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DreamCatcher & JoWood bring dedicated Yoga game to Wii
DreamCatcher and JoWood have announced a dedicated Yoga game for the Nintendo Wii, simply named Yoga for Wii. The game, which was built for use with the Wii Balance Board, includes three modes: Training, Routine and Story -- where players must seek revenge for the death of their brother... wait, no. Wrong press release. Oh, here it is, the purpose of the story mode is actually to turn Yoga novices into routine gurus. Also, players can go through a number of preset routines or create their own to fit their daily needs. Using the Wii Balance Board in conjunction with the Wii Remote is said to analyze balance, making suggestions for better routine execution with the help of a Yoga Master that tracks overall progress. Yoga for Wii is set to downward-dog into stores this October.
GDC09: Nintendo reveals Rock and Roll Climber
Nintendo's latest Balance Board-equipped game is a WiiWare title that combines the rush of rock climbing with the thrill of single guitar chords. Rock and Roll Climber uses the Wiimote and Nunchuk to simulate arm movements while climbing, while the Balance Board acts to read leg movements. According to our liveblog, at the top of the rock wall, "The character reaches the top, picks up a guitar, and plays a single riff."This isn't entirely unexpected -- the title showed up on the ESRB database last week, but Nintendo apparently wasn't ready to tell us about it!
Punch-Out! will support Wii Balance Board
This ain't your dad's Punch-Out! No, with Balance Board support, it'll be your mom's Punch-Out!The Italian Nintendo site leaked details on the various control schemes found in the upcoming Wii-make of Nintendo's classic boxing game. The first two modes are as-expected: play with the Wii Remote and Nunchuck to recreate the physical motion of boxing, or play with the Remote on its side to play it NES-style. The third mode documented takes advantage of the Wii Fit Balance Board, allowing players to dodge attacks by shifting their weight. Coupled with the Wii Remote and Nunchuck, this mode should provide quite a workout.[Via IGN]%Gallery-33783%
See the accessories included in EA Sports Active
Peripheral gaming is in. Exergaming is in. So, EA Sports Active really should rake in the bucks. It'll support (but won't require) the Wii Fit balance board and to make the package even more attractive, it'll include two peripherals in the box. The leg strap (after the cut) will allow you to attach the Wii Remote to your leg. The game will then keep track of your movement, allowing you to run and jump without feeling too tethered down by a physical object. The resistance band (above) will allow you to do other exercises that work out the upper body -- a rarity in the Wii exercise genre. These two peripherals are small, and really do allow for some freeform movement. Will you be picking them up? %Gallery-36802%
Get juiced for Ubisoft's 'Gold's Gym: Cardio Workout' on the Wii
YES! CARDIO BOXING ON THE WII! FROM UBISOFT AND GOLD'S GYM, YEAAAHHHH! AWESOME! Sorry, we were just doing our best to get your heart rate up. Consider it a free cardio workout from Joystiq, because Joystiq Cares™ about your health!Ubisoft announced a partnership with Gold's Gym to market the new Wii exercise game Gold's Gym: Cardio Workout, due out March 31. The Balance Board-compatible game includes "cardio boxing, running, sit-ups and other activities" as well as calorie and weight tracking. The new game will include a coupon for one week at Gold's Gym, and in turn, Gold's locations will feature advertising for the game.Wii nerds (like us) may remember developer Rocket Company's Japanese release Shape Boxing Wii de Enjoy Diet, which featured cardio boxing-based exercises and a few wacky minigames. Screenshots of Cardio Boxing (via Amazon) reveal it to be a localized version of that game. We have yet to determine whether the bear-punching minigame is still present. We can only hope.%Gallery-45866%
Wii Check-up Channel will link you to health professionals, Dr. Mario
It was inevitable we guess what with everyone plus your grandma using the Wii. Now Nintendo Japan has announced a new Wii "Check-Up" channel that acts as a health guidance system between you and health professionals. Scheduled for an April launch, the system developed in partnership with Hitachi, NEC, Panasonic and a health insurance company is said to provide 2-way communication between users and health leaders who'll provide "healthy guidance" to otherwise Cheeto-stained gamer-types. The service appears to be compatible with both Wii Fit and its Balance Board as well as NEC's mobile phone health platform for checking progress or accessing advice remotely. It also appears to be usable anonymously. We'll update you just as soon as we get all these Japanese press releases translated. [Via Akihabara News and NeoGAF]Read -- NECRead -- Nintendo
OSX and Balance Board play nice, have fun together
If you're a Mac user, this video is likely to interest you. An aspiring individual hacked the program Wiiji (which is designed to allow Wiimote integration with Macs) to recognize the Balance Board as a joystick, allowing the use of Nintendo's peripheral with games that allow for joystick control. In the video above, you can see it in use through games Neverball and Extreme Tux Racer. Looks fun, if we may say so. Enjoy this kind of thing? Then you'll definitely get a kick out of our Revolutionary feature, where the extremely talented Mike Sylvester tinkers around with all kinds of things. Aside from making his own homemade Balance Board, he helped us train with the Wii Wheel and also showed us what is really crappy about our favorite console.
Wooden labyrinth made cooler and more frustrating with Balance Board controls
Some geniuses from Kansas City's "Cowtown Computer Congress", with the help of an Arduino microcontroller and copious amounts of SCIENCE, have added Balance Board controls to a wooden labyrinth toy. Leaning on the board controls the servos attached to the game's two dials, causing the game to tilt in response to the board. It's like The Incredible Maze, but actually incredible! It can also be controlled with an Xbox 360 controller, though that lacks the representative motion element.The whole thing cost about $60 in parts, not including the Balance Board. Of course, that's if you don't already have a couple of servos and an Arduino lying about, which, if you're electronics-savvy enough to carry this out, you probably do. %Gallery-23928%[Via Engadget]
Wii Fit helps amputees adjust in the UK
Despite some saying that Wii Fit is only gathering dust in the closet, UK amputees are using the software and bundled Balance Board to help them with their treatment. This isn't the first we've heard about a Nintendo product helping folks out with their physical therapy, but this is definitely one of the most interesting. Rather than just getting people to be more active by playing Wii Sports or something, the Balance Board and Wii Fit software are helping people adapt to their new prosthetic limbs. From walking to simply leaning, it's helping them adapt to their new, albeit very unfortunate, way of life.%Gallery-23454%[Via Joystiq]
We Ski and Snowboard through lovely scenery
For a cutesy game about cartoony, low-detail characters in vast expanses of snow, Namco Bandai's We Ski series looks a lot better than it needs to. Not that we're complaining! We'd always prefer to enjoy looking at a Wii game whenever possible, and developers don't always enable us to do so.The latest screenshots of We Ski & Snowboard are a bit small, but the nice lighting and detailed mountain backdrops are still clearly visible. We might be crazy (for snowboards!), but we think this one looks better than its predecessor! Again, not like we can make such judgments based on tiny-ish screens. We can safely say it looks nice!%Gallery-33423%
Don King Boxing makes a surprise comeback
Hey, remember 2K Sports' Don King Presents Prizefighter? Kinda? The licensed boxing game was announced last December for release last spring, back before Facebreaker bombed and Punch-Out!! made other Wii boxing games irrelevant. Despite not hearing anything at all since Balance Board functionality was revealed, the game has not been cancelled. Nintendo Everything posted some new screenshots from a mysterious source, indicating that work was being done. We found the screens' origin -- at an official site that had quietly appeared in December for the boxing game, now titled a much less confusing Don King Boxing. It looks -- okay. It's not going to divert anyone's funds away from Punch-Out!!, that's for sure. It's automatically better than Ready 2 Rumble in that it is devoid of Hasselhoff caricatures. And the vaunted Balance Board training, which is supposed to be a real workout? Looks like the Rhythm Boxing game from Wii Fit. According to GameStop, Don King Boxing is scheduled for a release on March 31, 2009. We'll see how that works out.%Gallery-40316%
Mirror's Edge meets the Balance Board
EA's Mirror's Edge is a beautiful game, if a bit flawed, and the highly-physical, parkour-inspired gameplay would suit the Wii's motion controls quite well. The only problem is that it wasn't made for the Wii! What's a gamer to do? Clearly, the answer is this: make a video demonstrating just what Wii controls, with the Balance Board, for Mirror's Edge could look like.The video is well made, but there's a long lull at the beginning giving everyone their due, and after that, the controls-and-gameplay windows are small, so there's really not a lot of meat to it. But the video, and the notion behind it, is interesting enough for a watch. When you're done there, go back and check out our Mike Sylvester's revolutionary ideas for Mirror's Edge 2D.
Rumorong: Steel Battalion Wii collapses like so many downed mechs
Our hearts were briefly aflutter this morning upon seeing news of a Steel Battalion port for the Wii. Could it be? Were we about to get a second chance at buying that insane 40-button, $200 controller/dashboard that shipped with the Xbox original? Well, no, we weren't -- and for two reasons. Reason one: Capcom was planning to develop the game with support for the Wii Remote, the Nunchuk, the Wii Wheel, and the Balance Board, and sell it for a mere $45, sans amazing controller. Reason two: the story isn't actually real. That's right: this was all a prank by Spanish site Vandal.net, which has now posted a disclaimer at the top of its article stating that the story was merely "a joke similar to the English April Fool's Day." Gutted. On the bright side, some sites are still reporting this as the real deal, which makes us feel a bit less stupid for believing it in the first place. [Via Balance Board Blog]
A Marble Saga in pictures
Marble Saga: Kororinpa could end up being a sleeper hit of 2009 -- or at least one of those underappreciated critical successes. The first game was great but a bit lacking in content, and the sequel adds all kinds of junk! There's a four-player mode, leaderboards, a stage editor with online sharing, Balance Board compatibility, and, most importantly (well, not really), a super-adorable storyline about an ant, seen here expressing joy at the completion of a stage.The new screens at Wiiz are regrettably smallish, but detailed enough for you to see plenty of stuff to roll around on. There's even a screen of the four-player mode!%Gallery-30046%
What do you get when you combine a Wiimote, Balance Board, RC car, and a laptop?
This video! Witnessing the powers of the Wiimote, the Balance Board, an RC car, and a laptop combine together in the above video reminds us of Saturday mornings with Voltron and our Lucky Charms, for some reason. It's not the most accurate way to steer a toy car around, as you can see, but you have to give these guys credit. It's like their inner child broke its restraints and came forth from their bodies to tinker around. And we love it when grown folks don't act their age.If you want the video in higher quality, hit up their site here.%Gallery-23865%[Via Balance Board Blog]
Ubisoft working on Shaun White Snowboarding sequel
It's no secret that Ubisoft has high hopes for Shaun White Snowboarding. The company said it expects the game to sell a million copies and, so far, the game is flying off retail shelves faster than scrumptious hotcakes, unloading 259,000 copies in the U.S. across the various platforms in November alone (generating $13.6 million for Ubisoft). We'd also like to point out that 40% of that figure is Wii sales.Ubisoft has liked the reception, apparently, as a sequel to the game is already underway, Shaun White confirmed. "Now that I have the knowledge and I can speak to programmers better and I understand a lot more about what's possible and what's not possible, this will all help with the next game," he said. So, how many of you picked it up? What kind of additions or changes would you like to see in the next game?%Gallery-29887%
DK games announces Equilibrio for WiiWare
Independent French developer DK Games has revealed a new project for Wii in Equilibrio. Described as a "gyrating ball puzzle-solving and manipulation game," the title is due for release in Europe first, then will make its way over to the Americas. Some other features of Equilibrio include: 4 Game Modes: Conquest, Random Level, Challenge and Multiplay Simple and intuitive game Can be played with the Wii Remote or Wii Balance Board Up to 4 players can play simultaneously High score table 25 rewards with unlockable prizes Difficulty settings that is automatically adapted High score table Low price point Check out some screens for the new game in our gallery below.%Gallery-39654%[Via press release]
W Fit: The ugly, functional cousin of Wii Fit
You had to expect as much. Soon after the Wii released, we were up to our eyeballs in knockoffs. Now that Wii Fit has been in existence for a year (and incredibly popular during the entirety of that time), the knockoffs are emerging onto the marketplace. Enter the Wü Fit. The crazy thing about this is that the included board is apparently compatible with Wii Fit. And that's really all you'll get with this package, a board and some odd packaging, by the way. Check out a video of the unboxing after the break.%Gallery-23865%
In the UK? Get Wii Fit for 50 this Friday
You can file this one in the "almost too good to be true" pile -- in fact, while you read this post, we advise repeatedly pinching yourself. If you're a Brit searching for a copy of Wii Fit in time for Christmas, you'll already know that nowhere has it. As we see it, you have three options: You can buy your loved ones something that isn't Wii Fit and ruin Christmas for everybody like a big jerk. You can fork out obscene amounts of cash for a copy from some eBay scalper who bought the last 25 units at GameStation in November. You can visit BuyItPlayIt this Friday and press F5 a lot. The site has a big old pile of Wii Fits that will be on sale from 1:00pm GMT, with the first fifty going for the unbelievable price of £50 (in probably less than fifty seconds). That's £20 lower than the standard price. We are quite certain that the site could charge twice that and clear its inventory in minutes, but there you go. We've never used BuyItPlayIt ourselves, incidentally, so can't pass comment on its standard of service. Have any readers shopped there before?%Gallery-23454%[Via press release]
Ubisoft: It's not hopeless for third-party devs on Wii
The biggest competition for a third-party developer on Wii is, obviously, Nintendo. But, that doesn't mean it's hopeless. Ubisoft is just one of the third-party developers that have found success on the console. How? Through strategic and careful planning."We saw that at the end of this year, there were not so many Nintendo products, and we thought there was a window of opportunity," said Ubisoft CFO Alain Martinez at the UBS Global Media Conference this week. "I believe to date, Nintendo is about 30-35 percent market share. So that means if you are aggressive, and if you come up with the right products, you can gain market share there." Because of this, the company expects Shaun White Snowboarding and Raving Rabbids TV Party to sell 1 million and 1.5 million units each, respectively.It's not like Nintendo is making it so that third parties need to wait for the stars and planets to align, however. "Nintendo is surely not making it impossible for people to make good games [on its systems]," Martinez added. "They've been helping us make games. So it's up to us."Of course, this isn't to say that Ubisoft has had nothing but luck with the Wii. They've tried to pile some stinkers on us in the past. But, monkey see, monkey do. The more successful third-party developers are on Wii, the more it attracts others to reach for their own slice of that pie. %Gallery-23883%
