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It's fun to Wii at the YMCA
Still trying to find a Wii? Get in touch with your local YMCA. Nintendo recently donated Wii party packs to YMCA chapters around the country for the upcoming Healthy Kids Day. The event celebrates "making fitness fun" and could finally live up to that promise with remote-waggling wackiness.This isn't the first time Wii games have been used to promote exercise. One blogger lost nine pounds in a month on a Wii Sports routine and subsequently appeared on NBC news. Now Wii Sports weight loss needs a mascot. Somebody give John Madden a call. Slim-Fast is so 1985.
Personal trainer uses Wii to help you get fit
If you've been sad about the noticeable lack of video games at your local gym, you might want to seek out 32 year old personal trainer Zander Urquhart. Or, you could just cut out the middle man and play a lot of Wii Sports, hoping the constant activity helps you shed those pounds. Zander, from Glasgow, originally got the idea from a client's son."This five-year-old needed encouragement to do any exercise - but here he was running about for half-an-hour working up a sweat," he says, talking about the child playing with the Wii. This caused Zander to target children with the exercise program, at first, eventually moving on to clients of an older age, where Zander says the program has worked wonders.We suggest you check out the rest of the piece, where some of the calorie values are broken down. It's surprising toread that, apparently, a 12.2-hour gaming week with the Wii will burn 1,830 calories.
Wii Warm Up: Antisocial behavior
The Wii is a very social console. From the marketing campaign to the pack-in, everything about it is designed to get a bunch of people together and interacting in the same room. It can even be fun to have a group together for single-player games, with everyone helping out and enjoying the events of the game together.But video games are not always social events. Sometimes you just want to get immersed in the game without all the interruptions and talking and people. Are you the kind of gamer who prefers to be alone with your games? Or do you always prefer to share your experiences? Or are there certain games that you just can't stand having people in the room while you're playing? Killer 7 on the Gamecube, for example, was something we preferred to play alone because we didn't think others walking in would have a clue what was going on. Especially since we didn't.
What are you playing: to be evil, or not to be evil edition
This week saw the release of one high-profile title, a game that you should be very familiar with by now. So, the question needs to be asked: what are you playing this weekend? Will you be picking up Prince of Persia: Rival Swords, or are you not interested? Will you be playing the always-good Wii Sports (y'know, the usual) or will you instead not be playing a single video game for the entirety of the weekend? Let us know!Previous posts: What were you playing?
Wii Warm Up: Your favorite so far
We talked about some of the best and the worst games according to the reviews, but we want to know what your favorite game has been so far on the Wii. Did the latest Link steal your heart? Are you a Wii Sports devotee? Or are you passionate about something else entirely? Tell us what you've loved the most, and tell us why.
Retractable Wii Sports Cuff fails to reel us in
The Retractable Wii Sports Cuff replaces the subtlety and elegance of the Wii remote's wrist strap with a bulky band that we wouldn't be caught dead wearing. We don't doubt that the adjustable neoprene cuff has an agreeable fit, but did anyone ever find the original straps uncomfortable, if even noticeable at all?And what sort of human does the retractable thirteen inches of slack benefit? Are there people whose hands extend that far away from their wrist? Or are these cuffs marketed towards some sort of video-game-playing race of long-fingered mutants? Creepy!You would think that the shop would take advantage of all the "faulty Wii Strap" controversy and emphasize the durability of the cuff's cord, but the product description makes no mention of any improved toughness. What's there to reassure us that we won't end up with a Wii remote sticking out of our television after a heated game of Wii Tennis? Even at a sale price of $5.99, you'll probably want to stay clear from this accessory.[Via CAG]
Wii robot bowls 300, feels no emotion with victory
The Lego hackers at BattleBricks have created a robot that throws Wii Bowling strikes every frame, dominating any human that dares face off against this plastic giant. The robot looks like a spastic uneven bars runner-up, but it does the trick; its controls move the bowler off-center, hold B for the swing, and release it at the perfect time. It even resets itself -- and its Mii -- after each frame.And yes, of course the robot is supported on each side by Linux and C++ guides -- it just doesn't get any more perfectly geeky. See a video of the robot in action after the break.[Via Engadget]
WiigoBot melds Lego with Wii bowling, knocks down all 10 pins in our hearts
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]
Wii Warm Up: Wii Sports revisited
So, we've had both dry weeks and deluges -- overall, a fair number of offerings to distract us from Wii Sports over the past few months. And yet, it remains in the news as a media darling. But let's not worry about the rest of the world at the moment; let's talk serious, f'real gamers. Are we still playing Wii Sports? For fun, for profit exercise, or just out of sheer boredom -- if you're still whacking the racket or throwing punches, we want to know. And if you are still playing, we want to hear about those crazy, off-the-chart scores.
On a slow news day, CNN discovers that retirees enjoy the Wii
As if the news of older individuals enjoying the Wii was anything new to us, CNN found themselves late to the party in reporting it. They focus their story on 82 year old Ruth Ebert, self-explained apathetic towards all things gaming, that is until she got her hands on a Wii. "It was funny, because normally I would not be someone who would do that," Ebert explains after giving a match of Wii Sports: Tennis a go. She ended up losing the match, explaining that such a loss was alright by her as "I didn't mind losing to a video game. It couldn't rub it in." Yeah Ruth, well you try losing to a Mii of Hitler, that hurts.The rest of the article talks about others in the Virginian retirement community and their experience with the system.
Wii Sports and Wii Play sell one million copies each in Japan
Congrats are in order to Nintendo: both Wii Sports and Wii Play (Hajimete no Wii) have sold in excess of one million copies in Japan. Having two million-sellers already trumps the Gamecube, on which only Super Smash Bros. Melee reached that particular milestone.We know that the bundled Wiimote had a lot to do with selling Wii Play, though of course the degree to which it contributed cannot be measured. It makes sense that the two most casual, inclusive games on the system would sell to a Japanese audience that loves DS training games. We hope you guys like minigames, because it's safe to assume we're getting lots more of them!
Reggie downplays Wiimote's TV wrath, 360's European sales
NOA President Reggie Fils-Aime, ever the iconoclast, had some choice words for the San Jose Mercury News about the success of the Xbox 360 in Europe. In effect, he claimed that the 360's success in Europe is localized to the UK, while the Wii is (obviously!) doing great across the continent.Reggie also slyly wrote off the early (and not so early) strap issues, while blaming consumer ignorance for the few known cases. He said that the strap was originally meant to be a backup safety measure in case the controller slipped out of players' hands, but many users got too rough with their controllers and put excessive force into their motions. Of course, Nintendo has been kind enough to replace the straps.[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]
Wii Sports: Golf = hilarious
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/Wii_Sports_Golf_hilarious_for_babies'; At least, that's what babies think as the embedded video (available past the post break) demonstrates. Every time Daddy takes a swing in Wii Sports: Golf, the baby goes nuts, laughing up a storm, which then causes all of us here at Wii Fanboy HQ to let out a long and spirited awwww. You can let out one yourself, as you check out the video.[Thanks, Kian!]
Today's most pugilistic video: Victorious Boxers
Victorious Boxers snares our video pick of the day, although much of our interest is based on imagining how this title will play on the Wii. The Japanese trailer shows clean art -- versus bad attempts at photo-realism -- that we've been waiting for on Nintendo's new system, but we're in it for the controller. How well will Victorious Boxers mimic player movements? Wii Boxing is a fun diversion, but we never feel quite in-sync with our Mii. Will this be import-worthy?See the trailer after the break.
Lasabirdie: Wii Golf for the Super Famicom
Wii Sports might have been Nintendo's most successful attempt at getting us to play golf in our living rooms by swinging an imagined club, but it certainly wasn't the company's first try. Tinkering with the idea back in 1995, Nintendo worked with Japanese electronics giant Ricoh to release Lasabirdie, a personal golf simulator for the Super Famicom. The Lasabirdie bundle included a Get in the Hole game cart and several control accessories. Though the Lasabirdie lacked any motion sensing technology, its implementation was remarkably similar to the Wii's. Players used a light-sensor-equipped golf club in conjunction with a sensor pad to measure their strokes. This setup detected the speed of a player's swing and translated it into the simulator. The game offered a training mode that showed players how their slices hit the ball and gave advice on how to improve their swings.Lasabirdie's production was limited to 3,500 Japanese units, selling for about $450 each! One would think the rarity and extravagant retail price would make purchasing the bundle near impossible today, but Gamesniped spotted a Lasabirdie sold for only $270 at a recent eBay auction. The seller was even generous enough to provide a video demonstrating the game for bidders. Check it out after the post break.
GDC 07: Reggie plays Wii Tennis with journalists, takes names
Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime invited journalists to test his Wii Tennis mettle at a GDC soiree last night. What started as a few friendly matches, however, quickly turned into a slaughter of the news hounds. One by one, his challengers found their skills bested and their gaming egos trampled on.IGN's Craig Harris documented the emasculation of fellow editor, Matt Casamassina, with photos you can see on his blog. Craig also found himself outplayed, admitting to a shutout loss while Reggie sipped from a glass of wine in between serves. It's great to see that Nintendo's upper management have time to actually play the games that they're so busy promoting, but that's just cruel.
GDC 07: Miyamoto keynote video
There are dozens of clips floating around from Shigeru Miyamoto's keynote yesterday, but IGN has streaming video of the entire event available for your anxious eyes. You won't find any megaton announcements or landmark revelations, but the presentation is full of insights on "the Nintendo Difference" from the company's preeminent game designer. What's Miyamoto's primary focus when developing a game? Why did it take 20 years before he could finally use his face creation software in a complete game? And whatever happened to Mario 128? If you have a free hour and a half, watch the keynote and find out.
Wii Warm Up: Wii as exercise machine
The idea of using the Wii as a workout is becoming pretty common, but do you really think it will work? Can something as simple as Wii Sports transform the lifestyles of a generation of gamers? Well, no, probably not. But can the Wii provide the seed of motivation? A long session with the Wii remote can definitely inject a little energy into a sedentary lifestyle, but should it be the lynchpin of weight loss program? Or is the inspiration unimportant so long as people are getting on their feet?
Joystiq not-so-live coverage of the IGF and GDCA awards
6:20 p.m.: The Joystiq crew walks the red carpet, because we're just that important.6:33 p.m.: Gnarls Barkley's cover of the Violent Femmes' "Gone Daddy Gone" is blasting as we find seats in the press section. Cushy seats with recline-able chairs.6:42 pm: Sam and Max introduce the start for the independent games festival. The mention of projectile vomiting is disturbing, but welcoming somehow. 6:43 pm: Jamil Moledina and Simon Carless march onto stage, noting that the show is being broadcast to the entire world. We sense somewhat sinister undertones.
GDC 07: Twilight Princess, Wii Sports take awards
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/GDC_07_Twilight_Princess_Wii_Sports_take_awards'; The awards continue to pile up for Nintendo. Both Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Wii Sports have taken awards at the GDC Choice Awards. Twilight Princess nabbed an award for Best Writing, beating out top contenders like Sam & Max, Oblivion, Dreamfall and Bully.Wii Sports picked up the award for Best Game Design, beating other hopefuls, such as Okami and Viva Pinata. The Best Game award, however, went to Microsoft Game Studios' Gears of War, proving that sometimes, graphics do make a game better.
