Chris@ONM from Official Nintendo Magazine (UK) played the demo version of  Super Mario Galaxy. He has answered a ton of questions posted on the magazine’s online forums. These this are some of them : (more…)

This is an excerpt from the Preview of the Nintendo Wii game Mario Strikers Charged by Game Pro

The control method for Mario Strikers Charged is heavily based on traditional movements, using the analog stick for motion and face buttons for passing and shooting. The motion-sensitive controls are for only two defensive actions; slide-tackling (performed with a simple shake of the Wii Remote) and blocking of super-shots called Mega Strikes, where you must line up a goalies hands.

Full Preview

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This is an excerpt from the Review of the Nintendo Wii game The Godfather: Blackhand Edition by GameDaily

Don’t dismiss Electronic Arts’ latest Wii game, The Godfather: Blackhand Edition as a simple port. While the goal to control all of Manhattan remains the same, the developers included tons of new content; dynamic weather, the ability to command a hit squad, plant car bombs, blackmail the police chief, six new vehicles and most importantly, really sweet motion sensitive controls. Players use the Wii nunchuk and remote to grab people, punch and toss them through windows. The nunchuk’s analog stick allows for easy weapon switching while the remote functions as a gun, with gamers aiming at their screens. The visuals don’t look nearly as good as the Xbox 360 version of the game and the artificial intelligence needs to stop running into walls, but overall, Blackhand Edition shines in almost every respect.

Full Review 

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This is the Press Release of the Wii game Scarface: The World Is Yours

Vivendi Games’ Sierra Entertainment division is bringing Scarface™: The World Is Yours, the smash-hit video game based on the 1983 classic film by Universal Pictures, to the Wii™ console this summer. The game, which presents a sequel storyline that asks “What if Tony Montana survived the mansion shootout?” has already sold more than 1.5 million copies worldwide on other platforms.

Scarface: The World Is Yours for Wii will include graphics and gameplay optimizations, an all-new control scheme that takes advantage of the Wii console’s unique motion-sensitive Remote and Nunchuk controller design, as well as other alterations for the Wii audience.

Scarface: The World Is Yours was created through a licensing agreement with Universal Studios Consumer Products.

“Bringing Scarface: The World Is Yours to Wii is an exciting opportunity to take an already amazing game and add an incredible twist, thanks to the Wii console’s unique Remote controller abilities,” said Cindy Cook, chief strategy and marketing officer for Vivendi Games. “Adding motion-sensitive elements to a game that already includes an incredible celebrity cast, Hollywood production values and non-stop action, delivers a gaming experience unlike any other, truly bringing the world of Tony Montana to vivid life.”

Scarface: The World Is Yours plunges players deep into the seedy underbelly of 1980s Miami as the one-and-only Tony Montana, featuring the likeness of Al Pacino. Players are challenged to re-enact the climactic mansion shoot-out from the original film, but in the game, Tony fights his way out of the mansion and survives. Returning to Miami, Tony must rebuild his fallen empire and wreak vengeance on his enemies.

Scarface: The World Is Yours delivers a Hollywood-quality cinematic experience in a video game, effectively bringing Tony Montana to life through unprecedented casting, leading technology and renowned Hollywood partners. The game has secured a triple-A voice cast of more than 50 celebrities from movies, television, sports and music and boasts a soundtrack of more than 120 licensed music tracks from the 80s and today, as well as the original motion picture score by Giorgio Moroder. In addition, Sierra Entertainment partnered with legendary Hollywood companies to create the feel of a sequel film in a video game, including working with Skywalker Sound to mix all in-game audio and partnering with Prologue Films for to create a gripping opening title sequence.

Scarface: The World Is Yours for Wii is expected to be available in summer 2007. For more information about Scarface: The World Is Yours, please visit the game’s official Web site at www.scarfacegame.com.

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This is an excerpt from the Hands-On article of the Nintendo Wii game Kororinpa by Destructoid

Using the Wii remote in Kororinpa is simple — tilt the Wii remote forward, backwards, or turn your wrist left and right to move the environment to roll your ball. I immediately thought I’d be in for some trouble, since similar motions didn’t translate so well for me when it came to Wario Ware: Smooth Moves. But once I got into the swing of things, what I was doing with my wrist was predictably translated on-screen. Controls didn’t seem overly sensitive and any time my penguin fell to its untimely demise, the blood was on my hands, not that of poor controls.

Full Article

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Wii Play press release

Less than 12 weeks ago, people around the world first picked up a Wii Remote™ and realized Nintendo is changing video games forever.

The realistic game play of Wii Sports™ turned parents and grandparents into gamers, and launched a new Wii-based party and fitness craze. Today Nintendo builds on the momentum with the arrival of Wii Play™, a collection of nine new games in the Wii Sports style that lets players fish, play pool or shoot targets with the motion-sensitive Wii Remote. Wii Play joins Wii Sports as the party-game centerpiece at family get-togethers and grown-up game nights. To emphasize the multiplayer nature of the game, Wii Play comes packaged with a Wii Remote. The combo could also be a great way to show your valentine how much you’d like to play together!

Wii Play includes games like Fishing, which uses the Wii Remote like a fishing rod; Billiards, which uses the Wii Remote as a pool cue; and Shooting Range, a target practice game played in the style of the classic Duck Hunt® game from the Nintendo Entertainment System®. Other games include Table Tennis (use paddles to rally for points), Charge! (control a charging cow), Tanks! (a tank battle) and Laser Hockey (use the Wii Remote as an air hockey paddle). Two games make extensive use of players’ Mii™ caricatures. Pose Mii asks players to orient their Miis in a variety of different positions to match silhouettes, while Find Mii requires them to locate specific Miis within an ever-growing crowd.

“Wii Play builds on the types of games and experiences people have come to love in Wii Sports,” says George Harrison, Nintendo of America’s senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications. “Millions of people around the world are recognizing Wii as the future of gaming. We are changing how people play games, who plays and how many play.”

All the games in Wii Play are easy to learn and difficult to put down. Veterans and newcomers alike will discover fun and entertaining challenges that will have friends and family competing for hours on end. Core gamers can invite their non-gaming friends and relatives to give Wii Play a try, thereby bridging the gap between the two groups and expanding the world of video games to new audiences.

Wii software typically retails around $50, while the MSRP for Wii Remotes is $39.99. Wii Play, which comes packaged with a Wii Remote controller, is available at an MSRP of just $49.99. Wii Play, Rated E for Everyone, is available now. For more information about Wii Play, visit Wii.Nintendo.com.

Source: Nintendo press release

Dewy Adventure for Nintendo Wii Press Release:

Dewy’s Adventure - Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. today announced Dewy’s Adventure (working title), an original action title exclusively for the Wii™ from the producer that created the critically acclaimed Elebits. Dewy’s Adventure lets players use the Wii Remote™ to control the elements and manipulate the terrain of the game world as they help a small droplet of water save its home world from a mysterious dark force.

Dewy’s Adventure introduces players to a world where pure green forests flourished under the careful watch of the towering Elder Tree. However, a mysterious dark force known as the evil Don Hedron has taken hold of the Elder Tree and transformed the land into a gloomy world shrouded in shadows and fog. Using the last of its remaining power, the Elder Tree created a small droplet of water named Dewy and granted him the power of the elements with hope that he could overcome the evil Don Hedron and restore tranquility to the land.

Taking advantage of the unique Wii Remote, Dewy’s Adventure grants players full control over the game world and the elements as they take control of Dewy and seek to overcome the evil Don Hedron. Players can tilt the Wii Remote to create inclines in the landscape, moving the droplet to precisely the right spot while rotating the environment to solve puzzles. Most often found as a small ball of water, Dewy can alter the temperature of his immediate area to transform into ice and mist. These transformations are useful in freezing or heating different parts of the world to solve puzzles and also to defeat the game’s fearsome enemies.

Players can also take control of the elements by using motion-specific gestures with the Wii Remote, such as shaking it to cause an earthquake, waving it to create gusts of wind or summoning blots of lightning while in mist form. Combined with Dewy’s three different forms and landscape tilting abilities, these skills provide players with extensive control over the environment and a great degree of freedom in approaching each of the game’s six stages.

In addition to a single player story mode, Dewy’s Adventure also features an edit mode that allows for full customization of complete stages with unique puzzles, different types of landscape and a wide variety of enemies. These stages can be played alone or enjoyed cooperatively with a friend.

“Dewy’s Adventure emphasizes Konami’s commitment to creating innovative software for the Wii with one of a kind gameplay, unique motion sensitive controls, and a colorful game world packed with memorable characters,” said Wilson Cheng, Product Manager with Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. “Building upon the success of Elebits, Dewy’s Adventure is poised to deliver another exciting and accessible gaming experience that is only possible through the immersive Wii hardware.”

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This is the Updated Fact Sheet of the Nintendo Wii game Wing Island

Get ready to take to the skies with the ultimate aerial adventure! Wing Island will allow you and your friends to hone your flying techniques as you soar through the clouds as an ace biplane pilot, performing death-defying stunts and exciting tricks along the way with ease. Wing Island soars across Europe on Wii on 23rd March 2007. Wing Island is published by Hudson and distributed by Nintendo.

As the first flying game for the dynamic Wii Console, Wing Island is like no other flying game out there. Using the Wii’s ground-breaking motion sensitive controls, players can feel as if they really are flying their plane. The use of the Wii Remote allows players to achieve maximum precision whilst flying, combined with a more realistic feel. By simply tilting the controller left or right, you can turn the plane in the desired direction by angling the remote up or down gamers can easily change height. Quick turns can be easily achieved by waving the remote’s tip to the left or the right. Acceleration and breaking is equally simple to control with quick bursts of speed controlled by quickly thrusting the remote forward or backward, whilst more steady speed is achieved by pressing up or down on the D-pad. Not only is this a simple and intuitive way to control the game but it also brings an all-new level of fun and excitement to the game, regardless of your previous gaming experience, as your movements control the plane.

In the main Story mode, gamers progress by completing each mission and unlocking new locations. The game’s single player missions set the player a number of fun tasks to test their flying skills ranging from food drops to extinguishing forest fires and taking photos of assigned objects. Players earn different ratings for each mission based on time, accuracy and damage to the planes. This in turn influences points, bonus points, and money awarded for each of the 27 missions. Earning money in turn allows players the opportunity to tune and repair their plane and even buy one of seven completely new planes. During each mission the player has the opportunity to fly solo or in a formation of five dependent upon which mission they are involved in, therefore enabling the player to experience the best of both flight methods.

‘Wing Island’ is centred around three different, exotic cartoon islands inhabited by wacky cartoon animals who will help players complete the tasks they are set. The first island is the smallest and houses ‘Wing Inc’, where the first few missions take place. The second location becomes available after completion of the initial missions and presents more challenging terrain across which to navigate. The third and final island has a large city built on it and is by far the most challenging to navigate across.

If the idea of completing missions doesn’t appeal to you then select Free Mode where you can fly freely around the islands in the game without constraints of time. At any point in the mission players can also try and break their own records to show off to their friends in the Single Player Competitive Mode. There are three options in this mode: score attack, where players must pop balloons by ramming them with a spike on the plane, time attack where they must race through numbered gates and also Plane Tail which allows you to pop balloons tied to your opponent,

If a bit of extra competition is what you’re looking for why not go head to head against a friend to prove yourself a flying ace, or perfect your skills by taking on Wii in Two Player Mode. As in Single Player Competitive Mode, this mode also contains score attack and time, as well as Plane Tail.

The super-exciting ‘Wing Island’ flies into stores across Europe on Wii on the 23rd March 2007 at an estimated retail price of around 49 Euros (approximately £34 in the UK). The Wii console is available across Europe priced at 249 Euros (approximately £179).

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New Details are revealed about the Nintendo Wii game Kororinpa:

• Using the tilt aspect of the Wii’s motion sensitive controller, players must seek to navigate their favourite balls, each with their own look and varying benefits, through complex 3D mazes. Therefore, no complicated button combinations are necessary as the tactile controls allow players to tip and tilt their environment in all directions, even upside-down to 180 degrees - making the game intuitive and easy for anyone to pick up and play, whilst still remaining challenging and addictive.
• A steady hand and a keen strategic eye are key to keep your favourite ball on the right track in Kororinpa. As the maze is tilted the ball will move as it would in real life, as if pulled by gravity. Too much slant, though, could see the ball roll out of control off the edge of the maze sending the player back to the start (just as is the case in Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz). Whilst progressing along the course, players must also collect all the Red Crystals to unlock the goal, which in turn unlocks the next maze adding yet more precision and strategy to the challenges.
• Gamers can also go head-to-head against a friend using one Wii Remote and Nunchuk controller, splitting the screen either horizontally or vertically. In the multiplayer mode, the first player to reach the end of the maze, collecting all their Red Crystals, will reign victorious over their fellow contender.
• With over fifty mazes available to unlock and five different environments to experience there will always be a new and exciting challenge around the corner. Each environment has its own unique music, obstacles and visual style for the player to enjoy. Whilst progressing through the game players should also keep a look out for Green Crystals that unlock secret environments and even more stages to challenge even the most experienced puzzlers.
• As if that wasn’t tricky enough, each of your balls has a varying level of Response, Speed, Slide and Bounce. Players must, therefore, select their ball carefully in order to successfully complete Kororinpa. As more levels are completed the types of balls that can be selected will increase, including balls such as a ladybug, cat, penguin, watermelon and even a pig, each boasting different characteristics and varying levels of control.
• Kororinpa will roll its way across Europe on Wii on 23rd February 2007 at an estimated retail price of around €49 (approximately £34 in the UK).

Source

More About: Nintendo Wii, Kororinpa

Nintendo said Friday that it is recalling 3.2 million wrist straps for its oddball Wii Remote after reports the straps were breaking—sending the motion-sensitive controller flying.

The company is offering to replace the wrist straps with new, thicker straps. The company has set up an online replacement form for customers looking to trade in their straps complete with a photo of the old and new straps. Nintendo said will begin shipping the new straps around December 21st.

Wii strap Replacement Form