Here are some game deals we’ve noticed around the web today:

• Battle of the Bands, regularly $29.99, on sale for $19.85
• Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection, regularly $29.99, on sale for $19.99
• Alien Syndrome, regularly $29.99, on sale for $11.91
• Target Terror, regularly $39.99, on sale for $15.88
• Mx Vs ATV Untamed, regularly $49.99, on sale for $19.85
• Mortal Kombat Armageddon, regularly $29.99, on sale for $19.99

I’ve been keeping my eye on Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection, so I’ll be picking up a copy at $19.99.

If no one has noticed, or if you haven’t been keeping up with the news, you wouldn’t know that Wii Fit has overcome Rock Band for Wii as the number one seller on Amazon in the video games category.

But that’s not the point of this post.  I found some new accessories for the Wii Fit.

The newest I discovered tonight were the Official Wii Fit Balance Board Sleeve, and the Wii Fit Balance Board Travel Bag, which looks like an over the shoulder daypack-style bag for the Fit.

Here’s the Official Balance Board Sleeve,

and the Balance Board Travel Bag.

Let us know if you purchased one, and if you like it or hate it so we can report!

The great folks over at Make Magazine posted an article about a wii-mote controlled robotic arm - in this case, that is controlling that old 2-axis labrynth-marble-concentration game. Check out the video:

Anyone ever have a Sega Master Console back in the day, say, 1986?  If you DID, do you remember Alex Kidd?

Well, he’s making his new home the Wii Virtual Console.  You’ll be able to play Rocks, Paper, Scissors with Rock Head, Paper Head, and Scissor Head yet again.  Alex Kidd in Miracle World is 500 Wii Points, and it’s available on the Wii Virtual Console right now.

Are you in need of some Wii points?  Go get some Wii points!  The link will get you 2000 points for about 20 bucks.

It’s a big week for new games for the Wii:

• June 23: Rock Band from MTV Games
• June 23: Big Beach Sports from THQ
• June 23: Top Spin 3 from 2K Sports
• June 24: Cocoto Kart Racer from Conspiracy Entertainment
• June 24: Alone in the Dark from Atari
• June 24: WALL-E from THQ
• June 24: Myth Makers: Trixie in Toyland

Are you planning on picking up any of these titles?

For more information on upcoming game releases, check out our Release Dates page.

I just read an article in Make Magazine about a Netherlands-based composer, Tom Tlalim, who uses eight Nintendo Wii controllers to create and manipulate real-time sound. Tlalim connects his wiimotes to his body, and each controller senses a different part of his movement to his sound software “Supercollider,” as he (or she, of course!) dances, walks, or otherwise moves through space.

Check out the photo gallery on Tom Tlalim’s website.

There is quite a lot of buzz about a new flight simulator for Wii - Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces is slated for an Autumn release in Japan; no Europe release is scheduled so far.

From GameLife:

The Ghost In The Shell director’s highly anticipated new film, The Sky Crawlers, comes out in Japan on August 2nd. The film is based on a series of novels — five to date — that follows a group of dogfighting pilots in a fictionalized World War II-like setting.

Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces, from Bandai Namco and being developed by the team behind the popular Ace Combat series, will be an air combat simulator made specifically for the Wii console.

Controls in the game will put emphasis on use of the Wiimote for the throttle and the Nunchuk as the control stick. Although the game is inspired by the series of novels and the new film, it will offer an original storyline.

Hopefully US gamers will see this sooner or later - looks like a cool title.

We have a large variety of sports games to choose from on the Wii console - sports mini games seem to be dominating the “party games” category of Wii releases, with titles like Deca Sports, Summer Sports Paradise, and Big Beach Sports already out.  Let’s not forget Wii Sports, the all-famous, all-included game that ships with Wii.

Ubisoft has a game coming out - Sports Party, as does Konami, with Indoor Sports being released around Christmas of 2008.  Conspiracy Games has Summer Athletics:  The Ultimate Challenge coming out as well, late in July.

What do YOU want to see for Wii?  Let’s keep it to sports titles, and post in the comments.  We personally would love to see another snowboarding title, maybe some Olympic-themed games.  What do you want to play?

Your editors at WeKnowWii.com, as well as anyone who uses the Wii Fit, might notice that doing some of the exercises on the Fit have a tendency to really beat up the knees - especially when you have to get down on the floor. We have a hardwood floor that gives new meaning to the term “hard,” so a mat or some sort - preferably a Yoga mat - is essential.

The question is, however - do you pay the the nearly thirty dollars for a Wii-branded yoga mat, or is your typical yoga mat perfectly fine?

Checking out the Wii Fit Yoga Mat on Amazon, you’re going to pay $27.99 for a mat that seems to be just like your typical yoga mat.  The description of this item says that “this mat can be used for actual Yoga or other fitness class.”  Gas is currently at around $4.10 per gallon average right now, so if you’re a gamer, you might be interested on how to save a dollar here or there like we are.  If you’re a Wii Purist and can only purchase Wii-or-Nintendo-Branded Items, then by all means, get the Wii mat.  If you’re not a go-zillionaire and want something that is a little cheaper, check out some of the other yoga mats.  Amazon has a ton.

For example:
The Valeo Yoga and Exercise Mat

Extra Long Yoga Mat

Extra Thick Deluxe Yoga Mat

What is most important here to you?  The most important piece of information to consider is the width of the mat - the Wii Fit is approximately 20″ long, so you want a mat that will accommodate this width.  Most of the mats I’ve checked out here are between 24″ and 30″, which is a pretty optimum dimension.  For exercises like the Pushup and Side Plank, I need extra length to make sure I don’t roll my ankle on the hard floor in my house.

Hopefully this helps - the economy is suffering, and any little bit helps.  Especially for us gamers who spring hundreds of bucks for game consoles, games, and accessories.

Endless Ocean by Nintendo is a game that is apparently getting a lot of that underrated buzz. It’s one of a series of earlier games, and it is most definitely not a game that you will expect to have button-smashing, hand-to-hand combat and bloody battles.

As a matter of fact, it is quite opposite. It’s very chill. It’s calm. Say what?

You have command of a ship, the Gabbiano, and a diver - really, that’s about the general premise of the game. But the exploring - that is the main function of this title. You are a diver in the vast sea. The sea is huge, and you have the ability to explore it. With the creatures and inhabitants of the ocean, you can interact, swim, explore, see, learn… You can even add your own soundtrack via SD card to the game, or just guide your diver to a chaise lounge on deck of the Gabbiano and relax.

Sound exciting? Well, not really, but it’s something that should be a must-have for all Wii owners.

The interaction with the sea’s fauna isn’t as exciting and dangerous as we think it could be - sharks and blue tangs kinda react the same way to a gentle poking - but it is an easy game to put on and get lost in as you swing the vast body of oceans.

Check out Endless Ocean over at Amazon - it’s under thirty bucks. A must-have.

We might be a little behind the curve on this post, but my co-editor just bought Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party for Wii, and I must say that as skeptical as I was about this game, I quite enjoyed watching her play it.  The beats weren’t too terribly cheezy, and it was a decent sweat-maker.  Along with our Wii Fit, this is an excellent addition to our health-conscious lifestyle - plus, it’s dancing!  Come on!

Check out Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party on Amazon.  I think it’s going for about $69.99 as of today, which includes the game and the dance pad.

For those of you that now have Lego Indiana Jones for Wii - you might have seen the advertisement on the backs of instructional booklets about Star Wars: Clone Wars Wii. LucasArts and producer Ken Fox have been talking about the game and the lightsaber action - what is apparent is that the game won’t be a lightsaber ’simulator,’ per se, but as the player moves the wiimote from side to side, so will the lightsaber in the character’s hand.

When asked about the usage of the light saber in the upcoming game, Ken Fox explained:

” I wouldn’t describe what we’re doing as one-to-one in the way that you might picture, but we really tried to make it feel like you get to swing your Lightsaber ‘manually’. In short, it feels like the most natural and convincing sword type experience I’ve had on the Wii. And on top of that, it not just a sword, it’s a lightsaber.”

On the Nunchuk, the analogue stick will move the character around, and the buttons will allow the palyer to force, block, and dodge attacks and hits.

Look for Star Wars: Clone Wars coming in the fall from LucasArts.

Have you gotten any of the Star Wars themed Wii games yet? We’ve found Lego Star Wars, the Complete Saga (which we love, by the way), and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.

And for those of you who haven’t heard or seen this accessory, check out the Wii Glo Sword. This thing comes in four colors (so far!), check it out!
Wii Glo Sword accessory, “Scorching Red”
Wii Glo Sword accessory, “Cool Blue”
Wii Glo Sword accessory, “Fire Orange”
Wii Glo Sword accessory, “Power Green”

Thanks Nintendic for the article!

I know we just posted an article about Dreamgear’s 5-in-1 bundle that’s up for pre-order on Amazon, but we figured that it was about time to give some more in-depth information about it - the activity regarding this package was pretty fantastic!

Let’s break this down. The package itself comes with a silicone sleeve for your Wii balance board, three (3) pairs of textured fitness socks, a carrying bag for your balance board, a yoga-style mat to use with the balance board, a battery pack for the board, and a USB cable to charge the pack. For under 60 bucks, this is a heck of a package.

Let’s take a look at all of the pictures:

The whole Dreamgear 5-in-1 Wii Fit Package.

The carrying case - like a gym bag for your balance board.

The battery pack - a pack that fits into the battery slot for the balance board, obviously, along with the USB charge cable for it.

The Jeli Sleeve for the balance board - a silicone protectorate for the accessory.

The balance board mat - like a yoga mat, and for those of you who have hard wood floors like we do, this will be ESSENTIAL!

And finally, the Textured Fitness Socks - we think these are probably catered to be non-slip, or at least slip-resistant.

We hope this helps! Amazon has this package on pre-order, so what we recommend is, if you want one, go get it now before it goes the way of all other Wii-related things - sold out, and on back order!

In lieu of all the critical acclaim, EA LA and Steven Spielberg’s action packed, physics-driven puzzle title Boom Blox for Wii was bought only 60,000 times during its first month out in the US, we heard from GameDaily.

Boom Blox was only purchased by 0.6% of the 10.2 million Wii players in the United States.

Even though in actual sales Boom Blox kinda bombed so far, “It has met our expectations internally,” EA CEO John Riccitello said while at the William Blair Investor Conference, as relayed by MTV Multiplayer. “It’s continued to sell well. It did break into the top 10 for the Wii, and the advertising is doing exactly what [our] team expected to drive sales.”

NPD analyst Anita Frazier, meanwhile, blamed the game’s low sales on market “noise.”

“It’s still really hard for new IP to breakthrough the noise in the market, and there has been a lot of noise so far this year,” she explained. “The game was really well reviewed so I’m suspecting the marketing just didn’t break through the clutter to the extent that they were hoping for.”

The game gets good reviews and 4.5 stars on Amazon - check it out.

(thanks Shacknews for the article!)

Are you familiar with the “Homebrew Channel” on Wii? The little app that allows a user to run homebrewed apps on SD cards?  How about the “Twilight Hack?”  The hack that is used with Legend of Zelda:  Twilight Princess?

The latest Wii update kills the Twilight Hack, deleting the file from system memory.  However, the Homebrew Channel seems to have made it through the fray, making it still possible for homebrewed apps to function.

Check out the FAQ on the Homebrew Channel here.

Get a copy of Legend of Zelda:  Twilight Princess here.

Amazon has a deal going right now where you are given a $10 Amazon gift card with your Super Smash Bros. Brawl purchase. Looks like this offer is good until June 26. Jump on it!

I read a few articles yesterday on the cool new way to use the Wii Fit Balance Board. Leave it to the Germans to make the balance board able to help users cruise Google Earth and World of Warcraft:

A couple of guys from DFKI (the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence) took a Balance Board and connected it to a regular old laptop PC. A custom C# application communicates with the controller via Bluetooth, translating simple leaning movements on the board into 3D moves on the computer.

Thanks to the cool geeks at Geekology for this news!

Today only, Baroque is 35% off on Amazon. The $25.99 price tag is a great deal if you are looking for a game with “hardcore dungeon crawling RPG action”.

Remember You Don’t Know Jack? It reminds me of undergraduate school, with several people piled into a dorm room laughing and playing this game well into the night. Well, there are rumors that we’ll see it on the Wii, coming from a pre-E3 leak found by the peeps over at Kotaku.

If you’ve never played this game, it’s full of all kinds of brain-pleasure-torture, and makes your head “hurt so good.” Great with a crowd, we can only imagine what it would be like on the Wii. The game is sometimes hilariously rude, which we hope makes it to the Wii.

Holy Crap, new Guitar Hero World Tour news! We’re going to see a new guitar controller, and unfortunately, a $179.99 price tag. From Nintendic:

Developer Neversoft and publisher Activision will have wanted to keep a few key details about Guitar Hero World Tour secret, at least until next month’s E3, but it now appears that the cat has been let out of the bag - specifically, details about the fancy new guitar peripheral that is planned to ship with the rhythm/music title.

Leaked information on Guitar Hero World Tour claims that the game will cost $179.99 USD when released, bundled with the guitar, drums, and microphone. As for the brand new guitar, it is said to be touch-sensitive, with a ‘Neck Slide’ that opens up the whole neck of the instrument for unbound solos and extra freedom to improvise whilst rockin’ out.

A few of the artists on the GHWT game: Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, Foo Fighters, Smashing Pumpkins, Korn, System of a Down, Ozzy Osbourne, Interpol, Muse, and “dozens more” promised.

We’ll see Guitar Hero World Tour on October 27 and October 28 in the US and Europe, respectively.