Wii in short supply this Christmas [NGC]
Monday October 1, 12:53 PM 
The upshot is ‘form an orderly queue’ if you don’t already have yours. Nintendo lays it on the line for everyone still waiting on their Wii.
Demand for Wii will continue to outstrip demand this Christmas. What’s more Nintendo’s US president Reggie Fils-Aime says the company is still getting to grips with the unexpected degree of interest.
Speaking to Mercury News, Fils-Aime explained that Nintendo of America is “not even close to understanding where the threshold is between supply and demand” for Wii, as global sales continue to climb. “Every time we put more into the marketplace, we sell more,” says Fils-Aime, “typically, our inventory is lasting a day ... I don't think we will know when supply crosses with demand till after the holiday season.”
Does this definitely mean Wii will be hard to come by again this Christmas? Fils-Aime spells it out to the Mercury News as follows: “We're working very hard to make sure that consumers are satisfied this holiday, but I can't guarantee that we're going to meet demand. As a matter of fact, I can tell you on the record we won't.”
Of course you might still wonder if this is some marketing ploy from Nintendo, especially given that Wii consoles are becoming readily available on the UK high-street. That said, it is just as likely Nintendo is preparing consumers for a Christmas rush on on unpredictable scale (Fils-Aime admits Nintendo didn’t plan ambitiously enough for the new console and that it is basically playing catch up). Wii Sims has already picked up momentum ahead of Mario Galaxy arriving which arrives this November.
We're guessing Nintendo will go after a big US success story this year, versus Xbox 360 that continues to sell exceptionally well across the pond. This could mean UK stocks will be even more limited. Admittedly this is all conjecture, so we’ll be pushing Nintendo UK for comment as the gift-buying season draws near.
Copyright © 2006 Unlikely Hero Limited
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Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Wii in short supply this Christmas
Friday, September 28, 2007
Link’s Crossbow Training
Link’s Crossbow Training
September 27, 2007
The latest issue of Nintendo Power includes a small selection of screenshots from Link’s Crossbow Training. The screens are very brown and grainy but do help to demonstrate the controls for the Zapper.
Written by admin · Filed Under Wii Gaming
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Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Donkey Kong Barrel Blast Hands-on
Donkey Kong Barrel Blast Hands-on
The US version has arrived. Check out our updated impressions, including tons of new screens.
by Bozon
Published by: Nintendo
Developed by: Paon Corporation
Genre: Racing Action
Release Date:
US: October 8, 2007
Japan: December 31, 2007
MSRP: $49.99
Also Available On: GameCube
September 25, 2007 - Over the last few months we've had a chance to do some pretty extensive coverage of the Japanese version of Donkey Kong Barrel Blast, previously known as "DK Jet." Since we're nearing the game's US release, however, Nintendo of America has hooked us up with the final version of the stateside build. We've already given you our import impressions, but since the October 8th release date is soon approaching we figured we'd update you with our latest feelings on the game. Our synopsis: You might want to leave this one on the shelf.
If you're late to the party, Donkey Kong Barrel Blast is the latest brainchild of Nintendo of Japan and developer Paon, best known for the DK: King of Swing and DK: Jungle Climber on GBA and DS respectively. The game is a departure from classic Donkey Kong gameplay, instead adopting what was originally going to be GameCube bongo control, similar to something like DK Jungle Beat or Donkey Konga. With the hype train taking off on Wii, however, Barrel Blast was pushed to Wii along with Super Paper Mario, in hopes of capitalizing on the larger audience.
Why the wait, when Super Paper Mario was such a fast conversion? It's due mainly to the controls and Mii incorporation. Barrel Blast works with the Wii-mote and nunchuk to simulate the controls you would have gotten with the GameCube bongo set, so you'll drum with the nunchuk to move left, drum with the Wii-mote to move right, or slam both together to do a leap. In addition other Wii-esque support was added, including Mii support for profile saves and local leaderboards, as well as IR control for the main menus, Wii-mote speaker audio, and a motion-based trick system. From what we saw of the original DK Jet for GameCube the game has gotten a pretty decent ramp up in its conversion to Wii, as the interface and gameplay is now 100% Wii-specific.
What didn't convert so well, however, was the game's overall control, which is essentially trying to simulate what you got with the two-pad bongo peripheral on Cube. Instead of dropping a bongo set on your lap and drumming away, players will need to air drum to control their character. While this does drop the cost of the game substantially, you lose that tactile feel, and it just isn't as intense as the original looked to be. In addition, there's no ability to connect the Cube drums through the GCN port on Wii, so while we literally sit five feet from two sets of bongos we can't swap them in over Wii-mote control. Why? Our guess is the trick system integration, which allows for four-direction Wii-mote gestures to rack up points during the race.
As for the race system itself, it wouldn't be too bad for the younger Wii owners if it was a bit more polished. The overall concept is there, it just lacks the intensity or depth that most gamers are looking for. You'll kick off the race by drumming until your "Max Power" is reached. At that point it's all about steering with drum control, attempting to pick up bananas and power-ups along the way, while simultaneously triggering level shortcuts or avoiding hazards. As you increase your banana hoard you'll earn speed boosts which can be activated with the analog stick, sending your racer forward in a dash. Continue to hit in-level barrels that would normally mean certain death - or at least certain slowdown - and your speed boost continues.
It has the makings of a good racer, but Barrel Blast just isn't grabbing our attention. The game's overall speed is pretty low, characters stay on-track for the most part even if you stop steering and let them cruise though the levels, and aside from hitting special tiles on the ground to trigger shortcuts or frequent DK Country actions - riding a mine cart or hopping on any of DK's animal friends to gain the lead - it's unfortunately pretty anticlimactic.
If you've got younger gamers in the house, however, or you're obsessed with the DK franchise to an unhealthy degree, Donkey Kong Barrel Blast does have a pretty decent amount of content to it; something we couldn't exactly confirm when playing the Japanese version. The game begins with a total of six racers available, including DK, Diddy, Dixie, Kritter, Kip, and Kass, and leaves the door open for five more on both the good and bad sides of the roster. In addition there are six total cups in the game, beginning with only the Topaz Cup unlocked and moving to Sapphire, Diamond, and three others. Levels are inspired from classic DK locales as well, so you can ride through DK Jungle, hit up the fiery Mt. Dynamite, or hit the snowcaps in Mammoth Glacier. Some of the levels are doubled up, however, as we've come across levels such as Mt. Dynamite Remix, which are essentially the same track locales revisited and tweaked, but with more for us to check out there at least seems to be a decent amount of tracks for DK enthusiasts.
On the graphical side, the US version still runs in 480p and 16:9 like the Japanese build, and for widescreen owners curious about the "actual" 16:9 ratio it does fill the entire screen with no black bars. The audio is a bit of a mixed bag, as you get remixed music from the DK world, but also have to put up with the annoying new English voices that Donkey Kong and the bunch have been so lovingly assigned.
We'll have more on Donkey Kong Barrel Blast as we near the game's review. For now, be sure to check out our latest screens of the game in action, along with gameplay video in our media gallery below.
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Charts: Tiger burning bright [X360]
Charts: Tiger burning bright [X360]
Tuesday September 25, 12:45 PM
Enjoy this week’s all format/full price games chart while it lasts, for as of tomorrow morning it’ll be all change, with Halo 3 occupying all top ten positions. Probably...
But for the time being top honours belong to Tiger Woods, whose splendid ‘08 rendition adds further shine to an already impossibly glossy franchise, complete with killer online features, a cool ‘Confidence’ system and a return to the classic 3-Click swing for those can’t get on with the analogue stick-based method. Brilliant stuff, really, but we imagine that just as many who bought it would rather watch paint dry.
After that there’s just the one new entrant in the top ten in EA’s cutesy MySims. Whether this new variant sticks around the charts forever, like its big brother, remains to be seen. We still prefer Animal Crossing, though. Then lower down we have a handful of other debutantes, some not faring as well as they deserve – World in Conflict at 11, WarHawk at 25, Medal of Honor: Vanguard at 33 and Warriors Orochi scraping in at 38.
But enough of those stragglers, here’s how the top ten star performers arrange themselves for the week ending September 22nd.
1. Tiger Woods: PGA Tour ‘08 (3)
2. MySims (NE)
3. Super Paper Mario (4)
4. John Woo Presents Stranglehold (2)
5. Medal of Honour: Airborne (1)
6. Colin McRae: Dirt (8)
7. Transformers: The Game (9)
8. Heavenly Sword (5)
9. The Sims 2: Bon Voyage (6)
10. Bioshock (7)
Oh, and looking back at our Bafta story (below) we see that Wii Sports has garnered the most nominations, not Gears of War as we reported. There's only one nomination between them, but d'oh! all the same...
Leisure software charts compiled by Chart Track, © 2007 ELSPA Ltd.
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Wii Becoming Obscure
Wii Becoming Obscure
The co-op adventure sequel is headed stateside.
by Daemon Hatfield
September 25, 2007 - Today Playlogic announced a publishing and distribution agreement with Ignition to bring Obscure: The Aftermath to North American Wiis. The sequel to 2005's budget PlayStation 2 game Obscure, The Aftermath takes place two years after the first game and sees the survivors going off to college. After the discovery of a strange, beautiful plant on campus, the students must again cooperate to survive.
Obscure: The Aftermath was developed by Hydravision, makers of the first game, and will be published by Playlogic in Europe. Under the agreement, Ignition will publish and distribute the game in the U.S.
Obscure: The Aftermath
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Monday, September 24, 2007
No More Heroes Hands-on
Suda 51's latest Wii project's one cool action title.
by Craig Harris
September 21, 2007 - The last time game designer Suda 51 (real name Suda Goichi) made a splash in the videogame scene was when he and Capcom released Killer 7 for the GameCube. If you were one of the eight people who owned the game, congrats! You played a title that was more style than substance, but it still made a significant impact in the realm of videogaming. Same thing with his team's follow-up on the Nintendo DS, Contact. But after playing his latest project, No More Heroes on the Wii, we're pretty sure that his and his team's vision will appeal to a lot more people this time.
Marvelous Entertainment had No More Heroes on display at its booth at the Tokyo Game Show this week where we had the opportunity to play through a specially constructed demo version of the game. The short experience definitely made us sad when it ended, and left us wanting more after sitting on the "Thanks for playing" screen.
The demo version of No More Heroes introduced us to the game's cel-shaded visual style as well as it's rather straightforward action structure. Move your character with the Nunchuk's analog stick, punch with the A button, and kick with the B button. You can target enemies and objects with the Z trigger. The character lead (as well as many enemies) wields what looks to be a cross between a Star Wars lightsaber and a fluorescent light tube, used as a weapon to wallop the bad guys. It needs to be charged up every so often, by hitting the 1 button on the Wii remote and shaking it like one of those flashlights that never run out.
In this demo, you simply wander around outside and in warehouses, fighting waves of thugs by punching and kicking. Every so often you'll activate a special move that requires a motion from the Wii remote or Nunchuk to pull off - this is indicated by an old-school style pixilated arrow in the direction you need to motion. The game keeps tabs on combo strings and rewards accordingly.
Halfway through the demo the lead character receives a call on his phone - the in-game voice-over appeared to be spoken in English, but the phone call could be heard in Japanese if you put the Wii Remote up to your ear and listened to the speaker. After this, it was another session of butt-kicking, and then a boss battle against a very Power Ranger-like badguy who zapped energy in special attacks that needed to be avoided with side-steps using control motions and D-pad press combinations. The demo ended either after a death or once the boss was defeated.
The game runs at a smooth clip but definitely had its fair share of "still in development" framerate glitches. We love the style, including the pixel dust explosions of the enemies after they shatter from existence. It proves you don't need gushing blood to have satisfaction of taking out the bad guys.
We're definitely looking forward to the game's US release from UbiSoft.
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Wii Amigo incoming
Wii Amigo incoming
Monday September 24, 01:58 PM 
Samba de Amigo is definitely on its way to Wii – that’s according to Nintendo’s official mouthpiece, Nintendo Power too. This is awesome news, people!
You won’t want to look at another rhythm-action game once you’ve played this brilliant piece of software. As a quick summary for those of you not in the know, Samba de Amigo basically involves players shaking a pair of maraca controllers in time to a selection of OTT tunes while a grinning monkey and a procession of other bizarre carnival animals get their funk on. Timing and maraca positioning are crucial and this used to be handled by matching on-screen prompts and holding the maracas as required - high up, low down, to the side etc. That gameplay mechanic looks likely to be used again here – and it really wasn’t broke so no need to fix it – however the Wii Remote and Nunchuk will now stand in for the Maracas.
We’re not yet sure whether that means there’ll be some kind of shaker-style atachment to snap onto your Wii accessories – after all playing with real maracas was half the fun. We’re also not sure about the Remote/Nunchuk interface either, since one needs to be plugged into the other and the original game often required the maracas to be held apart at arms length.
But better any kind of Samba de Amigo than none at all, we reckon, and this one promises to feature many of the songs that made the original such a blast. Gearbox (Brothers in Arms) are handling the development, apparently, which bodes rather well. It’s due out at some unspecified time next year, so much more soon.
Copyright © 2006 Unlikely Hero Limited
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Sunday, September 23, 2007
Paper Mario rustles up a bug
Paper Mario rustles up a bug
Thursday September 20, 03:12 PM
By Nintendo’s own guilty admission English, Spanish and German gamers who bought Super Paper Mario last weekend may be in for a nasty surprise.
It’s due to a bug that arises in level 2-2 which causes the screen to freeze and, no doubt, anguished gamers to gnaw the buttons off their Remotes. Nintendo is sure that many gamers won’t even notice the problem. However they’ve issued the following guidelines in the event that they do. Pay attention at the back:
At the start of Chapter 2-2 you will come across a character called Mimi. She will tell you to go to the farthest room on the first floor to meet a character called Merlee. Enter that room and press the green switch. A trap will be triggered and a spiked ceiling will descend upon Mario. Before the ceiling reaches him, flip into 3D and jump on it to find a key.
If you pick up the key you won’t run into any problems. Use it to open the locked door to Mimi’s right. However, if you talk to Mimi without picking up the key the game will freeze. You will then have to turn off your Wii Console and start again from your last save point.
Got all that? The bug won’t damage the game disc or your Wii, and if you’re happy to follow the above guidelines the game plays out exactly as normal. However, if you handed over the best part of 40 squids in the mistaken belief you were buying a perfect and full-functioning piece of software entertainment Nintendo is planning some kind of replacement program. See the Super Paper Mario pages on Nintendo-europe.com for more information.
Sloppy, very sloppy!
Copyright © 2006 Unlikely Hero Limited
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Saturday, September 22, 2007
Month of Metroid
Month of Metroid
Written by Tsukasi
When I woke up this morning, I turned to my Wii and saw the blue LED in it's distinctive glow. Half asleep I sat watching in awe, thinking what update has Nintendo dropped on us today?
Shortly after turning on my Wii, I checked my messages. One from Nintendo said a new Metroid "Preview" was made available to download in the Wii Shop Channel. Here I entered upon the grand scheme that was laid out before us. The main update in the Wii Shop Channel was labelled "Month of Metroid." Intruiged I read the short article. It revealed that Metroid for the NES would be made available on August 13th for 500 points, and a week later Super Metroid from the SNES would debut on August 20th for 800 points. Then it told me to download a new channel from the Wii Ware, and I did.
Behold the Metroid Channel in all its glory! One trailer comprised of cinematics and intense battle scenes. My hype for Metroid Prime 3 started to rise. The next video showcased Samus battling the infamous Space Pirates ontop of a bridge, in the familiar setting we saw at E3 a year ago.
Two other videos were there, but are unavailable until August 13th.
The Metroid Channel takes up 70 blocks and does not acually store trailers onto your console. You do connect to the internet and stream them through your console. Unfortunately for those of you living elsewere in the world, this update is only available in Canada and the United States.
Here is a video provided to those living outside of North America. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5TDS31AcMc
Expect a full Metroid Prime 3 review once I get my grubby hands on it August 27th and once I've had a nice playthrough of the game.
Stay tuned and enjoy!
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Three more from beyond the grave for VC
Does anyone else think that Nintendo’s ‘Hanabi Festival’-themed spin on the Virtual Console releases this month is nothing more than a sly marketing ploy to make us think we’re taking part in something that’s culturally significant in some way? After all, without the Hanabi tag we’d just be looking at another bunch of ropey old games wouldn’t we? And that’s pretty much what we’ve got today too, but distinctly Ninja-flavoured.
Copyright © 2006 Unlikely Hero Limited
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Nintendo Wii Finally Finds Way Into Health ClubsWritten by Andrew Little
Nintendo Wii Finally Finds Way Into Health ClubsWritten by Andrew Little
A health club in Canada is offering a new kind of workout. Bored with treadmills or cycling classes, well how about the Wii Workout Station!
The people are using the movement-sensitive controller to punch, run and jump to a greater health with Wii.
A Spokesman for Nintendo Canada said its the first gym in the world to "test drive" this new idea of Nintendo Wii Healthy.
"We're always trying to break down paradigms and keep things fresh. It's used here to break up the monotony of traditional workouts," Nathan Mellalieu, the owner of Studio 55, the gym of the first Nintendo Wii Workout Station, told Reuters.
The Nintendo Wii is set up in a 400 Sq. foot room with a large screen T.V. According to the club's owner, one session of any Wii sports game, besides golf, burns anywhere between 75 and 125 calories depending on the size of person playing.
Nintendo, seeing the health benefits with Wii, have recently announced a new accessory used for other beneficial activities for the body. Its called Wii Fit and its scheduled for release early next year.
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New Wii Fit Details and Pictures
New Wii Fit Details and Pictures
Here are some of the new screenshots:
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