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The info you need from the Wii manual
When we were going over the manual looking for tips on transferring save data, we found several other key items that looked to be of great importance to those dying to get their hands on the Wii and the moderately interested. In super-smooth, bullet point form, we've broken them down for your convenience and stashed them past the break. It's kind of a long list ...
What if I want to take my saves somewhere?
When we were having our way with the Wii all weekend, Joystiq's Kyle Orland poured over the Wii's manuals to locate their hidden secrets. In pouring over all of the pages in the manual, he stumbled upon something very interesting on page 39. There, the manual talks about the ability to "copy and delete data found on the Wii System Memory and SD cards." Problem is, he couldn't find any way to actually perform the task through the Wii. The options just weren't there in the Wii memory management screen.Kyle has contacted Nintendo and as soon as he receives a response, we'll be sure to let you know what they say.
Blogging on the PS3
Joystiq's Kyle Orland has completed a feat comparable to such American precedent setters as Neil Armstrong and George Washington. He is the first blogger on the internet to post from the PS3. That's right, his entire post was written on a PS3 with a USB keyboard and mouse. Still, as Kyle stated, it isn't a perfect way to get some blogging done.Kyle notes that the PS3's web browser is a lot like the PSP's and after having used it myself, I cannot agree more. The browser does support tab browsing, so having multiple pages up at once is a snap. The browser also supports Flash, which is nice, although we would've liked to have some Java support as well. Still, it's a great feature for the system and works surprisingly well.
Are Wii saves portable? Manual says yes, system says no [update 2]
[Update 2: This problem has been fixed with the Wii's first downloadable system update. Wii saves are now transferable to SD cards.]With all our Zelda playing this weekend taking place on one Wii system, we were eager to transfer the game save to our personal SD cards so as to avoid repeating completed dungeons on our own, personal systems. Unfortunately, the system software doesn't seem to support copying save files to an SD card, despite information to the contrary in the manual.Page 39 of the Wii channels and settings manual clearly tells you how to "copy and delete data found on the Wii System Memory and SD cards," but our tests have shown that the SD card simply doesn't register on the memory management screen. We've tried this with a number of SD cards, both empty and full of data, and while picture viewing and MP3 playback worked fine, the system refused to recognize the card as a game save storage device.This apparent oversight could well be fixed with a pending system update, and the Wii system does indeed try to update the system software when it signs on to a WiFi connection. But with the Nintendo Wii servers down until later this week and Nintendo representatives gone for the weekend, this is hard to confirm at the moment. We'll contact Nintendo for clarification and update as warranted, but as it stands now, it seems that our Wii game saves are stuck on the system that birthed them.[Update 1: In response to commenters' questions, GameCube saves can not be transferred to either SD card or internal memory, though they can be copied back and forth between the two GameCube memory card slots.]
PS3 manual shows us how to replace HDD and battery
[click image to enlarge]The above picture comes from Sony's "Safety and Support" manual and details replacement of the system's HDD and SIXAXIS controller's battery. Sony has said that when the battery is dead, they'll hook us up with a new one, but the manual shows one how to remove the battery before disposing of the dead controller. Reverse those directions and you have yourself a SIXAXIS that's ready to get back into the trenches.Even better though, is the directions on how to replace your HDD without voiding warranty! So, if the 60GB HDD isn't cutting the mustard for you, follow the steps in the pictures below and slap a 200GB behemoth into that sucker!
Wii Sports: Training and Fitness
We've been spending tons of time with Wii Sports and we never took the chance to check out the Fitness and Training modes. In correcting the situation, we found that each are fairly straight forward and just how you would imagine them; Fitness is a kind of Brain Age semi-clone, yet instead of a brain age you are given a fitness age, and with Training you are taken through several scenarios in each of the sports. Fitness mode is a good deal more in-depth, so initially you'd want to head into Training mode before checking that out so that you can train up before committing yourself to a fitness age the system is looking to label you with.Continue reading for our first ever Wii Sports Fitness mode trial!
Wii console manual reveals its secrets
Since all four of us can't play Zelda at the same time, we passed the Wii-less hours by poring over the 69 page "systems and settings" manual that came with the Wii (not to be confused with the 105-page, trilingual "system setup" manual that's also included). Here are some of the odd and/or interesting things we noticed: "Up to 100 Miis can stay in your Mii Plaza." (pg. 11) "The Photo Channel can display a maximum of approximately 1,000 photos. If your SD card has more than 1,000 photos, remove the card from the Wii console and remove or reorganize your photos in your camera, cell phone or computer." (pg. 15) "You can not save or overwrite photos or videos on the SD card." (pg. 20) "Any of the options in Fun! mode [doodles, etc. -Ed.] can be applied to individual frames of a video." (pg. 21) The photo channel supports JPGs of up to 8192x8192 resolution and QuickTime files of up to 848x480. (pg. 22) MP3 audio is listed under supported formats. After quite a bit of searching, we figured out how this feature works, but we didn't like what we found (more later.) "NOTE: Your use of the Wii Shop Channel is subject to your acceptance of the Wii Users Agreement, the Wii Privacy Policy and the Wii Code of Conduct. Copies of the most updated versions of these agreements may be found at support.nintendo.com. [not yet - Ed.]" (pg. 24) "NOTE: Some Virtual Console games can only be played with a Classic Controller. (sold separately) [this seems to contradict previous confirmation that Gamecube controllers would work on all Virtual Console games -Ed.]" (pg. 25) "Software downloaded from the Wii Shop Channel is licensed to you, not sold" (pg. 25) "NOTE: The calendar displays dates from January 2000 to December 2035." (pg. 31) "NOTE: You will not be able to send photos from your Wii console to the PC/cell phone user." (pg. 36) "NOTE: The Wii console uses a 24 hour clock. For example, 1:00 pm is displayed as 13:00 pm" (pg. 42) The parental control features "does NOT control access to Nintendo GameCube games" (pg. 46) "If you use the messaging features of the Wii console, you need to understand that Nintendo may monitor your use and share certain information (i) as required by law, (ii) where necessary to protect the company, its customers or its employees, (iii) as necessary to provide the services. [Big Brother is watching -Ed.]" (pg. 47) "NOTE: The initial recommended distance for using the Wii Remote Pointer is 3 to 8 feet from the sensor bar ... Also note that the influence of direct sunlight and various light sources can make the Pointer operation less optimal. [Oh really... -Ed.]" (pg. 50) By formatting the Wii Shop Channel from the Wii's system menu, you clear all "records of your transactions and rights to download software." (pg. 61) "NOTE: You should format your Wii Shop Channel data first, then your Wii System Memory, prior to selling or otherwise transferring your Wii console to any third party." (pg. 61) "NOTE: Adjusting the speaker and Rumble settings will affect all Wii remotes currently connected to the Wii console. [I hope everyone likes the same settings. -Ed.]" (pg. 63)
Wii Sports: Training and Fitness modes documented
We've been spending tons of time with Wii Sports and we never took the chance to check out the Fitness and Training modes. In correcting the situation, we found that each are fairly straight forward and just how you would imagine them; Fitness is a kind of Brain Age semi-clone, yet instead of a brain age you are given a fitness age, and with Training you are taken through several scenarios in each of the sports. Fitness mode is a good deal more in-depth, so initially you'd want to head into Training mode before checking that out so that you can train up before committing yourself to a fitness age the system is looking to label you with.Continue reading for our first ever Wii Sports Fitness mode trial!
Top ten things you may not have known about the Wii
If you've been paying attention to every bit of Wii news and trivia over the past months, you might know all of the following facts about Nintendo's newest system. For those of you not so in the know, here are some factoids we picked up on while tinkering this weekend. It doesn't play CDs, but it plays AVIs off your digital camera's SD card. The flaps that protect the Gamecube controllers and memory card slots are removable. Wii Sports includes training and workout modes. You can let one remote control all four players in Wii Sports: Tennis. It takes five pieces of heart to make a heart container in Zelda: Twilight Princess The box includes two clear plastic holders: one for the sensor bar and another that acts as a stabilizer for the thick, gray console stand When used as a pointer, the Wii detects how far the remote is from the sensor bar. The system keeps track of your cumulative play time for all games, and logs it on your Wii's daily message board. The standard A/V cables that have worked on every Nintendo system since the SNES do not work on the Wii (the system-side input is different) The system doubles as a great whiteboard.
Careful with those ancient Zelda screenshots! You'll poke an eye out with images that sharp. [update 1]
We're puzzled by screenshots that are popping up in our discussion (below) of Nintendo's latest Zelda effort. A number of readers are linking to images (such as this one or this one) that are over 14 months old in an effort to prove the graphical prowess of the latest installment of the Zelda franchise. In response, we first note that those images are from August 2005. They're ancient. The Wii doesn't output images at 1216 x 896 (the Wii produces an 852 x 480 image). Therefore, these higher-res images (1, 2) could not have come from any production version of Legend of Zelda. For some real images from the actual game, we provide the following full-resolution (480p) images from Nintendo's press site. Keep in mind that these have been hand-selected by Nintendo staff to show off the most interesting and/or beautiful parts of the game. image1image2image3image4image5image6image7image8image9image10image11image12image13image14 [Update 1: the originally linked-to image was hosted on a site that ran out of bandwidth quickly. We've updated the links to the higher-res images.]
Nintendo's new Zelda most certainly doesn't fall flat
Don't mind my cranky colleague. His childhood was bleak. Devoid of happiness. Mine was full of sunshine. I played in the woods. I climbed trees. I played Zelda games.To think one could make such a fuss over the palette of a game we've been seeing screen shots of for years is itself curious. It brings back ugly memories of fanboys crying, "Celda!' ... except inverted. Instead of being too colorful, now it's not colorful enough. But complaining about the game's decidedly earth-tone infused aesthetic is akin to criticizing Schindler's List for being black and white ... you're welcome to that opinion, but it's an entirely subjective one devoid of any artistic allowance.And the engine? Yeah, it's a Gamecube game. It's a Gamecube game running on hardware that is (especially in this case) a Gamecube. If we're going to be criticizing the game for not being made on another platform with superior hardware, then why wasn't Super Mario Bros. made for Super Nintendo ... those graphics were weak, amirite? Why wasn't Gears of War made for Xbox 720 ... it should totally be in virtual reality!
Nintendo's new Zelda falls flat
At great risk to personal health, this author dares criticize The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for the Nintendo Wii. All the leaves are brown. (And the sky is grey.) Imagine being a freshwater fish after a heavy rain. All around you: brown. Zelda's like this. The game's muddy color palette doesn't sparkle in the way that previous iterations of the venerable Zelda series sparkled. As our protagonist wanders through villages, we find ourselves wishing that those villages could be razed and in their places built more beautiful towns, filled with magic, character, and more than just the colors to the left and right of "rust" on the color wheel. (It's disappointing the Nintendo backed off of the cel-shaded art style that made The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker so fantastic.) The engine that couldn't. Whenever someone dares voice his misgivings about the Wii's disappointing graphics rendering capability, defenders instantly parry, "It's the game play, stupid!" These folks are right that the controls of games are of primary importance, but do gaming a disservice when they artificially partition game play and graphics. Graphics can (and should) enhance game play. In the latest Zelda, the game's designers have been forced to sabotage game play to atone for the console's graphical shortcomings. Example: roadside signs are illegible. In Zelda, merely reading signs becomes laborious and annoying. You must first walk up to the sign. You must then press the controller's "a" button. When you do this, the game zooms in on the sign (taking a moment to do this). The game then shows you the text of the sign. Finally, having read the sign, you must hit another button to zoom away from the sign and regain control of your character. If your character were blind and had to read via Braille, then bumping into signs and fumbling a button would be appropriate. But such a kludgey mechanism merely rankles here, because most modern games have legible signposts. (Nevermind that previous Zelda games have used this same mechanism: it's clumsy. It's doubleplusungood because it's coming from the same company that's been thumping its chest about "innovative controls" for the last year. Controls should never interfere with immersion.) To read a sign in The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, merely stand in the street and look at it. Signs (by design) are meant to be read from afar. Zelda's clumsy sign-reading is just one example of how graphical shortcomings result in decreased immersion and a lower overall fun factor. Oblivion won praises for its immersive feel. Zelda falls short of the bar set by modern virtual worlds. This simple example demonstrates the importance of graphics to game play. There are plenty of other game play elements affected by the Wii's weaker graphical engine. One more example: at one point the player must catch fish in order to solve a puzzle. Thanks to the indistinct graphics, it's actually impossible to tell how much of your bobber is underwater, making it more difficult to know when to set the hook in order to reel in a fish. In sum: it's clear that we're playing a GameCube game that's had motion-sensitive controls bolted on in order to move Wii boxes off of retailer shelves. Zelda will do that job admirably -- it will still sell in the millions. It will earn praise. But to compare this title to PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 games isn't fair to the game. To give any Wii titles a fair shake, we're going to have to compare them to Xbox, PlayStation 2, and GameCube games. This isn't our official review of the title -- there's plenty positive to be said about Zelda, despite its unappealing visuals. Stay tuned for that post in the very near future. In fact, another Joystiq blogger is working on a rebuttal to this post right now.
Playing Nintendo's Donkey Kong on Sony's PS3
Since Nintendo's Virtual Console service isn't live, we decided to do the next best thing: fire up a Flash version of Donkey Kong inside the PlayStation 3's web browser. Sites like everyvideogame.com require Java, so we had to settle for a Flash implementation. Even though the PS3 browser's Flash implementation churns though YouTube video like butter, it has some difficulty with most of the web games we tried. Take this version of Donkey Kong, where our poor Jumpman has managed to get himself stuck in the first ten seconds of gameplay. We'll wait for the VC version, thanks.
Hands-on: the Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive
As if the Wii and PlayStation 3 weren't enough for one weekend, Microsoft sent us their upcoming Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive to tinker around with. After the ritual unpacking, we hooked it up -- using a simple USB cable to the 360 and (yet another) power adapter -- installed the software patch they provided with the unit, and got right into a movie. Initial impressions of the HD-DVD drive is that it delivers an incredible image for the high-def inclined; however, it's yet another box to add to your growing arsenal of electronics.For gamers with high-def displays and Xbox 360s, the $200 HD-DVD player provides a (relatively) affordable path to high-def discs, but with Microsoft's recent announcement of downloadable high-def rentals, we imagine plenty of consumers will be willing to wait this format war out. More pics of the package and a video after the break.
The first ever blog post written completely on a PS3 [update 1]
[Update: Added the above picture of the PS3 blogging experience from my laptop. Our picture upload tool did not work on the PS3 browser]This blog post is being constructed completely on the PS3's web browser using an IBM keyboard, a Microsoft mouse and a Panasonic HD projector (isn't it great when technology companies can work together?). The experience isn't completely seamless, though -- the browser doesn't render our web-based blogging software very well and essential blogger features like copy/paste and spell check are unavailable.Still, the PS3's web browser provides a relatively full-featured surfing experience that's remarkably similar to that on the PSP browser (except without all the memory errors). Major props: Flash support, multiple windows and easy navigation using the PS3 controller. Major gripes: No Java support, a clunky text-entry interface and no easy way to stop pop-up windows.We look forward to being able to download the Wii's Opera browser and doing a little compare and contrast once Nintendo's online service is up and running.
PS3 manual details HDD, battery replacement
[Click to enlarge]We're really not sure if Sony was being serious when they said they'd be willing to replace the lithium-ion batteries in the PlayStation 3's Sixaxis controller if and when they stop holding their charge, but their "Safety and Support" manual (included in the retail box) seems to indicate otherwise. On pages 18 and 19, they detail how to remove the battery before disposing of the controller. Sure, they're not telling you it's cool to replace it yourself but follow those steps in reverse with a new battery, and you've got yourself a revitalized Sixaxis.What they are telling you how to remove and replace is the console's hard disk. Follow a handful of instructions and you can replace that anemic 60GB drive with a whopping 200GB monster ... all without voiding that warranty!
Our PS3 arrives! Did we just brick it?
After spending much of the night with the Wii, and Twilight Princess, we woke this morning to a special treat: a retail PS3! We moved the Wii from the projector screen -- a display option that the system just doesn't agree with (at least in our configuration) -- to the far more manageable 24" Dell flat panel (as seen here). That means the PS3 could stretch its legs on the projector with 720p or 1080i over HDMI.The system, as we all know by now, is on the large side, is very shiny, and (your opinion may vary) a very attractive piece of machinery. After being hooked up and running for some time, it remains completely cool to the touch, with a large amount of hot air being quietly evacuated out of the back of the unit. It reminds us that Sony can engineer just about anything.
Does real world talent translate into Wii Sports talent?
... or, in the case of this blogger, lack thereof? With Nintendo boasting the intuitive, easy motion-sensing control scheme allowing all types of people to game with ease, we wondered if the control scheme was realistic enough to favor those who excel in these sports in the real world to do the same on the Wii. Sadly, we're all gamers and not a one of us can protest to be great at golf out in the real world. As such, we decided to document our trials in a couple of games to see if we could get the hang of the game, with the future goal being dominating anyone we come across.Can we step up and own the links right away? Is the game more realistic and challenging than its presentation would have you believe? Read on and find out!
Dude, where's my cursor (Wii annoyance #1)
For the most part, we've been impressed with the responsiveness and stability of the Wii remote as pointing device. The whole pointer system fails, though, when your remote hand wavers a bit and the pointer goes off the screen. Unlike a computer mouse pointer which stops at the edge of the monitor, the Wii pointer completely disappears if the remote is not pointed directly at the screen area, even if it's still well within the sensor bar's range. What's more, the system doesn't even give any indication of where the missing cursor was last seen or which edge of the monitor it departed through.It only takes a few seconds to get over the confusion and realign your remote, but it gets a little annoying when it happens multiple times in one play session. The problem is especially apparent when switching from gesture-based to pointer-based functions, such as transferring from sword-swinging to boomerang throwing in Zelda, or from racquet swinging to menu selection in Wii Sports: Tennis.It doesn't seem to be solely a hardware problem either -- the sensor bar seems perfectly capable of detecting much of the off-screen pointing, but the software and system menus just don't acknowledge it. Even if the pointer is completely out of sensor range, some sort of on-screen indicator of its last known position would be nice. We urge any and all future Wii developers to consider this problem carefully when developing their pointer-based gameplay.
Checking out the Wii Photo Channel
In sitting down with the Wii to post messages and check out the overall package, we stumbled across Nintendo's Wii Photo Channel. Written off as merely a tacked-on, unnecessary "feature" for the console, we can't find many arguments against that claim. Maybe if Nintendo had their servers turned on so that we may connect to share them online, then perhaps we could find some more worth. Still, it's a good way to waste a couple minutes and that's exactly what we did in capturing video, embedded into the post after the break.
