WiiSports -- Engadget

WiiSports posts

Police Wii Bowling team issued stern rebuke

by Joseph L. Flatley posted Nov 12th 2009 at 12:59PM

You know, policing can be a tiresome, thankless task -- that's why we weren't all that surprised when Polk County's finest were caught on camera at the scene of a Florida drug raid engaging in a reported nine hour Wii Sports tourney. As you'll recall, investigators raided a home back in March on the lookout for drugs and stolen items -- which they found, along with weapons and that infamous Nintendo game console. Fans of police accountability will be pleased to note that when all is said and done, eleven members of the multiagency task force were eventually disciplined with a letter in their permanent records and a couple hours of re-training. According to Polk County sheriff's Chief of Staff Gary Hester, all of those involved "were all remorseful, upset with themselves, [and] apologetic," except one officer who finally bowled a perfect game: "It was totally worth it. The Dude abides."

[Via Joystiq]

British NHS lauds Wii Fit Plus for flabby bum-busting potential

by Joseph L. Flatley posted Oct 27th 2009 at 2:57PM

You know, we've been pretty skeptical about the whole "fit" part of the "Wii Fit" phenomenon, and for good reason: as studies have shown, the health benefits of gaming, whether you're sitting, standing, or faux-bowling, are minimal at best. Still, for a number of consumers at home and abroad, the game conjures up notions of leading an active lifestyle. So perhaps it is no surprise, as the Telegraph reports, that Britain's National Health Service is using it to promote its Change4Life initiative -- even going so far as to allow the company to append the Change4Life logo on its upcoming Wii Fit Plus release. And how about those who cry foul -- specifically, those who point out that the deal includes Nintendo shelling out money to help promote the NHS-funded program. See how one might get the idea that this is a "pay to play" affair? To the government's credit, it does stress that it's endorsing an exercise, not a video game system. "Active video games, where kids need to jump up and down or dance about as part of the game, are a great way to get kids moving," a spokesperson said. Rob Saunders, the British spokesman for Nintendo, had this to say: "If you are worried about your bingo wings or your flabby bum, the game will give you specific exercises to target those areas." Bingo wings? Flabby bums? Why didn't you say so in the first place?

[Via Yahoo]

Wii Sports Resort bundle doubles-down with a MotionPlus pair: $60 on October 12

by Thomas Ricker posted Sep 25th 2009 at 6:23AM

The Tokyo Game Show may be winding down but a few bits of information are still trickling out. Like this new limited edition Wii Sport Resort bundle with a pair of MotionPlus accessories. The bundle lands on October 12th for a penny shy of $60 -- saving you $10 if you bought the standard $50 Sport Resort with MotionPlus plus a second $20 MotionPlus separately. Hoozah?

Video: Drug raid turns into 9 hour Wii bowl-a-thon

by Thomas Ricker posted Sep 23rd 2009 at 9:03AM

Know what's more alluring to the five-O than glazed confectionary goods? Nintendo's Wii, apparently. Or at least the lure of bowling without all the heavy lifting. See, a team of undercover cops raiding the home of a convicted Florida drug dealer was smitten enough by the console to quit their search and fire up Wii Sports for a bit of taxpayer fun over a period of, oh... about nine hours -- unaware that the home security system was recording the whole thing. Your dose of self-righteous indignation can be found after the break.

[Thanks, Maurice]

Continue reading Video: Drug raid turns into 9 hour Wii bowl-a-thon

Wii Sports Resort impressions (and video!): MotionPlus killer app, or killer tech demo?

by Paul Miller posted Jul 23rd 2009 at 12:23PM

Sure, EA and Sega already have MotionPlus offerings on the market, but everyone knows the real kickoff for MotionPlus is Nintendo's first party title: Wii Sports Resort. We've spent some sweaty days with the product to get a real feel for all 12 games included (each with a few different activities to keep things fresh), and while there are certainly shortcomings to the depth of gameplay per activity, there's no denying that the package will liven up a party and rake in cash by the truckloads for Nintendo. Read on for our full impressions and some action-packed hands-on video.

Continue reading Wii Sports Resort impressions (and video!): MotionPlus killer app, or killer tech demo?

Wii MotionPlus and Wii Sports Resort (feat. Disc Dog) out in July

by Joseph L. Flatley posted Apr 9th 2009 at 11:23AM

According to a source at Nintendo (the source being Nintendo's website) the company will include its long-awaited, not-yet-duplicated Wii MotionPlus with the upcoming Wii Sports Resort collection, to be bandied about at E3 this June. The sequel to the Wii Sports promises an even greater sense of submersion for games with titles like Sword Play, Power Cruising, and Disc Dog. Disc Dog! According to Tech Radar, the game -- and the device -- will be out in Japan in June, and will then go on to see the light of day in the rest of the world sometime in July. Pricing and specific release dates have yet to be announced, but you'll know as soon as we do -- promise.

Read - Nintendo Wii Sports 2 and MotionPlus out July
Read - E3 2008: Wii Sports Resort

Wii rage turns 3 year old into (more of a) menace

by Thomas Ricker posted May 25th 2007 at 5:01AM

Meet Adam McConnell: Wii enthusiast... future criminal. See the wee lamb purposely (this time) smashed his father's 42-inch plasma after losing in Wii sports. Father Brian left the lad alone playing tennis to get the boy a drink -- presumably, a pint. While in the kitchen the father "heard two big bangs." Brian returned to find his son "using the handset to smash the TV screen." No claims of a broken Wiimote strap this time folks, the responsibility lies in the kind of pure, seething rage only a 3 year old can muster. Oh we feel ya Adam, we feel ya.

[Thanks, Mark A.]

WiigoBot melds Lego with Wii bowling, knocks down all 10 pins in our hearts

by Paul Miller posted Mar 30th 2007 at 11:17AM

If a lowly blogger could die from awesomeness, we're pretty sure we'd be keeling over right about now. The Lego Mindstorms geekz0rs over at BattleBricks have managed to reach new heights of human ingenuity, melding a Mindstorms NXT kit, some clever programming and Nintendo's Wii to create an unstoppable bowling machine capable of tossing a perfect game without breaking a sweat, growing a nasty mustache, or sporting a beer belly. While the BattleBricks folks don't provide precise instructions on how to build this yourself, they've got plenty of evidence that it does, indeed, bowl like a champ. So peep the action video after the break, and then start plotting your own NXT creation conquer some other form of automated Wii Sports point inflation -- we never could quite get the hang of tennis.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading WiigoBot melds Lego with Wii bowling, knocks down all 10 pins in our hearts

Nintendo's Wii a hit with the geriatric set?

by Darren Murph posted Feb 23rd 2007 at 8:40PM

No, we don't expect the vast majority of elderly folks kickin' it in a retirement home to honestly show any interest in video games (right?), but apparently, the Wii's at least making some minor strides in getting the geriatric set up and active with virtual sports. While we assume those suffering from lingering hip injuries are apt to join the (admittedly quiet) cheerleading section, a group of athletic 70-somethings from Sedgebrook retirement community are "hooked on Wii Sports," with bowling being the unanimous favorite. The response has been so positive that the locale is actually cranking up a 20-person tournament for an undisclosed reward, and while the residents have often commented about how "realistic" the Wiimote was in tossing the ball, the community actually has a fan for folks to dry their hands off before rolling a strike -- which is probably a smart move considering the potentially fatal injuries that could occur from slippage. Still, an isolated incident of fun-lovin' grandparents getting their game on isn't apt to convince us that the next big gaming market is in retirees, and honestly, how many elderly folks rushed out to snag a Wii for the grandchild, and ended up keeping it for themselves?

[Via DailyTech, thanks Randall B]

Nerf Sports Pack for Nintendo Wii stops the violence -- sort of

by Paul Miller posted Feb 12th 2007 at 4:27PM

After six successful generations of hard plastic accessories, who could've guessed that generation seven would bring with it the Wiimote's penchant for screen destruction and innocent-bystander injury? That's why nobody batted an eye at those shiny and solid Wii Sports attachments for simulating golf clubs and tennis rackets in the beginning, but a few contusions later we're all looking for a way to cut down on risk. Enter Nerf with soft, forgiving, foam-built attachments for a bit of added realism for your golf, tennis or baseball game without all the pain. No word on price yet for these suckers, but we've got a feeling they'll be selling like gangbusters when they hit shelves this Summer. Hopefully next up will be a Manhunt 2 Nerf pack with various, erm, attachments for bumping the realism to Rockstar's upcoming murder simulator -- 'cause hitting your buddies with a Nerf baseball bat is only fun the first 500 times or so.

Wii Weights could spark legions of Wii athletes

by Darren Murph posted Feb 9th 2007 at 12:06PM

Sure, we know there's swarms of you out there who'd take a few hours in The Slim Machine instead of being forced to run around your block or pump some iron, but here's a relatively fair compromise. The Wii Weights prototype is nothing more than your average strap-on wrist weight coated in white and stamped with that (likely trademarked) Wii logo, but let's face it, if you've got to burn the calories, you're better off doing so whilst playing Wii Sports. Ideally, the weights would range from one to four pounds, and should do some serious sculpting on your array of arm muscles if you make it a habit to game with these on. So if shedding nine pounds over the holidays training as a Wii athlete just wasn't encouragement enough for you to participate, just imagine the additional pounds that'll vanish (and the muscles that'll surface) when adding these bad boys into the mix.

[Via Crave]

Wii Sports Experiment sheds nine pounds

by Darren Murph posted Jan 18th 2007 at 1:41PM

While some folks are struggling just to stay out of the hospital when getting too amped up playing their Wii, Mickey DeLorenzo, a 25-year-old living in Philadelphia, decided to meld exercise and gaming together and further substantiate the most obvious research study of the year. His Wii Sports Experiment started in December of last year and ran for six whole weeks, and while he sought to keep his eating habits constant, he devoted 30 minutes per day to Wii Sports and monitored his weight, BMI, calories burned per session, body fat percentage, heart rate, and physical soreness. Mickey started out at 182 pounds, and after a month and a half of Wii workouts, whittled his weight down to 172 pounds, which he found quite amazing considering that this was the first substantial loss he had attained in over two years, and he never even cut back on the Eat 'N Park cookies (or similar). Moreover, according to The American Council on Exercise, he went from the "acceptable" category to the "fitness" category, and seemed to gain a huge boost of self-esteem in the process. So if the Subway diet just doesn't mesh with your taste buds, and you're desperate to find an excuse to game it up instead of going for a jog, be sure to hit the read link for all the encouragement you'd ever need, and click on through for a bit of footage from the entire process.

[Via SMH]

Continue reading Wii Sports Experiment sheds nine pounds

Wii Sports Pack offers trio of Wiimote extensions

by Darren Murph posted Jan 5th 2007 at 2:40PM

In what's likely to go down as the most heavily accessorized (and harmful) controller ever, Nintendo's Wiimote sure is garnering a lot of attention from accessory makers. Sure, those Wii Gloves may keep butterfinger disasters from ever occurring, but they really don't give you any sort of competitive advantage when throwing down in Wii Sports. While we knew JoyTech was planning its own barrage of controller add-ons, it looks like Brando is offering up a sweet trio of Wiimote extensions to presumably improve your Wii Sports play. For just $22, you'll get a tennis racket, golf grip, and a baseball bat, which could arguably pull double duty as a sword in Red Steel. Of course, you'll still need to pick up that foam donut separately (or bundled in with another game) for the ultimate Excite Truck experience, but hey, you gotta start somewhere.

Wiimote strap breaks, controller destroys TV

by Ryan Block posted Nov 20th 2006 at 4:16AM

So there's this dude who was playing Wii Sports bowling, as his story goes, and his pal rolls a Lebowski and the next thing you know the strap breaks from the force of the swing; his slippery hands let loose, and the Wiimote flies like a missile and cracks his pal's TV. Believe it or not, having played Wii Sports bowling, this is totally something we can imagine. But you can take one of two positions here: 1) dude or his friend weren't using the wrist strap, as is recommended before every game starts, and the controller flew out of his hands and smashed the set; dude(s) cut the strap and put it on display for internet pity points (and possibly a new TV courtesy of an anxious Nintendo). Or 2) somehow the Wiimote strap -- which, for the record, we think feels sturdy enough -- does break mid-game and this guy really is out a 60-inch TV thanks to Nintendo's fabric engineering team. But we know one thing for sure, that's a helluva crack and something tells us it won't be the last.

[Thanks, Sando]

Update: We spoke with Jon Leonard, the guy whose TV is now cracked worse than a Mad mag knockoff. He insisted to us there was zero foul play going on here and that he's not out to get Nintendo to replace his TV, nor is he ready to pursue legal options. Just that his pal got carried away bowling and the strap broke under somewhat normal circumstances. (We asked if they were spinning it around or anything of the like and he said no, it was all normal, non-abusive use.) Nintendo hasn't contacted him yet -- we assume they're just about now shuffling into the office up there in Washington -- but we'll keep you posted.

Wii gameplay video (Wii Sports and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess)

by Ryan Block posted Nov 12th 2006 at 5:18PM

Maybe you've been itching for some video of Wii gameplay? Watch as Veronica and I make total fools of ourselves playing Wii Sports (Bowling, Tennis, Baseball, Boxing, Golf); we generally tried to stay out of the way of the camera, but weren't always successful. Also, we've got the first ten or so minutes of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess on tape. It's a pretty slow moving start, so only Zelda fans need apply. Check it out!

P.S. -Yes, by the time we hit Zelda we figured out why the TV wasn't formatting the Wii signal properly, and got it going to 16:9.

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MP4 (H.264) - VGA, QVGA
AVI (DivX) - VGA, QVGA