Updates and News
November 24th 2006 02:00
Yes, it's been a ridiculously long time since the site has been updated. Blame my laziness, and the turmoil of a new job and uni exams. But exams are over, I'm settled into my new cushy job, and ready to start writing for SBP again. I'm really going to try to post daily info and news now, even if it only serves the purpose of keeping my fingers busy.
So, the Wii has been released in the US, just in time for Thanksgiving and Black Friday sales periods. And this site pretty much missed all of the hype and launch-day antics, such as they were.
But I'm definitely going to at least attempt to count down the remaining fortnight til the Wii's Australian launch, then go absolutely crazy in a torrent of reviews and whatnot. For now though, here are some snippets of news courtesy of Kotaku, Joystiq and GoNintendo... the Nintendo Associated Press, by another name:
Kotaku's latest post is a GameVideos snippet, on the creation of Celebrity Miis... Hitler, Jesus, Iwata. Even poor ol' Jack Thompson makes an appearance, though I'm sure he'd say that Raving Rabbids promotes gross animal violence.
Joystiq, as one may expect, have a highy speculative article on possible 'enhancements' for Virtual Console games. Rather than being bug fixes for old games, they think, the enhancements will be more along the lines of online multiplayer capability for the Mariokarts and other games we've come to love. Seems a bit far-fetched to me, but I certainly wouldn't complain if it were the case. PC emulators have supported online play for quite some time (though undoubtedly illegally so) though it's been problematic at best. This could be a real boon for the Wii - a properly integrated system that rises above what's offered by emulators, with an online community and scoring system a la Xbox Live...
The IT section of The Australian (of all the places) has a nib that focuses on third-party support for Nintendo. Doesn't really contain all that much info apart from stating the obvious that there really are quite a few third-party companies out there making Wii (and DS, I guess) games, but it's thought provoking nonetheless. Nintendo were renowned for their distaste for third-party interaction back in the days of yore, but they certainly seem to have picked up their game in recent years. Red Steel, Rayman, Elebits... these are just three of the many third-party games for the Wii that seem decent. Of course there are some generic ones (GT Pro Series, anyone?) but that's to be expected. On the list of games that are exclusive to the Wii, too, there is quite a high percentage of non-Nintendo investiture. How will this continue in the future? Will Nintendo drop the ball again? Or will the Wii's third-party market become as strong as, say, Sony's (for the PS2/3)? Only time will tell, I think.
Can't find a Nintendo-branded component cable for your shiny new Wii in the shops? Oh well, that's no problem... make your own! It looks a little chaotic, though... the mad scientist in me would've used a length of ethernet cable and some soldering to cheat and convert a composite cable into a component one. Or, most likely, it'd turn out poorly. Very poorly.
Kotaku, in their infinite kindness, have a mirror of the Wii Sports cover that was released (by Nintendo themselves, I think?) a while ago on the 'net. Now, you don't get a real DVD case and cover for Wii Sports when it's shipped with the console, only a paper sleeve. For the obsessive-compulsive amongst us, though, this cover, when printed out, gives some semblance of consistency to your ever-growing library of Wii games.
OK, so this is a slightly odd video. Rabbits cooking turkey in a laundromat, and then dancing. Sounds like some great fun. Raving Rabbids is going to be one of the titles I pick up at launch, just for the crazy mini-game aspect of it.
That's it for now, but expect a post tomorrow, if not later tonight.
Thanks, folks!
So, the Wii has been released in the US, just in time for Thanksgiving and Black Friday sales periods. And this site pretty much missed all of the hype and launch-day antics, such as they were.
But I'm definitely going to at least attempt to count down the remaining fortnight til the Wii's Australian launch, then go absolutely crazy in a torrent of reviews and whatnot. For now though, here are some snippets of news courtesy of Kotaku, Joystiq and GoNintendo... the Nintendo Associated Press, by another name:
Kotaku's latest post is a GameVideos snippet, on the creation of Celebrity Miis... Hitler, Jesus, Iwata. Even poor ol' Jack Thompson makes an appearance, though I'm sure he'd say that Raving Rabbids promotes gross animal violence.
Joystiq, as one may expect, have a highy speculative article on possible 'enhancements' for Virtual Console games. Rather than being bug fixes for old games, they think, the enhancements will be more along the lines of online multiplayer capability for the Mariokarts and other games we've come to love. Seems a bit far-fetched to me, but I certainly wouldn't complain if it were the case. PC emulators have supported online play for quite some time (though undoubtedly illegally so) though it's been problematic at best. This could be a real boon for the Wii - a properly integrated system that rises above what's offered by emulators, with an online community and scoring system a la Xbox Live...
The IT section of The Australian (of all the places) has a nib that focuses on third-party support for Nintendo. Doesn't really contain all that much info apart from stating the obvious that there really are quite a few third-party companies out there making Wii (and DS, I guess) games, but it's thought provoking nonetheless. Nintendo were renowned for their distaste for third-party interaction back in the days of yore, but they certainly seem to have picked up their game in recent years. Red Steel, Rayman, Elebits... these are just three of the many third-party games for the Wii that seem decent. Of course there are some generic ones (GT Pro Series, anyone?) but that's to be expected. On the list of games that are exclusive to the Wii, too, there is quite a high percentage of non-Nintendo investiture. How will this continue in the future? Will Nintendo drop the ball again? Or will the Wii's third-party market become as strong as, say, Sony's (for the PS2/3)? Only time will tell, I think.
Can't find a Nintendo-branded component cable for your shiny new Wii in the shops? Oh well, that's no problem... make your own! It looks a little chaotic, though... the mad scientist in me would've used a length of ethernet cable and some soldering to cheat and convert a composite cable into a component one. Or, most likely, it'd turn out poorly. Very poorly.
Kotaku, in their infinite kindness, have a mirror of the Wii Sports cover that was released (by Nintendo themselves, I think?) a while ago on the 'net. Now, you don't get a real DVD case and cover for Wii Sports when it's shipped with the console, only a paper sleeve. For the obsessive-compulsive amongst us, though, this cover, when printed out, gives some semblance of consistency to your ever-growing library of Wii games.
OK, so this is a slightly odd video. Rabbits cooking turkey in a laundromat, and then dancing. Sounds like some great fun. Raving Rabbids is going to be one of the titles I pick up at launch, just for the crazy mini-game aspect of it.
That's it for now, but expect a post tomorrow, if not later tonight.
Thanks, folks!
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