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This Week on the Nintendo Channel: Wii Sports Resort challenges
Nintendo is doing the obvious thing on the Nintendo Channel this week: advertising its games! One game, to be exact -- Wii Sports Resort has taken over the channel in a series of vignettes featuring professionals participating in their respective field in-game. The video above shows a Hollywood stuntman dueling Nintendo's guinea pig in the new sword-fighting minigame, and another features some world class canoeists throwing down in their sport.
Pediatric journal boasts about benefits of exergaming
Kids-focused health journal Pediatrics recently published a study that would shock those who decry the health benefits of exergames. The study, which was performed by researchers from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, measured young people's energy expenditure while at rest, while playing Dance Dance Revolution at two different skill levels, while walking and running on a treadmill and while boxing and bowling on Wii Sports. That sounds like more physical exertion than we go through in a year.Some of the comparisons between these activities yielded somewhat unsurprising results -- playing the video games burned three times the calories the kids spent at rest, of course. However, the researchers also found that playing these games was a comparable activity to "moderate to intense walking," despite the fact that Wii Sports requires little lower-body movement. It seems that for the first time in recent memory, we've got science on our side. Hooray![Via Kotaku]
Nintendo turns Game Crazy stores into Wii Sports Resorts
If you're looking to try out Wii Sports Resort just a bit early, check out your local Game Crazy next weekend. The retailer will host a sneak preview event for the MotionPlus minigame collection on Saturday, July 25, just one day before the North American launch of the game. From 10am to 8pm that day, Game Crazy visitors will get to try out Resort, and also enter to win one of two $1,500 gift cards "toward a real-life resort vacation." The following day, Game Crazy will offer an extra 20 percent on games traded in toward the purchase of Resort, which suggests that they do expect people to buy some and not just play it in the store all day Saturday.%Gallery-27709%
Wii Sports Resort's E3 2008 demo completed in three months
When we first saw Wii Sports Resort last year, all Nintendo had available were three of the game's events: swordplay, power cruising, and Disc Dog. It turns out that those three (quite polished) events are pretty much all that existed at the time. In the latest Iwata Asks interview, the Wii Sports Resort team reveals that they didn't have anything but the idea of maybe doing another sequel until three months before E3 2008. Above, you can see what had been done: a MotionPlus test involving a virtual toy.As usual, the Iwata Asks interview is full of surprisingly forthright discussion about the inner workings of Nintendo, including the team (and Shigeru Miyamoto) expressing its elation about a MotionPlus delay that allowed for more work on Resort, everyone's relative confusion at Miyamoto's "Wuhu Island" franchise idea, and, best of all, Miyamoto's deceptive methods of team motivation.At one point, Miyamoto announced in an interview that golf would be in Wii Sports Resort, and that the MotionPlus would allow backswing to control the strength of the swing, instead of just speed -- and the team had to rush to actually put golf in the game afterward. Later, he describes how he faked a directive from Satoru Iwata to add an extra game mode. And apparently a programmer couldn't demonstrate the archery feature for Miyamoto because he was too nervous to aim the bow properly.Shigeru Miyamoto sounds like kind of a jerk, actually.
Wii Sports Resort sells over 350k copies in four days
Well of course it did. The original Wii Sports currently resides in like, four out of every five households on the planet -- why wouldn't the Japanese gaming populace spring to consumer action when the MotionPlus-bundled follow-up landed on store shelves? Within the first four days of its release, Wii Sports Resort moved 353,827 copies, making it the third-fastest selling Wii title ever -- Mario Kart Wii sold 608,000 copies in a similar time period, while Super Smash Bros. Brawl moved 816,000 copies. Whether the frisbee-throwing, sword-dueling, jetski-riding simulator can come close to the 45 million mark set by its bundled forefather remains to be seen. [Via Kotaku]
Wii Sports Resort: Video clip marathon
Wii Sports Resort has a lot more content than its predecessor. For example, the aerobatics portion doesn't just include the skydiving segment that begins the game -- you can also fly the plane. Similarly, there are multiple aquatic vehicles you can operate -- canoes, wakeboards, and a few different jet-ski-based activities. Each of the twelve base sports contains a few gameplay variations. After the break, you can see the airplane game and more for yourself, in a series of nine gameplay videos captured by GameVideos. We're glad you'll finally be able to see the surprisingly strenuous canoeing portion in action.%Gallery-27709%
Exclusive blue Wiimote, Nunchuk and MotionPlus for lucky Wii Sports Resort visitors
It seems that the door is beginning to creak open for alternate-color Wii systems and accessories. First, Nintendo finally announces a Wii in a new color scheme (black), and now, less than two weeks later, the company has announced another color for the Wiimote and Nunchuk -- and the first new color for the MotionPlus. However, this is going to be a little harder to come by.From June 25 to August 31, Nintendo will give away exclusive light blue Wiimotes, MotionPlus attachments and Nunchuks (and a matching jacket, of course) to five thousand Japanese Club Nintendo members who register copies of Wii Sports Resort. Not that Nintendo needed to offer any kind of incentive to sell Wii Sports Resort.[Via GoNintendo]
Hands-on: Wii Sports Resort's archery and canoeing
Last year, Nintendo only had three playable games from Wii Sports Resort: Disc Dog, Power Cruising, and Swordplay, all of which were used to show the precision of the Wii MotionPlus device. This time, twelve games are available for play, and we were able to get our hands on two of those, which we think do an even better job of displaying the difference between a MotionPlus-enabled Wiimote and a stock controller.First, we tried the canoe game, in a two-player race. The goal in this game variant is to cross five checkpoints before the other player. In this game, the Wiimote is a surrogate for the canoe's oar, held vertically with both hands as if it were an actual oar. %Gallery-27741%
Life-to-date sales of the biggest Nintendo games
We know that Nintendo is doing very well financially as of the end of fiscal 2008. And, of course, we know that hardware sales play a major role in that windfall. But how is Nintendo doing in terms of software sales? Very well, thank you! The company released a list of every million-selling first-party title on the Wii and DS as a supplement (PDF link) to its financial report, with no real surprises other than, perhaps, the monolithic bigness of some of the numbers. The best-selling Wii title, of course, is Wii Sports, which sold 45.7 million copies across North American and European bundle sales and standalone Japanese sales.The best-selling DS game: Nintendogs, at 22.3 million copies! We're just happy to see the wonderful Rhythm Heaven on the list, though there is something odd about it: according to the data, Rhythm Heaven sold 140,000 copies outside of Japan -- but the game didn't even come out in the West until April 5, after the end of the fiscal year.The full list is after the break. Spoiler alert: if you are the type of person who gets angry about Nintendo's success in the expanded market, this will anger you.[Via Kotaku]
Wii games unlikely to be patched with MotionPlus support
Trying to make sense of the month-and-a-half delay between the release of Nintendo's MotionPlus and the first Nintendo game to use it, Wii Sports Resort, GameDaily proposed a theory. Maybe there would be games to play at launch -- old games! "With a nearly two-month span of time between the accessory release and the game's arrival at retail," GameDaily's Micheal Mullen wrote, "we expect that Nintendo will release patches that will make the new accessory work with your already existing library." The first game to receive such treatment, of course, would be the original Wii Sports.Nintendo's response to GameDaily suggests that this won't be happening: "The Wii MotionPlus accessory is only for games that are designed to make use of its abilities." Nintendo isn't really much for patching games with updated functionality, unless you consider releasing the game again seven years later on a different disc a kind of "patching."
Wii MotionPlus shipping June 8, Wii Sports Resort following on July 26
Just in case Satoru Iwata's promise of a July release window for Wii Sports Resort wasn't good enough for you, Nintendo sent official word that the upcoming game will launch in the U.S. on July 26. As expected, the beach-themed sequel will come bundled with the MotionPlus peripheral for $50, which will be released by itself on June 8 for $20. Nintendo promises that "developers around the world" are working on titles to take advantage of MotionPlus. Purely by coincidence, wrists around the world have begun to cry out in fear.
Wii MotionPlus and Wii Sports Resort (feat. Disc Dog) out in July
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 JulyRead - E3 2008: Wii Sports Resort
Iwata: Wii Sports Resort out in Japan this June, overseas in July
Satoru Iwata has announced both Japanese and Western release windows for Wii Sports Resort, and thus we can assume for the required MotionPlus peripheral as well. The sequel to the Wii launch title will be out in Japan this June, with an "overseas" release the following month, according to Reuters' account of statements made at a lunch meeting. No pricing was announced. The July release is completely in line with the rumored European date called "rumor and speculation" by NoE.The Nintendo president named Wii Sports Resort as a measure to combat the Japanese Wii market's current slowdown (a situation he described as "the most unhealthy situation since its launch in Japan.") He denied that Nintendo would cut Wii prices in order to increase sales, saying, "If our products are not much different from competitors', price cuts would generate significant fresh demand. But video games are just not that kind of product."%Gallery-27741%
Touch Ruminations: Punch drunk
In Touch Ruminations, former DS and Wii Fanboy Lead David Hinkle talks about whatever he feels like. He's a jerk like that. This week, he talks about Nintendo of Europe's one-two punch of Punch-Out!! news and what it means to him. The opinions expressed here belong to the author and don't necessarily reflect those of Joystiq, Weblogs Inc. or its affiliates.I actually had to change this week's column at the last second. I had this whole other column planned, then Nintendo of Europe had to go and drop a big old bomb on us earlier today. So now, I'm going to talk about Punch-Out!! and all of the confirmed info and what I think about it. Sorry.%Gallery-33381%
Kate Winslet loves to play Wii with the kids
When she's not busy falling in love with Jack Black or being in another Leonardo DiCaprio movie (when's our chance?) Kate Winslet likes to school chumps her kids in Wii Sports. At least, that's what she recently told the celebrity watchers at E! during the SAG awards. Despite the presence of the more popular bowling minigame, Kate is a big fan of the tennis and boxing bits, calling the overall package "fantastic." Just keep an eye on your kids and pets, Kate. We don't want to read a sad story about your dog or anything.[Via What They Play]
Wii Warm Up: To sport, or not to sport
Wii Sports is actually worth a bit of money. We know. We checked. Why? Well, we were thinking about how often we really play it when the idea for this Wii Warm Up came to mind.So, what about you all? How do you feel toward Wii Sports? Have you gotten rid of your copy? Plan to now? When was the last time you played it?
Obama family appoints Wii to (TV) cabinet
This is one of those stories that pretty much can't be passed up, although it's not actually that surprising. Given the sales numbers for the Wii, we basically expect to find one in the home of everyone who can safely afford one -- especially when children are present. Turns out that the Obama family is among the bajillion households to join in on the waggling. The president-elect used his newly-earned position of power to secure the elusive console for his daughters as a Christmas present, and he has since taken up Wii Sports as well. His bowling performance apparently eclipses his famously awkward real-life bowling during the campaign.[Via Joystiq]
Job seekers nab Wii from retirement home
You can't get much lower than this. A retirement home in Ottawa, Ohio, was recently robbed for its Wii. Two women walked into the retirement home, seeking job applications, but ended up leaving with more than a job. They nabbed the home's Wii console. As one might imagine, the folks at the home enjoy playing Wii Sports, particularly the Bowling and Baseball games. Thankfully, this story has a happy ending. Several of the home's inhabitants were able to identify the two women, and police were able to track them down and recover the Wii. See also: Children's home robbed, local businessman replaces stolen Wii
Wii Sports best-selling game of all time?
Super Mario Bros. has been the best-selling game of all time for years now, but that throne may have been usurped by another Nintendo title: Wii Sports. According to VGChartz, Wii Sports has surpassed that coveted 40.24 million mark.We're keeping this a rumor because, uh, it's VGChartz. They're never too good about sourcing their stuff and, to tell the truth, we've only ever heard one person claim their data was correct (it was in our interview with 2D Boy here). It's not that we don't believe Wii Sports could top the original NES game, we're just skeptical of VGChartz.[Via Joystiq]
Wii's winners and losers in Japan
We can't exactly trust the validity of the numbers used to create this list of best-selling games across the three home platforms, since it's just some guy on Geocities doing it (and he claims that he might alter numbers to deter copying) but they're close enough to our expectations for most games. These numbers are purportedly derived from Enterbrain and Famitsu sales data. Kotaku reproduced the top and bottom-selling games on each platform, and we think that's a nice way to organize it.The top ten Wii games are not too surprising, including stuff like Wii Sports, Wii Play, Wii Fit, Brawl, and other big Nintendo franchises. The only third-party game on the list is Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games, which, of course, is a Mario game!But the bottom ten is a lot more entertaining, revealing, for example, that poor Opoona sold only 5,000 copies, as did Dewy's Adventure. D3's motivation for putting their Simple games on WiiWare is made clear by the fact that their disc-based releases totally bombed. Though not as badly as Hudson's Puzzle Series Vol. 1 Sudoku, which apparently sold 482 copies total.It's hard to pick interesting tidbits out of the middle of the list (which we won't reproduce after the break in the interest of brevity) but apparently No More Heroes sold just 27,873 copies -- much less than the 84,224 copies of Mysterious Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer 3 that went out!
