Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Wii Sports and Wii Elbow

I did some searching on the message boards, and it looks like the 2000-rated girl is the toughest opponent on Wii Sports tennis and that's why we are put against her over and over again after getting high in the pro skill levels. Getting your rating over 2000 is very tough, and getting it up to 2400 is impossible, from what people have posted. Somewhere in the 2300's, there is a point where no more skill points are awarded even for a perfect match against
the top computer opponent (perfect=winning every point).

In other Wii Sports news, here's a guy who uses Wii Sports to lose weight (he has a funny youtube video):

http://wiinintendo.net/2007/01/15/wii-sports-experiment-results/

some mainstream media coverage of wii weightloss guy:
http://wii.qj.net/Wii-Sports-Experiment-covered-by-NBC/pg/49/aid/80155
http://www.gamespot.com/wii/sports/wiisports/news.html?sid=6164486
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6143007.html

Here's a guy who figured how to put on weight while playing Wii sports ;-)
http://wii.qj.net/The-Wii-Lazy-Guy-shows-us-how-it-s-done/pg/49/aid/80823

Some emerging Wii problems are "Wii elbow" and broken straps from people throwing the controls:
http://www.gamespot.com/wii/sports/wiisports/news.html?sid=6162355
http://www.gamespot.com/wii/sports/wiisports/news.html?sid=6162853

Here is somebody's video of a perfect 300 game in Wii Sports Bowling.
http://wii.qj.net/Vid-the-perfect-Wii-Bowling-game/pg/49/aid/78557

Friday, January 26, 2007

Wii News Channel

Did I say I love this cat?


Well the News Channel for the Wii is out today, and we have downloaded it




After downloading, your Wii screen will look like this.



Downloading this may take some time, so be patient. In the meantime, you could watch TV or play some other console you have...



The News Channel!!!

Its pretty cool, but it takes some time to download the updates again.

If you are bored, you can click on the cat.(On the top of the screen)



This will display when you click on the cat.



Then it will be back to downloading again... It does take some time.



Once updated you will get to this screen.



When you choose National News...



You can scroll to view other news down the page.



When you choose international news...



When you click on the news, another page comes up... Pretty neat for a console.



Some of these international news have maps of where they came from.



When you click on the Slide show, it will show you the news in brief along with a map.


This function is pretty cool to just scroll the headlines while you are doing things.


I'm pretty happy with the News Channel, though there are already many news website you can go to with the Internet Channel.





Still downloading this news channel takes some time, and for its worth, I'm still not certain that it is really worth the wait.

-- News Channel Review,

By Iron Bowl.

Wario Ware

I finally got Wario Ware: Smooth Moves (Smoove?) From Amazon. A thick slab of fun, though you often have to meet the game halfway in figuring out exactly what moves it wants you to perform.

The highlight, without a doubt, was the final boss game, which puts you in a chorus line in a surprisingly satisfying way.

As it's short, I highly recommend a rental. That may be all the fun you need, but it's a good ride while it lasts.

Shortages Persist

While some report that Wii peripherals are now abundant and easily available in Best Buy, EB Games and other such dispensaries, my coworkers continue to lament that they are unable to find a coveted second Wiimote for their systems. I have dispatched a request to my agent in NYC to acquire by any means a Wiimote from the Nintendo Store in Manhattan for our impoverished cohorts.
 
Fear not. Help is coming.

Is the Wii News Channel Here?

Chatter has started to appear on the Internet about the Wii News channel. Trapped here at work, I am unable to go home and check to see if a shiny blue update is available that will let me see the news on the Wii.

Apparently it gets its news from the Associated Press or Reuters and then puts a Nintendo twist on it: you can look at where the news is happening on the globe like with the weather channel. Scrumptious!

Friday, January 19, 2007

Wii Sports: Bowling 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

For strikes:

To have a high chance of strike, aim the ball so that it hits the side of the front pin. Depending on your throw, you may have a slight curve, so move your guy with the directional pad and press A to aim, then throw the ball.

For spares:

To bowl the ball straight down the lane, release the ball at the highest point so it drops on the lane before rolling, making sure to not rotate your Wiimote. This make the ball roll relatively straight for the easy spares.

Most of my games are strikes and spares, and I've bowled several 221 point games... Still trying to break that though...

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Glowing Wii


The Wii is glowing with messages, all hail the Wii

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

You Have Won a Silver Medal!

Wii Sports has grown into a silent obsession around my place. Larry, Robin and I are quietly trying to outperform each-other in the various sports sneaking time as our schedules allow to put a few more notches in our scores. These last few days, when I come home from work, there are piles of notifications in my Wiimail saying so and so won a silver metal at training or whats-his-name went pro in tennis. I've even started to play through the training games for tennis and boxing...

I'm flummoxed in boxing though. I can't quite figure out how to avoid punching my trainer in the face during the focus glove game or to how to move the controls so I don't get tangled in the wire when I'm trying the dodging game...

(Nobody has achieved Gold in anything yet as far as I know)

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Descent into Huggable Madness

Elebits is my new guilty pleasure. Matt gave it to me as part of a Christmas bundle of gaming crack, and it has grown to consume my Wii time, nudging Wii Sports, Zelda, and Rayman out of the warmth of the nest to chill and wither on my media shelves. I'd considered Elebits a girl game, full of cute music and adorable pastel mini monsters. In fact, the first couple times Matt suggested it as a gift I threw it back in his face, stomped my foot, and crossed my arms in virtual defiance over email. However, now that I have it, I've discovered the disturbing aggro subtext of the game.

See, your mission in the game is to collect elebits, little electricity spirits hidden in cabinets and appliances around your house. You do so with your "capture gun," a device that allows you to zap elebits a la Ghostbusters and also move objects, pull open drawers, put toast in toasters, and turn doorknobs. You start each gingerly nudging things aside to reveal elebits because your capture gun begins life with anemic abilities. As you collect elebits, your gun strength gets greater until peeking becomes searching becomes ransacking becomes RAMPAGING. It's a huggable descent into madness and frenzy.