Previews: June 2007 Archives

Ronaldinho is one of the most recognised footballers in the world right now, up there with the Beckhams, Rooneys and Kakas. Some would say he puts them all to shame, whilst others simply want to be him.

If that's you (or your football mad little brother), then jump for joy! EA have placed Ronaldinho into your hands more than ever before on the Wii version of FIFA 08. He's now a Mii and even has his own game mode, Footii Party with Ronaldinho. With this, EA introduces party games - Table Football and Shoot Off – where you can play as your very own Mii to unlock Ronaldinho and take on the champ. Each Footii Party game is created as a multiplayer, social experience designed to engage and entertain fans of all ages.

Is FIFA becoming more friendly and 'touchable' with this Wii innovation? Will this draw more fans to the franchise? Undoubtedly the answer to both is a yes, but how far that will affect the sales of FIFA 08 remains to be seen. Most interesting will be to see if there's any discernable shift in what format FIFA fans decide to make their purchase on (since many gamers these days own more than one gaming format). Will former PS2 and Xbox FIFA fans be tempted to try the Wii version this time?

Ronaldinho; he say YES!

A success on the DS and a right romp in other territories; another collection of mini game madness is set to arrive in Europe & the UK on 20th July 2007.

Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree isn't a DS game repackaged for the Wii like several others have been. The games and challenges are new, so if you already have the DS version then you won' feel cheated out of your £35 as you numb your way through all the same stuff that you already paid for once. Hopefully this will be the way of the future and we won't see any more cases of rereleasing identical titles on the Wii which have already seen DS release.

The mini-games are divided into five categories: Visualise, Memorise, Analyse, Compute and Identify and contain a variety of activities. These range from bursting numbered balloons in order to arrange pieces of a train track to allow the train to reach a specific area.

Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree allows players to send and receive student record books with friends who also own the game, using their internet connection and Wii. Players will then be able to compete against them in Mind Sprint mode.

With MTV calling the mini games available here 'different enough' to be worth a purchase despite the array of mini games already available on the Wii through titles such as Wario Ware, it's probably a good time to set aside a pay packet for this one and start swotting up on your old grey matter. Ten year olds ... watch out! This time it shall be different. I'll win ... you'll see!