A recap of our weekend (Kilala.nl (Cailin Coilleach)) by Cailin Coilleach

Just so you guys don't think we've been playing with our new Wii all weekend: we haven't :)

On Saturday I did the usual groceries and then spent most of my time -waiting- for the Wii to arrive :p Setting it up was rather easy, though I had to spend at least an hour fighting the Wifi settings. In the end it turns out that I forgot that I had MAC address filtering turned on, on our Airport Express base station. So all my struggling with the Wii were caused by me forgetting one simple setting ^_^;

The Wii itself is great. Just like everyone else, we've been having loads of fun just making new Miis. It's silly how much fun that is. We've also been playing Mario Party 8, which IMHO is one of the better installments of the series. At least it's better than MP5, or MP6 :D Also, the Wii Shopping Channel is a bit too addictive for me... So far I've bought two classic games that my mom used to like as well: Bubble Bobble and Kirby's Adventure.

Saturday evening was well spent with our bestest friend Menno :) We had a quick dinner at Burger King and then proceeded to our favourite cinema, Cinemec to see Iron Man. I'd been looking forward to this movie for ages and luckily it came through on its promis! Robert Downey Jr is a great Tony Stark and the special effects were great. The design of Iron Man looks great and the CGI looks damn near realistic!

On Sunday we went to visit my in-laws in Friesland. We did nothing special; just a nice hot afternoon in the yard. Dirk had the greatest barbecue meats though, as we're used to from him :)

Now that it's Monday I really ought to get my ass in gear and get started on that pile of homework. I haven't done anything in the past two weeks and it's starting to show D:

Posted in: family , friends , iron man , weekend , wii

Glee! It are nearly heres! (Kilala.nl (Cailin Coilleach)) by Cailin Coilleach

*squeel*

The pic to the left says it all. Within a few hours, we'll be setting up our beautiful, new Wii ^_^ One of the first things I'll do after setting it all up and loading updates and such is to cash in all of my Nintendo VIP Stars. I'm happy that Nintendo lets us convert them into points for the Wii shopping channel.

Legend of the mystical ninja, here I come! Me and Mistoffelees used to love that game when we were kids and I've had a hard time finding it for my SNES. Now I can just play it on the Wii :)

Soooon, my precious... Ssssoooon!

Posted in: package tracking , parcel , track and trace , wii

A Wii is on its merry way to us (Kilala.nl (Cailin Coilleach)) by Cailin Coilleach

Well, I'm sick to my stomach after confirming our purchase, but it's done: I've ordered a Nintendo Wii, plus some accessories. That always happens to me! Whenever we purchase something that we've wanted for a while, but it's bloody expensive, I get sick to my stomach of guilt. Guilt, guilt, guilt... :/

Anywho, let's thank Marli's big, fat paycheck for this! /o/

Without it, we couldn't do this AND pay our debts...

Posted in: e-shopping , guilt , nintendo , sick , wii

If You Want A Wii, Come To South Africa (Martin Gordon's Blog (cptncelchu)) by Martin

Subject says it all.

Wiis in South Africa

Technorati Tags: Nintendo, Wii, Johannesburg, South Africa, Sandton, Sandton City

Posted in: nintendo , south africa , wii

Wii were disappointed (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken

I purchased my Nintendo Wii shortly after Christmas last year, ending a very long and multi-store hunt. I reactivated my GameFly account and rented quite a few Wii games. I purchased Rayman Raving Rabbids, the new Monkey Ball, and WiiPlay. Overall, I was unimpressed. I was hoping for the next-generation GameCube but wound up with a product that tried so hard to be different that its games were gimmicky and one-dimensional. I sold my Wii today on Ars Technica, and here’s a rundown of my six-month experience with the Revolution-ary white console.
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Posted in: games , wii

Cool Web Stuff - Mii Editor (The Mighty Squid's Ink) by Mighty_Squid

http://www.miieditor.com/

Just like on your wii but online!

Waste hours making miis (miis?) of your friends and coworkers!

Export to JPG and use em as icons or just send them via e-mail! Posted in: cool web stuff , wii , wii editor

NOTCOT: Rabbid Portraits [ma.gnolia] (Put together quickly (Haligan)) by MichaelBiven

Must. Have. Rabbids.

Tags: wii, rabbids, toys

Posted in: rabbids , toys , wii

Chore gaming (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken

Until last year, I played massively multiplayer online role playing games for the better part of six years, starting with EverQuest during its launch in 1999. I spent the bulk of my time in Dark Age of Camelot and World of Warcraft. I also played quite a few other MMOs, including Shadowbane, City of Heroes, Lineage II, EVE Online, and the beta for Star Wars: Galaxies.

Besides being online, these games had a few things in common: they kept me busy, and they kept me from feeling socially isolated. Whether I was living in a small mountain town in Oregon or working from home in Virginia with a very small meatspace social circle, MMOs were a way for me to jump online and adventure with friends. While MMOs are a significant commitment and aren’t always fun, I will not deny their entertainment and social value. Not only have MMOs allowed me to keep in touch with friends across the country, but they have helped me make some very real friends in “meatspace.” For some, like Alexa and Fathir, their real-life relationship started in-game.

I felt like online games were keeping me from doing other things, like writing for Gibberish. So I hung up my avatars for good last July. I haven’t regretted this decision, although Lady Jaye and I joke about rejoining WoW. After almost a year off, I’ve noticed that something strange has happened to me and my video gaming: console games are not nearly as compelling as their online role playing counterparts.
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Posted in: games , nintendo ds , psp , rpg , wii , xbox , zombies

Wii posting (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken

I am typing this from my new Wii. The data entry is via the wiimote and is in between an original cell text entry system and a newer predictive text entry system. One thing it does not do is build compound words if you choose from the predictive text option, i.e. “predict” does not continue to build towards “predictive” once selected.

The most interesting suggestion so far is either texaco or y’all :)

Posted in: games , site news , wii

I scored a Wii, plus an extra Nunchuck controller (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken

After learning that Target had Nintendo Wiis back in stock thanks to the “Still Need a Wii?” post on Ars Technica, I headed out on a whim to see if the rumor was true. I also needed a travel thermos for Lady Jaye, so at the very least I’d accomplish something. Lo and behold, I got the last one in stock. In the two minutes or so it took me to check out two other people came up, asking if there were more.

Now the problem is finding a second set of controllers. After looking at two Targets, a Best Buy, a Circuit City, two EB Games and a Wal*Mart, I managed to score two Nunchuck controllers but no “Wiimote.” I need both to play Wii Boxing and the Wii Super Monkey Ball game.

I’m holding off opening the Wii until Lady Jaye and I can both play. However, if you need a Nunchuck controller for use with your own personal Wii and not for resale, I will offer the first Gibberish reader who contacts me a crack at it. I am only asking that you pay my costs (MSRP + 5% VA tax + shipping). I am not looking to make a buck here, I just grabbed the extra one in the hopes I could help someone else out.

Posted in: games , hardware , wii

Catch the Wii help cat! ^_^ (Kilala.nl (Cailin Coilleach)) by Cailin Coilleach

An acquaintance of mine (and fellow blogger), Erik, just posted an article about one of the Wii UI elements that I hadn't heard about before: the help cat.

The help cat is Nintendo's implementation of the hints-system for their UI. Most companies just have a button labeled "hint" or whatever, but Ninty apparently has a cat that you need to catch before it dispenses its wisdom onto you.

Here's Erik's blog post, and here's the original article that discusses the help cat from a UI design perspective. Shiny!

EDIT: And if Help Cat isn't interesting enough for you, you could always take a look at some real life Wii kitties. :3 Posted in: help cat , user interface design , wii

I finally got myself a Wii, and all it took was blind luck. (RawCode) by RawCode

My normal routine when I got off of work has been the following:

1. Get off work.

2. Head home.

3. Transport the girlfriend to her place of work.

4. Stop by Starbucks, buy a Venti Earl Grey.

5. Call all the stores that I have programmed into my phone.

6. If no Wii is available, so gift shopping/browsing.

This in the past week or so has not proven successful in obtaining a Wii. Either I just miss the 24 Wii allocations that Costco gets whcih sell in under 20 minutes, or they have none at all. So During my gift shopping/browsing, I decide to go into Gamestop in the mall to look at games for the DS Lite I bought the girlfriend for Christmas. (Shh.) After I poke around, and just have idle banter with the clerks, I bought Trauma Center and Animal Crossing: Wild World. I inquire about the Wii and they inform me that they have a shipment coming in around 11:30am via FexEx. I check my watch, and it is only an hour away.

I proceed to the car to stash my loot, and then back to the Gamestop store. I decide not to wait in the store so it does not appear obvious that I am waiting for something, so I wait across the ice rink and watch. Over the 45 minutes I was waiting I must have seen twenty people pass through that store, each coming out empty handed. I thought I had a good chance however as I knew they were coming in via FedEx around 11:30, and the store did not have a back door from which to receive shipments.

After watching some people come back through Gamestop at 11:30 and then leaving again empty handed I saw the FexEx guy at the ATM with a cart of parcels. I make my way over to the Store just as Mr. FedEx shows up. Gamestop received 4 Wiis today, and I was the 2nd in line. Sweeet! Also grabbed Zelda on the way out.
After that I ran to a few stores and bought a second Wiimote and Nunchuk.

Ah the spoils:

Posted in: banter , wii

Wii Initial Impressions (Martin Gordon's Blog (cptncelchu)) by Martin

I was in New York today not following Steve Pavlina's advice, and I had a chance to stop by the Nintendo World Store (Flash mandatory, ugh) in Rockefeller Center and spend some minutes with the Wii. After braving the "crowd" (~15-20 people playing on about 10 Wiis), I finally got my hands on the Wiimote.

The first game I played was Excite Truck. This is your typical off-road arcade racer controlled by holding the Wiimote horizontally and tilting it to steer. Aside from it being a touch sensitive, it was very intuitive and the new control style made what I would have otherwise considered a standard racing game a lot of fun. The graphics were noticeably subpar (below even my lowered expectations), and were only made worse by the beautiful ~37" HDTV I was playing on.

After one race, I stepped over to the next Wii and played Madden. Again, after playing Madden on the XBox 360, the graphics failed to impress. The controls, however, made the game really fun. Snapping the ball and passing it with motion were a lot more fun than simply pushing "A". The run game also becomes much more interesting and intuitive when I can shake the nunchuk or Wiimote left or right to juke/stiff arm instead of having to remember whether it's "X" or "LB". The only trouble I had was getting the kicking motion down. Luckily the tutorial available from the pause menu helped me a bit (though it still took me 8 tries).

Finally, I got a few minutes on Call of Duty 3. I'm sorry to say that this was a complete disaster. I just couldn't hold the Wiimote at the right position in order to get the controls to respond the way I wanted. I was often spinning around in circles or looking at the floor or sky. I eventually turned to sensitivity down but that just made it impossible to respond to enemy attacks. Of the three games, this was the only one where I was completely disappointed.

It's well-known that the Wii isn't a graphical powerhouse. I didn't think this would bother me that much, but I've gotten really used to pretty visuals (or mediocre visuals in standard def). The motion-sensing part of the controls works perfectly, but the pointing aspect needs some work. Also, even though some controls seem intuitive once you learn them, because of all the hidden motions that are possible, you're gonna have to pop out the instruction manual or run through the tutorials. For better or for worse, button mashing is over.

Still, I think that the awe of the new controller will keep me interested in the Wii for far longer than great graphics and shallow gameplay ever could. See you all in line Sunday morning!

Technorati Tags: Nintendo, Nintendo World, Nintendo Wii, Wii, Excite Truck, Madden 07, Call of Duty 3, games, video games, Wiimote

Posted in: games , nintendo , user interface , wii

First Wii Kiosk Is In South Florida (Martin Gordon's Blog (cptncelchu)) by Martin

Well how about that! A Gamestop in practically my backyard (well, some 20 miles from my backyard) is the first Gamestop in the country to set up their Wii Kiosk. It's too bad I won't be back in Miami until Thanksgiving, after the Wii comes out, or else I'd go check it out.

Now to convince myself that taking the Wii home for Thanksgiving is a good idea, despite the hassle TSA might give me ("Uh, sorry, sir, this is a, uh, banned substance. We're gonna have to confiscate it." Five minutes later: "Hey, Bob! I just scored a Wii! It'll go great with my collection of 50,000 lighters and 20,000 bottles of shampoo!"). Although it would be great to get some impressions from my family - who are far from being even casual gamers (well, except my mom, who loves FreeCell).

Technorati Tags: Wii, Nintendo, Miami, Florida, South Florida, GameStop, kiosk, TSA, security, games, video games

Posted in: florida , games , miami , nintendo , travel , wii

Wii Launch Lineup of 62 Games Announced (Martin Gordon's Blog (cptncelchu)) by Martin

Joystiq is reporting that the Wii launch lineup has been announced, and it includes a whopping 62 games (32 Wii games and 30 Virtual Console games). This is a far cry from the Nintendo 64's launch lineup of 2 games (which I played into the ground until another decent game finally came out).

I wonder what's keeping them from releasing everything in all three regions (except translations in Japan-only games). The US missing out on classics such as Super Mario Bros, Donkey Kong Country, Super Mario World, and Zelda: LttP. Closely mirroring the N64 release 10 years ago, the sole N64 game coming out is Super Mario 64 (which I've played recently on the DS and have no intention of buying a third time).

While I do think the Virtual Console will give the XBox Live Arcade a run for it's money, personally, I find the lineup in XBLA is much more compelling. Nothing on the VC list screams "casual game" (although I guess that's what the Wii itself is for), except Super Mario Picross, a great game in it's own right that I don't think saw release here in the US (I played it in an emulator). Maybe I've just been burned by nostalgia too many times (Chip and Dale's Rescue Rangers and Inspecter Gadget just don't have the same attraction 15 years later), but I'd rather play simpler, more novel games on XBLA than pay for old classics a second or third time on the Wii.

Still, the Wii brings a much-needed shakeup to the video game industry, which has been riding on rehashed formulas and prettier graphics for far too long. It appears that Nintendo will finally have the perfect launch they've always vied for, with plenty of units on shelves and a strong library to match.

Technorati Tags: Wii, Nintendo, XBox, XBLA, Virtual Console, classics, Nintendo 64, games, video games, launch

Posted in: games , nintendo , wii

DigitalLife 06 (Martin Gordon's Blog (cptncelchu)) by Martin

I attended the DigitalLife show this past Saturday. I got a chance to see some interesting little toys, get some hands-on time with the PS3 and got a chance to hang with Robert Heron, Patrick Norton and Jim Lauderback of dl.tv/PCMag. Here are some of my impressions:

• The new Treo 680 is a nice (but incremental) improvement over the 650. It definitely does not reflect the two year gap between the 650 and the 680. It loses the antenna, but keeps the awful VGA camera and same processor.
• Dell was everywhere. I didn't see many non-Dell/Alienware machine on the floor.
• The 20" Dell notebook is a hoss. I can't imagine anyone buying it and actually taking it anywhere. If it would actually fit on an airplane tray table, I can see the table just snapping off under the sheer weight of this machine. Even for LAN parties, I think a Shuttle box and separate display might be easier to manage, and would be a whole lot more upgradeable.
• While I didn't get to hold the controller, I did see the Wii on display. The system is about the size I expected, but the controller looks a lot smaller than I thought it would be. Elebits was the game on display, and while it didn't look particularly fun, it did do a good job of showing off the Wiimote.
• The PS3 controller is a nice incremental improvement over the PS2 controller. I like the way R2/L2 were converted to semi-trigger buttons and the slightlly smaller grip felt a bit better.
• Sonic on the PS3, although 70% complete, was pretty buggy. Lots of clipping issues were apparent and the 360 version (85% complete) felt a lot faster. The graphics on the PS3 were great, although they didn't seem that much better than the 360.

Technorati Tags: DigitalLife, New York City, Javits Center, dl.tv, Robert Heron, Patrick Norton, Jim Lauderback, Palm, Treo 680, Dell, Alienware, games, Nintendo, Wii, Wiimote, PS3, Sega, Sonic the Hedgehog

Posted in: conference , dell , games , new york city , nintendo , palm , ps3 , sony , treo , wii