Gamernode: Latest Wii News

"Contactless" battery charger for Wiimote coming

Electronics manufacture, Sanyo, has announced that it is the first company to offer an officially licensed charger for the WiiMote, which we assume, means Nintendo will make sure the thing works before putting its stamp of approval on the device.

Other charging units, not licensed by Nintendo, have reportedly melted the cases of the controllers while charging. Not a good thing.

The replacement rechargeable battery pack for the controller uses eneloop cells, which draws its power from magnetic induction rather than electrical contacts. This will be great for all those WiiMotes that have those thick silicon case protectors on them--you won't have to remove it to charge your controller since no contact needs to be made with the battery pack and the charging unit.

The cost of a one-unit charger ...

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July 21st WiiWare/Virtual Console releases

Another Monday, another round of WiiWare and Virtual Console updates.

Whether Nintendo adds one game, ten games, or none at all, GamerNode will be here every Monday with the official details - titles, platforms, ratings, pricing, and even a taste of some corny marketing copy - keeping you up to date with everything from the online Wii scene.

Without further ado, the games:

WiiWare

Pirates: The Key of Dreams (Oxygen Games, 1-4 players, Rated E for Everyone-Mild Violence, 1,000 Wii Points): Pirates: The Key of Dreams is a frantic nautical shoot-'em-up. Sail your way across the Caribbean, cannons blazing, looting booty, running blockades and ultimately battling Blackbeard himself. The player takes control of a navy captain sent deep undercover as a ruthless pirate in order to seek out and retr...

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The Conduit gameplay looking good

GamerNode reported on The Conduit in the past as a sci-fi shooter with better-than-usual graphics for the Nintendo Wii.

Developed by High Voltage Software, this first-person shooter kind of looks like a blend between Prey, Half-Life, and Area 51. Is this the beginning of what could be the norm for Nintendo Wii graphics?

If the game runs smoothly and the controls work with fluidity, I don't see any reason why this game won't be able to whet the appetites for those who have been waiting for a good FPS on the Wii.

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July 14th WiiWare/Virtual Console releases

Another Monday, another round of WiiWare and Virtual Console updates.

Whether Nintendo adds one game, ten games, or none at all, GamerNode will be here every Monday with the official details - titles, platforms, ratings, pricing, and even a taste of some corny marketing copy - keeping you up to date with everything from the online Wii scene.

Without further ado, the games:

WiiWare

Major League Eating: The Game (Mastiff, 1-2 players, Rated E10+ for Everyone 10 and Older-Crude Humor, 1,000 Wii Points): The ultimate chomp-off is about to begin. Grab your Wii Remote controller and dig into 12 different foods as you compete against the greatest major-league eaters in the world. This isn't just a race to stuff your face-you'll need strategy to master a smorgasbord of digestive attacks, defenses...

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Animal Crossing Wii is done, Punch-Out!! Wii in th...

The newest issue of NGamer has hit European magazine racks and it brings us some juicy info on two of Nintendo's upcoming games that will be at E3. Namely, Animal Crossing Wii and Punch-Out!! Wii.

First off, NGamer tells us that Animal Crossing Wii is completed. Presumably the game's code is ready to be pressed onto a disc and shipped to retailers. Contrary to previous rumors, the game isn't an MMO but will still offer online features includng Wifi sharing like its DS predecessor. Additional details were not divulged but at least we know for sure that the game exists now!

Additonally, Punch-Out!!, an old classic, is set to be revived on the Wii and is currently in development. Like Animal Crossing, NGamer didn't reveal much other than the title's existence. The magazine tells us that the tit...

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New Wii controller in the works?

While scrounging around the U.S. Patent Office website for new information on the rumored Xbox 360 motion-sensing controller, the folks over at Spong stumbled upon a patent filed by Nintendo for what appears to be a brand new Wii controller with a familiar GameCube-esque button layout AND a space to mount a Wii remote.

The text of the filing supports that observation, describing "An imaging information arithmetic unit...at a front end of the housing...in such a manner that an imaging device thereof is exposed from a front-end surface." That's the Wii remote.

While greatly appreciated, something like this is long overdue for the Wii, and should have been provided at launch. Good show, Nintendo, but you're more than a year-and-a-half late, so...not really.

Here is the full abstract of the pat...

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July 7th WiiWare/Virtual Console releases

Another Monday, another round of WiiWare and Virtual Console updates.

Whether Nintendo adds one game, ten games, or none at all, GamerNode will be here every Monday with the official details - titles, platforms, ratings, pricing, and even a taste of some corny marketing copy - keeping you up to date with everything from the online Wii scene.

Without further ado, the games:

WiiWare

SPOGS Racing (D2C Games, 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone-Mild Cartoon Violence, 1,000 Wii Points): Coming at you full throttle is SPOGS Racing, an all-new racer from D2C Games featuring classic arcade racing, pick-up-and-play controls, all-new racing vehicles and Crash N' Grab™ instant upgrades. Jump in, gear up and modify your ride on the fly as you compete head-to-head for a totally outrageous arcade r...

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Aaron Greenberg calls the Wii "a novelty"

Ahh, industry figures taking jabs at rival companies' products like basement-dwelling fanboys never gets old, no matter which side it's coming from. This time around, Aaron Greenberg, Microsoft director of product management for Xbox 360 and Xbox Live, has some unflattering words for Nintendo's little white box, the Wii.

In an interview with Gamasutra, he claims that it is little more than a starter console and novelty for non-gamers, and that Wii owners "are eventually going to want to graduate to an Xbox 360 experience." Greenberg says:

"Everyone says that eventually the novelty will wear off, right? I think that a lot of the people that are buying that console today are not people that have generally bought consoles in the past, right?

You see they're not buying games on it, right? They'r...

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Wii Fit flops in Japan. Gamers quit after buying

One of the reasons health clubs stay in business is by signing up people to yearly contracts.

What they know and the general public doesn't know is that a great majority of people who do sign up only attend about 57 days out of the full year while some drop out completely, thus affording more space in the gym for more people to sign up and fail to show.

It seems that Wii Fit, at least in Japan, is taking on similar characteristics in consumer behavior. According to ITMeida of Japan, a poll was taken by a group of 1000 gamers that showed a staggering amount of people not using the Wii Fit game shortly after purchase.

The question presented to the gamers was:

Do you use Wii Fit faithfully everyday?

- 22% - I record my progress faithfully everyday - 6% - Maybe once every two or three days...

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You want Goldeneye on the Wii? So did this guy

It's pretty clear that members of the gaming community need more Goldeneye in their lives. There has been significant demand for the game to be re-released, be it on Xbox Live, Wii Virtual Console, or even in a Source Engine mod.

Well, one determined Wii owner has managed to get the game running on the Virtual Console's Sin & Punishment emulator, and has posted his accomplishment for all to see. Here it is:

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Super Mario Sluggers batting video

Namco Bandai and Nintendo's Super Mario Stadium: Family Baseball (Super Mario Sluggers in the US) has been available in Japan for a couple of weeks now, and is scheduled to hit North American shores during the last week of August.

The game promises to bring typical Nintendo mascot action, a la Mario Tennis and Mario Superstar Baseball, to the Wii. It takes a simple, pick-up-and-play approach, and makes use of the console's motion controls for pitching and batting.

The video below shows off exactly how the Wiimote input translates into in-game action behind the plate. It's nothing mind-blowing, but it is the Mushroom Kingdom on a baseball field, and if your home team is anything like mine, you might actually prefer that.                                                                        ...

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Castlevania fighting game to hit Wii this fall

Attention Wii owners who love Castlevania-I've got some good news, and bad news. The good news is that Iga and Konami announced today that they're beginning work on a new Castlevania title for the Wii. The bad news is that it's a fighting game.

Titled Castlevania Judgment, the game pits several generations of the Belmont clan against characters from the franchise's entire run.

"We wanted to take this addition to the signature Konami franchise in a direction that really sets it apart from the previous Castlevania titles in the series," said Anthony Crouts, Vice President of Marketing for Konami Digital Entertainment. "The Wii Remote and Nunchuk capabilities, along with the iconic characters, make this game the ideal entry point into the fighting game genre. This combination is certain to thr...

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June 30th WiiWare/Virtual Console releases

Another Monday, another round of WiiWare and Virtual Console updates.

Whether Nintendo adds one game, ten games, or none at all, GamerNode will be here every Monday with the official details - titles, platforms, ratings, pricing, and even a taste of some corny marketing copy - keeping you up to date with everything from the online Wii scene.

Without further ado, the games:

WiiWare

Magnetica Twist (Nintendo, 1-4 players, Rated E for Everyone-Comic Mischief, 1,000 Wii Points): The classic puzzle game Magnetica is now available on WiiWare , putting its own unique "twist" on the puzzle-game experience. You're surrounded by marbles, marching slowly but surely down a track. Use a launcher (piloted by a Mii of your choice) to shoot marbles with matching colors and wipe them out before they reach...

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Update: Zelda not coming to an online game near yo...

Sorry, Zelda fanboys, but Zelda Universe isn't an upcoming Zelda online game, despite the great write-up and team effort by Eddie and Justin on the original article. Turns out it's a rating from 2000-2001 for a Zelda flash game on the official Zelda site which is now gone. You can tell it's an older rating based on the games surrounding it if you do a simple search for all online ratings at the ESRB's website, and then go through the pages until you get to Zelda Universe.

I'm not entirely sure why it stayed quiet for so long with all the Nintendo fanboys out there (you'd think eventually someone would notice a Zelda rating with an online note and start spreading the word), but alas, it is not to be. Of course, you could always LARP your favorite Zelda scenes and moments with friends... May...

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June 23rd WiiWare/Virtual Console releases

Another Monday, another round of WiiWare and Virtual Console updates.

Whether Nintendo adds one game, ten games, or none at all, GamerNode will be here every Monday with the official details - titles, platforms, ratings, pricing, and even a taste of some corny marketing copy - keeping you up to date with everything from the online Wii scene.

Without further ado, the games:

WiiWare

Gyrostarr (High Voltage Software, 1-4 players, Rated E for Everyone-Mild Fantasy Violence, 700 Wii Points): Gyrostarr challenges you and up to three additional players to pilot your ships through a series of twisting, turning technoplasma tracks while battling a variety of deadly alien foes at ever-increasing speeds. While fighting and maneuvering, you must collect enough energy to activate the ancient warpgate ...

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Super Mario RPG hits Wii VC in Japan next week

Earlier today, Wii owners were brought yet another reason to envy Japan because the acclaimed Super Mario RPG is heading to their Virtual Console next week--specifically, on Tuesday.

No word yet on a North American release, but considering Europe is getting the game even though they never received it when it was originally released, there's a good chance the USA will see the game as well.

Unfortunately, Nintendo of America's handling of the Virtual Console has been rather questionable lately so it may be some time before we get the game here.

I do hope I'm wrong though. Super Mario RPG is one of my favorite games and I would love to have it easily accessible on my Wii. Here's hoping we see the game in the next few weeks.

[via Nintendo of Japan]

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EA: Boom Blox sales have met our expectations

With the casual gaming genre now one of the biggest money makers for developers, figuring out the best marketing strategy for the titles can be tricky. The tried and true plan of showing off trailers, screenshots, and bits of information almost an entire year in advance really doesn't cut it where casual games are concerned.

One of the best examples of this is the highly acclaimed Boom Blox by EA and Steven Spielberg. While heralded by some reviews as one of the best Wii games made, it should surprise some readers to know Boom Blox has only sold sixty thousand copies in the US. This has met EA's internal expectations, but there is no doubt they were hoping for more. Interestingly enough, Boom Blox may still net the numbers to make it be considered a bigger success.

It all comes down to how...

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Nintendo apologizes for "geeks and otaku" remarks

The Wii accomplishes its game saves and storage of downloadable content on its internal 512MB memory and removable SD memory cards, which can be a chore, and has started discussions about an HDD among Wii owners.

About a week and a half ago, Laurent Fischer, marketing director for Nintendo Europe said that only "geeks and otaku" would want a hard disk drive add-on for the Wii game console.

The insult didn't go unnoticed by the Wii community and Fischer has apologized for his harsh remarks.

"I have huge respect for those who, like me, share a common passion for Nintendo and want to make it clear that I would never use and I didn't use this terminology in such a context or way to cause offense, he said. "I regret that this misunderstanding has created such offense and disappointment within the...

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June 16th WiiWare/Virtual Console releases

Another Monday, another round of WiiWare and Virtual Console updates.

Whether Nintendo adds one game, ten games, or none at all, GamerNode will be here every Monday with the official details - titles, platforms, ratings, pricing, and even a taste of some corny marketing copy - keeping you up to date with everything from the online Wii scene.

Without further ado, the games:

WiiWare

Block Breaker Deluxe (Gameloft, 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone-Mild Suggestive Themes, 800 Wii Points): Prepare for the frenzy of the coolest block-breaker game ever. Block Breaker Deluxe is a reinvention of the classic arcade brick-breaker game with a trendy graphical style, fun atmosphere and an exclusive multiplayer mode. Lively characters and amazing graphics provide distinctive settings of the jet-set ni...

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Sid Meier isn't abandoning the Wii

With no announcement of a Wii version of Sid Meier's newest title, Civilization Revolution, some fans of both Sid and the Wii have become uneasy, thinking that Meier has perhaps abandoned the system.Well that isn't the case; last Monday, GameDaily conducted an interview with the established developer. Sid said he and Firaxis both think the Wii is "a fantastic platform, and have no intentions of turning our backs on it!"

Unfortunately, he didn't confirm any plans for a Wii edition of Civilization Revolution but at least there's the possibility considering his enthusiasm for the Wii.

When asked about the possibility of a Civilization MMO, he replied "I'm exploring lots of exciting ideas right now. A Civ MMO is a really intriguing idea and we're spending time thinking about how we could make it...

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