils-Aime has, with a smile and some stern words, crushed into tiny, tiny pieces the prospect of a HD revision of the Wii. Well, that's that then! There is no Wii HD. Just...something with a different name. Nintendo On GameTrailers TV]
PSPgo Gives PlayStation A Big Slice Of Japanese Hardware Pie
PlayStation 3 sales were up considerably from the week prior, probably thanks to the release of Bayonetta in Japan, with the Wii and Xbox 360 seeing smaller percentage gains. Numbers in list form, right after this. The bestselling console hardware in Japan for the week of October 26 to Nove...
Yesterday
Nintendo Talks About Its (Possible) HD Future
Nintendo execs were asked when the company plans to make the move to high-definition graphics, joining the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in pushing more polygons, more pixels and more everything else. Not surprisingly, Nintendo is taking things cautiously, trying to find the balance betw...
Bayonetta Brushes Back Pokemon, Tops Japan's Game Charts
11. Tekken 6 (Xbox 360) 13. Wii Sports Resort (Wii) 14. Flash Precure! Asobi Collection (DS) 15. Rune Factory 2 (DS) 16. Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (DS) 21. Sin & Punishment 2 (Wii) 22. Dragon Quest IX (DS) 24. Love Plus (DS) 25. Steins Gate (Xbox 360)
Wednesday, Nov 4
Can't Stop LOLing
Domo Games Micro-Review: No Thanks, Nintendo League of Legends Review: Free, Addictive, Worthy How Many Hours People Play EA And Activision's Wii Games No Doubt Sues Activision Over Band Hero Likeness Dragon Age: Origins - PlayStation 3 Versus PC
How Many Hours People Play EA And Activision's Wii Games
The following data was pulled from the Wii's Nintendo Channel, which has collected the playing history from more than two million gamers. Kotaku tracks these numbers monthly — with a new top 10 posted yesterday. I strive to extract at least one interesting slice as a bonus. For a full explana...
PETA Doesn't Want You To Buy The Ringling Bros. Game [Protest]
Slightly shocking, I suppose, but will it probably won't keep people from buying the game. The fact that it's a Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus game for the Nintendo Wii, on the other hand, will definitely stop people from buying it.
Domo Games Micro-Review: No Thanks, Nintendo
If there's a good Nintendo and a bad Nintendo, then the release of five linked, downloadable games on the DSi represents that latter corporate personality at its worst. This is the dark side of DSiWare, from the company you might forget brought you Super Mario 64, WarioWare and Wii Sports b...
For Thirty Four Years, Kids Have Wanted Video Games For Christmas [Research]
The list provides only the single, top-selling, must-have item for the year. No room for second place here. And it shows that seven times in the past 34 years - beginning with Pong in 1975 - a video game or games console has come in at #1. Bump that number up to eight if you count 1999's Pokemon, own...
Tuesday, Nov 3
Never Gonna Give You Up... [Note]
Xbox 360 with $100 Card for $200 This Weekend? Console Arcade, DJ Hero, Rock Band Set for Colorado Child's Play Fundraiser The 10 Most Avidly-Played Wii Games In America (As Of Nov 1) Review Round-Up: Tekken, Forza, GTA And More Dedication To Dedicated Servers Earns EA At Least 60 Bucks
Nintendo Thinks WiiWare Demos Might Be A Good Idea [Wii]
Nintendo president Satoru Iwata says that Nintendo is planning to test downloadable demos of some WiiWare games, a program that should kick off—in Japan at least—later this month. That's...
Rabbids Developers Remembered Wii's Neglected Features [Wii]
The Controller Speaker: Did you remember that your Wii Remote has a speaker and that developers, if they have the time and money and desire, can use it to produce sounds from the Remote? The team behind this week's Ubisoft platformer, Rabbids Go Home, did.
Is Konami Going To "ReBirth" Jackal On Wii? [Rumor]
But Jackal? The 1986 arcade game and its handful of console/PC ports didn't quite share the same success of its Konami created peers. It was a decent game, but not the type of Konami revival some of us are pining for. We've contacted Konami to see if they'd like to comment. We'll update if they do.
The 10 Most Avidly-Played Wii Games In America (As Of Nov 1)
The Nintendo Channel is properly calculating and reporting player data again and so I can provide this month's look at Wii gaming usage without last month's asterisks. The stats on the chart are up to date as of the first of November. Tomorrow, as usual, I'll have a closer look at a slice of som...
But Was This Cat Game Event Really A Disaster? [Ruh-roh]
But all wasn't lost! Some sites are reporting that the actual event packed in some people, that the early pics unfairly represented the event. There is an audience for cat mini-games on the Nintendo Wii. Everything is just fine. なんか物哀しい… 初週100本『女番社長レナWii』の体験会の様子 [はちま起稿]
My Mail Got Nerfed [Swag Report]
I do recall playing this game at PAX 2009 while I waited in line for an APB demo. The consoles for it happened to be set up close enough to the line for the PR rep to lean over and let us take turns shooting virtual Nerf darts at targets and robots. I was sort of "meh" about the whole thing (but totally...
Monday, Nov 2
Behold The Single-Player Fighting Game [Ds]
After I checked out the new Matt Hazard game last week, a rep from that game's publisher, D3, let me try the company's Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight fighting games. There's one coming to the Wii, one to the DS, both based on a several-decades-old Japanese series that has a Power Rangers aesthet...
WWE Smackdown Vs. Raw 2010 Review: A Game For Smart People
WWE Smackdown Vs. Raw 2010 was developed by Yukes and published by THQ for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS and Wii on October 20. Retails for $59.99 USD on the home consoles. An copy of the game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes....
The Nintendo Download: Vikings, Dragons, Spaceships, And Street Fighters
Eight new games drop today across Nintendo's WiiWare, Virtual Console, and DSiWare platforms, running the gamut from snapshot editing to the original Street Fighter. We'll just go ahead and declare the Virtual Console the winner and move on to the official descriptions. WiiWare Virtua...
Sunday, Nov 1
Week in Games: Harvest Season [New Releases]
This week's count: 16 for Wii, 15 for DS, 10 for Xbox 360, seven for PS3, four for PC, three for PS3, two for PSP. Today (Nov. 1) Doc Louis's Punch-Out!! (Wii) Rabbids Go Home (DS, Wii) Wednesday (Nov. 4) Yoga for Wii (Wii) Agatha Christie: The ABC Murders (DS)
Latest Wiimote Attachment: Baby [Oh Baby]
Fans of hardcore child-rearing sims will no doubt find 505 Games' Wii-exclusive "Baby and Me" to be a day-one purchase this year, promising a revolutionary new peripheral in which you stick a Wiimote inside a baby. Baby and Me Special Edition Puts Everything Else to Shame [Aussie-Ninten...
Saturday, Oct 31
Kotaku Originals: T&A [Original]
Bayonetta Xbox 360 Selling Out? So, Shigeru Miyamoto Got A Cat Wii And DS Games From Non-Nintendo Companies Nintendo Announces Its Upcoming Wii Games Nintendo Announces Its Upcoming Nintendo DS Games Nintendo DS Sales Reach 113 Million, Wii Sales 56 Million Nintendo Profits Plunge
Friday, Oct 30
LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias Micro Review: A Pleasant Gust of Fun
LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias was developed and published by Frontier Developments for WiiWare on October 19th. Retails for 1000 Wii Points. A copy of the game was purchased using WiiPoints provided by Nintendo of America for reviewing purposes. Completed game.
No Other Platforms Planned For Disney Epic Mickey... Anymore [Warren Spector]
At that time we were talking about a Wii port and I was begging people - no, we can't just port to the Wii, it's not going to work. It needs to be its own game. A lot of the design ideas just won't work on the Wii, we need to give the Wii its dues. Graham looked at me and said 'What do you think about a Wii exc...
Nintendo Announces Its Upcoming Wii Games
Besides DS games, Nintendo has also announced a list of upcoming Wii titles for Japan, the US and Europe. As with the DS games, most likely this is not a complete list, so do not read it as such. Nintendo notes that titles are release dates are subject to change.
Wednesday, Oct 28
Spector Tells Us How Disney Epic Mickey Will Challenge Gamers
In December 2007, Spector wrote on his blog about how much he would love to create a game based on Pullman's Golden Compass. At the time he was already in the midst of working on Disney Epic Mickey, he said. The initial concept for the Wii-exclusive game was born at Disney Interactive Studios'...
Tuesday, Oct 27
New Xbox/PS3 Madden Was Born On The Wii [Impressions]
The EA representatives who recently showed Kotaku Madden NFL Arcade, a five-on-five simplified version of a pro football game, said that a mode that is fun on Nintendo's platform just had to be shared with other console audiences. It comes to Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network l...
Sunday, Oct 25
Avatar Wii Preview: Environmentalism Commando
The build I saw was pretty early days, but Ubisoft says the game is on track to come out a couple of weeks before the film's release in December. Note: This image appears to be from either the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 version — but it shows off both the bird you'll be flying and the helicopter at w...
Friday, Oct 23
Marvel Super Hero Squad Review: This One Is For The Brats
Marvel Super Hero Squad was developed by Blue Tongue and published by THQ for the Wii on October 20th. Retails for $39.99 USD. Additional versions exist for the PSP, PS2, and Nintendo DS. A copy of the game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes. Played through story mode and play...
Tuesday, Oct 20
A Boy And His Blob Review: The Zero Nostalgia Version
A Boy and His Blob was developed by WayForward Technologies and published by Majesco for the Wii on October 13th. Retails for $39.99 USD. A copy of the game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes. Completed the game proper and played through at least half of the bonus challenge l...
Bakugan Battle Brawlers Review: Almost There
Bakugan Battle Brawler was developed by NOW Production and published by Activision for the DS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii and Xbox 360 on Oct. 20. Retails for $49.99 USD. A copy of the game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes. Played the campaign mode for six hours and m...
Monday, Oct 19
Opinion: NPD Instant Analysis: Things You Should Note [Npd]
Music Game Platform Choices Juggle: A lot of people are rightly focusing on the September victory of The Beatles: Rock Band over Guitar Hero 5. That's interesting. But here's another twist. Last year, Guitar Hero: World Tour launched in November 2008 with the Wii version as the top-seller (...
Halo 3: ODST Beats Out Madden, Mario & Marvel To Win September [Npd]
01. Halo 3: ODST (Xbox 360) - 1,520,000 02. Wii Sports Resort (Wii) - 442,900 03. Madden NFL 10 (Xbox 360) - 298,600 05. The Beatles: Rock Band (Xbox 360) - 254,000 07. Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 (Xbox 360) - 236,000 09. Guitar Hero 5 (Xbox 360) - 210,800
Good Advice: Don't Work Out Like A Progammer
I wasn't jabbing and hooking, Wii Remote and Nunchuk in hands, with gusto. I was, I didn't realize, just making short moves. The new EA fitness game doesn't support the Wii add-on, but it does have a host of other features to distinguish it from its recent predecessor, June's EA Sports Active.
Sunday, Oct 18
Week in Games: Run for the Border [New Releases]
CSI 5 (PC, Wii, 360) FIFA Soccer 10 (DS, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, 360, iPhone) Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (PSP, iPhone) iCarly (DS, PC, Wii) Jam Sessions 2 (DS) Marvel Super Hero Squad (DS, PS2, PSP, Wii) Medieval Games (Wii) Mountain Sports (Wii) Water Sports (Wii)
Friday, Oct 16
A Week In Comments [Hyper Multi-tap]
Black Wii Remote and Nunchuk Price For U.S. Comment by: MrBangBam Nominated by: VinceNotVance This just in: Scientists across the nation have studied and found out that the black remote is only, in average, only half an inch inch longer than the white remote.
Move Along [Note]
Zombie Apocalypse Micro-Review: Paint the Town Red A Fully-Functioning MotionPlus Wii Remote Mass Effect 2 Dated For January, Preorder Bonuses Abound Axel & Pixel Micro-Review: A Puzzling Combination Castlevania's Igarashi Involved In WiiWare Rebirth, Secret Stuff
Wii, PS3 Sales In Dead Heat In Japan [Console Taisen]
A curious tie, we suppose, as Wii Sports Resort and Wii Fit Plus continue to sell better than the PlayStation 3 competition. But less curious is the continued dominance of the Nintendo DSi and PSP, both doing just fine on the software and hardware front.
Thursday, Oct 15
Old News '96: Nintendo Also Increasing Storage Capacity, Hopefully, Maybe [Nintendo]
The PlayStation 3 may be expanding to 250 Gigabytes in the United States next month, but a mere 13 years ago Nintendo was working on its own storage expansion. A whole 64MB more storage capacity was coming. With Zelda. That was a big deal, because Sony had charmed the market with its CD-based Pl...
Bakugan Training Camp Invades Toys R Us [Event]
The Oct. 17 event will give players a chance to check out the game, due out on on Oct. 20 for the DS, Playstation 2, Playstation 3, Wii and Xbox 360. Attendees will also get a chance to try their hand at the "Maxus Challenge" where they can compete for a chance to receive ability cards and other priz...
Tuesday, Oct 13
Ju-on: The Grudge Review: The Curse Of The Movie Game
Ju-on: The Grudge was developed by Feelplus and published by XSEED Games for the Wii. Released on October 13 for $30 USD. A copy of the game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes. Played all four levels in the game, plus the courage test with a second player periodically mashin...
Sunday, Oct 11
Week in Games: Amöng Greatness [New Releases]
Monday (Oct. 12) Cars Race-O-Rama (DS, PS2, PS3, PSP, 360, Wii) Dreamkiller (PC) Gravitronix (Wii) NBA 2K10 (PC) Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky (DS) Squeeballs Party (DS, Wii) Friday (Oct. 16) Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter (DS, Wii) Tropico 3 (PC, 360)
NBA 2K10 Review: Ball, You — Man!
NBA 2K10 was developed by Visual Concepts published by 2K Sports for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC and Wii. Retails for $59.99 USD (PS3 and 360) and $49.99 (Wii and PC). A copy of the game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes. Played all singleplayer game types and tested multipla...
Thursday, Oct 8
Show Us Your Wii History [Wii]
I'll show you which nine games (and non-games) have gotten the most play time on my Nintendo console. Mind sharing yours? I had 91 Wii, WiiWare and Wii channels logged in the system. Here are my top nine, followed by the necessary explanation/justification/damage-control.
Wednesday, Oct 7
Frankenreview: Wii Fit Plus [Round Up]
Nintendo has been very careful to call Wii Fit a fitness "tool" not a fitness "solution" for obvious legal reasons. Neither Wii Fit nor its successor, Wii Fit Plus, will magically make you thinner or more easily able to resist tasty food. However, there's a lot to be said for a game that makes t...
The Ten Most Avidly-Played Wii Games In America (As Of Oct 1) [Wii]
Every month Kotaku tracks the games that get the most love, per user, on the Wii, but the stats are frozen this month. Not our fault! I'll refrain for deeper analysis on the numbers until Nintendo fixes them. I will have a more personal take on the numbers tomorrow.
Monday, Oct 5
Frankenreview: Dead Space Extraction
When a major Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 title makes the trip to the Nintendo Wii, you generally expect a watered-down version of the original game. Not so with Dead Space Extraction, which presents an entirely new chapter in the sci-fi survival horror experience, complimenting the origi...
Wii Fit Plus Review: Now I’m A Believer
Wii Fit Plus was developed by Nintendo EAD and published by Nintendo for the Wii on October 4. The full kit with the Balance Board costs $100, but if you already own the Balance Board, you can get the box copy for $20. A copy of the game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes. Played...
Spyborgs Review: Not-So-Heavy Metal
Spyborgs was developed by Bionic Games and published by Capcom for the Wii on September 22nd. Retails for $39.99 USD. A copy of the game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes. Completed the game on Hard, and played a couple of hours of co-op on casual.
Thursday, Oct 1
No Graphical Complaints From This Wii Developer [UPDATE]
Capcom's developers have rendered a lot of detailed visuals with the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, but Tsujimoto declined to question the power of Nintendo's system. "There will always be some limitations no matter which system you are working with," he said. "Oddly, we didn't have anythin...
Dead Space Extraction Review: Frighteningly Good
What they'd tell you in a catalog is that Dead Space Extraction is the Wii prequel to last year's PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 sci-fi horror hit Dead Space. They'd write that it is a shooter that runs on rails and is rendered in the first-person, can be played with a light gun and that looks and sou...
Saturday, Sep 19
Kotaku Originals: Bundles of Joy [Original]
Console Price Drops and Bundles Europe Getting Four More Bundles For The 250GB PS3 Microsoft Releasing 250GB Xbox 360 For Modern Warfare 2 [Update] Toys R Us Ad Points To $199 Wii Price Drop This Month Halo 3: ODST Gets A 360 Bundle Announcements Calling All Readers: Kotaku Party In Tokyo
Wednesday, Sep 2
The Ten Most Avidly-Played Wii Games In America (As Of September 1)
A new month brings a notable re-shuffling of the 10 games most avidly played on the Nintendo Wii. Animal Crossing and Call of Duty climb — and did you notice that only four of these games are made by Nintendo? As always, I'll break out some more Wii numbers in the coming days. Expect the next Top 1...
Thursday, Aug 27
How To Install The Homebrew Channel On Your Wii [Wii]
Previously, you needed a copy of Twilight Princess to get this working, but with a recent system update, Nintendo closed that loophole. Not to worry. A new one has come along! Hack Your Wii for Homebrew without Twilight Princess [Lifehacker]
Saturday, Aug 15
Kotaku Originals: Annual Affairs [Original]
The week in original reporting on Kotaku: Sega Sega: Impossible To Please All Sonic Fans With One Sonic Game Sega Will Celebrate Dreamcast's 10th Anniversary Quietly Sega: Bayonetta Was Delayed To Avoid November Danger Sega Updates Us On Wii Strategy, Aliens, "Sega-ness"
Thursday, Aug 6
The Ten Most Avidly-Played Wii Games In America (As Of August 1) [Wii]
Where's all this from? (AKA an explanation of the above chart for stat junkies only): In a move somewhat surprising for the generally secretive company, Nintendo makes all of this data public. Any Wii owner can download the Nintendo Channel to their Wii and begin browsing for games. Any gam...
Monday, Jul 27
Little King's Story Review: So Creative, So Hostile
At last, a Japanese role-playing game on Wii that can spark thoughts of Pikmin and Psychonauts. But it's also the first game to make this mild-mannered reviewer angrily throw his controller in about a decade. Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ
Sunday, Jul 26
Opinion: Punch-Out Devs Talk Graphics, Difficulty, Nixed Princess Peach Idea
Credit for the inclusion of a certain famous Nintendo character as an opponent, however, came from an executive at Nintendo of America, with support from Next Level. Tanabe revealed to Kotaku that he had a different idea for who to include from Nintendo's library of icons: "Princess Peac...
Wii Sports Resort Review: More Motion in the Ocean [Review]
With a dozen sports and a total of two dozen ways to play them, Wii Sports Resort pack in the play with mostly fun games. You'd think that Wii Sports and Wii Play would have exhausted the minigame catalog for the Wii, but these mostly new games are a worthwhile addition to anyone's Wii. Even with...
Monday, Jun 29
The Conduit Review: A Bland, But Enjoyable Shooter
But the Wii-exclusive first-person shooter hopes to win gamers over not with its plot and known voice talent, but its nuanced controls and solid multiplayer gaming. With the ability to tweak every control in the game, from HUD layout to motion controls, High Voltage Software seems to be g...
Wednesday, Jun 24
Let's Tap Review: Rhythm Limbo [Review]
Had Let's Tap been released as a Wii launch title, it may have gotten a little more attention for its abilities to showcase what Nintendo's motion controller is capable of. Don't let Let's Tap get lost in the mini-game crowd if you're looking for something unique, something clearly not pho...
Tuesday, Jun 23
Opinion: Leaving Second Grade [Note]
Despite Gaming Success, Apple Not Ready To Call iPhone A Game Platform Fifty-Seven Flights Up With New Super Mario Bros. Wii Wii Sports Resort Preview: Motion Game Of The Year? Feet-On With Wii Fit Plus' Wacky New Balance Games The Little Things Noticed At Our Nintendo Demos
Wednesday, Jun 10
EA Sports Looking To Amazon, "Mommy Bloggers," Not Metacritic For Wii Reviews
We're not going to Kotaku or Operation Sports on this one, we're going to Amazon," Moore tells Gamasutra. "The thing is with the Wii, it seems to be for the gaming sites, it's the last platform they review." EA Sports' Moore: Metacritic Less Relevant To Wii Game Sales [Gamasutra]
Tuesday, May 19
Punch-Out!! Review: Call It A Comeback
No Classic Controller Support: The game supports simple Wii Remote controls, but not the option to use the more comfortable Classic Controller, with its larger directional pad and buttons. That's disappointing, as is the reliance on the Wii Remote to point for all menu choices, but that...
Monday, May 18
Opinion: The Nintendo Download: A Milestone Marked By Majora's Mask [Downloadables]
We've struck a major milestone in this week's Nintendo Download, as The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask becomes the 300th game to grace the Wii Virtual Console. As always, check out the official description of the titles from Nintendo below.
Thursday, May 7
Klonoa Review: Do Hew Wahoo?
Perfectly Unmessed With: With the exception of a handful of improvements, most notably the vastly improved graphics and a level-mirroring "Reverse Mode," Klonoa for Wii remains extremely faithful to the PlayStation original. The game can be played with a quartet of control schemes—W...
Wednesday, Apr 29
Opinion: A Reminder Of How Small A Group "We, Gamers" Are [Wii]
People like us talk a lot about video games. We read the news, scour forums, watch trailers, download screenshots. But a piece on Gamasutra reminds us how small a part of the market "we" are. GamePlan: MadWorld Demonstrates Tenuous Link Between Web Hype And Sales [Gamasutra]
Monday, Apr 27
Excitebots: Trick Racing Review: ***********
Excitebots: Trick Racing, Nintendo's sequel to Wii launch racer Excite Truck, makes the tenuous connection to the original Excitebike feel increasingly strained. How we arrived at transforming car-beasts doing mid-air stunts may be beyond explanation.
Monday, Apr 13
Opinion: Silent Hill: Shattered Memories – A Makeover, Not A Remake [Konami Gamers Night]
The goal, said producer Tom Hulett, is to "destroy the barrier between living room and game" by removing things that would take you out of the experience. To that end, there are no loading screens in the game and both the flashlight and the cell phone are mapped to the Wii Remote in ways that ma...
Tuesday, Apr 7
Opinion: So, How Many Wii Games Are Any Good?
Let's find out! Just like they did for both Xbox 360 and PS3 games, market research firm EEDAR have rounded out the trilogy by tracking every Wii game's Metacritic score and found how much of the system's catalogue has been a hit with critics, and how much of it hasn't.
Sunday, Mar 22
MadWorld Review: Simple Jack [Review]
Deadly Nunchuk: It helps that the use of the Wii remote is mostly so intelligent, not to mention so forgiving. Almost everything you do works without a struggle and the controller is mapped wisely enough to feel almost instinctive. Headbutting, for example, is curiously fun with the Nunch...
Wednesday, Feb 18
EA Brings Motion Plus To Tiger Woods, Tennis
Think of the applications that will most benefit from Nintendo's Motion Plus for the Wii. Lightsaber fights, that's one. But golf? You, or at least your dad, will go bananas for it. So get ready for bananas, then, because EA just revealed (courtesy of an invitation email) that next year's ite...
Monday, Jan 19
Opinion: Welcome To the Family: A Letter From Nintendo's Cammie Dunaway [Letter To The Editor]
Welcome to the Family is a series of three letters that will run this week from the heads of Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo. To: New Wii owners From: Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing
Wednesday, Jan 14
Opinion: 2K Boss: Wii Market Is Full Of Crap [Craptastic]
Anyone who has browsed the Nintendo Wii section of their favorite video game retail outlet lately has to agree with 2K Games global president Christoph Hartmann - the Wii market is flooded with crap. ‘There are too many crappy games on Wii’ [MCV]
Tuesday, Dec 30
Opinion: Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars: Hardcore Returns to the Wii
Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars is one of the better Wii titles of the year. Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars was developed by Red Fly Studio and published by Gamecock. Released on December 2 for the Wii, retails for $49.99. Played through the entire campaign.
Monday, Sep 8
Week In Games: Spores
NHL 2K9 (Wii) Viva Pinata: Pocket Paradise DS (DS) Lock's Quest DS (DS) Tuesday (Sept.9) Yakuza 2 (PS2) Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI (PC) NHL 09 (360) TNA iMPACT! (360) Zoids Assault (360) Active Life: Outdoor Challenge (Wii) Hell's Kitchen (Wii) The Price is Right (Wii)
Tuesday, Aug 19
Madden ‘09 Review: It's Still a W in the Standings
Madden ‘09, developed by EA Tiburon, published by EA and released Aug. 12. Retails for $59.99. Versions available on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, Xbox, Wii, Nintendo DS and PSP. Reviewed on Xbox 360. Played singleplayer franchise mode for a complete season into the playoffs and pla...
Thursday, Jul 3
2K Confirms Borderlands for E3
2K Games has confirmed what games it'll be showing at this year's E3. The tiles include: • BioShock (PS3) • Borderlands (PC, PS3, Xbox 360) • NBA 2K9 (PS2, PS3, Xbox 360) • NHL 2K9 (PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii) • Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization (PC)
Thursday, Jun 26
When Spore PS3 Controller Creatures Rumble!
But did you know that Spore has the raw power to re-create PS3 controllers? It can even do that boomerang-looking proto-type controller. This all comes from searching "PS3" in the Sporepedia, a search that also brings up the MGS4 MkII. I haven't found a 2600 joystick in there yet. (Did find th...
Thursday, Jun 19
Mario Super Sluggers Intro
The intro to Mario Super Sluggers for the Nintendo Wii holds no real surprises to anyone who has played any of the other Mario-themed sports games Nintendo has been cranking forever. Mario and friends take a magical boat to Baseball Island, where they are forced to play baseball until they...
Friday, Jun 13
Mario Breaks From Princess Saving To Shill Some Hockey
2K Sports made kind of a big deal about the impending release of NHL 2K9 being "the first and only officially licensed NHL and NHLPA video game for Wii" but we didn't know how serious the Take-Two label was. They got Mario—yes, that Mario—to help drum up enthusiasm for video game hockey, wagg...
Wednesday, Apr 9
Nintendo Demos Mario Super Sluggers For Wii
Nintendo was light on details during the brief demo of Mario Super Sluggers, but it looks to follow previous Mario-themed sporting events, with guest appearances from a big number of Nintendo mainstays. We saw Mario, Luigi, Peach, Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, Daisy, Shy Guy,...
Wednesday, Apr 2
Peter Moore Explains Why Madden 09 Is Skipping The PC
John Madden made his first video game football appearance on the PC twenty years ago, with EA shipping on the Apple II, Commodore 64, and DOS platforms. However, Madden won't be making an appearance on the PC this year, as EA has decided to go forward with console and handheld versions only f...
Monday, Mar 17
Opinion: No Snaking For Mario Kart Wii
Big fan of snaking in Mario Kart? Brace for disappointment. Nintendo have finally called an end to the trick, with the upcoming Mario Kart Wii's cornering speed boosts to be determined by how long you can hold a powerslide, not how quickly you can waggle from left to right. From the British Of...
Thursday, Feb 21
Analyzing the Analysts, Episode Two
December 25, 2007 October 2, 2007 January 24, 2006 November 5, 2007 November 15, 2007 November 26, 2007 January 4, 2008 January 4, 2008 November 16, 2006 November 10, 2006 December 24, 2007 December 14, 2006 October 4, 2007 December 17, 2007 December 17, 2007 December 28, 2007
Wednesday, Feb 13
Opinion: Say, Did You Know How Many Wii Games Suck? [Nintendo Wii]
How awful? See above. While every console of the past eight years (sorry Dreamcast) have seen their games average around 69-71%, the average Wii score is only 64%. Which leads to much hypothesizing in the piece about reviewers not "understanding" the Wii, theories on the impact of shovelw...
Friday, Jan 11
Don't Expect Wii-mote Lightsaber Peripheral
When the Wii-mote was first announced, immediately everyone thought of one thing: the lightsaber. Apparently, Nintendo wouldn't even let Lucas Arts release its own "bat like attachments" (think lightsaber add-ons) for its talked about Wii game. The reason? Nintendo is worried about s...
Sunday, Oct 28
It's Official: Spore Coming To The Wii [Confirmed]
In a recent interview with UK's Guardian Unlimited, Will Wright has finally confirmed that a version of Spore is being developed for the Wii. And despite the different controls, Wright seems to like working on the platform. We're doing Spore on the Wii, and we did MySims. It takes signifcant...
Wednesday, Oct 24
Opinion: Capcom Exec Defends Okami On Wii, Hints At Enhancements
Given that the only port we've done to date was RE4, which has a 90+ gamerankings score and provided AMAZING value for the platform, has this really been Capcom's modus operendi such that this allegation should be leveled at us? Zack & Wiki is getting better reviews than just about any...
Wednesday, Aug 22
And The GC07 Award Nominees Are... [Everyone's A Winner]
So what if the show's just opened? Think the awards committee give a shit? They don't. They've already announced the nominees for "Best in Show" across ten categories, with the winners to be announced on Friday morning in the Leipziger Messe Press Conference room. Click through for the nom...
Thursday, Aug 2
Frankenreview, Mario Strikers Charged (Wii)
Some people call it soccer, others call it football, and most Americans just call it boring. But as the world's national pastime, kicking a ball around into a net is pretty ultimate. Combined with Nintendo's most famous characters in history, you get Mario Strikers Charged.
Thursday, Jul 12
Opinion: Hands-On With Nyko's E3 Accessories
Other accessories are the PlayStation 3 controller Nyko controller [photo], which has 6-directional motion sensing, and even a removable battery pack for external charging. It also charges via miniUSB, like the original SIXAXIS.
Tuesday, Jun 5
How To: Resident Evil 4 Wii vs Cube
So we get to pay twice to play exactly the same game with no discernable improvements except the Wii-mote? Wow, Nintendo really knows how to milk our wallets. dirkxxdiggler
Monday, Jul 31
Podcast: Sony Entitles Players to PS3 Points
Achievements. The Xbox 360's scoring systems awards players points for completing various challenges in-game. This points are then tallied on players Gamer Cards. Sony has devised its own point system to encourage players, called not "achievements," but "entitlements." Dan Hsu at Elec...
Monday, Jun 19
Podcast: Peter Moore on Wii ("Party Console"), Japan ("Price Sensitive"), J Allard ("Busy")
Peter Moore chatted up a group of journos in a recent interview at Microsoft Studios. What did he have to say before he crushed them with his 24-inch guns? The Msoft exec got some Wii hands-on at E3, dishing that "Sonic was almost built for the controller because it was so intuitive." Moore wor...
