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Poll: What's the best gift you received?
Now that Christmas is over, all the wrapping paper is in the garbage, you've had a chance to go to the mall and spend all those gift cards and buy the things you wanted, but didn't get. We know what you wanted, but now we'd like to know what you actually got? It doesn't matter if you bought it for yourself, we just want to know what everyone else got that we didn't. %Poll-7639%
1Password beta is Firefox 3-ready & 40% off today
If you're looking to add one more gift to the switcher-pile for tomorrow, a license for the indispensable browser credentials manager 1Password might be just the thing. MacZot and Agile are offering a 40% off deal on 1Password today ($29.95); along with the license you'll get access to the prerelease my1Password site, which provides anywhere/anytime access to your 1Password confidential store.Meanwhile, if you're already a 1Password owner but you're bemoaning the lack of a compatible version for the Firefox 3 beta, check out the Agile blog -- the 2.5.8 beta of 1Password is available and will work with Firefox 3 today. What could be merrier?
Fanswag: A big ol' bundle of VC games, all for ...
The name of another lucky winner floated across our prize desk this morning, from out of the teeming mass of entries in our VC Fanswag contest, and this time, the games go out to: Michael K. in comment 1071, who said he would give away Sin & Punishment. We're so proud. Lucky Michael walks away with five awesome titles on the Virtual Console, thanks to the new gifting feature. As for everyone else? Stick around, as we're sure to get another contest underway soon!
Bowl organizers pick up Wii for college athletes
If you've been out on the street like some kind of gumshoe, tracking down leads and putting in face time with store manager after store manager as you hunt down that Wii that certain someone in your life is looking for, you might have someone besides Nintendo to be angry with. Bowl officials responsible for the upcoming college bowl games (championship games) managed to snatch up tons of Wiis as a gift to those participating in these games. It's apparently some kind of effort to promote their games over others.Three of the national championship games will award participants from the schools with Nintendo's latest console. That comes to about 750 total consoles being gifted. That's no small number to scoff at, if we may say so.[Via Go Nintendo]
Gifting someone with an HDTV? Don't forget the HD service!
We know, it seems painfully obvious to us, but we can't say we're surprised one iota that the general public would buy a loved one an HDTV and totally overlook the fact that he / she will need HD service to make it truly worthwhile. According to a recent survey conducted on Comcast's behalf, one in four consumers are hoping to receive an HDTV this holiday season, but only 12-percent of gift-givers were even thinking of including HD service. Granted, savvy buyers may be tossing in a gift certificate to pick up an OTA antenna, or they may just let the recipient be responsible for figuring out they need high-definition service. Of course, one must remember who commissioned the survey. Nevertheless, let this serve as a friendly reminder to show consideration when blessing someone with a new HDTV -- they can't watch HD flicks forever![Image courtesy of Crutchfield]
Valve enables 'Steam'y gift purchasing
Adding an option that is sure to never be used by grandma, Valve's Steam service now offers gift purchasing functionality. The concept is pretty simple -- once again, not for grandma -- a customer simply purchases a game off the Steam service and then has the option to gift it to someone else. The recipient of the gift receives an e-card which holds their hand (virtually) through the Steam download process.The Steam selection is expansive with possibly career-ending games like Kane & Lynch and the recently released Universe at War: Earth Assault available. Go ahead and poke around the Steam store, it might save you a trip to the mall -- maybe even save a forward-thinking grandma a trip to the mall.
Poll: What's tops on your wish list?
It's somewhat of a tradition around here to get all up in your business and find out what you got for Christmakwanzika, but this year, we figured we'd be a little extra nosy. With under a fortnight to go before hordes of crazed gadget lovers tear into packages everywhere, we're curious to know what you're hoping to receive. Anything in particular you've asked for? Got a laundry list of wants needs? Don't be shy, tell us what your heart really desires, you never know who'll be paying attention. Oh, and just check off the one thing you're craving the most below -- fill us in on the rest in comments. %Poll-7131%
Fanswag: Celebrate the season of giving with a VC pack
Now that the Virtual Console gift feature is alive and kicking, it just seems fitting that we celebrate with a few gifts of our own. Each member of the Wii Fanboy staff has carefully chosen one game currently available on the U.S. Virtual Console, and we're ready to show our appreciation by gifting the lot to one lucky reader. But guys! What if I already have the game in question? Well, dear reader, we've also each chosen back-up titles, just in case. If the winner has one, we'll move onto the next. If you have all of them? Maybe you should hang back and let someone else win! 'Tis the season of giving, after all.To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post telling us what you'd be most likely to give away, if you were so inclined. You may enter once per day, and we must receive your comments between now and December 20. The giveaway closes shop that night at 11:59 PM EST, so get to work! We'll announce the winner December 21. As usual, entries are limited to legal U.S. residents age 18 and older. Please check the official rules for any other questions.Wii Fanboy's Virtual Console Gift Pack Devil's Crush -- TurboGrafx-16, 600 points (JC) Dragon's Curse -- TurboGrafx-16, 600 points (Candace) Excitebike -- NES, 500 points (Chris) Gunstar Heroes -- Sega Genesis, 800 points (Eric) The Legend of the Mystical Ninja -- SNES, 800 points (Dave) The Legend of Zelda -- NES, 500 points (Alisha)
Wii Warm Up: Across the universe
While we certainly expected region-locking on the new gifting feature, we can't say we're too pleased about the country-lock. Sure, we'll grant that there are a lot of reasons for Nintendo to make such a decision -- legal reasons, currency issues, rights issues ... there's bound to be all sorts of things we haven't considered. It seems likely that Nintendo would want us to be able to freely gift. Or at least, to gift as freely as possible.Or would they? Despite the DS, the region-free wonder that it is, Nintendo is still very focused on friend codes and encouraging people to play together, in the same room. Do you think that one of the reasons for the country-lock was to encourage people to continue the close-friends-only tradition of gaming interaction? What other factors do you think led to the decision?
VC gift feature takes region-locking a step further
Many sources are reporting that the new gift feature that allows Wii owners to send Virtual Console games to their buddies is, unsurprisingly, region-locked. That we expected; after all, VC games release on different schedules around the world. But what is surprising is that the function seems to be country-locked as well. Posters at NeoGAF are reporting being unable to send Virtual Console games between Canada and the United States, though no one has yet -- to our knowledge -- tested sending VC games between two European nations that both use the euro as currency. We don't know yet what the lock is based upon; it could be currency or just blanket national lines. We'll keep you updated as we learn more, but for now, reconcile yourselves to only sending gifts to people who live under the same flag.
Wii Fanboy walks you through the Gifting feature
var digg_url = 'http://www.digg.com/nintendo/Walkthrough_for_the_Wii_s_new_gift_giving_function'; The new update is pretty self-explanatory, but for all of you out there who don't have a Wii or might be away from yours, we figured a nice stroll through the update would brighten your day. So, hit up the video above and see how one hooks up a friend with a Virtual Console game on the Wii.
Get ready to gift: Wii Shop Channel down for maintenance
Sure enough, we got online to do our usual video wrap-up post when we discovered that the Shop was down. We tried our best to beat the buzzer, but sure enough, our luck is lacking. So, we're going to keep an eye on the store and when it goes back up, we'll do the feature, so be sure to keep an eye out tonight. If you aren't able to hang about late, then be sure to check in the morning.
VC gift-giving feature coming tonight!
Just in time for you to buy everyone you know a copy of Gunstar Heroes for Christmas! Nintendo announced that it will be enabling its Virtual Console gifting feature for the US later today, enabling Wii owners in the states to purchase classic games and send them to people they've traded Friend Codes with. We've already spent way too much money buying games for ourselves; we shudder to think how many Wii Points we're going to spend now forcing all of our friends to download Devil's Crush. [Via Press Release]
Wii Warm Up: Give the gift of awesome
So, with the VC gift-giving feature coming, we just have to ask -- are you planning on foisting something upon someone? We can't help but rub our hands together in excitement every time the subject comes up. In fact, we can't even remember the last time we were so thrilled at the idea of spending money on other people. What the hell is wrong with us? Now we just need some of the titles we've been turning over (but denied) to hit so that we can prepare to indoctrinate the masses.What flavor of Kool-Aid will you be shoving down the throats of friends? Or are you more in the "screw 'em, let 'em buy their own games" camp?
Holideals: Tabula Rasa stocking stuffers
When it comes to established games like World of Warcraft or City of Heroes, finding holiday goodies for dedicated gamers is a simple matter of hitting Google and seeing what manner of strange and extravagant goods rise to the surface. For a game like Tabula Rasa, which has only just now starting to sink into the hearts and minds of MMO nuts, simply getting people to consider playing the game is a difficult prospect in and of itself. With this in mind, we scoured the internet to find the best deals on Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa and came away pleasantly surprised.The pickings are a little sparse, but definitely worthy of your holiday dollar: Gamestop is running a promotion where you can get a free Tabula Rasa keyset with the purchase of a Zboard, a $20 value. The Zboard is a keyboard specifically designed to give you easy and quick keyboard access to chat features, emotes, and menu commands. The deal runs through the end of the year, so now is the time to jump on it if you were planning on springing for a Zboard anyway. Amazon has both the regular and collector's editions of Tabula Rasa on sale for $25 and $30, respectively. This puts them well under the impulse purchase threshold. Heck, at that price, you could afford to buy the CE for yourself and a good buddy and set aside some holiday time to blast some Bane over a glass of eggnog. Being a Tabula Rasa player myself, I can tell you that this it is the perfect "gateway game" for getting traditionally casual or console gamers into the MMO genre. There's something about shooting aliens with a rocket launcher that seems to transcend the normal social boundaries. For the new, reduced price of entry, you cant argue.
Japanese Wii owners can give the gift of VC on the 11th
The new gift-giving feature of the Wii Shop Channel will be available in Japan starting December 11th, according to Nintendo's demonstration video of the service. And, for those of you new to Nintendo, the service is quite easy to use. You just select a game from the shop as normal, at which point you're given the option to buy it yourself or give it. Then you select the recipient from a list (complete with Mii representations!) and send it away! An error message will tell you if they already have the game, or (we think) if parental controls prevent them from playing it. And then your friend gets a festively wrapped note on their Wii Message Board!The service is supposed to be available worldwide in time for the holidays, so expect a similar announcement for other regions soon! Then we can all start forcing our preferences on each other.[Via NeoGAF]
Homegrown Xbox 360 plush pillows warm the heart
We've seen Nintendo's famed NES brought back to life thanks to a needle and some thread, and now Microsoft's latest console is getting the hand-sewn treatment, too. eBayer inkyfingersjunior has apparently found his / her calling in life, as these Xbox 360 plush pillows look pretty snazzy. The units reportedly take some five hours to create and measure almost the same size as their functioning counterparts, 'cept these come with a little extra fluff and a lot less hardware. Currently, a number of variations are available to the highest bidder, but we can't help but favor the comical "Red Ring of Death" edition. Good luck resisting, fanboys.[Via Xbox360Fanboy]
DS leads UK gift-giving charge, no other systems in sight
What does the DS Lite have in common with a Spider-man Laptop, a Bladerunner Infrared Indoor Helicopter, and the High School Musical Dance Mat? They're all among the top ten most-desired gifts for kids this holiday season at UK electronics retailer Dixons. Don't look among the top ten for any other gaming system, either, not even the Wii -- the DS Lite is the only one that's made the cut. Clearly, kids across the pond have incredible taste.
Financial Briefing: TV guide videos, gift channel, and more
Nintendo has transcribed a Financial Results briefing given by president Satoru Iwata. Being a Financial Results briefing, it of course focuses on sales history, but it is also loaded with information that may be of interest to you beyond the charts and graphs detailing how awesome Nintendo is.* This includes Iwata's new philosophy of the roles of Nintendo's gaming systems. The DS is now being seen as a "machine to enrich its owners' lives," in ways beyond gaming. Nintendo's plan for new DS-based utilities is an instantiation of this idea, allowing users to carry their DS systems around for many purposes, improving the quality of their lives. The Wii, on the other hand, is seen as the "Machine to put smiles on people surrounding it," meaning that entire households should be encouraged to interact with the Wii, even when not playing games. You are free, of course, to moan about this being the death of gaming or whatever.Spreading happiness is the goal of the two new updates headed to the Wii. Check pages 6 and 7 for video of the gift-giving function of the Wii Shop Channel, which will work for both VC and Wii Ware games, and a demonstration of an early version of the TV Program Schedule Channel. It allows users to search by genre or keyword, and to mark their favorite programs with a color code.*For an analysis of the charts and graphs detailing how awesome Nintendo is, check out this Gamasutra feature from our own Eric Caoili!
Gift services go live worldwide for holidays
Sure, maybe a lot of you don't find the idea itself terribly exciting, but we are definitely pleased to hear that the Wii Shop Channel's new gift feature will be live worldwide in time for the holidays. Now you'll be able to gift friends with awesome old games without having to track them down in physical form -- and without unloading a lot of cash, either. That's a win all around.It might also be worth noting that Gamefront's headline on the announcement had the "Wii Gift Channel" in English, and since "das Gift" means "poison" in German, Google's autotranslator informed us that the Wii Poison Channel would be a go in December. We're not quite as excited about that one, frankly.
