The Inquisitr » wii

Black Friday: Wal-Mart carrying awesome game console deals

Chris Greenhough — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:19:33 +0000

If you’re a gamer, you’re spoiled for choice when it comes to Black Friday bargain hunting, with neat deals at Sears and GameStop, and some okay deals at Toys ‘R’ Us.

If you’re a gamer looking to pick up a cheap console next Friday, there’s only one winner: Wal-Mart. The store will be selling PS3 Slims with an excellent pair of titles – inFamous and Batman: Arkham Asylum – and The Dark Knight on Blu-ray for $299. That’s what the PS3 Slim alone would normally cost: this one comes with about 100 hours of entertainment.

Their Wii and Xbox 360 deals aren’t too shabby, either. $249 bags you a Wii with two games and an extra set of Nyko controllers, while $199 buys you an Xbox 360 Arcade with Madagascar 2 and the first two Madagascar movies on DVD.

Oh yeah, and you can pick up a Nintendo DS Lite for $98 (and the ace Lock’s Quest for $7 to play on it). Everybody should own a DS of some description. It’s the law. Here’s the list in full:

Xbox 360

- 2K Sports NBA 2K10 – $25
- Command And Conquer Red Alert 3 – $7
- Grand Theft Auto IV – $10
- Midnight Club Los Angeles – $10
- Rock Band Special Edition – $50
- UFC 2009 Undisputed – $25
- Xbox 360 Arcade with Madagascar 2 game and Madagascar/Madagascar 2 DVDs – $199

PS3

- Need For Speed Undercover – $10
- Call Of Duty 4 Modern Warfare – $25
- Rock Band Special Edition – $50
- The Godfather II – $10
- WWE Smackdown Vs Raw 2009 – $25
- PlayStation 3 Slim with Infamous, Batman Arkham Asylum, and Dark Knight on Blu-ray – $299

Wii

- Bakugan – $25
- Big Beach Sports – $10
- Carnival Games – $10
- Celebrity Sports Showdown – $7
- Tak And The Guardians Of Gross – $7
- Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 – $25
- Nintendo Wii with 2 Games and extra set of Nyko controllers (Online Only) – $249

Nintendo DS

- Lock’s Quest – $7
- MX Vs ATV Untamed – $10
- NeoPets Puzzle Adventure – $7
- Nintendo DS Lite Starter Kit – $10
- Nintendo DS Lite – $98

PS2

- Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader – $7
- Madden 10 – $25
- Suzuki TT Super Bikes – $7

PC/Mac

The Sims 3 – $25

Miscellaneous

- X Rocker Turbo Sound Gaming Chair – $35

[BlackFriday.info, via Destructoid]

Sgt. Pepper’s comes to The Beatles Rock Band next week

Chris Greenhough — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 02:30:28 +0000

What’s your favorite Beatles album? If you answered “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” we can almost certainly be friends.

Now we’re friends, want to come round my place and play Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band on some plastic instruments? Well you can’t. Not until next week, anyway. That’s when Sgt. Pepper’s will be hitting The Beatles: Rock Band, with the album pack including:

Fixing A Hole
She’s Leaving Home
Being For The Benefit of Mr. Kite!
Within You Without You
When I’m Sixty-Four
Lovely Rita
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
A Day In The Life

That lot will join the other five Sgt. Pepper’s tracks that are already in the game, “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” “With A Little Help From My Friends,” “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds,” “Getting Better,” and “Good Morning Good Morning.”

This latest batch of Beatles downloadable content hits Xbox 360 on November 17, and PS3 and Wii on November 19. Each individual track – not that you’d want to miss any of these – will set you back $1.99, 160 MS Points, or 200 Wii Points. The whole album will cost $13.49, or 1080 MS Points.

[Via press release]

[VIDEO] Watch the super-rad ending to New Super Mario Bros. Wii

Chris Greenhough — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:06:45 +0000

[NOTE: Nobody likes a Mr. Blabbermouth McSpoiler, so I'm going to say right here that this post contains huge, Donkey Kong-sized spoilers. If you're buying New Super Mario Bros. Wii and don't wish to watch its rather epic ending, now's the time to stop reading.]

I’ve made no secret on here of my love for New Super Mario Bros. Wii, so how could I resist this: the complete (and completely awesome) ending to the game, as played by the AI. As you’d expect, it’s Mario in a boss-fight with someone (okay, Bowser). Oh, and it’s not as easy as things first look – keep watching:

In fact, this looks ridiculously bleeding difficult. Aimed at casual gamers? Don’t be so sure.

[YouTube]

Brian May had hair demands for LEGO: Rock Band

Chris Greenhough — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:53:54 +0000

Queen guitarist Brian May had only one demand when signing up for LEGO Rock Band (aside from receiving a stack of money): that developer Traveller’s Tales get his famous perm right.

As you can see above, they got it right. Very right, actually. In fact, I doubt hair has ever been more right. No doubt about it: May’s LEGO Rock Band hair is rad. Turns out the man himself is rather pleased with it as well:

“I think my LEGO character is wonderful. I want one. We had discussions about the hair, there were a few emails. They had to negotiate to use my likeness, but it’s a nice thing.”

Not only that, but May scored a point over fellow venerable rock legend and Def Leppard singer Joe Elliott, who is totally jealous:

“Joe Elliott rang me up and said he was pissed off because they didn’t make one of him.”

Bless ‘em. Also, isn’t it nice to hear a rock star not bitching about their likeness in a music videogame?

[Yahoo, via Eurogamer]

Repeat after Nintendo: there is no Wii HD

Chris Greenhough — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:11:05 +0000

Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime has, once again, categorically denied that Nintendo is planning a high-definition version of its Wii console.

The Wii HD rumor has been doing the rounds for what feels like about 643 years ever since 2007, when industry analyst Michael Pachter first prophesized the revised console. Since then, Nintendo has issued rebuttal after rebuttal, only for Pachter to occasionally pop up and say he sticks by his prediction. The latest Nintendo denial came in a Reggie interview at GameTrailers, where Fils-Aime was adamant about Wii HD:

“Michael continues to be the only one who believe this is going to happen. I don’t know how forcefully we can say there is no Wii HD.”

Naturally, even this is hard to accept as fact. If Nintendo did have a high-def Wii in the works, the company would keep it secret; after all, why harm sales of the Wii by telling consumers an improved model is coming up?

Plus, a Wii HD is not implausible. Nintendo has a history of releasing updated versions of its hardware, especially when sales begin to dwindle. This is precisely what is happening now, particularly in Japan and North America, where a revitalized PlayStation 3 is enjoying a resurgence.

So to conclude: WHO THE HELL KNOWS?

[Via GameTrailers]

Actually not a joke: the Wii Baby Doll peripheral

Chris Greenhough — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 01:10:03 +0000

On these pages alone, I’ve already written about some pretty weird Wii accessories. There was the horseback riding saddle patented by Nintendo, the Wiimote football shell, and the game that comes with its own exercise bike.

But this takes the biscuit. Actually, scratch that: this takes the whole damn biscuit factory.

Baby and Me is not the first infant-rearing title on the Wii, but it is the first game ever to ship with a baby doll peripheral. The idea is that little girls insert their Wii Remote in the back of the doll, and then listen to it “giggling, gurgling or crying through the Wii remote [speaker].” Furthermore, if you have a Balance Board, you can even “rock baby to sleep, burp baby, [and] teach baby to walk.”

Which leaves only one question: did I sleep six months running again and wake up April 1st? No. Somehow, I didn’t and this is real.

[1UP, via technabob]

$16 million award in CA “Wee for Wii” water intoxication death

Kim LaCapria — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:54:32 +0000

The family of Jennifer Strange, the Rancho Cardova, CA woman who died after consuming massive quantities of water in an ill-conceived radio station contest, has been awarded $$16,577,118 in damages.

Strange, 27, attempted to win a Wii gaming console for her three young children in KDND 107.9 “The End” radio station’s “Hold Your Wee for a Wii” contest. Strange, who came in second place and complained of stomach and headaches toward the end of the stunt, was found dead in her home by her mother hours after she returned home. At one point during the contest, a nurse called in to warn show hosts of the risk of death by water intoxication, but staff laughed off the concerns and referred to waivers signed by contestants- despite the well-known risk of death from “water poisoning.”

A jury found Entercom Communications to be negligent in death of Strange, and that the radio station ignored several indicators that the contest was ill-advised and potentially lethal.

[Baltimore Sun]

Analyst: Netflix to appear on Wii in next 12 months

Chris Greenhough — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 19:50:39 +0000

You may have already heard, but from (some unspecified day) next month, a Netflix service will be made available on the PS3. It’s probably the story of the day for gamers! And I’m milking it for all it’s worth! Hurrah!

Anyway, the appearance of the popular streaming movie service on the console is a decent victory for Sony, as Netflix was previously available through only one game console: the Xbox 360.

But what about the third player in the race, the best-selling Wii? Fear not, Nintendo fans, because here’s Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter to tell you there’s still hope:

“We believe that the exclusive arrangement limits Netflix’s ability to appear on the ‘dashboard’ for the PS3 or the Wii. We anticipate that a similar arrangement will be announced for the Wii in the next 12 months.”

Pachter regularly makes all sorts of predictions like this – it’s kind of his job – and he’s largely correct, so who knows. On the other hand, we’re still waiting on that high-definition Wii, Michael, sooo …

[Joystiq, via Go Nintendo]

Need for Speed games are pretty popular

Chris Greenhough — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 03:14:21 +0000

Hey guys, EA has sent news that it just sold its 100,000,000th Need for Speed game. And there goes the 1,000,000,001st. And the 1,000,000,002nd to that man! Etc. Yay for rampant capitalism.

100 million is good going, but what’s more impressive is that EA has averaged a game a year in the series (fifteen titles since 1994) while not letting standards drop. I’m not a huge fan of the series myself, but I find Need for Speed games are always polished, enjoyable titles.

Oh, and there was also a list of smug, self-congratulatory facts buried in the press release, so here goes:

- The figure 100 million represents almost every household in America.
- Lay out all Need for Speed boxes end-to-end, and you could cover 173,609 football fields.
- Players have driven more than 279 billion miles in the games.
- They’ve also generated more than 17 trillion vehicle customizations.

Bizarrely, EA also brags that the series has sold more copies than passenger cars in the U.S. since 1994. Did EA just compare a $50 videogame to buying a whole car?

[Via press release]

[VIDEO] Get a look at Queen in LEGO Rock Band

Chris Greenhough — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 22:31:03 +0000

The LEGO Rock Band version of Iggy Pop horrified me, but the LEGOfied Queen that appears in the game delights me. Just look at Brian May’s hair!

Below is the first footage of Queen in EA/Harmonix’s blocky take on traditional Rock Band. They sing “We Are The Champions,” and it all looks predictably fun and goofy.

Still, after the furore caused by Kurt Cobain’s controversial appearance in Guitar Hero 5, I’m curious to see how people react to the late Freddie Mercury being in this. My guess is they’ll get away with it. I can’t imagine anyone getting their knickers in a bunch about tongue-in-cheek LEGO versions of dead rockers.

That, and Harmonix will probably make sure you can’t use Freddie to rap to Flavor Flav.

[Via press release]

New Mario game on the way, according to Mario

Chris Greenhough — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 03:02:56 +0000

Charles Martinet, the man who provides the voice of Nintendo’s Mario, says there’s a new Mario game on the way. Better still, it’s not one we already know about, like New Super Mario Bros. Wii or Super Mario Galaxy 2. As the little moustachioed podger himself would say, “Wahoo!”

There’s no news on whether it’s for the DS or Wii, but I’d wager Wii if there’s extensive voice-acting involved. Anyhow, Martinet teased the news on his Twitter feed, writing on October 10:

“Mama Mia!!!! I’m going to Seattle this week to record a new Mario game!”

He followed this over the weekend with:

“Awesome new Mario Game! And it’s not NSMB Wii, and it’s not Galaxy 2, but it’s going to be crazy fun!”

Two things to note here. One: I love how Charles Martinet is so damn dedicated to being Mario he even tweets as the plumber. And two: YAAAAAAAY!

[Charles Martinet's Twitter, via Eurogamer]

HSN host smashes TV with Wii Tennis racket

Kim LaCapria — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 21:21:41 +0000

This segment shilling Wii Sports packages inadvertently turned into a PSA for properly tethering your Wii accessories.

[VIDEO] New Super Mario Bros. Wii makes me feel eight again

Chris Greenhough — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 23:57:40 +0000

And I mean that in the best possible way. If I sound a little giddy, it’s because I’ve just come from watching the latest trailer of New Super Mario Bros. Wii.

If you’re not already switched on to this game, then fix that. NSMBW is essentially a big-screen version of the Nintendo DS’s New Super Mario Bros. It is everything you love about 2D Mario games, but with the ability to have FOUR FREAKIN’ PLAYERS on screen at once.

It’s got Goombas, wildly inventive scrolling levels, and more Yoshi than I’ll probably ever be able to handle. It is the Mario game you always dreamed of as a kid, a great, big, sugary meringue of fun dipped in awesome sauce, and it hits the U.S. on November 15. Here’s a video to convert you:

[Via YouTube]

Heckler and Koch MP5 Sub-Machine Gun Adds Some Violence To The Wii

James Allen Johnson — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:19:03 +0000

The Heckler and Koch MP5 Sub-Machine gun picture you’re looking at on this page isn’t the real thing, but it looks pretty darn close. What you’re actually seeing is a fully equipped Wiimote, Nunchuk and MotionPlus controller wrapped in violence.

The best part about the Heckler controller? How about the fact that all of the controllers you need are actually built right into the unit. That’s right folks, no need to slide in your controllers every time you want to shoot something, it’s already locked and loaded.

No word yet on when the controller will reach the U.S. or if it will even make it stateside. If it does I expect Rockband type lines. [Engadget]

New Pokémon game on the way to Wii

Chris Greenhough — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 01:46:56 +0000

Somehow, despite the Wii being three years old, Nintendo has managed to limit itself to releasing just one retail Pokémon game for its console.

Somebody high up at Nintendo clearly thinks This Will Not Do, because the company just officially unveiled Poképark Wii. The game actually releases quite soon in Japan (December 5), and will see players control jaundiced Poké-rodent Pikachu as he plays mini games with his Pokémon chums. Fairly standard Wii fare, you might argue, but Pokémon games do have a habit of being quite polished.

There will also a ’screen grab’ mode that lets fans take pics of their favorite Pokémans. It doesn’t sound as awesome as Pokémon Snap, but it’ll have to do for now.

It’s Japan-only for now, but expect this to come Stateside at some point in 2010. In the meantime, have some screens to tide you over:

[Via Andriasang]

New videogame comes with a free exercise bike

Chris Greenhough — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:00:51 +0000

A whole one. This is on the Wii, if you can believe such a thing.

The imaginatively titled Cyberbike is, unsurprisingly, “the very first videogame that comes with an exercise bike,” and is developed by those chancers at Bigben Interactive.

The game comes out in January, and will see users riding around 18 land, sea, and air circuits on “some of the most improbable vehicles ever imagined.” Precisely what these mysterious modes of transport are isn’t specified. Maybe there’s a horse involved.

Anyway, the aim of the game is to pedal your way around and rid the in-game planet of pollution as you go, somehow. The bike itself will have adjustable saddle and handlebars, and I’m already estimating it will be the Trabi of the exercise bike world. It’s compatible with Mario Kart Wii, just in case you think Cyberbike looks crap.

Bigben also announced My Body Coach, another fitness title for the – GAAAAASP – Wii that includes two 500g (app. 1lb) dumbbells with Wii remote slots.

Usually, the dumbbells thing would be semi-interesting on its own, but it can’t trump a whole exercise bike. No word on price for either of these, but I struggle to believe Cyberbike will cost the same as a standard game.

[Via press release]

PS3 beats Wii in Japan for second week running

Chris Greenhough — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 23:50:57 +0000

Since its launch in late-2006, the Wii has dominated sales pretty much everywhere. This is especially true in Japan, where Nintendo’s console has never been beaten by the PS3 or Xbox 360 in the weekly sales charts.

That is, until two weeks ago.

Sony’s new, slimmer PS3 went on sale a fortnight back. It outsold the Wii in its debut week, and now it’s had the cheek and temerity to repeat the trick. The latest weekly sales figures for September 28 through October 4, courtesy of Media-Create:

* DSi: 53,293
* PSP: 51,215
* PS3: 37,538
* Wii: 35,392
* DS Lite: 10,661
* X360: 4,244
* PS2: 2,179

A close victory for Sony, but a victory nonetheless. What’s more, Nintendo actually dropped the price of the Wii in Japan on October 1, though obviously to little effect.

All of which raises the question: is the tide finally turning against Nintendo’s ubiquitous white box? Well, probably not. The Wii has already closed the 3-to-1 lead that the PS3 Slim enjoyed last week, and continues to lead sales in other regions. Still, this Holiday season may be a little closer than previous years.

[Via IGN]

Beyoncé wants to make a dance game

Chris Greenhough — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 19:08:58 +0000

Beyoncé loves the free copy of Wii Fit that Nintendo gave her. In fact, she loves it so much that she has a new career goal: make a dance/fitness videogame, teaching fans the dance moves of Beyoncé. Though not that one in the picture, I’d wager.

Here’s the woman herself, who BY TOTAL COINCIDENCE is on Nintendo’s payroll, announcing her love of Wii Fit. Just sayin’:

“I`d like to get involved in video games, since I really love Wii Fit. I think it would be a great idea to incorporate choreography, because, for me, my workout is way more fun when it involves dancing, as opposed to running on a boring treadmill. So I would love to do some kind of fitness game but incorporate dance and performance into it. I think a lot of women would enjoy that.”

And you know what’s utterly gut-wrenching and horrific about this? She’s probably right with that last sentence: this is a gazillion-seller in the not-too-distant future. Someone stop the world, I want to get off.

[SpiceZee, via 1UP]

Take that, Madden: FIFA 10 the fastest-selling sports game ever

Chris Greenhough — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 00:22:35 +0000

If you thought Madden was big, it ain’t nothing on EA’s other sporting powerhouse, FIFA 10.

In its first week alone, FIFA 10 shifted 1.7 million copies, despite having Wayne Rooney’s misshapen, potato-like head on the front. It comes out in the U.S. on October 20, though I’d imagine sales there will be a bit quieter, because everybody thinks “soccer” is a girl’s game. The fools.

Anyway, EA tucked some stats away in its highly self-congratulatory press release. Apparently, more than 10 million sessions have been played online since the title launched, with over 155,000 players online simultaneously during peak times. Not bad.

Here’s EA Sports president and very happy man Peter Moore blowing his own trumpet:

“We were confident that FIFA 10 would be a hit, and this week fans across Europe have shown just how much they love this game. We are incredibly proud of FIFA 10 and this kick-off for great, authentic football competition.”

To be fair, this year’s version is pretty good – any of you lot picked it up?

[Via press release]

Latest Wii update is bricking consoles, Nintendo offering free repairs

Chris Greenhough — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 19:25:11 +0000

Compared to its more powerful rivals, the Wii has endured very few technical hitches in its time on the market. There’s been no Wii equivalent to the Xbox 360’s Red Ring, or the PS3’s Yellow Light.

Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s invincible, as Wii owners who downloaded the latest system update are now finding out. The Nintendo support forums are currently jam-packed with gamers reporting that Wii system update 4.2 is bricking their consoles, whether they’re modded or not.

Some people are seeing their updates freeze halfway through. Others are receiving a message that their unmodded system is actually modded, and their consoles refuse to start again (even though some consoles are fresh from the box). Some people are being sucked alive into their televisions. It is, in other words, Bad News City for Nintendo.

Fortunately, Nintendo techie “Jane” has already posted on the raging message board, promising owners of unmodded Wiis a free repair:

“Some of you have reported problems with your Wii console after updating to the Wii System Menu 4.2. The symptoms most people are describing usually occur when the Wii has been modified. However, some of you also mention your system has never been modified.

“We’d like to help get your system working properly again. If you’re experiencing problems with your Wii console after downloading Wii System Menu 4.2, and you believe your system has not been modified, please give us a call. If we find that you have a normal system and the update caused your system to not work, we’ll repair it at no charge.”

If Ninty wants to save some face here, I’d suggest some free Wii Points for their fans’ trouble.

[Via Kotaku; Picture from here]