Video games

A nice april's fool from ThinkGeek:

Product Features:

• Helmet based Wii Controller housing allows effortless handsfree game play
• Perfect for Wii sports and works with all your favorite Wii games
• Frees your hands for other important tasks like eating, scratching, beer drinking, petting your dog or cat, nose picking and unwrapping birthday gifts
• 4 frontal LEDs illuminate your surroundings while gaming in the basement at 3 am
• Included Foot Pedals have all Wiimote Buttons, mapped to strategic toe areas
• No danger of throwing Wiimote into TV with the WiiHelm's Saf-T-Lok technology
• Includes: WiiHelm, Foot pedals, Cables, and Instruction Manual
• Manufacturer Limited Warranty: 1 year

Link: http://www.vc-reviews.com/available_now.php

The Virtual Console Archive updates the lists of all the VC games available for both NTSC and PAL Wiis. These lists comes in the following flavors:

• Available games.
• Planned games.
• Nintendo NES games.
• Nintendo SNES games.
• Nintendo 64 games.
• Sega Megadrive/Genesis games.
• Nec PC-Engine/Turbo-Grafx.

Since I still have my SNES with PAL 50/60Hz on the fly switch, I won't get any SNES VC game soon. But I'll probably get the following games:

• PCE - Bomberman '93 - 600 points
• PCE - Bonk's adventure - 600 points
• PCE - R-Type - 800 points
• PCE - Soldier Blade - 600 points
• N64 - Mario Kart 64 - 1000 points

I recently found a Nintendo Wii on the shelves of the local supermarket. :woot: After a couple of days, here are the bugs that I found with firmware 2.1E:

• the image channel uses the EXIF DateTime (aka last modified) field for sorting. Instead of the logical DateTime Original/Digitized (aka picture taken) field. So if like me you resize your photos before sharing, the Wii will display them in the order you processed them.
• the RGB SCART pin 8 (switching) is powered when the Wii is in orange mode. (aka WiiConnect24 standby mode)
• disabling the WiiConnect24 during standby to avoid the previous issue also disables the Weather and News channels.
• Geolocalization in the News channel is pretty poor. News that occurs in Valence, France are localized in Valencia, Spain.
• random crash that leaves the Wii unresponsive. (requires to unplug the power supply)

I didn't list as a bug the fact that the Wii PAL comes only with composite cables and a composite to SCART adapter. Even thought almost every TV built in europe in the last 20 years have the SCART/Péritel/Euroconnector that allows the high quality RGB mode. It's just Nintendo way to get 30? from the end users. RGB SCART should be the standard for Europe. 15 years ago the Super Nintendo came with a RGB SCART.

GoNintendo posted the list of the upcoming titles on the European Wii:

Wario Ware: Smooth Moves (Nintendo) - 12 Jan 2007 :thumbsup:
Excite Truck (Nintendo) - 16 Feb 2007
Kororinpa (Hudson) - 23 Feb 2007
Baja Racing (Conspiracy) - Feb 2007
Disney?s Chicken Little: Ace in Action (Disney / Buena Vista Games) - Feb 2007
Wing Island (Hudson) - 23 March 2007
BIONICLE Heroes (Eidos) - 23 March 2007
SSXTM Blur (EA) - March 2007
Mario Party 8 (Nintendo) - March 2007 :thumbsup:
Tiger Woods PGA TOUR® (EA) - March 2007
Bust a Move Wii (505Games) - March 2007
Dragonball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 2 (Namco Bandai Games) - March 2007
Disney?s Meet the Robinsons (Disney / Buena Vista Games) - March 2007
SonicTM and the Secret Rings (SEGA) - March 2007
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Ubisoft) - March 2007
Heatseaker (Codemasters) - Q1 2007
Metal Slug Anthology (Ignition) - Q1 2007
Mortal Kombat: Armageddon (Midway Games) - Q1 2007
Rampage Total Destruction (Midway Games) - Q1 2007
The Ant Bully (Movie License) (Midway Games) - Q1 2007
The Grim Adventure of Billy and Mandy (Midway Games) - Q1 2007
Impossible Mission (System 3) - Q1 2007
Leaderboard Golf (System 3) - Q1 2007
Puzzle Balls (System 3) - Q1 2007
Tennis Masters (System 3) - Q1 2007
Blazing AngelsTM: Squadrons of WWII (Ubisoft) - Q1 2007

The Opera browser for Wii launches just in time for the holidays
Oslo, Norway - December 19, 2006

Opera Software today announces that a trial version of its Web browser for Nintendo's new game console, Wii, will be available on December 22, 2006. The trial version of the Opera browser for Wii is available for download, free of charge from the the Wii Shop Channel. For a more exciting way to read this news, click here to see our comic strip.

Nintendo official announcement
Dec. 19, 2006 ? Nintendo?s wildly popular Wii home video game system not only revolutionizes how people play games, but it also entices new people into the world of gaming.

On Dec. 22, Nintendo and Opera Software bring the Internet to the living room couch with a free trial version of the Opera Web browser. Wii owners with a high-speed Internet connection can download a free trial Opera browser to activate the Internet Channel of the Wii Menu and begin surfing the Web.

?In addition to providing innovative and exciting new ways to play, Wii also offers further services and entertainment for all the family. This newest Wii Menu Channel is just the latest example of how we are doing this? says Nintendo of Europe Marketing Director, Laurent Fischer. ?Wii is the perfect console for everyone to enjoy and this is being reflected in the phenomenal sales across Europe. ?

?Our software brings the power and reach of the Internet to the hottest video game system available,? says Scott Hedrick, Executive Vice President, Devices at Opera Software. ?Wii?s unique interface adds a new dimension to our browser, making it a useful tool that the whole family will enjoy operating with ease.?

The final version of the Opera browser will be available at the end of March 2007, and will be free for all Wii owners to download through the end of June. After June 2007, the browser will be available for download in the Wii Shop Channel for 500 Wii Points.

The Internet Channel provides an optimal Web browsing experience on people?s home television. The Adobe Flash-enabled trial version of the Opera browser puts the Internet right onto owners? television screens and lets them browse with ease, enabling them to check sports scores, plot maps or visit their favorite Web sites. Multiple family members can gather around the television to plan a holiday or make online purchases.

The pointing abilities of the Wii Remote allow users to click on links they want to see or to zoom into any part of the screen through the motion of the controller. In addition, the Wii Remote can be used with an on-screen keyboard to make text entry as easy as point and click.

The Forecast Channel, provided by Weathernews which allows users to check out weather information for anywhere in the world using a 3-D globe, is available from today.

The Internet Channel joins the four channels which have been available since launch: Disc Channel, Photo Channel, Mii? Channel and Wii Shop Channel as well as the newly available Forecast Channel. The Internet Channel, Forecast Channel and Wii Shop Channel are available at no charge, though they require Wii owners to have a high-speed Internet connection. For more information about Wii, visit Wii.com.

It seems that the Ubisoft party game Rayman and the Raving Rabbids is one of the best launch game on the Nintendo Wii.

The excellent Steven Colbert gave a Colbert boost to the Nintendo Wii. Yesterday night Colbert Report, the Wii ended up ranking number one on the Threat Down.

"Guess what nerds... I gots me one."

If you haven't played the first minutes of Legend of Zelda Windwaker on the Nintendo GameCube you won't fully appreciate this video.