Wii Boogie

They said they were going to do it, and now here they come. EA is catching up to the Wii train by announcing Wii Boogie with an ambiguous launch date of "by the end of 2007". Some of you might remember it being mentioned before by McMike as Wii exclusive from EA, but like so many others, I want to know more about the "boogie" part of the game and how crazy it's going to be. Are we talking Studio 54 crazy or crazy rave dancing in a country field?

"The party game will have an alien theme with customizable characters. Game play will include rhythm, dancing and singing player interaction. 'Boogie' will be a Wii-exclusive game with the usage of its unique controller capabilities."
Oh, Carnival cruise line "Hot Havannah Nights" kind of crazy. Nice. Kim Phu

Source: Kotaku

Nintendo To Ramp Up Wii Production

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, a Nintendo spokesperson has confirmed to that the company plans to increase Wii production as global demand for the console continues to outstrip supply.

Quote:
"For the first three months of this year we have been producing one million hardware units per month. We are increasing the manufacturing capacity and forecast to ship 14 million in this fiscal year to our distributors and retail customers globally," the spokesperson said.

"We have put solid production plans in place to ensure a steady flow of product through 2007. We are constantly replenishing Wii supplies however with such high demand, stock is still flying off shelves so consumers should continue to be in touch with their local retailers to confirm when new stock is arriving."

Source: maxconsole

Nintendo Wii Designer Cracks Time’s 100 Most Influential People

With the Wii the most in-demand console on the market, the mainstream media appears ready to throw more than just statistical and sales praise on Nintendo. For his part in shaping the Wii’s success, suave Shigeru Miyamoto is being highly considered by Time for the publication’s annual 100 Most Influential People list.

Despite some anger over the prolonged shortage of the Wii, most gamers – even those who haven’t been able to get their hands on the console – seem more than happy with Nintendo’s efforts in the last year. The Wii flew into the holiday ’06 season under the radar, sticking to the shadows cast by Sony’s powerful PlayStation 3. With the latter system in even shorter supply during the first weeks of release, many Christmas shoppers turned their attention to Nintendo, a somewhat unexpected move that has left PS3s on store shelves while gamers wait for Wiis.

Besides the retail reality, Miyamoto and Nintendo played a large part in the success of their most recent console. Although it hardly pushes the graphical limits set by Sony or Microsoft, the Wii features gameplay simple enough that it ushers in the much-sought after casual gamer. Yes, sports fans, girlfriends, even Moms and Dads have jumped aboard Miyamoto’s machine.

At this point, the prominent designer appears a shoe-in to make the list. He may even head it, as Miyamoto currently only trails the “Jon Stewart inspired” Steven Colbert in ratings, while sitting fourth in votes.

Voting has been taken online this year, so anyone interested in supporting Miyamoto should visit Time’s website here.

Source: Gizmo Cafe Blog

W14 Piranha Wii Shooting Gun

Want to really get in the action and feel like your really blastin heads off? well nowyou dont have to wait for the Zapper!Piranha has developed a gun called the W14 Piranha.It has a nice sleek design to it, and instead of going with the shotgun look like the zapper, theywent for the hangun (which i happen to like better). Check it out yourself!

SPECS
-Rubber coating for a better grip

-‘Plug & Play’: easy to install

-One gun for all of action

-Nice and realistic design

-Real trigger

-Nunchuk and Wiimote in one

-Safe and strong hold of your Wiimote

This gun is a perfect for for the upcoming Resident Evil titles. With Resident Evil 4 on the way in 2 months, i would consider this a smart purchase, It would enhance your gameplay and have you jumping around everywhere(i know it will make me!)

Nice Job Piranha!

Source: wiinintendo.net

Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition Pal Boxart

First Wii Exercise Trainer?

A PERSONAL trainer is helping couch-potatoes to battle the bulge - by playing video games. Zander Urquhart, 32, is thought to be the first fitness expert to adopt the Nintendo Wii as an exercise machine. Four people at a time can exercise using the Wii's unique motion-sensitive controller to mimic a tennis racket, baseball bat, golf club or boxing gloves.

A WII WORKOUT
Video games used in exercise classes
University studies suggest players can burn 125 calories during a 15-minute session.
Zander, from Glasgow, UK, got the idea after seeing a client's son playing with the console.
He said: "This five-year-old needed encouragement to do any exercise - but here he was running about for half-an-hour working up a sweat."
Zander initially targeted kids - but soon realised adults were just as keen. He said: "It's been great for adults coming back from injury and for OAPs."
Client Caroline Cassiday, 21, of Blantyre, Lanarkshire, said: "It really helped to tone me up."
A study by Liverpool John Moores University found that in an average 12.2-hour gaming week, Wii players can burn 1830 calories - shifting 27lb a year.
A Nintendo UK spokesman said: "We're not aware of anyone else doing this but it shows what the Wii can be used for."
BURNING CALORIES
According to statistics released by Food Magazine, calories burned using a Nintendo Wii for 15 to 20 minutes compare favourably with other forms of exercise.
Aerobic dancing - medium intensity, equivalent to jogging - 130
Cycling on flat ground - 125
Playing golf - 100
Playing tennis - 140
Playing football - 140

Source: Wiivolution

Wii Opera browser Final build - details

Flash - Version 7 (Version 7.0 r68)
QuickTime - False
RealPlayer - False
Windows Media - False
JavaScript - Version 1.5
Shockwave - False
Opera - 9.10
SSL Enabled - False
Display Width - 800
Display Height - 664
iFrames - True

Source: Wiinintendo.net

Final Internet Channel Released

Nintendo has released the final version of the Internet Channel for the Wii. Created by Opera, the Internet Channel allows the user to surf the internet from the comfort of their sofa via the TV screen.

Although previously released in beta form, the Internet Channel is now concidered to be complete, and is available for free download unit 30th June 2007 after downloading a small update for your Wii. After June, the Internet Channel will be available to purchase for 500 Wii Points.

The new version appears to be a lot more flexible, with customisable features such as setting the controls bar to hide, much smoother scrolling and zooming functionality, and quicker launch time.

Source: WiiDS

Hands-on Spider-Man 3 for Wii

from ign

Spider-Man 3 for Wii is a quick and dirty port of the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 game of the same name, you've got it all wrong. What most people don't realize - not even die-hard Nintendo fans - is that software house Vicarious Visions has designed the Wii build totally separately from the others and it is more or less a ground-up project complete with original content, unique controls, and individual mission structures. In short, it's different and it actually has been tailor-made for Wii. The question is, does that make it any good?

Spider-Man 3 for Wii does share something in common with its next-generation counterparts: they both follow the general story arch of the upcoming feature film directed by Sam Raimi. To that end, Spidey will don the black suit and battle against such foes as the Sandman and the New Goblin (hey, that's what he's called, from what we can tell.) But whereas the other titles set you on a somewhat linear story path and only enable you to wear the black suit during certain missions, you can go dark at any point in the Wii version of the title. There will, however, be consequences, which we'll get to below. In addition to the primary story arch, the Wii game boasts three additional tales with more enemies. In one, you'll fight against Morbius and in another you'll come face-to-face with Shriek. Oh, and the Lizard is waiting to eat Spidey for lunch, too. Vicarious Visions called in all the original actors to record original voice-work for the title.

Read more

Manhunt 2 Wii Boxart

The boxart for Manhunt 2 on the Wii.

Official Mass Storage USB for Wii?

With many people complaining about the small size of the 512MB internal memory of Nintendo's Wii and the current lack of compatibility between the system and external USB storage devices, there appears to be good news on the horizon. An official Press Release has gone out from eSOL, Ltd, stating that its leading embedded middleware products, "PrFILE2" FAT file system and "PrUSB/Host" USB host stack, have been selected by Nintendo for use with the Wii console.

Both software products constitute fundamental functionalities in the Wii console - managing and transferring data and files with external media. In particular, PrFILE2 provides file management functions that read and write data from SD memory cards, as well as other media. PrUSB/Host functions are used in Wii, to provide USB host functions.

"I am very happy that we could take part in the development for Wii, a new game console from Nintendo. I believe that our products were selected because Nintendo highly-valued our long, successful history with many digital consumer products and high-reliability and functionality based on that. We will continue to provide superior products and technical services to strongly support developers in embedded software development."- Nobuyuki Ueyama, Executive Vice President, Embedded Products Division at eSOL.

So could this finally be the answer we have all been looking for when it comes to downloading lots of Virtual Console games?

Source: Cubed3

Nights to use the Forecast Channel

from wiinintendo.net:

Sega has had some very cool announcements about the new Nights game to be released for Wii. The most exciting of these is that it will implement the use of the Wii Forecast Channel the change the game scenery based on the real world conditions! The game will also utilize the Wii internet connection allowing players to exchange items (sort of like Castlevania: POR on DS?)

Personally I’ve began to lose faith in Sega franchise games here recently. Sonic just hasn’t been doing it for me. I hope they really put some effort in this game and turn things around.

Resident Evil 4 OFFICIAL!!

from wiinintendo.net:

The Wii version of Resident Evil 4 was confirmed earlier today for inclusion in the elite “Worst Kept Secrets” club as Famitsu spilled the beans on the title in its latest issue. The Famitsu report comes following the game’s appearance in retailer databases on two continents.

Titled Biohazard 4 Wii Edition in Japan (the RE series is known as Biohazard in its home country), this update promises full Wiimote support. The Wiimote is used to aim a targeting cursor in order to target and fire at your enemies. To reload, you hold down on the B trigger and shake the Wiimote. In case you were wondering, the built-in speaker is being programmed with a reload sound effect.

The Wiimote is also used for close-range attacks. When an enemy approaches, all you have to do is give the Wiimote a little of the shake-shake. The game automatically detects the direction of the enemy and makes Leon perform a knife attack. This move can also be used against trees and barrels.

The rest of the game has also been modified to take account of the Wii’s unique controller. Interactive event scenes display the Wii buttons when prompting for input. Some events require that you shake the Wiimote.

The producers of the Wii version revealed to Famitsu that one of their goals is to allow families who play the Wii together to experience Resident Evil. The game will include “Easy” and “Amateur” difficulty settings, selectable from the start, that will make aiming easier and keep your life from depleting too fast.

Even if you’re a RE pro, you’ll probably want to take a look at the Wii version, especially if you didn’t try out the PS2 version of the game. All the bonus elements that made it into the PS2 version are being included in the Wii release. That includes the “The Another Order” sequence, where you play as Ada.

And on top of all that is a first look at Umbrella Chronicles! A trailer for the first original Wii entry in the Resident Evil series (be sure and check out our separate preview) will be included with RE4 Wii Edition.

RE4 is set for Japanese Wii release on 5/31. While it hasn’t officially been announced outside of Japan yet, its appearance in retailer databases late last week suggests that Wii players everywhere will get to experience this Capcom classic through a new control scheme.
Awesome, its final! I cant wait to be shootin up some zombies with my wii-mote!

Metroid Prime 3 Delayed Until After June

from wiinintendo.net:

Reggie Fils-Aime recently made a very predictable announcement. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption will not be released until after June this year. The question of the day is how long after June?

My guess is we probably won’t see Metroid Prime 3 until near the next holiday season. It’s a shame but if it includes an awesome online gameplay system and it really pushes the Wiis graphics to a new level then maybe it will be worth the wait.

Reggie also commented that Metroid Prime 2 had disappointing sales and wants the next game to be the best in the series. Honestly, I thought the first two Metroid Prime games were stellar and if the second Prime didn’t sell it was probably due to lack of interest in the Gamecube and not the game itself. Anyone here play Metroid Prime 2 and find it disappointing?

WiiHelm - Look Ma! No Hands!!

So I receive my usual email update from ThinkGeek and what do I see... This weird "thing" called the WiiHelm! Again... another product for which I just HAVE TO ask: "WHY?!"

from ThinkGeek:

The Nintendo Wii has surely revolutionized gaming as we know it. Rabid fanboys everywhere are now flailing their arms in delight as they wield the Wiimote as a tennis racket, baseball bat or sword. Problem is the average gaming geek is just not up to the strenuous task of vigorous arm movement for longer than 10 minutes. This makes those extended play sessions a thing of the past... and who wants to beef up at the gym just to play video games on your couch? We sure don't.

Fortunately for cream puffs everywhere the WiiHelm is now available at ThinkGeek. Simply lock your existing Wiimote into the stylish white helmet and free your hands for relaxation... or other important tasks. After extensive scientific study it was found that manipulating muscles in your neck for 10 minutes uses 64% less energy than waving your arms about like a lunatic. The WiiHelm works great with all of your favorite Wii games and the included foot pedal allows easy button presses using minimal toe effort. Plus the amazing Wiimote Saf-T-Lok technology and double reinforced head strap save you thousands of dollars in damaged flat-screen repair charges.

Product Features
Helmet based Wii Controller housing allows effortless handsfree game play
Perfect for Wii sports and works with all your favorite Wii games*
Frees your hands for other important tasks like eating, scratching, beer drinking, petting your dog or cat, nose picking and unwrapping birthday gifts
4 frontal LEDs illuminate your surroundings while gaming in the basement at 3 am
Included Foot Pedals have all Wiimote Buttons, mapped to strategic toe areas
No danger of throwing Wiimote into TV with the WiiHelm's Saf-T-Lok technology
Includes: WiiHelm, Foot pedals, Cables, and Instruction Manual
Manufacturer Limited Warranty: 1 year

Joytech Power Station has arrived!

Got my Joytech Power Station yesterday. Love it! Looks neat and very nicely done! Not so sure about the way you're supposed to place the nunchuck but anyway...

WOW! Been a while...

Yeah... I'm still alive. Been another crazy, CRAZY month, mostly with work. Haven't had ANY time (nor energy) to do much. Wanna see how long it's been since I touched my Wii?!

Notice this post's date and compare it with the screencap of my last save of Zelda!!! That's insane, I know!!