WII UNLOCKED

New from E3 Expo - Nintendo's latest Wii console

2011-06-07T10:39:00.001-07:00

Nintendo's new Wii U Tablet Controller

Nintendo Wii U: New Gaming Console Revealed

2011-06-07T10:13:00.000-07:00

http://mashable.com/2011/06/07/nintendo-wii-u/

The "Best" of Wii Accidents

2011-05-23T06:26:00.001-07:00

Kid Gets Punched in the Face Wii boxing

2011-05-23T06:25:00.001-07:00

"That's all right, we'll get a new tv..." Wii Sports Accident

2011-05-23T06:23:00.001-07:00

Wii 2 Launch

2011-05-23T06:21:00.003-07:00

Wii 2 - History of the Wii

2011-05-23T06:21:00.001-07:00

Nitendo News From Japan Wii 2

2011-05-23T06:20:00.001-07:00

Wii Trailer

2011-05-23T06:18:00.001-07:00

Wii 2 or Super Wii

2011-05-23T06:17:00.001-07:00

News about Wii 2

2011-05-15T16:28:00.001-07:00

WII 2 in 2012

2011-05-15T11:59:00.000-07:00

Depending on which Internet rumor you believe, it will be called Wii 2, Project Café or Stream. The only thing we know for certain about Nintendo's new video game system is that it's coming in 2012.

Nintendo is widely expected to unveil its successor to the Wii, the top seller among the current generation of gaming consoles, next month at the E3 trade show in Los Angeles.

Nobody knows yet what features the system will contain or exactly when it will be released (current speculation points to next spring at the earliest). But other, bigger questions beg asking: Can the new console match the cultural impact of the original? And will it shore up Nintendo's faltering dominance in the gaming market?

At face value, a follow-up to the Wii -- the first motion-controlled gaming system, which became a breakaway hit with such nontraditional gamers as women and seniors -- would seem to be a slam dunk.

But despite having sold 86 million units of the system since its launch in November 2006, Wii sales fell 25% in 2010, down from 20.5 million units the year before. Nintendo has also suffered some recent financial troubles, as its most recent profit and sales figures have both slid by double digits.

Despite enjoying industry-leading popularity for four-plus years and single-handedly making motion controls a household name, the Wii is looking long in the tooth. Some believe the video game manufacturer has reacted too slowly to counteract its competition.

Last year, Sony and Microsoft introduced their own enhanced motion control systems, the PlayStation Move and the Xbox Kinect, which have sold an impressive 8 million and 10 million units, respectively.

And while the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 offer dazzling high-definition graphics, streaming multimedia and robust online multiplayer, Nintendo's console has been coasting by on increasingly archaic-looking, standard-definition visuals and limited Internet functionality.

Wii Bowling Ball

2009-10-06T07:05:00.000-07:00

Turn every Wii bowling experience into a perfect 300 with the Bowling Ball for Wii. This ultra-realistic accessory, allows you to mimic all the critical motions a ‘striking’ performance requires. This Wii peripheral is the first of its kind to be fashioned after an authentic bowling ball, turning your wii-mote into the optimum performance-enhancing accessory!

To operate simply press the release button to open the ball in half, place the Wii remote (even with a Wii Motion Plus adapter, if you have one) inside and close the ball. Compatible with the Once the remote is set inside, plug the three holes with your fingers, as you would a bowling ball. Lastly, make sure to wear the wrist strap securely around your wrist, lock the strap to tighten the hold, preventing the ball from accidently flying out of your hand, and you are ready to bowl virtual strikes like a Pro!

Pack Includes:
(1) Bowling ball Wii Remote container with tightening wrist strap
(6) Removable Bowling ball finger plugs

Compatbile with the following Wii games:

Wii Sports Resort
Wii Sports
Brunswick Pro Bowling
Ten Pin Alley 2
AMF Bowling: World Lanes
AMF Bowling: Pinbusters!
And any other Wii Bowling games that require the Wii Remote
Wii Motion Plus Compatible

Wii Sports Resort sells over 350,000 in four days

2009-07-14T07:15:00.000-07:00

Wii Sports Resort has sold 353,827 units in its first four days on sale in Japan. The Nintendo game, which comes bundled with the new Wii MotionPlus add-on, was released on June 25.

The sales figures, reported by Famitsu and translated by Kotaku, put the game just behind Mario Kart Wii and Super Smash Bros Brawl which shifted 608,000 and 816,000 units respectively during the same period, making it the third fastest-selling Wii game in the region.

Wii Sports Resort - Nintendo's long-expected follow-up to Wii Sports - was announced at E3 last year. It will be released in the West in late July.

Science Papa - Cooking Mama for Boys?

2009-07-14T06:49:00.000-07:00

Hey boys if your parents are concerned that you'll grow up to be a girly-man and ban you from having fun with Cooking Mama or other cooking games, then perhaps you'll like "Science Papa" which appears to have the same sort of game play as Cooking Mama but presented in a science "recipe" format. You mix up chemicals instead of ingredients.

Of course there is no reason girls won't be just as excited by this title as boys and there is no reason boys can't learn to cook. In fact it seems to me by watching House Hunters lately, young women seem to be the ones who need to learn how to cook. I can't tell you how many house hunters seem to dismiss the kitchen as not important or their boyfriends/husbands do all the cooking. If the wife doesn't cook I hope she at least brings home the bacon.

Science Papa

Wii MotionPlus Compatible Titles

2009-06-01T11:30:00.000-07:00

Wii MotionPlus
is available June 8th, 2009!

Virtua Tennis 2009
– SEGA
The world’s top tennis stars are hitting the courts again this May in SEGA’s Virtua Tennis 2009 for Wii. Now every swing is more precise and the action is more intense, thanks to the Wii MotionPlus. Other updates include brand new courts, a new roll call of tennis stars to compete against and even more court mini-games.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10
– EA Sports
From EA Sports, experience a near perfect 1:1 swing with the Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 10 bundle, featuring Wii MotionPlus. Elevate your game with an enhanced, true-to-life golf swing that features precise draw-fade capabilities and authentic sports motion.

The bundle Includes Wii MotionPlus

This game comes packed with a single Wii MotionPlus accessory. Wii MotionPlus tracks players' movements in finer detail and with greater accuracy. A simple, optional attachment to the Wii Remote controller, Wii MotionPlus builds upon the innovative wireless function of the motion-sensing Wii Remote controller. Additional Wii MotionPlus add-ons sold separately.

EA SPORTS Grand Slam Tennis
- EA Sports
Can’t get enough tennis? Excitement is in full swing with Grand Slam Tennis from EA Sports. Compatibility with the Wii MotionPlus accessory makes it possible to spin your racket and control your in-game player with superior responsiveness and control.

Wii Sports Resort
- Nintendo
Just as with Wii Sports, people will love competing against friends and family. As the competition heats up, Wii Sports Resort is as much fun to watch as it is to play. First-time players will find it easy to pick up a Wii Remote and jump into the action. A wide range of activities will keep players coming back for one more round. Some sample activities include Sword Play, Power Cruising (racing a personal watercraft ) and Disc Dog, which involves accurately tossing a disc to a cute, Mii-like dog.

Wii Will Shake Your Bootie Part I - Fitness Games

2009-06-01T11:15:00.000-07:00

The promise of the Wii gaming systems is that it will get you off the couch, Wii Fitness titles move you through fitness routines that combine instruction with a lot of fun balance, cardio and strenght games and exercises.

Here are the currently available Wii fitness workout programs:

Wii Fit

EA Sports Active

Gold's Gym Cardio Workout

My Fitness Coach

Wii Fitness Books:

Wii Fit For Dummies

Get Fit on Wii Fit

Wii Fit Tutorial - A Guide for your Wii Fit

Next up...Wii Games that get you off the couch..

Link’s Crossbow Training Unlocked

2009-05-19T10:42:00.001-07:00

Secret alternative third areas:

While playing a “Target Shooting” level, keep on the lookout for scarecrows. Once one is found, shoot the torso of the scarecrow 8 times. The head will inflate, allowing you to shoot it for 1000 points. Do this with the two scarecrows in the level (the second one will only appear if the first has already been shot), and instead of taking you to the default third area, the game will bring you to an alternative area, with more gold targets.

Great Wii Blog

2009-05-19T10:36:00.000-07:00

Looking for some indepth Wii Game news. A trip over to Wii Spin is worth the trouble:

WiiSpin

Excerpt:

"I’m sure I’ve mentioned in previous posts that E3 is just around the corner. I’m also pretty positive that we’ve discussed Madden 10 before, and that the team at EA Tiburon is completely rehashing it for the Wii. Well, IGN has posted a Pre-E3 Hands-On of the game and I’m here to summarize the bits I find the juiciest.

I know you’re all aware of the new look of the game but, I’ll review just in case. The team at EA has gone with a simpler design for the characters. Instead of a different design for every character there are 5 models used: QB, Running Back, Linebackers, Linemen, and Defensive Backs. I guess the thinking was we didn’t need a perfectly modeled Peyton or Brady, I’d assume that it also makes identifying who can do what a bit simpler. They’re also redesigning the stadiums, as well as the menus. It seems like the look has a bit of an arcade feel to it, certainly different from any other Madden we’ve seen, but it could just work. The 5-on-5 mode has also received an overhaul, making it feel a bit more like something you’d want to play. The field is still shorter but, it’s played in correct stadiums and the players don practice jerseys for the game. Included in 5-on-5 are the call your play modes for defense and offense. One of the new, and most intriguing, additions is that you can now play 5-on-5 in any mode. That’s right, you want a 5-on-5 franchise? You got it...."

Wii Wand by Nyko

2009-05-18T07:25:00.000-07:00

Ok, so you buddies come over to play Wii - who is going to get the knock off version of the remote that doesn't fit into the Mario Kart wheel?

From the manufacturer:

"Experience new levels of immersion and innovation with Nyko's Wand for Nintendo Wii. The Wand allows for complete control of all compatible Wii software and menus, and features full motion control support, vibration feedback, and built-in speaker. With the Wand in your hand, you'll have total control of all your Wii software as well as a rubberized B-Trigger, larger 1 and 2 buttons and an improved and reworked d-pad for more comfortable and accurate classic and horizontal game play.

The Wand is ergonomically crafted for both left and right handed use with a form factor designed for maximum compatibility with any and all first and third party accessories for the Nintendo Wii. In addition, the Wand helps you expand your control possibilities with Nyko's Trans-Port Technologies, exclusively developed for the Wand. Transport Technology allows specially designed attachments to pass through key buttons to the attachment, allowing for more responsive attachments that can easily integrate with your Wand controller for a variety of games, meaning more flexibility and more fun each time you fire up your Wii."

Amazing Deal on Wii Game: Samba De Amigo

2009-04-27T07:25:00.000-07:00

Only $9.97 for this fun rhythm music game from Sega.

Brand New Dual Wii Remote Control Option gives players’ untethered, maraca-shaking freedom with two remotes or the Wii Remote and Nunchuck.
Fun for Two Players in competitive or cooperative multiplayer modes, including Love Love mode where two players synch up their moves to earn points and test their compatibility.
The Samba-infused Soundtrack features over 40 upbeat, festive favorites from the original game, plus many new tunes.
Online Leaderboards and Friends Lists let players post their best scores and compare them to their friends’ scores.
Multiple Game Modes include Career, Single Player, Multiplayer, Training, and Records.

The samba-inspired rhythm music game made popular in the arcades is shaking its way onto the Wii™! Keeping the beat with over 40 songs on a Samba-inspired sound track, players shake the Wii Remote and Nunchuk like maracas, and compete with friends to see who has the best moves. Throughout the dynamic songs there will be opportunities to strike a pose for extra points. Friends and family will be thoroughly entertained cheering each other on as they anxiously await their next turn. Special Modes expand gameplay with Quick Play, Classic, Battle, Survival, Hustle, and Mini-games.

Rayman Raving Rabbids Plunger Gun

2009-04-16T05:06:00.000-07:00

Fans of the Rayman Raving Rabbids line of funny, wacked out WII's especially the rail gun parts will love this gun controller inspired by the line of games. The Plunger Gun looks just like the one in the game.

"Exterminate all who oppose you with this unique piece of weaponry; the Mad Catz Rayman Raving Rabbids Plunger Gun. Taken straight from the game and designed for your living room, the realistic spring-loaded trigger activates the Wii Remote¿s B button when squeezed, adding to the excitement and realism of blasting your way through hordes of devious Rabbids. A convenient in-handle pass-through lets you take full advantage of games which require a Nunchuk and the comfortable grip provides hours of enjoyment during extended gaming sessions."

New Nintendo Wii Menu 4.0 Adds File Loading from SD Cards

2009-03-27T05:11:00.000-07:00

Posted by 8bitjoystick at March 26, 2009 3:11 p.m:

What they basically did is add a file loader function. Loaders have been a part of computers for such a long time that most computer users have used computers their whole life and never even heard of them. The era of punch card based software development was the last time that loader programs were a big deal.

There is now a card icon on the main. You click on it and are taken to the SD Card Menu that is populated with all the channels that you have loaded on the card. This goes up to 32-gig memory cards so if the current trends continue you could fit pretty much every virtual console and Wii Ware game ever to be released for the Wii on a single card without having to manually manage the data. They also have the option to download channels directly to the SD Card from the Wii Store. There is a little wait while the data from the SD card is loaded into a cache in the Wiis internal memory but it is painless and 100% handled by the OS.

I can't over state how being able to have Wii Ware programs and Virtual Console stored on an SD-card accessible almost instantly greatly enhances the experience of owning a Wii...
Nintendo Wii Virtual Console Games Played Directly off the SD Card Finally Makes the Hurting Stop

Wii Dodgeball Tips

2009-03-25T07:53:00.001-07:00

If you have played dodgeball on Playground for the Wii you will see characters dash up for the ball. This isn’t a cheat on how to do it but just telling how to do it. We found it in the instructions 5-6 pages in. To dash or rush up to the ball press the up button (or down depending on what side you’re on) and when the counter leaves 1 push the Wii controller forward. Time it right and your person will have super speed and dash for the ball. Get it wrong and they will fall..

Another tip: to fake a throw in dodgeball hold the direction pad in any direction and do a throwing motion. Your player will act like they’re going to throw the ball. Fake your opponents out!

Nintendo Wii: Is the videogame king!

2009-03-25T07:43:00.000-07:00

The Nintendo Wii, the innovative videogame console with the motion-sensitive controller, will pass 50 million worldwide sales by the end of March, Variety reports. The Wii has reached this milestone in just 28 months -- eight months quicker than Sony's PlayStation 2 did.

Wii Fit Cheats and Tips

2009-03-13T05:48:00.000-07:00

If you cheat on the Wii Fit you are only cheating yourself! But here are some tips if you are stuck or really want to unlock something...

Ultimate Balance Test

Choose your Mii to reach the statistics screen. Notice the balance board character running on a treadmill in the background. Select him with the Wii-mote to participate in the Ultimate Balance Test.

Easy coins

Enter the "Balance Mode Games" menu, and select "Marble Drop Game". Intentionally allow time to run out to fail the first challenge. You are given one coin for every one minute of game play (win or lose), and the time used to fail Marble Drop is rounded up to a one minute value. Thus, you will get one coin for failing. Simply press A to continue and fail again for another coin.

Advanced activities

Successfully complete the indicated task to unlock the corresponding activity:

Balance Bubble: Successfully complete Balance Bubble on the Beginner setting.

Free Jogging: Successfully complete the Island Lap several times.

Free Step: Play Step Plus Aerobics several times.

Snowboarding Slalom: Accumulate two hours of total game time.

Step Plus Aerobics: Play Step Aerobics several times.

Tightrope Advanced: Successfully complete Normal Tightrope.

Tightrope Super Advanced: Successfully complete Advanced Tightrope.

Fit Money bonuses

Accumulate the indicated amount of time in your Fit Piggy to unlock the corresponding bonus:

Aerobics: Rhythm Boxing: 1 hour 40 minutes

Aerobics: Super Hula Hoop: 30 minutes

Balance: Balance Bubble: 1 hour

Balance: Penguin Slide: 1 hour 30 minutes

Balance: Snowboard Slalom: 2 hours

Balance: Tightrope Tension: 15 minutes

Balance: Zazen: 3 hours

Muscle: Arm & Leg Lift: 2 hours 40 minutes

Muscle: Parallel Stretch: 1 hour 50 minutes

Muscle: Rowing Squat, Single Leg Twist: 10 minutes

Muscle: Sideways Leg Lift: 1 hour 10 minutes

Muscle: Single Arm Stand: 3 hours 50 minutes

Muscle: Tricep Extension: 2 hours 30 minutes

Yoga: Bridge: 3 hours 40 minutes

Yoga: Chair: 2 hours 15 minutes

Yoga: Cobra: 3 hours 30 minutes

Yoga: Crocodile Twist: 4 hours

Yoga: Downward Facing Dog: 3 hours 10 minutes

Yoga: King of the Dance: 3 hours 20 minutes

Yoga: Palm Tree: 1 hour 20 minutes

Yoga: Shoulderstand: 4 hours 10 minutes

Yoga: Standing Knee: 45 minutes

Yoga: Sun Salutation: 10 minutes

Yoga: Triangle: 2 hours 50 minutes

Muscle Workout challenges

Successfully complete the indicated task to unlock the corresponding challenge:

Jackknife challenge: Get a "Four Star" rank in the 10 Second Workout and 20 Second Workout.

Parallel Stretch challenge: Get a "Four Star" rank in the 30 Second Workout and 60 Second Workout.

Pressup challenge: Get a "Four Star" rank in the 6 Reps and 10 Reps.

Stamps

Successfully complete the indicated task to unlock the corresponding stamp:

OK: Attend 2 Body Tests.

Star: Attend 5 Body Tests.

Heart: Attend 6 Body Tests.

Flower: Attend 10 Body Tests.

Smiley Face: Attend 14 Body Tests.

Mii: Attend 30 Body Tests.

Alternate Fit Piggy colors

Accumulate the indicated amount of training time to change the color of your Fit Piggy:

Bronze: 10 hours

Silver: 20 hours

Gold: 40 hours

Jogging alternate courses

There are three (and possibly more in Free Jogging) alternate courses to take in the Jogging mini-game, one for each length of course (Short, Long, and Island Lap). To access these, enter the Jogging mini-game as normal, and start jogging. When you see a single dog overtake your character, run past your guide so that the "Oh! You've passed your guide!" message appears. It will then read "Now follow the dog" and take you on an alternate course. The dogs appear as follows:

Short Course: As you run towards the single house with a Mii outside.

Long Course : Immediately at the start.

Island Lap: Immediately at the start.

The following alternate courses are on Island Lap:

Follow the yellow dog at the start. Soon a black dog will appear. This is the first new alternate course.

Follow as above, but after following the black dog for a while, a white dog will appear. This is the second new alternate course.

Follow the Mii guide at the beginning until you get to the bridge, and a brown dog will appear. This is the third new alternate course.

Follow as above, but after following the brown dog for awhile, another brown dog will appear. This is the fourth new alternate course.

Jump off mountain in Island distance running

Go to the Island distance running. When you first start running, at the first dog you see (should be a light colored dog), run past your trainer so the "Follow the dog" message appears. Keep following the dog. You will go up a mountain, across huge wooden bridges, then you will jump off the mountain.

Weighing objects

When you stand on your Balance Board immediately after choosing "Body Test" (the first time it asks, and not the time that it weighs you), hold a heavy object. The Balance Board will know that you are holding the object and actually weigh it for you.

Mario series references

When running (Free, Long, Short, and Island Jog), look around for the following icons: NES Mario, NES Luigi, NES Power Star, NES Mushroom, NES Goomba, and NES Turtle. Note: Mario is on the right of the bridge.

Real Bowling Vs. Wii Bowling - Which burns more calories?

2009-03-12T06:11:00.001-07:00

When one thinks about high intensity, aerobic workouts, bowling is probably the last sport that comes to mind. In fact bowling, bocce, darts and lawn darts probably all have the same image of a relaxing activity that one can do while holding a beer in one hand. Burning calories in not exactly the objective. So to is the image of video gaming - its typically considered a "sport" for the couch potato set.

So when the Wii comes along and promises some off the couch activity how exactly can real bowling and video bowling be compared? Surprisingly the two have very much in common in the calorie burning department which it turns out is nothing to brag about.

According to a recent experiment video bowling almost matches its real time counter part with around 208 calories burned in an hour of Wii bowling and 219 calories at the bowling alley. Compare this to 125 calories in 15 minutes of Wii Boxing
and 92 calories in 15 minutes of Wii Tennis.

Also consider that people burn around 60 calories per hour resting and 100 calories per hour typing. Well it certainly is better than sitting watching TV but not a whole lot!

-- E.M.F.

Using the Wii to help burn victims

2009-03-12T05:59:00.001-07:00

Rehabilitation therapists from the William Randolph Hearst Burn Center at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center are using the motion-sensitive Nintendo Wii video game console, along with traditional methods, to help patients recover from life-changing injuries.

Patients hold wireless remotes that control actions on screen. Players swing the controller to simulate realistic motions, like swinging a tennis racquet, swatting a baseball for a homerun, among countless other motions. For burn patients or any patient with a skin graft, moving and stretching the skin is very painful, but imperative for a successful recovery.

The Burn Center is also employing a special add-on to the Nintendo Wii system, Guitar Hero III. The controller for the game resembles a miniature guitar. Patients strum a bar on the guitar's body and press color-coded buttons that resemble notes. Therapists hope that Guitar Hero will help patients with burns on their hands, arms and shoulders to regain fine-motor control.

Mario Power Tennis with New Play Control

2009-03-12T05:48:00.000-07:00

For less than $30 you can get the new Mario Power Tennis Wii game. The classic Nintendo Gamecube game comes to the Wii with new remote control.

Mario Power Tennis combines the crazy Mario universe you know and love with the new capabilities of the Wii. Use your Wii Remote to hit forehands and backhands and to apply spin, or exert even more precision on every hit by using your Nunchuk controller. Play as one of 15 fun characters, including Luigi, Princess Peach, Daisy, Yoshi or Mario himself, and make use of each character's distinctive Power Shot to fend off opponents. Show off your own unique talents in traditional tennis tournaments, or head to the Gimmick Courts, where you'll encounter a variety of crazy challenges and hilarious mini games.

Unfortunately this is not a total remake for the Wii but pretty much a port of the old Gamecube game to Wii.

Wii Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop Review

2009-03-11T04:54:00.000-07:00

The Wii version of Dead Rising has taken some hits in the graphics department since the Wii isn't as powerful as the XBox 360 but the game is still a blast.

If there ever was a story put on film that naturally translates into and action video game it's George A. Romero's 1978 "Dawn of the Dead". The movie is a sequel to the zombie classic "Night of the Living Dead" (1968).

In the movie a group of four people take up residence in a deserted mall while trying to stay alive amidst the armies of the dead and a vicious gang of militant bikers.

We follow the four survivors of the expanding zombie apocalypse as they take refuge in an abandoned shopping mall following a horrific SWAT evacuation of an apartment complex. Taking stock of their surroundings, they arm themselves, lock down the mall, and destroy the zombies inside so they can eke out a living--at least for a while.

In the video game "Dead Rising" you play the part of Frank West, an overly zealous freelance journalist on a hunt for the scoop of a lifetime. In pursuit of a juicy lead, he makes his way to the small suburban town of Willamette only to find that it has become overrun by zombies. Frank escapes to the local shopping mall, thinking it will be a bastion of safety but it turns out to be anything but. It will be a true struggle to survive the endless stream of enemies, but players will have full reign of a realistic shopping center and its varied stores offering an endless supply of real and makeshift weapons to fight off the flesh-hungry mob. If Frank is running low on health he can pay a visit to one of the many restaurants or cafes for a meal in order to restore his energy and continue the fight. It's a brutal fight, but with no end in sight to this zombie onslaught, Frank bides his time by messing around with a variety of comedic costumes and making use of improvised and sometimes highly ineffective weapons such as a toy sword or a football. Grab environmental objects like umbrellas and benches to use as improvised weapons Snatch items from different stores to use as weapons including golf clubs, lawnmowers, frying pans and more Consume food and drink to revive health.

Although the Wii version supports a lower onscreen zombie body (about 60 instead of 100 at a time) the Wii version actually fixes a number of problems that occured in the Xbox 360 version.

The Wii version has up to 20 save slots while the XBox 360 only had one and the in-game events are more forgiving. You can be in the general area at the approximate right time and not miss them.

But if you don't have and XBox 360 who cares about comparing anyway right? Bottom line is this is a fun action game thats a far cry from the cutie pie games the Wii is sometimes associated with. For those who are looking for a more "adult" horror experience this is it.

Must Have Wii Games for 2009

2009-03-10T17:08:00.000-07:00

What's on your list?

Wii Boxing Gloves

2009-03-10T16:24:00.000-07:00

Love boxing with your Wii? Like working out with boxing in Wii Fit? You might like these Wii boxing gloves from EZGear.

The ezGear for Wii Boxing Glove is the perfect companion to Wii Sports Boxing. Wear these gloves and you'll feel like you are right in the ring. The ezGear for Wii Boxing Glove is constructed of leather and specialized foam to simulate a real boxing glove. Elastic and Velcro straps keep the glove in place. The glove can be used two ways with the Wii System. Palm ¿ Put the gloves on and hold the Wii Remote Control and Numchuk in the palm of your hand Back of Glove ¿ Simply put the remote and numchuk into the pocket on the back of each glove, place the gloves on each hand and enjoy. For the lighter feel of a sparing glove, try the ezGear for Wii Lite Boxing Glove. The ezGear for Wii Boxing Gloves. Boxing made ez.

Mario Kart Wii: Tricks and Shortcuts

2009-03-05T06:38:00.000-08:00

Unlockable: Staff Credits for Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz

2009-03-05T06:37:00.000-08:00

Complete World 1, Monkey Island, to unlock the staff credits. They will appear on the options menu.

Unlockable: Hidden Worlds for Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz

2009-03-05T06:36:00.000-08:00

You can unlock World 9 by completing Worlds 1 through 8 without using continues. After unlocking World 9, complete World 9 without continuing to unlock World 10.

Unlock new Venues in Wii Music

2009-03-05T06:35:00.000-08:00

Unlockable: Venues

To unlock the Truck, Space, Music Room and Apartment levels, clear all rock lessons and minigames successfully.

Unlock some Jam Session Costumes in Wii Music

2009-03-05T06:34:00.004-08:00

Unlockable: Jam Session Costumes

At the "Start Playing?" screen, press the button combination listed below on the Wii Remote (not the Nunchuk) for the desired outfit:

* Hold Right and press Start - Wii Music T-shirt
* Hold B + Down and press Start - Karate outfit
* Hold Left and press Start - Cat outfit
* Hold B + Left and press Start - Cheerleader outfit
* Hold B + Right and press Start - DJ outfit
* Hold Down and press Start - Dog outfit
* Hold B + Up and press Start - Hip hop outfit
* Hold Up and press Start - Tuxedo

Unlock more instruments in Wii Music

2009-03-05T06:34:00.003-08:00

Newbies to Wii Music might not understand that you can unlock a lot of new stuff!

Unlockable: Instruments

To unlock the desired instrument, complete the requirements below:

* Accordion - Finish the Rock Jam Mastery Lesson
* Add/ Remove Parts (Instruments) from songs in Jam Mode. - Finish the Pop Jam Mastery Lesson.
* Bagpipe - Finish the Rock Jam Mastery Lesson
* Balled Drums - Finish the first Expand Your Style Lesson
* Beachside Drive Level - Finish the Rock Jam Mastery Lesson
* Beatboxer - Finish the first Expand Your Style Lesson
* Black Belt - Finish the first Expand Your Style Lesson
* Cat Suit - Create 1 music video.
* Cello - Finish the Rock Jam Mastery Lesson
* Cheerleader - Create 1 music video.
* Clarinet - Finish the first Expand Your Style Lesson
* Cowbell - Finish the Rock Jam Mastery Lesson
* Cuica - Finish the first Expand Your Style Lesson
* DJ Turntables - Finish the Rock Jam Mastery Lesson
* Djembe Drum - Finish the Rock Jam Mastery Lesson
* Dulcimer - Finish the first Expand Your Style Lesson
* Flute - Finish the Rock Jam Mastery Lesson
* Galactic Bass - Finish the Rock Jam Mastery Lesson
* Galactic Congas - Finish the first Expand Your Style Lesson
* Galactic Guitar - Finish the Rock Jam Mastery Lesson
* Galactic Piano - Finish the Rock Jam Mastery Lesson
* Galactic Voyage Stage - Finish the first Expand Your Style Lesson
* Guiro - Finish the first Expand Your Style Lesson
* Hand Clap - Create 1 music video.
* Harmonica - Finish the Rock Jam Mastery Lesson
* Harmony High-Rise Level - Finish the Rock Jam Mastery Lesson
* Harp - Play through The Legend of Zelda in Mii Maestro
* Harpsichord - Finish the Rock Jam Mastery Lesson
* Jaw Harp - Finish the first Expand Your Style Lesson
* Latin Drums - Finish the Rock Jam Mastery Lesson
* Lessons Section - Make 3 music videos in Custom Jam
* Music Room in Jam Mode - Beat the eighth level of the Pitch Perfect mini game.
* NES Horn - Beat first four levels of Pitch Perfect.
* Rapper - Finish the first Expand Your Style Lesson
* Recorder - Create 1 music video.
* Reggae Drums - Finish the Rock Jam Mastery Lesson
* Shamisan - Finish the Rock Jam Mastery Lesson
* Singer - Finish the Rock Jam Mastery Lesson
* Sitar - Create 1 music video.
* Stylize your Instruments in Custom Jam mode - Finish the Rock Jam Mastery Lesson
* Super Mario Bros. Theme - Beat first four levels of Pitch Perfect.
* Taiko Drum - Finish the Rock Jam Mastery Lesson
* Timbales - Finish the Rock Jam Mastery Lesson
* Timpani - Finish the first Expand Your Style Lesson
* Toy Piano - Create 1 music video.
* Whistle - Finish the first Expand Your Style Lesson

Unlock more songs in Wii Music

2009-03-05T06:32:00.000-08:00

To unlock the desired song, complete the requirements below:

* A Little Night Music - Finish the first Expand Your Style Lesson
* American Patrol - Finish the Rock Jam Mastery Lesson
* Animal Crossing - K.K. Blues - Finish the first Expand Your Style Lesson
* Animal Crossing - Finish the first Expand Your Style Lesson
* Bridal Chorus - Finish the Rock Jam Mastery Lesson
* Carmen - Play Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star in Mii Maestro
* Chariots of Fire - Finish the first Expand Your Style Lesson
* Do-Re-Mi (in Handbell Harmony) - Play My Grandfather's Clock in Handbell Harmony
* Every Breath You Take - Finish the first Expand Your Style Lesson
* Expand Your Style Lessons - Make 6 videos in Custom Jam Mode
* F-Zero - Mute City Theme - Finish the Rock Jam Mastery Lesson
* Fra, Santurtzi to Bilbao - Finish the first Expand Your Style Lesson
* Frere Jacques - Finish the Rock Jam Mastery Lesson
* From the New World - Finish the Rock Jam Mastery Lesson
* Happy Birthday to You - Finish the first Expand Your Style Lesson
* Hum, Hum, Hum (in Handbell Harmony) - Finish O Christmas Tree in Handbell Harmony
* I'll Be There - Finish the first Expand Your Style Lesson
* I've Never Been to Me - Finish the first Expand Your Style Lesson
* Jingle Bell Rock - Finish the Rock Jam Mastery Lesson
* La Bamba - Finish the Rock Jam Mastery Lesson
* La Cucaracha - Finish the first Expand Your Style Lesson
* Little Hans - Finish the Rock Jam Mastery Lesson
* Long, Long Ago - Finish the Rock Jam Mastery Lesson
* Material Girl - Finish the first Expand Your Style Lesson
* Minuet in G Major - Finish the first Expand Your Style Lesson
* My Grandfather's Clock (in Handbell Harmony) - Finish Hum, Hum, Hum in Handbell Harmony
* Ode to Joy - Play through The Four Seasons - Spring in Mii Maestro
* Ode to Joy - Finish the Rock Jam Mastery Lesson
* Oh, My Darling Clementine - Finish the first Expand Your Style Lesson
* Over the Waves - Finish the first Expand Your Style Lesson
* Please Mr. Postman - Finish the first Expand Your Style Lesson
* Sakura Sakura - Finish the Rock Jam Mastery Lesson
* Scarborough Fair - Finish the first Expand Your Style Lesson
* September - Finish the first Expand Your Style Lesson
* Sukiyaki - Finish the Rock Jam Mastery Lesson
* Sukiyaki (in Handbell Harmony) - Finish Do-Re-Mi in Handbell Harmony.
* Sur le pont d'Avignon - Finish the Rock Jam Mastery Lesson
* Swan Lake - Finish the Rock Jam Mastery Lesson
* The Blue Danube - Finish the first Expand Your Style Lesson
* The Entertainer - Finish the first Expand Your Style Lesson
* The Four Seasons - Spring - Play through Carmen in Mii Maestro
* The Legend of Zelda - Play through Ode to Joy in Mii Maestro
* The Legend of Zelda theme - Play through The Legend of Zelda in Mii Maestro
* The Loco-Motion - Finish the first Expand Your Style Lesson
* Troika - Finish the first Expand Your Style Lesson
* Turkey in the Straw - Finish the Rock Jam Mastery Lesson
* Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go - Finish the first Expand Your Style Lesson
* Wii Music - Finish the first Expand Your Style Lesson
* Wii Sports - Finish the first Expand Your Style Lesson
* Woman - Finish the first Expand Your Style Lesson
* Yankee Doodle - Finish the first Expand Your Style Lesson

Wii Bowling Tips

2009-03-05T06:29:00.000-08:00

Who would have thought that bowling would be such a fun game to play on a console. Everybody that has played it on my Wii has become instantly hooked. Here are a couple of tips:

To Change the bowling ball color: When the screen fades to black after selecting bowling, press and hold the control pad in a set direction until the screen fades into the game. The ball colors are as follows:

Red Ball: Press and hold left on control pad
Gold Ball: Press and hold right on control pad
Green Ball: Press and hold down on control pad
Blue Ball: Press and hold up on the control pad

To bowl the ball straight down the lane: release the ball high so it drops on the lane before rolling, making sure to not rotate your Wiimote. (I learned this from my kids who bowl like this in a real bowling alley, I’m glad bowling balls don’t bounce!)

Wii Fit Tips

2009-03-05T06:24:00.001-08:00

Tip 1: Be Accurate.

You may have heard of children being upset when mistakenly called overweight by Wii-Fit. You may have seen the investigative TV spots taking Wii-Fit to people’s houses and proving the balance board giving inaccurate weight. This is a problem because if Wii-Fit cannot weigh you correctly then how can you trust and be motivated by the graphs it shows you? Without motivation you will give up.

Take a look at all the images Nintendo have used to advertise Wii-Fit. Notice how all the pictures have Wii-Fit on hard, flat wooden floors? Chances are you are using your Wii-Fit next to the TV on the carpet. Carpet is a poor surface for scales and also for Wii-Fit, and will give an inaccurate reading. To be accurate about all this you need to weigh in regularly on a hard surface, and do it first thing in the morning.

Tip 2: Be Prepared

The sporadic, almost chaotic, use of Wii-Fit in the first few days quickly gives way to avoidance. Instead of turning on the Wii, you are turning on the TV. Instead of working out you are playing Mario Kart. This is a problem, because if you have to make a conscious effort to use Wii-Fit, you will never get enough ‘board time’ to see any physical benefits, and you will give up.

So start with a plan. Decide when you can use Wii-Fit as part of your daily routine. It may be half an hour before you go to work or an hour when you get home. As exercise will raise your metabolism, try to fit it in just before you eat so less of the food will end up as flab. Also, if you use the Wii with games, make a point to always put the Wii-Fit disc back in when you finish. In fact, throw away the case so the only home for it is in the Wii. Turning the console on to be greeted with a far more enjoyable game will lead you to ‘just one quick game’ and soon Wii-Fit will be forgotten!

Tip 3: Get Real

Did you decide to buy Wii-Fit from reading in depth interviews with the designer, or paying careful attention to the Nintendo advertisements? Chances are you decided to buy Wii-Fit because of news articles. These articles have a wow factor of ‘video game fitness’ to get noticed, and very rarely carry Nintendo’s advice. This is a problem, because you are probably under the impression that an hour on Wii-Fit once a week will turn you into a Greek God or Goddess in a month, when you don’t get there you’ll give up.

The game designer says that Wii-Fit will not make you fit, but it will make you aware of your body and adverts carry advice on healthy eating. To get Wii-Fit to work as a fitness and weight loss tool you have to follow this advice. Keep a count of the calories you eat, your doctor, a dietician or a personal trainer can help you work out how much this should be. Take the healthy option with all your activities, for example use the stairs instead of an elevator, or wash the car by hand instead of in an automatic car wash.

Tip 4: Get Ready

Wii-Sports has a big problem that Wii-Fit shares, but also provides the same solution. If you go from cold to Wii-Boxing in ten seconds flat, you will suffer strains and muscle pulls. This is a problem because nothing stops even the most determined in their tracks like a good old fashioned injury. Unable to play, you may give up.

You may love heading the ball or hula hoops to break a sweat, but get your body ready for this workout. Do some warming up with gentle stretches, of even better use Wii-Fit to do this for you. Yoga is a very good warm up, so press the button!

Tip 5: Go For It!

You may find that your weight is not dropping off as quickly as you would like. Be aware that the expectation of what you can lose is driven by terribly unethical adverts for pills and diets that often dehydrate you to show a weight loss. The problem is that Wii-Fit does a poor job of measuring fitness. Your Wii age, will bounce around with little regard to your actual fitness. Without being able to see any visible progress, you will give up.

Wii Sports Tips

2009-03-05T06:23:00.001-08:00

This tips and tricks come from our own observations or items we have found on the 'net. So check them out and let us know via our Forums new ones you have discovered or if you know any we missed:

Bowling

* If you position yourself far enough to the left and aim towards the opponents lane, you can knock down their pins. If you hit any of their pins it counts toward your score!

* The bowling ball seems to go much straighter if you release it high in the air.

* Change bowling ball color: As The screen is fading to black for bowling, hold down the control pad until it fades to bowling for these colors:

Code Effect
Control Pad Up Blue Ball
Control Pad Right Gold Ball
Control Pad Down Green Ball
Control Pad Left Red Ball

* Scare the crowds while bowling: Start the regular motion for bowling and let go on the back swing. The ball will fly backwards and the crowd will scream and jump.

* Get a Strike on the 91 Pin lane: In training mode you can get a strike on the 91 pin lane by rolling the ball along either the left or right rail all the way to the end. This will trigger an explosion and all the pins will fall down adding 182 (91 * 2) to your score.

Boxing

Here is a list of control motions for Wii Boxing (from GameSpot Forums posting):

High Guard: Hold Wiimote and Nunchuck vertically, then tilt both controllers inward toward your body to cover face.

Mid Guard: Hold Wiimote and Nunchuck parallel to ground, then tilt both controllers inward if still not covering center of body.

Left Dodge: Hold Wiimote and Nunchuck vertically, then tilt both controllers to your left.

Right Dodge: Hold Wiimote and Nunchuck vertically, then tilt both controllers to your right.

Right High Jab: Hold Wiimote vertically, with controls facing yourself, and jerk it forward with the wrist. Helps to keep arm stationary, and just let the Wiimote fall forward.

Right Mid Jab: Hold Wiimote parallel to ground, and jerk downward. Again, keep arm stationary and just push Wiimote downward with wrist.

Right High Hook: Hold Wiimote vertically, with controls facing yourself, and rotate it quickly to the left, as in this (please forgive my ASCII art):

BEFORE:
____
| D |
| A |
| 1 |
| 2 |

AFTER:
___________
|D A 1 2|

Right Uppercut: Hold Wiimote parallel to ground, and then jerk upward. It's the exact opposite movement from the Right Mid Jab.

Right Low Hook: Hold Wiimote parallel to ground, but turn it 90 degrees COUNTER-CLOCKWISE so that the face of the Wiimote is looking out to your left, then jerk it in the direction of the face of the controller. It's exactly like the right uppercut, except the entire motion is rotated to the left 90 degrees.

Left High Jab: Hold Nunchuck up vertically so that the analog stick is facing you, and then jerk it forward. Just like Right High Jab.

Left Mid Jab: Hold Nunchuck parallel to ground, and jerk it downward. Just like the Right Mid Jab.

Left Uppercut: Hold Nunchuck parallel to ground, and jerk it upward. Just like Right Uppercut

Left Hook: Hold Nunchuck parallel to ground, but turn it 90 degrees CLOCKWISE so that the face of the controller is looking out to your right, then jerk it in direction of the face of controller. Basically just like the Right Mid Hook.

* Turn your Boxing Gloves Silver: After you've beaten the Grand Champion, Matt, in a boxing match you'll be able to wear silver boxing gloves. To do so, hold (1) when the screen becomes black before a boxing match.

Golf

* Put better: Press (1) on the controller to see the break of the green and use this to line up your putt. You can also press (2) to get a lower, closer view of the green.

* Play Golf without maps or meters: To disable the power meter, map, and the wind speed indicator, press and hold (2), then make a selection at the "Select a Course" screen.

Baseball

* Pitch Underhand: While pitching, press 2 before throwing. To return to normal pitching press 1

Tennis

* Change the tennis court: To change the tennis court to the blue practice court, press and hold (2) at the warning screen that shows after selecting characters.

* Play Ping-Pong Tennis: You can place yourself on both sides of the net in a single player game and play against yourself, which is quite challenging. In addition, if you're really masochistic, you can do a 4 player doubles with only you involved.

16 Wii Tips

2009-03-05T06:21:00.001-08:00

1. In the Photo Channel, you can catch the evil cat that runs across the screen to get tips! It appears in the Fun option, and you can grab the cat with the A and B button.

2. You can have a 194 piece puzzle by holding down the 1 button before selecting any piece amount.

3. If you donâ€™t have an SD card and still want to check out Photo Channel, you can e-mail a .jpg to your Wii Message Board. There is a size limit for any mail you send to it - possibly 1MB.

4. In bowling, you can throw your ball into other peopleâ€™s lanes.

5. If you put MP3s in your SD card along with your photos, you can change the background music during a slideshow to one of your MP3s.

6. When the message board records your play time, if you donâ€™t exit to the Wii Menu before you power off the machine, it records the play time as â€œotherâ€. If you properly exit to the menu and then shut off it will record it as the correct game.

7. You can rearrange almost anything on the Wiiâ€¦ like the channels and messages by just holding the A and B.

8. The plasma burnin reduction kicks in the second the Wiimote shuts down.

9. When you get an e-mail, not only does the disc drive light up and pulsate blue, but your Wiimote sends out a little chirp.

10. When youâ€™re in the Mii channel and you donâ€™t use the Wiimote for a little bit and your Miiâ€™s start walking around, if you then suddenly use the Wiimote, all the Mii stop and follow the â€˜handâ€™ for about 3 secondsâ€¦

11. When typing messages, and you need to go back and edit the message (while still typing) instead of deleting letters, just point to where you want to edit to move the type cursor.

12. In Wii Sports bowling, when you press up on the Directional Pad, it will zoom in on the lane. The zoom in sound is the exact same sound from Super Mario 64 anytime you moved the camera.

13. Co-op Jigsaw puzzles in Wii photos.

14. You can place the sensor bar upside down and it doesnâ€™t reverse the directions of your movementsâ€¦

15. In Wii Sports bowling, you can release on the back swing and throw the ball backwards. It scares all the Miis behind you.

16. Classic controller has analog shoulder buttons. With the GameCube â€œclickâ€ at the bottom.

Wii Console Tips

2009-03-05T06:19:00.000-08:00

We listed the top 10 Wii facts, then the top 12 other Wii facts, continued with 16 secret Wii facts. All facts you might not have known, so it’s only fitting we continue this trend with 21 very handy tips and tricks for Nintendo’s Wii.

Console related:

1. Press the home button on the main menu. Next, click on the controller image. You can adjust the Wii-mote volume and rumble functions.

2. Hold A and B down and you can move the windows on the main menu around.

3. Want your plain-looking Wii to have some style? Add a blue light around you CD drive anytime the console is on by doing the following:

Go to your email from the home menu, and add your personal computer email address to your address book. Wait ~1 hour for the email (mine took at least this long) Reply to the email from your computer. In a few minutes, you will have an email waiting for you on your Wii. Don’t read it! As long as it remains new, you have a pretty blue light!

4. While your Wii is powered down you can press any button on your Wiimote and lights will flash. The number of lights flashing is the amount of charge left in your battery (1 is least charge, 4 is most charge).

5. Email A Wii: You can email any Wii that you know the Friend code for. The Email address will be w(Wii Number here)@wii.com. For Example: w123456789012@wii.com.

6. In order to add someone to your friend’s list you BOTH have to enter each other’s Number ID and Console Nickname to be able to send messages and Mii’s.

7. When looking at your messages press A and B and you can move the messages around. If you have a lot of messages like me then you can arrange them in this manner or you can just delete them.

8. Extra Parts: There are two parts to the Wii in your box that you may either not find, or never know what they are. The first is a Clear Disc piece. This piece fits under your Wii stand to stabilize its balance. The second is a Small (1″ - 1.5″) plastic Piece. This piece is the stand for the Sensor bar. It puts some distance between your TV and the bar. In theory, that should give you a better angle reception.

9. Get Miis in your parade: Setting your Miis to Mingle and having your friends do the same thing will soon have Miis walking around in your parade. Your friends’ Miis will wonder over to your console and parade around, so long as they are set to Mingle. You can then grab them and send them to your Plaza so you have a copy.

10. In the Wii menus, turn your wrist and the hand cursor will also turn.

11. When you purchase a virtual console title and Mario runs across the screen, if you happen to get Fire Flower Mario, you can shoot fireballs with the A button.

12. If you go to the Channel section in your menu you can choose to save Virtual Console games on a SD card.

13. Wii Video 9 is a free video conversion application developed by Red Kawa. It allows you to convert your computer video files (like avi, divx, mpeg, etc.) into the specific video formats that are playable on the Wii.

Wii Video 9 can also be combined with Videora, another software application, and together they can let you automatically download and convert video for your Wii using BitTorrent and RSS technology.

Game related:

14. Get rid of Generic Teammates/Spectators: The Wii will automatically use the other Miis in your Plaza as teammates and spectators in certain Wii sports games. Create friends and family, and you can get rid of the generic Miis.

15. In Wii Sports Bowling, when you press up on the Directional Pad, it will zoom in on the lane. The zoom in sound is the exact same sound from Super Mario 64 anytime you moved the camera.

16. On hole 3 of Wii Sports Golf, there is a small section of fairway at about a 45 degree angle to the left from the tee box. It is a small patch surrounded by Out Of Bound-ness. If you can land your ball on there, you can easily make it on the green in 2, to Eagle the course.

17. In Zelda if you keep the game at the start screen for an extended period of time, it plays an extremely extended trailer that they didn’t show to the general public which is pretty cool.

18. In Zelda, the direction Link spins when doing a spin attack depends on which way you spin your nunchuck controller attachment.

19. You can skip cut-scenes in Zelda by hitting the - button.

Other topics:

20. Register and Extend Warranty: Register your Console on Nintendo.com, get a free 90 day extension to your warranty.

21. Get Free Nintendo Power: Register 3 Nintendo products on Nintendo.com, and get 3 months of Nintendo Power free.

Top 10 Wii Zapper Compatible Games To Date

2009-03-04T06:08:00.000-08:00

4 Wii Zapper Games

2009-03-04T06:02:00.001-08:00

Most Amazing Wii Peripherals That You've Never Seen

2009-03-03T08:59:00.000-08:00

Nintendo Patent Application for a Wii Bike Controller and a Wii Skateboard. Maybe fitness centers will get some stationary bikes that work with Wii Fit type games?

Wii Classic Controller Pro

2009-03-03T07:35:00.000-08:00

A new advanced version of the Wii Classic Controller is on the horizon.

Currently the following "Classic" controllers are available:

Wii-itus? Docs advise stretching exercises before play.

2009-03-03T07:30:00.000-08:00

According to the U.K.'s sensational The Sun newspaper:

TEN people a week in Britain are hospitalised from playing Wii games.

The growing toll has prompted NHS doctors to warn of the dangers.

Wii-itis sufferers usually have excruciating pain in the right shoulder or knee.

Wii-itis ... games can cause injury

A rheumatology consultant said: Most are admitted after playing the tennis and running games which involve sudden movements and violent tendon stretching.

Dr Dev Mukerjee, of Broomfield Hospital, Chelmsford, Essex, said: �There has been a 100 per cent increase in patients complaining of Wii-itis.

I’ve seen many patients aged between eight and 13 — and I’ve seen adults.

It’s possible that Wii-itus may lead to rheumatism and arthritis in later life. Patients often have inflammation of the shoulder or wrist.

Others have a ligament injury dubbed Wii-knee which some have blamed on the popular Wii-Fit game.

Dr Mukerjee said: People who are double-jointed are most likely to suffer from Wii-knee — and in extreme cases the knee cap can be dislocated or can even pop out.

Treatment includes cortisone injections and anti-inflammatory painkillers. Recovery takes up to three months.

Docs advise stretching exercises before play.

Best Selling Wii Games

2009-03-03T05:40:00.000-08:00

The top 10 selling Wii games.

* Wii Sports (40.5 million)
* Wii Play (20.91 million)
* Wii Fit (14.01 million)
* Mario Kart Wii (13.67 million)
* Super Smash Bros. Brawl (8.1 million)
* Super Mario Galaxy (7.66 million)
* Mario Party 8 (6.28 million)
* The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (4.52 million)
* Link's Crossbow Training (3.44 million)
* Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (3.4 million)

Total Wii games sold as of December 31, 2008: 312.22 million.

Total Virtual Console games sold as of December 31, 2007: over 10 million

Wii Appears in Libraries

2009-03-02T09:15:00.001-08:00

A new trend is hitting libraries across Southern New Hampshire — Nintendo Wii. But while some libraries embrace the opportunity to entice young adults to their facilities, others hesitate to enter the world of video games.

For many libraries, including Sandown Public Library, incorporating Wii events into the library program is a simple matter of getting people there.

Story hour coordinator Judy LaPorte said the game console, which was purchased last spring, has been a hit for both the library and its patrons.

"It's really about getting people in to use the library so they can see what else we offer," LaPorte said. "Honestly, not a lot of middle school kids go to the library. But they do come to our Wii events and then they see other services we have that they didn't know about."

Three-year-old Nicholas Katsoulis discovered puzzles, "Thomas the Tank Engine" books, even a train-shaped cake pan to borrow when he went to Sandown's Wii bowling event with his mother and sister last week,

"A lot of times people associate a book with something they listened to on 'Guitar Hero' or sports they played on Wii sports," LaPorte said. "We suggest related reading with all our Wii events."

For Kathy Watson, teen librarian at Kimball Library in Atkinson, Wii is more about bringing patrons to one another's company than about bringing them to the library.

"Libraries are more of a community place now than they used to be," she said. "With the economy the way it is and the events being free, it's a good opportunity for people to get together."

Other library staffers are leery of the doors they may be opening by inviting Wii into their facility.

"We really don't promote (video games) to the same extent as other libraries," Nesmith Library director Carl Heidenblad said. "We're trying to do activities that are more group focused, like reading and crafts. More traditional programs have been working well for us."

But other library directors, even those who have yet to purchase or borrow a Wii console, consider it much more interactive and group oriented than other video games.

"We don't have Wii yet, but we'd really love to," Pelham Public Library director Sue Hoadley said. "It's educational; it makes them think. But even if it didn't, I don't think doing things for entertainment's sake is outlandish. I don't see a difference between Wii games and showing a movie."

Although Hampstead Public Library and Kimball Library separate their Wii events into age groups with different days for adults and teens, many libraries are intrigued by the game's appeal for all ages.

"I find that it crosses generations," Kelley Library assistant director Andy Richmond said. "You could have seniors involved at the same time as teens. It brings people together."

For many libraries, not having the game is simply a matter of cost or space.

"We don't have the technology now, but there was a strong showing in a recent teen services survey that people are interested," Richmond said. "And we do have a teen population that needs to be served.

"I think the game has a lot to offer for reflexes and brain acuity. Maybe if someone who owns a Wii console wants to bring it here, we could provide the space and hold some sort of tournament," he said. "Right now for us, as with other facilities, it's really just a question of funds."

Best Wii Games Under $20

2009-02-27T06:01:00.000-08:00

Bargain Wii games that are actually good.

If you're new to the Wii you might be in for some sticker shock when it comes to game prices. For some of the best newer titles like Wii Mario Kart expect to pay over $50 with most of the newer games with the best pedigree like Wii Super Mario Galaxy and Wii Music selling for $50 or slightly less.

But there are some bargains out there. The trick is not buy the "shovelware" games that producers dump on the market trying to make a quick buck. These are older, poorly conceived games quickly ported over the Wii just to try to grab your hard earned dollars.

The following games can all be found for under $20 are excellent values.

Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga

Building on the success of both Lego Star Wars videogames, Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga enables families to play through the events of all six Star Wars movies in one videogame for the first time ever. Developer Traveller's Tales has brought the action to the Nintendo Wii, with motion-sensitive inputs that give you exciting new ways to control your Lego Star Wars characters, while also adding new characters, new levels and new features. The upgraded Character Customizer includes all Prequel Trilogy characters for the first time, while also expanding its customization options well beyond those in Lego Star Wars II, for millions more possibilities. Create cross-Trilogy mash-up characters like Han Windu and Lando Amidala. New game features include enhanced Force powers, new power-ups, and a new Challenge Mode. Levels from the original Lego Star Wars are revamped to meet the gameplay evolutions of Lego Star Wars II. ESRB Rated E10 for gamers aged 10 and up.

My son got this game for Christmas and has played it more then any other Wii game. I'm constantly astounded by the incredible value this game has for under $20. My son has played it with me all the way through and then goes back and plays it again with different friends and using different characters to unlock all of the hidden secrets. It has to be one of the best Wii games ever especially one of the best under $20 games. Why so cheap? Well because its been out for few years and it makes a great selling point for other games in the series like Lego Indy Jones and Lego Batman.

Zack & Wiki Quest for Barbaros’ Treasure

This is a great game that has been flying under the radar since its introduction in 2007. For some reason this excellent puzzle adventure game failed to catch on and thus it has falling in price to the sub-$20 level if you can find it.

As a little pirate with big dreams, Zach doesn't just have his sights set on mere treasure or spectacularly speedy pirate ships - he wants to be the greatest pirate who ever lived! To reach that lofty goal, he is going to have to outwit, outsmart and outduel every obstacle that gets in his way. It's a good thing he's found his new enchanted pal, Wiki, a magical hand bell with the power to transform any object into something practical. Get ready to explore seven vibrant and fantastic lands, from lush jungles and frigid ice temples to colossal castles and floating airships. Each level contains multiple sub-levels of peril, puzzles and plunder. Play alone or as a group to work through each increasingly complex puzzle. Use the Wii Remote to navigate, open objects, transform items and unlock new pathways with a whole new variety of methods. Even boss battles are puzzle-based, so you'll need to think on your feet! ESRB Rated E for Everyone.

Zack & Wiki is basically a single player game but the developers have included a clever way for the whole family to join in. More passive players can use their remotes to draw on the screen and point at things for the main player to investigate.

Rayman Raving Rabbids

You'd be hard-pressed to find a game with as much character as Rayman Raving Rabbids. From the creative minigames to the quirks of the bunnies, this game packs an immense amount of entertainment on one disc. It's rare in games that failing during a competition can bring you as much joy as actually succeeding, but Rayman Raving Rabbids does an admirable job of rewarding your failure with a large dose of comic screams, flying plungers and crossed eyes.

Of course, the point is to succeed and not let the bunnies laugh at your failure. Rayman Raving Rabbids may have a lot of style but it has very little plot. Each level consists of four minigame challenges and one "boss battle," so to speak. If you complete at least three of the minigames, the main gate opens, allowing you to take on a greater challenge. Once you play a minigame in the Story Mode, you unlock that minigame and can play it at any time and against friends.

Wii Zapper with Link's Crossbow Training

Here is a great deal! You get a Wii peripheral and a fun game to boot for less than $20!

The Wii Zapper is a gun peripheral that allows the user to insert a Wii Remote and Nunchuk, both sold separately, into either end and play a compatible game. The control stick on the Nunchuk controls player movement (on stages that allow player movement), while aiming the Wii Zapper moves the targeting reticule on the screen. The Zapper comes with Link's Crossbow Training, which helps to familiarize the player with the Zapper in a shooting gallery style game. Link's Crossbow Training contains three game styles: target shooting, defender and ranger.

No More Heroes

You are Travis Touchdown, a normal guy (with an otaku geek streak) who wins a Beam Katana through an online auction and uses the weapon to start a new career as a professional killer. One day, an assassin named Helter Skelter appears before Travis and the two face off in a battle. Travis emerges victorious and finds himself in the presence of Silvia Christel, a mysterious French woman who claims to be an agent with the UAA. Silvia gives Travis official rank of 11 in the organization. Now, it's up to you to become #1. No More Heroes takes place in the city of Santa Destroy, and you are free to explore the town to your liking, taking on missions large and small to collect money and purchase new weapons as you work up towards the 10 main killing contracts. Gameplay is all about using your Beam Katana (via Wii remote) to defeat enemies.

How I Found My Wii Fit Balance Board

2009-02-27T05:45:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine bought their family a Wii bundle for Christmas that included the Wii Fit Balance Board. They paid a fortune for it. I've seen the Wii Fit for sale on Amazon and Ebay at seriously jacked up prices - retail - $89, jacked up $120 - $150.

After seeing it in action I had to have one but I also refused to pay the jacked up prices, I'd rather send my money to the people who designed this cool product then to some pirates the buy up all the Wii Fits and then offer them at inflated prices.

So my strategy was simply. Just keep my eye out for one at the local discount stores. So imagine my surprise when I actually saw one in stock at Walmart! We started out at a birthday party at a tubing hill near Bangor. On the way home we decided to stop in at the Target and Walmart in Bangor. No luck but the kid in the electronics department did give me a tip about which days they come in and how they have to have at least four in stock any time its in the circular. Then we stopped at a Super Walmart in Brewer. They had four in stock! In my giddy excitement I twisted the kids arm and made him sell one to myself and my wife (one per customer). As we were walking out I saw the poor kids manager with a grumpy look on his face headed to the electronics department. Poor kid!

I guess I had it in my head that I'd sell the extra one on Ebay like those jerks I'm always complaining about until my wife reminded me how much I hate the fact that people are doing just that. So in the end I sold my extra board to a friend for the same price I paid for it.

Moral of the story - simply refuse to pay the pirates and just keep an eye out when you happen to be at Walmart or Target. No need to go crazy just plan ahead.

Wii Fit Says I'm Fat!

2009-02-26T16:40:00.000-08:00

Did your Wii Fit Balance Board call you a fattie? Did it say "One at a time please?". Keep in mind the BMI index doesn't tell the difference between muscle and fat, so even some top athletes could be classed as obese because they're really muscly and muscle weighs a lot more than fat!

Nintendo has apologized for any offense the terms used to describe a player's BMI are causing, but said it wouldn't be putting any warnings on the games.

Wii Sports Resort

2009-02-26T16:26:00.000-08:00

Wii Sports Resort is a sports game for the Wii video game console. It is a sequel to Wii Sports and is set for a worldwide release in 2009. The game is part of an ongoing series of games referred to as the Wii Series. Wii Sports Resort will be the first title to be compatible with Wii MotionPlus.[2] The game will come bundled with the MotionPlus device and an extended Wii Remote Jacket, both of which will also be sold separately. From what has been seen so far, the game is set in a beach resort. The island the game is set on is the same island in Wii Fit, when the player goes for runs.

Games announced to be included (so far) are: Frisbee (Disc Dog), Jet Skiing (Power Cruising) and Kendo (Sword Play).[3] However, it has been indicated that there will be at least 10 games included in the final product.[4]

Wii Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz

2009-02-26T11:28:00.002-08:00

Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz - say that ten times. I believe the long name is a result of this title being around for a long time on previous game platforms. Monkey Ball, Super Monkey Ball, Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz and maybe a future version will be Intergalatic Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitzkreig or something. Basically the game is a fun action arcade type game.

The Game

In the main SMBBB game you are a monkey inside one of those clear spheres you might put your hampster in. You use the Wiimote to control the speed, direction of the ball and jumping as you try to get through mazes before the time runs out. I can imagine this type of game driving a player mad using a classic type game controller but with the Wiimote it really seems natural. Tilt forward to pick up speed, tilt to the side to change direction. It takes a steady hand to control the ball and the expert in our house, my nine year old, holds the controller close to his body so it doesn't shake.

SMBBB follows the lock game scheme that can be downright maddening if you get stuck on a particularly hard level. Of course they all seem really hard the first time you try it but after falling off the cliff ten times or so you start to figure it out and most players in our testing group got through the first set of levels.

Blaring Sound

For some reason this game seems to have the volume cranked up to 11. Everytime we put it in the Wii we have to turn down the volume by at least half. Plus the sound track is extremely repetitive. I'd like to see the developer put in some kind of sound setup so you could choose to turn down the background music.

The Value

The real value in this title is the 50 included mini games. These are a great reason to purchase this inexpensive title and can be a lot of fun when you have some friends over. They range from some repeats like golf and boxing but also include some fun racing games like snowboarding and car racing including mystery boxes of weapons. Some games are great when you get the hang of the controls like Darts for example. It is neat holding the controler like a dart. In other games like Wac A Mole the controls don't seem to work at all. Often the game loses the remotes or doesn't seem to register their input. Sega seems to have shoveled some of the mini-games out the door just to get the total mini-game number up or perhaps they use it to break in new software developers. In any case the mini games would have been stronger with few games that worked well.

One nice feature for party play is that when you choose say 4 players the game lets you play three mini-games and it keeps a running score.

Rating the Game

Looking at all of the high ratings on this game I'm kind of perplexed. Either people bought this game early on when their were few games for the Wii or they paid very little for it and got a lot of bang for the buck.

I did the latter. I purchased it at the time I got the Wii for my family with the express purpose of getting a lot of mini games to try out the Wii controller. For less than $20 bucks the game is a good deal with 50 mini games even though a number of them don't seem to work very well. But compared to a title like Wii Sports or Lego Star Wars it doesn't measure up so I have to give it an average rating. The blaring, repetitive sound track alone makes me take off a star on this score.

Overall

Overall I think this game is worth the price of admission. If your looking to add some more games to your Wii collection this gives you a ton of games of all kinds. But in general kids seem to like this game more than adults. So I wouldn't recommend it to an adult only household.

Mario Party 8 for the Wii

2009-02-26T11:24:00.001-08:00

Oh how my wife and I hate this game! My son borrowed it from a friend (who doesn't like it) and loves it. Unfortunately, its a party game so that means we all have to play otherwise he would be playing three computer opponents which isn't any fun at all.

Why do we hate it so much? Bottom line is that most of the game consists of reading dialog boxes and waiting for the computerized characters to move. Its like watching some kind of Zik Zak TV except every once in a while you get to play a very short mini game.

How The Game Works

This game works sort of like a board game mixed with a lot of cartoon action. You roll the dice by punching a dice box and then your character moves along and lands on various squares the might jump you forward or backwards or give you the chance to buy special candies that can do things to other players. In our test group of two nine year olds (1 boy/1 girl) and two adults, the little girl seemed to like the idea of buying things.

After each player has a turn then its time for a mini-game. These mini-games can be fun especially if you are new to the Wii experience but some are kind of dumb. Like for example the first time you get to shake a soda can as fast as you can to make it explode its a lot of fun. The second time its kind of boring.

The good thing about the mini-games is that there are a lot of them. 70 or so with a lot of variety so different players will find various games that suit them. One fun one we had in our game was a 3 against 1 situation where the other players tried to shoot me off a platform while I tried to reach the top. It was fun although it only lasted about 20 seconds.

At the end of the number of turns you select (we selected 15 turns each and with four people the game lasted two hours!) its time for awards. The game give awards for things like landing on the most bad spaces, eating the most candy etc before bestowing the grand prize winner. Unfortunately the person in our group who can in dead last (the nine year old girl who brought the game over for us to try out), didn't even get any of these booby prizes which I would have thought was the point of them i.e. to make everyone a winner.

Annoying

One of the most annoying things for any adult in the new high tech world is realising that the kids know more about these things than you do. Its even more annoying when the kids have already played this game a few times and tell you what to do - when to buy candy and when to go, and skip through all of the instructions before you can figure out what's going on.

And this game seem to have a lot of dialog boxes to read! There seems to be endless dialog boxes to read and each mini game requires one to read the rules and control instructions. Unfortunately the younger kids this game is aimed at probably will need an adult around to read the dialog or you can have an annoying nine year old girl (a neighbor) read you all the words.

Overall

This is a game best played with friends although you need to set aside a lot of time to play it. The mini games are fun and there are a lot of them unfortunately the board game part doesn't have any strategy to it. Its basically left to chance so if you are in the mind set of chance games like Sorry! and Trouble instead of games that require you to think strategically like Chess or Blokus then you'll probably think this game is rather lightweight.

Wii Fit-ness

2009-02-26T10:58:00.000-08:00

BURLINGAME, CALIF. -

Americans are obsessed with their weight. News stands ("10 Hot Celebrity Diets!") and grocery isles ("Low fat! Only 100 calories! Heart Healthy!") feed our pound fixation. Not to mention we're constantly reminded that our increasingly sedentary lifestyles are contributing to record ranks of overweight and obese citizens.

Time for videogames to take charge and get people off the couch.

At least that's the hope of a new slew of games catering to a player's aspirations by providing a physical side to the hours spent plunked in front of a TV. It sounds counterintuitive but it's quite possible to work up a sweat playing "Wii Tennis," a game that replicates racket swinging with motion-sensing controllers--there are even cases of "Wii elbow." And while it wasn't intended as a fitness regimen, one fan lost nine pounds over six weeks playing "Wii Sports" for 30 minutes a day.
In Pictures: 10 Games To Make You Sweat
Video: Wii Workout

Now Nintendo (other-otc: NTDOY - news - people ) is releasing a game--"Wii Fit"--that overtly focuses on physical well-being.

The souped-up scale and digitized fitness trainer bundled in "Wii Fit" may not generate the same level of twitchy excitement among game players as "Grand Theft Auto IV," but much like Nintendo's brain-trainer "Brain Age," "Wii Fit" will certainly carry more weight with the general public--making it one of the most significant launches of the year. There's already some 9.5 million Wiis in U.S. households, according to NPD Group. It's likely that 4 million of them will contain a $90 balance board bundle by year-end, estimates Wedbush Morgan analyst, Michael Pachter.

It doesn't hurt that Wii Fit is already considered a runaway hit. Nintendo has sold 2 million in Japan and has had strong sales in Europe since its launch outside the U.S. in late April. There are reports that the initial shipments are already sold out at retailers such as Amazon, GameStop (nyse: GME - news - people ) and Wal-Mart (nyse: WMT - news - people ) through pre-sales. That's thanks to one of Nintendo's largest marketing campaigns.

And like watching a friend turn into a buff gym rat, all that attention is inspiring other publishers to leap into exergames and so capitalize on the next big Nintendo trend.

There's been a healthy--if small-- collection of fitness games in the past.

"Dance Dance Revolution," which was a hit in Japanese arcades before coming to the U.S. in 2001, has been adopted by some schools as a means to get kids moving. But while the health benefits of "DDR" were a happy accident, "Wii Fit" is one of the first games to brazenly market itself as a fitness product, says Tony Key, senior vice president of sales and marketing at French game maker Ubisoft.

"Nintendo is setting the trend," says Key. "We come to the party asking: 'How do we take advantage of it?' " Ubisoft is currently working on a line of health games that range from mental self-improvement to weight loss and yoga instruction. One such title, "My Weight Loss Coach" for the Nintendo DS, comes bundled with a pedometer so players can upload real walking data into the game. "Everyone is interested in losing a few pounds," Key says. "Health games are here for the foreseeable future."

Everyone knows hitting the gym is the best way to lose weight, says Key, but that doesn't mean folks will work out regularly. We're busy, unmotivated and though willing to buy tapes of Billy Blanks' Tae Bo training workouts, we may not get off the couch to move along.

Videogames are the next stage in the evolution of the fitness video, asserts Key. And unlike Billy, these games can measure your vital stats and offer appropriate motivation. Think of them as a cheap personal trainer.

Expect to see more from other game companies in the future.

Electronic Arts (nasdaq: ERTS - news - people ) hasn't formally announced a title in the vein of "Wii Fit," even though skater wannabes can use the balance board to control a deck in "Skate." But watch this space, urges EA Sports president Peter Moore. "Health and fitness is an area where I want to see EA Sports be a leader," Moore wrote in an e-mail to Forbes.com. "I think we can play in this space."

Moore noted that there's a lot of potential for games revolving around health and well-being. He had front line experience with fitness pioneers during a stint as vice president at Reebok. "I admire what Nintendo has done with 'Wii Fit' and think it's only scratching the surface of the role games can play in making people fitter, happier and smarter," he added. "With games, we have the opportunity to make exercise fun. We can distract people. It doesn't have to feel like work when you're having fun while you're being active, staying fit and getting a workout."

Namco Bandai is also entering the fitness fray late this year with "Active Life: Outdoor Challenge." Andrew Lelchuk, executive vice president of sales and marketing at Namco, is quick to underscore that the company's products aren't billed as fitness games even though the game touts itself as "a fun and easy way to get off the couch and get hearts pumping."

"Active Life" relies on a pressure-sensitive floor mat that requires players to run or jump in place in order to control their onscreen characters through obstacle courses, mine cart rides and kayaking. Even more incentive: a character's physical appearance is linked to how well you play the game.

"Games provide a clearer structure for achieving your goals," says Jane McGonigal, a resident game designer at the Institute for the Future. "They set goals that are higher than you'd set for yourself. They make you more ambitious. Games take something that's solitary and miserable, like slogging through the gym, and transform it into something that's more social and can be integrated into your networked life."

Sports gear maker Nike (nyse: NKE - news - people ) agrees. Even though the Nike+, the small accelerometer that can track distance and pace of runs, isn't technically a game, it behaves like one. Runners can compete in various public or private challenges and share their achievements (like logging 100 miles) with the Nike+ community. The first time McGonigal ran with Nike+, she was so motivated by the thought of publishing her data that she shaved two minutes off her five-mile run--a time that had stayed constant for the previous seven years. "[Games] make it possible for you to do things you never thought it possible to do," she says.

The idea of competition, measurable progress and dedicated communities is so powerful that McGonigal believes real world fitness activities will soon start borrowing from games. For instance, a massively multiplayer game like "World of WarCraft" could reward players who go for a run in order with in-game experience points, or it could require party members to walk a certain distance to make progress through an environment.

Mixing up fitness and gaming could also help the gaming industry by opening up the market to casual players. Plenty of people don't think they have the time or a reason to play games, says Ubisoft's Key.

"We need to convince them that their 20 minutes [of play] is beneficial to them."

And what's more important than improving your health?

Wii Damage - What happens when you don't use the wrist strap?

2009-02-26T10:49:00.001-08:00

Here’s where we keep a tally of the greatest ‘hits’. Best, worst, most expensive, most dangerous games, toughest and weakest TVs… suggest a category!

Most dangerous game

Wii Sports: Bowling (10 hits)
Wii Sports: Baseball (7 hits)
Wii Sports: Tennis (8 hits)

Weakest TVs/Screens

RPTV (4 cracks, 1 hole)
LCD (3 cracks)
Plasma (0 cracks)
Projector (0 cracks)
CRT (1 crack, 1 bounce)

Wii Stats

2009-02-26T10:47:00.000-08:00

Launch Date and MSRP: Nov. 19, 2006, in the Americas at an MSRP of $249.99.

Color: White.

Size: About 8.5 inches long, 6 inches wide and less than two inches thick (157mm x 215.4mm x 44mm).

Controls: Intuitive control for anyone using the physical motion of the Wii Remote controller, which resembles a television remote control. Up to four Wii Remote controllers can be connected at once using wireless Bluetooth technology. The wireless signal can be detected within 10 meters of the console. Both the Wii Remote and Nunchuk™ controllers include a three-axis motion sensor. The Wii Remote controller also includes a speaker, rumble feature and expansion port, and can be used as a pointer within 5 meters of the screen. The Wii Remote controller has a power switch, plus pad, A, B, Minus, Home, 1 and 2 buttons. The Nunchuk controller includes an analog control stick and C and Z buttons.

The Look: The Wii console features a compact design that will make it a natural addition to any television setup. It can be displayed either vertically or horizontally.

Media: A single self-loading media bay will play single- or double-layered 12-centimeter optical discs for the Wii console, as well as 8-centimeter Nintendo GameCube™ discs.

Channels: The Wii Channel Menu is the main gateway for a variety of easy-to-use, interactive multimedia, entertainment and communication functions.
Communication: The Wii console can communicate with the Internet even when the power is turned off. The WiiConnect24™ service delivers a new surprise or game update, even if the system is idle. Users can connect wirelessly using IEEE802.11, or with a USB 2.0 LAN adaptor. The Wii console also can communicate wirelessly with Nintendo DS™.

Virtual Console: The Wii console will have downloadable access to 20 years of fan-favorite titles originally released for Nintendo® 64, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System® (SNES) and even the Nintendo Entertainment System® (NES). The Virtual Console™ also will feature a “best of” selection from Sega Genesis titles and games from the TURBO GRAFX16 console (a system jointly developed by NEC and Hudson). It also will be home to new games conceived by indie developers whose creativity is larger than their budgets.

The Specs: The Wii console has 512 megabytes of internal flash memory, two USB 2.0 ports and built-in Wi-Fi capability. A bay for an SD memory card will let players expand the internal flash memory. Design was optimized with state-of-the-art processing technologies that minimize power consumption, keep the console compact and enable the “sleepless” WiiConnect24 mode.

CPU: PowerPC CPU (code-named “Broadway”)
Made with a 90 nm SOI CMOS process, jointly developed with and manufactured by IBM.
Graphics Processing Unit: Being developed with ATI.
Other Features: Four ports for classic Nintendo GameCube controllers. Two slots for Nintendo GameCube Memory Cards. An AV Multi-output port for component, composite or S-video.

Bestselling Wii Games on Amazon.com

2009-02-26T10:44:00.000-08:00

1.
Wii Fit by Nintendo (Nintendo Wii)
119 Used & new from $88.64
4.7 out of 5 stars (879)

ESRB Rating: Everyone

2.
Mario Kart Wii with Wii Wheel by Nintendo (Nintendo Wii)
Buy new: $49.99
102 Used & new from $20.99
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4.6 out of 5 stars (564)

ESRB Rating: Everyone

3.
My Fitness Coach by UBI Soft (Nintendo Wii)
Buy new: $29.99 $27.99
28 Used & new from $27.18
Get it by Friday, Feb 27 if you order in the next 9 hours and choose one-day shipping.
Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping.
4.4 out of 5 stars (176)

ESRB Rating: Everyone

4.
Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga by Lucas Arts Entertainment (Nintendo Wii)
Buy new: $19.99 $18.99
46 Used & new from $14.75
Get it by Friday, Feb 27 if you order in the next 9 hours and choose one-day shipping.
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4.6 out of 5 stars (186)

ESRB Rating: Everyone 10+

5.
We Ski by Namco (Nintendo Wii)
Buy new: $29.99 $27.99
58 Used & new from $22.97
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3.9 out of 5 stars (95)

ESRB Rating: Everyone

6.
Active Life Outdoor Challenge by Namco (Nintendo Wii)
Buy new: $59.99 $56.99
47 Used & new from $47.99
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4.6 out of 5 stars (271)

ESRB Rating: Everyone

7.
Samba De Amigo by Sega Of America, Inc. (Nintendo Wii)
Buy new: $19.99 $14.99
56 Used & new from $10.49
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4.5 out of 5 stars (26)

ESRB Rating: Everyone

8.
Super Mario Galaxy by Nintendo (Nintendo Wii)
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4.7 out of 5 stars (422)

ESRB Rating: Everyone

9.
Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party 2 with Dance Mat by Konami (Nintendo Wii)
Buy new: $69.99 $66.99
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3.9 out of 5 stars (66)

ESRB Rating: Everyone 10+

10.
NASCAR Kart Racing by Electronic Arts (Nintendo Wii)
Buy new: $39.99
5 Used & new from $39.99
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4.1 out of 5 stars (9)

ESRB Rating: Everyone

11.
Shaun White Snowboarding Road Trip by UBI Soft (Nintendo Wii)
Buy new: $49.99 $39.99
40 Used & new from $33.98
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4.3 out of 5 stars (58)

ESRB Rating: Everyone 10+

12.
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle by Activision Inc. (Nintendo Wii)
Buy new: $79.99
52 Used & new from $39.98
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4.4 out of 5 stars (221)

ESRB Rating: Teen