Wii owners who have tried to play online with their friends will no doubt have slapped their forehead at the sheer unfriendliness of the task. Wii Friend Number is a Facebook application that aims to simplify the task of swapping codes - allowing you to enter your friend code, define your game library, and see the friend codes of all your Facebook friends. Game on.
Whenever I think of LucasArts, I wonder why they stopped making graphic adventure games. According to LucasArts PR manager Chris Norris, this kind of question is all too common.
“We have looked at it,” admits Norris. “It is something we are continually looking at - new venues to put out our library of games on. We’re not announcing anything about that because honestly I don’t know anything about it.”
And why don’t they release the games on the Wii or DS, both formats sporting interfaces which are undeniably perfect for a translation?
Nintendo of Australia will be launching their Connection Tour 08 on June 28, running through till 15 July. They’ll be setting up in Westfield shopping centres across Australia, and giving you the opportunity to play the ridiculously-late highly-anticipated Super Smash Bros. Brawl and the widely-mocked Guitar Hero On Tour (among other games) - with the odd Mario Kart Wii competition thrown in to boot. Click through for the tour dates.
Nintendo of Australia just sent word that they’ve finally set a release date for Super Smash Bros. Brawl in Australia. Thankfully, it’s not too much longer than we’ve already waited - June 26, 2008.
Epic Games president Mike Capps cares not for the massive audience of Wii owners salivating for a decent game not based on Nintendo IP, he cares only about technology. “We go forward, not back. It makes more sense for us to invest in the next-generation tech,” he said in a recent IGN interview.
This morning saw two new games added to the Wii Virtual Console library - River City Ransom (NES) and Phantasy Star 3: Generations of Doom (Genesis).
PAL owners who want their River City fix don’t need to wait until Friday. Just check the Virtual Console for Street Gangs (the name of the PAL release) - it’s been available since February!
Pic via ConsoleClassix
This morning Nintendo released info on the upcoming Wii Fit game (if you can call it that), scheduled to hit the streets on May 19. Apparently the game and the Wii Balance Board will be bundled together for a whopping $89.99. Those of you living in the New York City area can head down to the Nintendo World Store in Rockefeller Plaza between April 18-20 and receive a special bonus item upon reserving the game: a limited edition Wii Fit T-shirt featuring the image and reproduced autograph of legendary Nintendo video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Better be quick though, as only the first 1,000 will be eligable for the shirt.
Boasting a dynamic mix of more than 40 yoga, aerobics, strength training and balance activities, Wii Fit provides consumers with a fun, easy and affordable way to incorporate exercise into their daily routines. Using the included wireless Wii Balance Board accessory, every member of the household can step up and stay active, setting individual fitness goals and tracking their progress over time.
Cry not Wii owners (not even wee wee wee), as Nibris has chosen the Gamebryo development platform to power the upcoming black-and-white thriller, Sadness. According to developer, this engine is probably the most powerful available for the Wii, and will allow them to pull off effects that others would deem impossible to achieve on the console. Will it replicate a nice hot cup of Earl Grey, Cap’n? Probably not, but Nibris seems charged up to deliver gamers the most engrossing crime noir thriller ever.
The BBC has released an early test version of their iPlayer video service for the Nintendo Wii. Unfortunately the service is only available for license-fee payers in the UK, but if you meet the criteria, fire up the Internet Channel and hit bbc.co.uk/iplayer - then come back here and tell us what it was like!
We’ve just got word that Mario Kart Wii will arrive in Australia on April 24 - a week before the usually luckier gamers in the US get their fix. While first-party Wii games are usually under AU$80, Mario Kart Wii gets a recommended retail price of $99.95 due to being bundled with the undeniably crappy Wii Wheel accessory.
Wii Fit will arrive on May 8, and will set you back $149.95 for the software and balance board. The UK release date of April 25 means they will be the first to get the game outside Japan, and the US release date of May 19 means they will have to be content with lucky last place.
