January 2008 Archives
Want a splash of colour in your life? Fed up with your Wiimote looking the same as all your friends? There's lots you can do about this, but one German company reported last night that from 8th February across Europe, there will be a funky, new way to change the way your Wii controllers look. Black and lipstick pink (especially for the girls they tell us!) are the colours initially availible and it's not just rubber grippers this time.
Riimotes as they're being dubbed, come complete with matching rubber skins that you can remove and swap around (much like the standard Nintendo rubber skins). They're wireless and near enough exactly like the standard, Nintendo Wiimote. Buttons are placed identically and the only obvious difference is the battery cover, which is a different shade of colour to the rest of the remote. Nunchuks are also to become availible in these colours, along with wireless nunchuks (akin to the Nyco wireless offerings) and a retro controller.
We've got pics so far of the Riimote and nunchuk in three colours, but more are promised. Black and pink are promised to launch on Feb 8th. We'll test them fully as soon as they arrive and let you know how they work in real time, so watch this space.
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The funny thing about journalism is that half the time, the things people tell you are great and must-haves for your pad at home turn out to be stuff that they personally wouldn't touch with a barge pole. Why? Because reviews and articles have to be 'fair, balanced and eliminate personal biases where possible'.
The trouble with this method is, you're an ordinary human being and so am I. Personal biases, if they're established for a good reason, are actually worthy of keeping to a certain extent. I want to know that despite a game being the best thing in its genre right now for Xbox, the PC has titles which whoop it out of sight and you can actually update the PC graphics card. I also want to know that a title may be very good, but that something better is coming next week or is even already out right now. I want that bigger picture, the personal recommendation if you would. If there's a good reason you don't own the game as a journalist, do I want to own it either? It might be a great game, but if you're all playing something else and will never touch it ... why should I?
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So far, only the hallowed few have been allowed to get their hands on Mario Kart Wii for the purposes of reporting how it plays and what we can expect. Here's what we know so far:
. Up to 12 players online. Big step forward, especially considering the need Wii gaming has to get better online and open the doors to the more mature gamer. We expect these things.
. Online gaming is improved version of Mario Kart DS - you're thrown straight into racing, no waiting to connect. At least that's what we've been informed, I can't wait to test this.
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Well, not quite. At least - not yet. What has happened is that four schools in the UK have now decided to embark on a lottery funded project to use the Wii as part of their offerings to students doing PE classes. The logic? Simply that certain students who would otherwise completely skip the PE class, are now likely to remain and participate. Team working skill increases have also been reported, as children play together in a fashion that is far more akin to the way they socialise today.
Heart rate monitors were purchased along with a Wii for each school using the scheme. The children invited to participate were those who had often missed PE lessons, aged 14-16.
As expected, there are already nay-sayers decrying the project as no replacement for real sports. Of course this is true, but we feel that any step towards breaking a sweat on children who otherwise would not participate at all is a good one - especially if team skill improvements are also noticed.
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This also means we're sure to see Game Gear titles released as well, since the Master System and Game Gear used the same technology. Japan are reportedly getting Master System games for 500 Wii points with Fist of the North Star and Fantasy Zone starting off the action in February 2008. This puts the Master System in a great position as a budget selection of retro games that many will remember growing up playing.
The more hardware that VC supports, the better. We'd hope to see Dreamcast and Gameboy/Gameboy colour titles in the future, perhaps?
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We all know the claims in the media and from Nintendo themselves that the Wii gets couch-dwellers off their rear ends and onto their feet, working out. No surprises there; but does it pass the fitness test? Could you for example, substitute a walk in the park or a game of tennis for a bout of Wii Boxing? The Canadians were keen to find out.
"I was playing Wii boxing with a friend and noticed how exerting it was," said Justin White, a fourth-year kinesiology student. "I thought to myself, 'I'm working up a sweat doing this Nintendo thing; I might run with that.' So I put together an outline and the class thought it would be a good project to take on," he said.
White and 27 students tested the impact of playing Wii boxing for 30 minutes against a 30-minute walk in a local park and an equal amount of time doing a boxercise video. Every student did each activity and their heart rate was measured as well as how hard they thought they had worked out for all three activities. (cont...)
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Here's a quick introduction to the game for those who didn't read our first article on the Wii edition (naughty!):
You fly around in 2D space as a small spaceship and other ships come at you. Shoot them & collect the gems they drop. That's the simple beauty of Geometry Wars as a concept, like arcade games of old. Simple and addictive - all about the high score. The ships are all represented as small, geometric shapes such as diamonds, triangles and circles. The music is high energy and repetitive, not that we think you'll notice nor care. It suits the mood of the game perfectly and should only annoy the most fussy gamer. (cont...)
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Well ... are they? Facts may be facts, but it's also about the context of these pieces of data and the way you choose to spin them, too. The field of play is often a way that facts can sometimes be distorted, but whichever way you do choose to look at it, Ninty has had a fine 2007 and a strong start to 2008 so far. What they have to say today follows, in bullet form:
· The DS was the best selling hardware of any kind (home console or handheld) in 2007 and now has a UK installed base of over 5 million units.
· The Wii was the best selling home console of 2007 in the UK and now has an installed base of over 2 million units, surpassing the installed base of Microsoft's Xbox 360 which launched one year earlier (cont...)
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I'm not quite sure how they've done it, but the creators of Geometry Wars: Galaxies have crammed the adrenaline surge and buzz from a roller coaster into a game. You have to focus so hard, be aware constantly of your surroundings and react perfectly each and every time. The game just sucks you in more and more ... and more.
It's a challenge for sure, but a rewarding one; one that tells you that if you try one more time ... get it just right ... one more time ... push yourself that little bit harder, that elusive gold can be yours. In fact it will be yours. Just once more.
I feel like I'm 10 and back in the arcades of my youth. Just. One. More. Go!
At least it does if I'm using the Wii Classic Pad option. With the Wiimote controlling the direction I shoot and the nunchuk where my ship goes, I'm not as sold. But perhaps I just need more time with it. Or I'm just old...
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The Internet is a funny place sometimes, peoples opinion can quickly become fact and vice versa. One case in particular is the new NiGHTS game for the Wii. Much talk has been made of the control system, how unwieldy it is and how it ruins the game.
I can only presume those having said such things were at the end of a long day, didn't bother to read the manual and were already on their third Stella of the evening, because in my experience, the control system is fine. The Wiimote on its own is certainly usable, though perhaps not quite as precise as you might like. Add the nunchuk and all is well; NiGHTs being perfectly controllable with the analogue stick, allowing you the freedom to enjoy the world that Segas Sonic team have created for you.
That's not to say getting to grips with how NiGHTs flies is easy; it takes a certain amount of practice to fully master the tricks at your disposal, but rather then being a frustrating attack of control frustration, the finesse is in there for you to find ...
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Fans of the Final Fantasy genre are some of the most passionate and decicated fans in the realms of video gaming. It should be no surprise then, that Square Enix have released a specially animated website to handle the needs of the fans; set off with typical, Final Fantasy-esque music in the beautiful backdrop.
If this anime is your thing, head this way:
http://www.ff12revenantwings.eu.com/
The comment of one gamer we showed the site to was 'Wow ... it really looks a lot like RO (Rangnarok Online).' Certainly, the style of animation bares some resemblence to the online behemoth of the MMO world, RO. We also note the chosen spelling of 'magick'.
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Is your Wii and DS no better than 'crack'? We think there are titles on every format deserving of study, deserving certainly of ridicule perhaps, but no further. There are books that lead the mind into all sorts of situations, ever so vividly too. I recall reading books and being totally sucked into their world as a child. I came out of it a dreamer, a writer and an editor. Perhaps modern day children will play deeply entrenching games and come out of them games designers, or writers, play writers, editors, directors ... who knows?
Certainly there is a strong case to be made for limiting a young child's access to media machines such as PCs or consoles, but that's been the same since the dawn of anything interesting or addictive for children (TVs, radios, cricket down the common). Your Wii should no more be unlimited in your child's bedroom than a TV or DVD player ought to be, but that doesn't make it pure evil. Children need monitoring in every form of life - that's why we call them kids not adults - they aren't ready to make every desicion for their own health yet. But attacking video games over and over because we didn't grow up with them (my first machine was actually a BBC Micro B at home) seems to me to be unresearched and ignorant.
Someone pass this lady a DS with a copy of Brain Training!
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The music in FIFA Street 3 includes:Artist | Song | Region
Hexstatic Red Laser Beam London
Hexstatic Tokyo Traffic London
Hexstatic Bust London
Tim Deluxe Let The Beats Roll London
Tim Deluxe Let The Beats Roll (Rennie Pilgrim Mix) London
Asian Dub Foundation Stop Start Bombay / London
Bassnectar feat. Ms. Persia Kick It Complex San Francisco
Bassnectar feat. Ms. Persia Kick It Complex (Bassnectar Remix) San Francisco
Bassnectar feat. Ms. Persia Bomb The Blocks San Francisco
Bassnectar feat. Ms. Persia Bomb The Blocks (Ghislain Poirier Mix) Montreal / Canada
Bassnectar feat. Kristinamaria Yo San Francisco
Bassnectar feat. Kristinamaria Yo (Speaker Junk's Jackin' Mix) Brazil
Buraka Som Sistema Yah! feat. Petty Portugal
Chromeo Fancy Footwork (Zdar Dub, Pee Thug Edit) Montreal / Canada
Chromeo Fancy Footwork (DIM Mix) Montreal / Canada
Coburn feat. Solidstate We Interrupt This Programme London
Coburn We Interrupt This Programme (Jean Claude Ades Mix) London
Datarock I Used To Dance With My Daddy (M.O.M. Mix) Norway
Datarock I Used To Dance With My Daddy (Subsource Mix) Norway
Does It Offend You, Yeah? We Are Rock Stars London
Does It Offend You, Yeah? Battle Royale London
Forro In The Dark Suor de Futbol Fina (Mawglee Mix) Brazil
Innerpartysystem Don't Stop Philadelphia
Junkie XL feat. Lauren Rocket Booming Right At You Netherlands
M.I.A. Bird Flu Sri Lanka / London
M.I.A. Boyz Sri Lanka / London
MC Amilcka Humildade da Favela Brazil
No Bizzi feat. J2K Yeah Yeah London
Sasha & Paul Rogers Black Powder London
The Go! Team Grip Like A Vice London
The Planet People feat. Afrika Bambaataa Make It Break (La Resistance and Deemus Mix) London
The Tigerpicks Disco Punk Electro Funk Manchester, UK
Underworld Crocodile London
Underworld Crocodile (Huntemann Mix) London
Walter Meego Wanna Be A Star Chicago
Walter Meego Wanna Be A Star (Walter Sees Stars Mix) Chicago
Wax Poetic Bombeiro Brazil
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It's been out in the arcades since 2004 (with Ghost Squad Evolution appearing in 2007). Launched firstly in Japan, followed by the US and then Europe & the UK, Ghost Squad has come to the Wii, which can only be seen as a positive thing for the more mature gamer. Rated 16 by ELPSA and making full use of the Wii Zapper unit, could this be part of the answer for gamers wanting more 'punch' on their Wii at home? We look to see if that's the case.
The first observation worth talking about is the arcade nature of the title, which may be alien to some not raised in the arcade environment, pushing 10p coins into slots. In short, the game is exactly that - short. Don't expect a lot of levels that takes you days to complete, the entire game playing field is only three levels long. Sounds terrible, doesn't it? But ask any arcade gamer and they'll quickly tell you that in arcade titles, the learning curve within the levels is very stern; there's plenty of variety in tasks to do and different ways that you can go ...
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Another preview clip of the upcoming new Sonic The Hedgehog title that is inviting you to "Get Back on Board".
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Check out this high velocity preview of the new upcoming Sonic The Hedgehog racing game.
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Sega start the year with a flourish, showing us exactly what they hope we'll be buying in 2008 from them. Totally unrelated but who cares - Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity & Sega Bass Fishing. Lovely! Reel 'em in:
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The Wireless Wii Nunchuk developed by Nyko Technologies received a Best of CES award from the editors of CNET at the 2008 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. "Winning this prestigious award showcases how highly consumers and the tech community think of Nyko's commitment to advancing gameplay technologies." said Chris Arbogast, Director of Marketing at Nyko Technologies.
The technology works using a 'dongle' device that plugs into the back of the Wiimote, where usually your nunchuk wire would slot in. This is very much like a USB pendrive device, familiar to most technology users. Once the dongle is in place, the wireless nunchuk then 'talks' to the dongle and that information goes into the Wiimote as a normal, wired nunchuk would do. This means that you have two wireless controllers for your gaming - the Wiimote and the nunchuk, not just the one. The dongle itself is like a small, white 'brick' that goes on the base of the Wiimote to add to the length slightly. A big step forward, though already we're thinking about lawsuits concerning broken vases and nunchuks embedded into expensive plasma screen TVs ...
The wireless nunchuk features full accelerometer support for motion-based gameplay and is compatible with all games that require the Nunchuck already. The Nunchuk's ergonomic design is perfect for both left and right-handed players, according to CNET. Two AAA Batteries (included) provide up to 30 hours of gameplay. The wireless nunchuk will be available in the first quarter of 2008 and will probably be flying off the shelves, and potentially out of hands.
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Anyone who has been stuck in a boring situation with a laptop to hand can relate to how wonderful video game pinball can be. Low tech it may seem, but that along with Solitaire has saved many a train journey from turning into a nightmare. So, Pinball games should be greeted with respect. There's one heading towards the Wii at the moment; Southpeak Games are toting Dream Pinball 3D as 'the most intense visuals and ball physics a pinball game has ever seen.' No easy claim, since Pinball video games have been around about as long as video games themselves. Wii screenshots below - gobble 'em!
"Everyone loves pinball. It is an unusual kind of entertainment in that it bridges hardcore and casual gamers, while translating very well to videogames," said Melanie Mroz, SouthPeak Games. "We are going to give the medium the respect it deserves." (cont)
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It's news that won't surprise many Futureologists or long-term members of the gaming community, but electronic/video gaming has never been so popular as it is right now - and it's still growing. The UK interactive entertainment software market hit a new all time high in 2007, according to ELSPA (Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association).
2007 was the biggest year ever for handheld systems with DS software actually ranked at No1 in terms of units sold and Sony's PSP ranked at No5. The entire hand-held sector broke previous records and claimed nearly a third of the entire software units market, up 45%.
The biggest static console format in terms of value generation was the Xbox 360, followed by the PS2, followed by the Wii and lastly PS3. However, in terms of units sold the order changes to PS2 (but No2 overall behind DS), followed by Xbox 360, Wii and PS3.
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Oxygen announed today that PDC World Championship Darts 2008 will be in store for January 25th 2008 (PS2, PC), with the Wii version (that has already gone gold) following in mid February 2008. Perhaps you've never bought a darts game before and might be thinking that it's something for lager drinking men down the local tavern? If that's you, then don't worry. Oxygen have helpfully released a PC demo version of the game for you to give a once over, helping you decide if you're interested in a darts game on your Wii, or not.
Follow this link to find your darts test run: www.oxygendownloads.com/PDC2008PR/PDCWCD_2008_PCDEMO.zip
In the meantime, check out the concerntration on this fellow's face!
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Popular UK newspaper The People reported today that Her Majesty has been playing on Prince William's Wii a lot since he brought it round for a bit of a blast. Respected gaming site Gamespot shared the details with the gaming world:
"The 25-year old Prince may not be able to get his hands on his own Christmas present, as Her Majesty is monopolising the console. His only difficulty now is prising it away from the Queen's clutches. She showed all the signs of becoming a Nintendo addict."
Since the Wii is the most portable of the three current gen machines, the most fun to pick up and play and certainly the cheapest, it would make sense that the Prince would have one, in fact the People reports that it was a gift from Kate Middleton. A girl buying a games console for a bloke? Surely times have changed for the better!
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With the release of Smash Bros Brawl around the corner things are going to get pretty exciting for one of the most anticipated games of 2008. Check out these newly released screenshots of the action by clicking on an image to view it in full.
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You can now get your Wii Guitar Hero III disc replaced with one where the mono sound bug is fixed! However, it appears European users and those in the UK will have to wait a bit longer than our American friends. Activision had this to say on the matter in response to requests made to their website:
'We are currently working out fulfillment logistics for our European customers, and expect to have those finalized shortly. However, we would be happy to notify you once we have more information regarding the replacement program in the UK. Therefore, please provide us with your name, mailing address and email address and we will notify you once we have more information.'
So there you have it, folks. The rock will be a while coming, but probably worth it. It is an awesome game, especially for those already able to play the guitar. We'll print more news on this issue as it appears ...
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2008 starts with a real classic on the virtual console, in the form of Harvest Moon. First seen in 1997 on the SNES, The object of the game is to maintain a farm over a period of time, tending the crops and livestock through the seasons, while befriending the nearby townsfolk and advancing in your own life. The series has spread to Game Boy, GBA, N64, PlayStation, PS2, GameCube and DS; with new titles for PSP & Nintendo DS to come. For just 800 Wii points, this is a certified purchase for anyone who enjoys the 'create your own world' genre of gaming.
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Today, Sega updated their releases list for all formats, including the Wii & DS titles we can expect to see between now and June 2008. Without further ado, check 'em out:
NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams (Wii) - 18th January
Ghost Squad (Wii) - 18th January
Mario & Sonic at the Olympics (DS) - 8th February
Sonic Riders Zero Gravity (Wii) - 22nd February
Bleach (Wii/DS) - 29th February
Brain Assist (DS) - February
SEGA Superstars Tennis (Wii/DS) - 28th March
The Incredible Hulk (Wii/DS) - June
It'll certainly be of interest to see how M&S at the Olympics converts across to Nintendo DS, and Sonic will be one to watch for Wii owners. Brain Assist we've already given a shudder towards, but the proof of the pudding will be as they say, in the eating. It's probably best not to comment on the Hulk title at this stage, since not enough is known about it, and there's a fair chance it may be another fanboy title.
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Checkout these action screenshots from one of most eagerly awaited Wii games this year. See Travis Touchdown and co in action more clearly by clicking on a screenshot to view it in full.
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The good lads at KnowYourMobile have more Wii themes for you! Say hello to your whiter and brighter Sony Ericsson Wii themes:
Sony Ericsson K810
http://application.knowyourmobile.com/themes/wiisonyk810.thmSony Ericsson W810i
http://application.knowyourmobile.com/themes/wiisonyw810.thmSony Ericsson W880i
http://application.knowyourmobile.com/themes/wiisonyw880.thmIf you use these, let them know you saw it posted here. It stops us fighting so much in the lunch hall :P