Gallery: Skate It
Balancing it in Skate It video
Active Life trailer: enjoy it with your family
We think we've figured out Active Life: Outdoor Challenge's niche. We know it differs from the 800-pound gorilla of Wii exercise games, Wii Fit, in that it's more game-based and less pure exercise activities. It also has a bit of an "adventure" setting. It also features activities like jumping that don't show up in Wii Fit, which may be better for aerobic exercise. Also it looks cute and fun.
But more important than any of that is the fact that, starting next week, Active Life will distinguish itself from Wii Fit in that you'll be able to find it in a store. Enjoy the latest trailer, which is one of the most toy-commercial-like of any game trailer we've seen. We think it's the narration.
Capcom talks more Dead Rising, inevitable questions ensue
We feel sorry for Capcom PR staff right now. Take Jason Allen here. His performance when talking about Dead Rising: Chop 'Til You Drop is as smooth and unruffled as they come, but somebody just had to wheel out the old, old question of zombie numbers, didn't they? Allen clearly knew it was coming -- he gives a wry smile as he answers -- but he does stumble a little. "[There will be] just as much, er, a satisfactory number of enemies on screen to fight off against," he replies. Fair enough.
Away from the issue of zombie quantity, Allen discusses how the game borrows Resident Evil 4's combat controls, a decision that was made because the Wii Remote worked so perfectly there; in fact, he notes, Dead Rising on the Wii will boast more firearms than the Xbox 360 game. Capcom is also restructuring the title so it's more appealing to the casual gamer set. All side quests are now incorporated into the main narrative, the rationale being that casual gamers are less likely to replay the game for the extra quests. That makes sense, and it doesn't really result in less content. It's just all squashed together in one whole now.
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Wii recovery mode discovered, allows console to run back-ups [update]
Apparently, there's a secret recovery mode within the Wii that can be accessed through a special GameCube memory card. What's the significance of this? Well, don't you read post titles? It allows the system to play back-ups.
There isn't much in the way of information regarding the process right now, but the deal seems to be that when this GameCube memory card is inserted into the system, with a unique ID signature present, it takes the Wii into recovery mode, allowing the user to run basically anything. We'll update you all with more information as it's made available.
Update: It appears the recovery mode is only good for fixing "certain bricked consoles." Oh well ...
[Via Engadget]
The homebrew community is doing nifty things with the Wii. Have you learned how to play DVDs on your console yet? Or read about the app that lets you play games from other regions? What about getting Goldeneye to run on Wii? Alternatively, you could just use homebrew to get your cheat on. 
Wii Music's air guitar
The eighth in the "Today's Instrument" series of Wii Music demonstration videos is one of the most iconic, recognizable instruments, and one that is the source of a lot of people's issues with Wii Music: the electric guitar. As we all know, in Guitar Hero you push buttons on a plastic guitar controller in time with musical cues. In Wii Music, you do this.
Perhaps if this one instrument weren't in the game, people wouldn't be as inclined to compare the two and judge Wii Music so harshly, since aside from the musical theme and the idea of simulating instruments, they're extremely different things? More likely they'd complain about the lack of electric guitar.
[Video uploaded by Balance Board Blog]
Stream some new SPRay videos
We're a bit conflicted about Tecmo's SPRay. On one side, we think that a game built around the concept of using fluids with various useful properties to cover terrain is a unique and fun idea for a platformer. In the above video, a thick coating of a sticky slime allows the player to walk upside down. However, this concept also lends itself to an overreliance on grossout humor, which would be kind of a shame in an inventive adventure game like this one. We hope nothing like that happens in this game.
After the break, a video in which ghost vomit is used to reveal invisible walkways.
DragonForce talks Guitar Hero vs real guitar, future games may include their tracks
DragonForce has gotten a lot of attention, thanks to their song "Through the Fire and Flames" being included in Guitar Hero 3. But, what about playing the game versus playing a real guitar? Well, they each require a lot of practice, so they have that in common, and they each have their benefits. Does one help with the other, though? It looks like we're not going to get that answer anytime soon.
The video does say that future Guitar Hero games may include DragonForce songs, but, sadly, the video isn't embeddable, so you'll have to head over to YouTube here to give it a watch.
[Via Go Nintendo]
Fragile trailer is more than solid
Fragile continues to look like the most atmospheric Wii title since Samus did her thing. This short trailer doesn't contain much in the gameplay department, but what is there has a really eerie ambience to it. The haunting tune that plays as the beam from Seto's flashlight crawls across these desolate environments is perfect.
The official Fragile blog still has this listed for a 2008 release in Japan, and producer Kentaro Kawashima has promised us there will soon be news of a release date. Then it's time to start crossing everything for a western localization!
Gallery: Fragile
[Via Nintendo Everything]
Harping on Wii Music
The latest Wii Music "Today's Instrument" video features a musical instrument most of us are quite unlikely to have at home, due to bigness, cost, and complicated upkeep: the harp. Of course, you won't have to worry about taking care of your Wii Music harp, because it doesn't exist! You also won't have to worry about retuning it because the temperature has changed since you played it. Or knowing how to play the harp.
Playing the harp as it appears in Wii Music is easy: all you do is perform Ocelot's signature hand gesture from Metal Gear Solid 3! You can make beautiful, otherworldly-sounding music and taunt Big Boss simultaneously!
Gallery: Wii Music
Rumor: Another Milestone shmup port on the way
Ultimate Shooting Collection will release in the U.S. later this month, but it might not be the last shmup port we see from Milestone. Sega's Illvelo / Illmatic Envelope is based on the NAOMI arcade system board (the Dreamcast was rife with NAOMI ports), and appeared earlier this year in Japanese arcades. Now, according to a Play-Asia listing, the Wii will be getting its own port on November 13th in Japan.
As you can see above, it looks pretty wacky, with cel-shaded levels populated by everything from giant cutlery to confectionery, a tongue-in-cheek approach that reminds us of Star Parodier. Presuming it does exist, will Illvelo Wii get localized? UFO Interactive helpfully picked up Ultimate Shooting Collection for the States, but that contained a wallet-pleasing three shmups -- as Illvelo will only feature one, a North American release looks less likely.
[Via Siliconera]
Space Invaders Get Even with Dinobots
The cybernetic sauropod seen at the end of this stirring Space Invaders Get Even! trailer may not be the genuine Grimlock, but it may as well be. Or is it more of a Mechagodzilla riff? In either case, it's just one of the overblown, yet futile, weapons the puny hu-mans wheel out in an effort to stop the inevitable Space Invasion.
We love pretty much everything about the concept of this game, from the division into bite-sized chunks to the way it changes the usual neatly-stacked Invader lines to swarming masses, adding even more to the inversion of the normal Space Invaders experience.
Gallery: Space Invaders Get Even!
Toy with science in WiiPhysics
If, like us, you spent hours gawking at Pocket Physics on the DS (or Crayon Physics, its predecessor on the PC), you'll know that it's one of the most time-consuming homebrew titles on the handheld. Sooner or later, it was inevitable that the homebrew community would spawn a Wii version, and homebrewer Beardface has answered the call with WiiPhysics. The video above is version 2.1 of the title, though it has since enjoyed a slight update, adding a two-player mode. Download it here!
[Via GBAtemp]
The homebrew community is doing nifty things with the Wii. Have you learned how to play DVDs on your console yet? Or read about the app that lets you play games from other regions? What about getting Goldeneye to run on Wii? Alternatively, you could just use homebrew to get your cheat on. Wii Music: A dancing robot plays the flute
As it turns out, holding your hands out in front of you like that and occasionally bending a little at the waist bears an uncanny resemblance to the average attempt at the Robot. She's a dance-dance dance-dance dancin' machine, inadvertently!
Gallery: Wii Music
Wii Music offers new opportunities for 'This one time, at band camp' stories
Wii Music won't only help you re-imagine yourself in a rock band; it will also enable you to live out your dream of playing in a marching band! Remember how you used to envy all the geeks performing during half-time shows at high school football games? Now you, too, can be one of them!
Nintendo also introduced two instruments with demonstration videos over the holiday weekend -- the violin, piano, and guitar. Unfortunately, it's hard to relate any of those music devices to band camp. Still, you can check out videos for them past the post break!
See also: Nintendo introduces Wii Music's instruments one at a time
Gallery: Wii Music
Continue reading Wii Music offers new opportunities for 'This one time, at band camp' stories
Mario Kart cheat allows unlimited blue shells
Apparently, we're late to the party on this one, as folks have been steaming mad over a hack that allows players to toss an infinite number of blue shells during online races. While the video above does not show you the code, it does show you the damage that can be done. We've got a solution, however. Play Mario Kart Wii with us at Game Night!
Having run Game Night for almost two years now, we can safely say nobody there cheats. We all enjoy multiplayer games together, the way they were meant to be played. So check it out!
[Thanks, Rengifo!]
A fan of Mario Kart Wii? Us too, especially the tournaments, which there have been quite a few of. To check out the previous tournaments, click here, here, here, here, here, and here. And if you fancy yourself a good karter, check out Game Night for some of the community's best competition.
