Realm Media Networks - Wii

Review: Purr Pals

Luke Wallace — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 11:38:30 -0700

There are games that reviewers look forward to, and games that they don't. For the games that we don't, it's usually because the game has had nothing but bad news leading up to its release, or that we're clearly outside the target market of the game. With Purr Pals for the Nintendo Wii, it's clearly the second reason. But perhaps this simple game with its cute box art and wuvable wittle kitties... sorry... loveable little kitties, can turn this late-twenty-something gamer into a pet-sim lover.

Rock Band Live Tour comes to Dallas in November

Luke Wallace — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 07:51:03 -0700

With the huge success of the original Rock Band game, Harmonix is promoting their upcoming sequel, Rock Band 2, by taking the show on the road. Using headliners Panic At The Disco and Dashboard Confessional, they will be having concerts across the country that will feature Rock Band performances by the general public. That means that you might be able to play on stage between the major acts, and show off your Rock Band skills to the world.

Tickets for the event will go on sale starting on August 8th, 2008, with the local Dallas show happening on November 12, 2008 at Nokia Theatre.

The full press release and tour dates are listed after the jump.

Wii MotionPlus brings 1:1 motion to the Wii, claims Nintendo

Luke Wallace — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 09:44:36 -0700

Nintendo has begun teasing some of the topics they'll be talking about Tuesday morning at their E3 2008 keynote press conference, starting with a new peripheral that claims to bring 1:1 motion control to the Wii. So far only mentioned as a "MotionPlus" accessory, details about how the device looks, how expensive it will be, or what is really possible with it will likely be shown tomorrow.

It would be great if Nintendo would provide the peripheral for free to all current users, like they did with the Remote Jackets, but it's more likely it will come bundled with a new game (Star Wars: The Force Unleashed maybe?) like the Wii Wheel. 1:1 motion control, where the exact orientation of the Wii Remote can be detected, was mentioned as a missing feature when the Wii was released, but most of the noise has died down in the midst of the millions of units sold. Either a new game needed it to provide the desired experience, or Nintendo saw an opportunity to improve gameplay even more.

Full mini-press release after the jump.

Nintendo announces Wario, Kirby as part of their fall 2008 lineup

Luke Wallace — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 06:05:22 -0700

Nintendo jumped the gun on the E3 announcements by releasing a little info on some upcoming titles for the Wii and DS. Instead of being lost in the shuffle of E3 2008, they are telling us about their new Wario and Kirby games, along with the previously announced Super Sluggers and a new Mystery Case Files game.

The full press release is available after the jump.

Combo Review: Bomberman Land Wii vs. Bomberman Land Touch! 2

Luke Wallace — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 10:29:29 -0800

When a game publisher has a popular franchise, they will often coordinate the release of the next installment across multiple platforms. Such is the case with Bomberman Land, which recently saw the release of games for the Wii, DS, and PSP. The games are meant to follow similar story lines, but the controls and game mechanics can be very different. After spending time with both the Wii and DS versions of Bomberman Land, one clearly stood out as more fun, and less frustrating. Even though they both are a collection of mini-games, and both retail for $29.99, one of them is clearly the wiser investment. Want to know which one? Click the "read more" link below for the full review.

Review: Super Mario Galaxy brings whimsy back

Luke Wallace — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 15:39:45 -0800

Super Mario Galaxy was touted as the "spiritual successor" to Super Mario 64, referring to the style of gameplay, and variety found in the level design. After just a few minutes of playing, it's easy to see why the claim was made. With an expansive 3D world - not limited to a track, court, or playing field - and a non-linear level progression, the experience can be as unique as desired. With the game being under development for many years, everyone is expecting it to be good. But how well does it really do? Click "read more" below to read the full review.

Sony may have a multi-colored console in U.S. before Nintendo

Luke Wallace — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 08:56:25 -0800

You've always been able to get a PLAYSTATION 3 in any color you'd like in the United States, as long as that color is black. It appears that soon there will be an option for consumers to purchase a PS3 in white as well. With white being the "new black" of consumer electronics, Sony has been a bit behind by only offering their premiere console in the color of empty space, except in Japan where a white model is already offered. Usually Nintendo is the king of releasing the same device in multiple colors, but with their latest console, they are still only producing a single variant. The tip off that Sony might be releasing a new color came from a recent FCC filing, in which pictures clearly show a console that is not available in stores.

The photos submitted showcase a very sleek looking white system from a variety of angles. As is typical for the 40GB model, it appears it only has two USB ports in front, and no memory card readers.

Still just a rumor, it would be nice for Sony to finally offer colors in North America that they've showcased since announcing the PS3, including the picture leading this article, which is from E3 2006. Now if only Nintendo would do the same.

FCC filing for PS3 updated with white model [PS3 Fanboy]

EXTRA EXTRA! Nintendo tells fans to scram until March!

Luke Wallace — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 20:02:58 -0800

DATELINE Internet -- A big black blizzard blew through the computer juice joint today when Nintendo of the United States of America formally called out that their next big thing, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, was being delayed by another month. Nintendo's being a real flat tire about the whole thing, only giving up the following bit on the old magic newstand.

Due to delays in the completion of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, we’ve had to change the release date of the game to Sunday, March 9th.

I deeply apologize to the people who have looked forward to playing the game for so long and ask that you hold on just a little longer. Thank you for your patience.

The upcoming electraniacal version of fisticuffs for the Wii has been delayed twice prior to today's caper, and a lot of people have a beef with Nintendo about it. They consider this baloney, and wonder if the people behind it are canned, corked, zozzled, or just plain splifflicated. Whatever the bull, every Tom, Dick, Harry, and Jane that was expecting this next month will have to wait to see what the Big Cheeses at Nintendo do next.

Smash Bros. DOJO!!

Wii gets streamable preview videos for Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

Luke Wallace — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 06:36:49 -0700

Nintendo is calling August the "Month of Metroid" to promote the upcoming Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, being released on August 27th. A new channel has been made available in the Wii Shop, promising the ability to watch videos, but they are not downloaded to the system. Instead, a small player interface is downloaded that provides a Metroid-themed interface to watch videos and look at some artwork. The videos appear to be streamed, as there were occasional hiccups in the video. The compression is light, without the plague of blocks and smudges that appear on most online video services. Two videos are available to watch now, with two more being available on August 13th.

Nintendo is demonstrating the ability to have preview videos available for everyone on their system, and hopefully a similar service will be implemented for previews of Virtual Console titles. Currently in the Wii Shop channel you are told to go to Wii.com to watch preview videos, but today's release shows that this process isn't absolutely necessary.

Nintendo is slowly expanding their online presence. With the obvious lack of playable demos, they are still behind the other major players, but hopefully Nintendo is just remaining quiet on the issue, and not ignoring it altogether.

Nintendo updates Wii Shop, News, and Weather

Luke Wallace — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 06:17:01 -0700

Wii consoles everywhere had their slot glowing blue this morning with a message from Nintendo about an update for the Wii. With most of the changes related to the console's shopping channel, a few minor updates throughout the rest of the system seem to be well received at this point. Minor changes to the News and Weather channels show more information on the main Wii menu, and a clock has been added for those that may not have one handy elsewhere.

The Wii Shop channel saw the largest amount of changes, due in part to the fact that there are now over 100 titles available to be downloaded. It appears that you can no longer look through every title in one list, you must narrow down your search by a category. You can view games by the system they were originally released on, the genre, or even the publisher. For those that want to quickly find a game they know exists, a search has been added to find games by title. A quick search of "lol" returned The Adventures of LoLo almost immediately, making this method of searching the fastest by far. Another search option has been added that lists popular titles, those that have been downloaded the most by Wii owners. Mario titles take nearly every spot in the list, with Zelda games getting their fair share as well.

The News and Weather channels are now more useful, as previews of their content are visible from the main Wii menu. For the News channel, a couple top headlines scroll by. In full screen preview mode many more headlines are visible, although you cannot go directly to any of the stories you see. The Weather thumbnail now shows the current weather, but no temperature is displayed, making it only useful for those who don't have immediate access to a window.

A clock has been added to the Wii menu, but it has the old 7-segment display look that you see on most clock radios and digital watches. A little ugly, we can only hope it will be configurable in the future, and even removable for those that may prefer the old look.

Browsing the new Wii Shop channel, it's easy to see that some of the new categories haven't been ironed out. Capcom is listed twice under Publishers, with different games in each grouping, and for PinBall for the NES is listed under the Board Games genre. Since the listings are easily updated by Nintendo, we should see these problems corrected fairly soon. Although a fairly minor update, it's encouraging to see Nintendo dealing with the issues people are having, and responding to their ever growing Wii community.