Electronic Arts recently allowed a few gamers to preview Nintendo’s MotionPlus features – MotionPlus is supposed to provide one-to-one game response with Nintendo’s Wii. It’s been nearly a year since Nintendo announced MotionPlus, and I know a lot of us are pretty excited to see it.
From the article at IGN:
EA is developing two titles making use of the new tech, Tiger Woods Golf 10 and Grand Slam Tennis. Grand Slam Tennis is the mega publisher’s very first foray into the world of tennis games and has been made especially for the Wii — although 360 and PS3 versions will be coming in November. Tiger Woods Golf 10 is, of course, releasing on every single gaming platform known to man (with the exception of the DS). Grand Slam Tennis is due to launch on June 19, with Tiger trailing not far behind on July 3. So, can we expect to see MotionPlus hitting stores before then? EA wouldn’t be drawn to steal Nintendo’s thunder with an official date on the dongle, but notes – knowingly – that it would certainly make sense.
Ok, this is awesome. One of the blogs I read, Radio Ninty, has produced a podcast guide to the world of Mario. You gotta check this out – very cool! If for some reason you don’t have Super Mario Galaxy, you should get it. I had one, but after I beat it I traded it towards another game. Ah, why did I do that?
The US Patent Office kind of balked at Nintendo’s request to patent the term Wii Remote back in March. According to GamePolitics, there’s a small television remote control manufacturer in FL that makes a device called a “WeeMote,” geared towards children, and has owned the patent to “WeeMote” since 2000. Nintendo had some discussions with this manufacturer, Forbis Technologies. Nintendo walked away from those talks. The suspension was sent November 26, or at least dated then.
I did not know that. I learn something new every day.
I was browsing around today, and I noticed that Wii Music was out and in full strength. Have you played this? What’s it like? Is it fun? Please post in the comments!
All of the articles I can find say that Fatal Frame 4 is being released in Japan (well, July 31, 2008), but I can’t find a US release. This game looks great!
Dan Rosenberg just posted an article about violence in Wii games, and how there isn’t enough of it to satisfy the “gamer bloodlust” that PS3 and XBox gamers get in their titles.
How do you feel about this? With Nintendo’s advances in inter-personal gaming with titles like Mario Kart and the general idea of shareable Miis, are you missing the absolute gore that you might have had before the Wii? There certainly are some gory games – No More Heroes, for example, and any of the FPS titles like the Medal of Honor series and the Call of Duty games.
Are you missing the gore? Post in the comments.
(the title that I believe spawned Dan’s article is MadWorld – which isn’t being released until March 31, 2009 – but is available for pre-order.)
Check out this Wario Land: Shake It! Game trailer from Game Trailers. Did you know this is called Wario Land: The Shake Dimension outside of North America?
Get ready for September 29th, 2008 – Wario Land: Shake It! will hit US shelves that day.
An article at Computer and Video Games reported that Jo Wood will have her name on a new Wii yoga title soon. No news on an official title yet, but because of Nintendo’s T+G guidelines, the name will most likely change.
Looks like WiiDVD is on hiatus for a bit as Nintendo gets their supply problems sorted out. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata says (in reference to Wii), “With supply constraints [of the Wii] continuing worldwide, the priority is on the current model.” Looks like WiiDVD desirers are looking at some time in 2009 to get DVD playing capabilities.
We’re glad to see that Nintendo has its priorities in order – and it’s not unexpected with a system like the Wii selling like it is.
Coming out on August 25, 2008 (and available NOW for pre-order) is Mario Super Sluggers – if you’ve played Wii Sports, then you’re all ready to go with this upcoming title. Players will use the same motions from Wii Sports Baseball to throw and bat, and the game promises to be yet another bridge between old hat gamers and those new to Wii gaming.
We’re making no judgements here at WeKnowWii.com, but when will someone come out with a game where it actually takes some skill to catch the ball? We will undoubtedly play and probably enjoy this title, of course.
Direct from the Nintendo Press Room:
Mario™ Super Sluggers stars the ever-lovable Mario and his crew of friends. It builds on the social-gaming fun and movements people learned in Wii Sports™ and turns them into a full-fledged baseball game that can be played by every member of the household. Players make a throwing motion with the Wii Remote controller to pitch the baseball and make a swinging motion to swing at the pitch. The game boasts more than 30 playable Nintendo characters and all the madness of a Mario sports game. Just like Mario Kart® Wii, it bridges the gap between experienced players and those new to the Wii console, with fun challenges and beautiful graphics.
WeKnowWii has gained a Nintendo Press Pass! We’ll always bring you as much up-to-date information as we can, as soon as it’s available!
New today, on WiiWare, from the Nintendo Press Vault:
Magnetica™ Twist (Nintendo, 1-4 players, Rated E for Everyone-Comic Mischief, 1,000 Wii Points): The classic puzzle game Magnetica is now available on WiiWare , putting its own unique “twist” on the puzzle-game experience. You’re surrounded by marbles, marching slowly but surely down a track. Use a launcher (piloted by a Mii™ of your choice) to shoot marbles with matching colors and wipe them out before they reach the end of the track. Control couldn’t be simpler, as all you need to do is twist the Wii Remote™ controller to aim and press the A button to shoot. And the game play remains as addictive and deep as you’ve come to expect in Nintendo’s puzzle games, with five varied play modes, advanced mechanics such as the ability to lob marbles, and a never-ending supply of combos. This definitely isn’t your typical game of marbles.
Also new today, for the Virtual Console:
FATAL FURY 2 (NEOGEO, 1-2 players, Rated T for Teen-Animated Blood, Violence, 900 Wii Points): Released in 1992 by SNK, FATAL FURY 2 is the second installment in the renowned fighting-game series. In addition to Terry, Andy and Joe, who appeared in the original game, another five distinctive fighters gather from around the world to compete for the championship title. Also newly added are stage-specific hazards and the ability to perform desperation attacks when a character’s strength is low. These particularly deadly techniques create the chance for a come-from-behind victory achieved with a single strike. Moreover, the innovative two-line battle, which proved popular in the previous version, also has been radically enhanced. Pressing the weak-attack and strong-attack buttons simultaneously enables players to move their fighters to another line themselves, or to launch an attack that pushes opponents back to another line. This game mechanic, unique to this title in the series, allows the player to take advantage of the depth of the screen and create even more exciting bouts. Can you prove yourself the king of fighters again?
If you haven’t taken advantage of the Super Smash Bros. Amazon deal yet, today is your last day to get it. Amazon is offering the game for ten bucks off the price for $39.99 (it’s normally fifty bucks), and if you order it within the deal timeframe, you get a ten dollar Amazon gift card.
Apparently for the FIRST TIME EVER, Amazon is going to have a bunch of game deals in their Friday Gold Box Deals! If you haven’t done this or tried it, Gold Box deals are pretty cool – just random deals based on a category or topic, and they’re usually pretty good. We missed a deal a few months ago on an $800 elliptical trainer for $200 bucks off of the retail price. I’m sure you can imagine how hard we kicked ourselves.
Here’s how it will work:
At 12:01 AM PST the first deal will be the Gold Box Deal of the Day. Its special discounted price will be available all day only on Friday, June 27 (or until Amazon run out.)
Starting at 6:00 AM PST, the second deal will be featured as a Lightning Deal. This special price will be available for the following two hours.
Each of the seven remaining deals will also be Lightning Deals. Starting every two hours that follow at 8:00 AM, 10:00 AM, 12:00 PM, 2:00 PM, 4:00 PM, and 6:00 PM PST, and 8:00 PM each deal will be available for two hours after it begins.
Discounts on each deal will be available only while supplies last.
They mean it too – if it’s gone, it’s gone, and you’ve missed out.
Remember – this starts at MIDNIGHT on Friday, so that means in about eleven hours. We’re looking forward to seeing what kind of games we’re gonna be able to snag!
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
Laurent Fischer of Nintendo Europe has fired up some new debate about extra storage for Nintendo Wii users struggling with a lack of internal memory and having to use SD memory cards. Fischer stated that there is nothing as drastic as an external hard drive in the works.
“We definitely detect that [gamers] are serious and we know there is an issue in this, so it’s something that we’re working on,” he told GamesIndustry.biz.
“Definitely there’s no plan to issue hardware – an external hard drive, but we know that we have an issue in that area. It’s very obvious and we’re perfectly aware of it, but there’s nothing we can say beyond this.”
Fischer recently shot his mouth off and got caught after he was quoted saying that only “geeks and otaku” wanted a proper storage solution for Wii. His explanation is this was all just a misunderstanding:
“I really didn’t use that terminology to describe the Nintendo consumer – it was something related basically to myself and to the journalists attending,” Fischer said. “It was a joke I made on myself and somehow it’s been confused and taken out of context to define those consumers.
“I understand I have created a lot of offence with people. And for me it’s very, very important to clarify this – that’s not the kind of thing I’ve been saying in [the way it has been reported.
“Disappointment in the community is something I was really affected by,” he added.
There is a LOT of stuff coming up, Nintendo. We need to get this solved. We’re doing just fine with SD cards, but others aren’t going to take this as a fix.
In lieu of Nyko’s lawsuit with Nintendo over the wireless Kama Nunchuk, we’ve decided to link to a page full of Nyko’s accessories. We highly recommend the Wireless Sensor Bar, for starters. It improved our Wii playing distance by at least fifteen feet.
The good folks at Game Daily just reported on a new-ish tennis game, Top Spin 3. It’s a game with situation-specific movements, new controls, and styles to go along with its online offerings. The big news is that Top Spin 3 is going gold for PS3, Xbox, and Wii. I haven’t played it yet, but I’m a fan of the tennis games…
Get a copy at Amazon, a bit on the pricey side, but it’s still a big hit right now, at $49.99.
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