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EA Sports Family Play Makes It Easier To Play Madden, NBA Live, And FIFA

Posted by Chris Pereira Categories: Casual, Electronic Arts, Nintendo, Sports, Wii,

Most gamers that play sports games, either casually or hardcore, have certainly run into the problem of attempting to explain complex controls to a friend – which usually results in your friend QB scrambling or shooting half court jumpers each time he or she gets the ball. But the new Family Play feature, which is debuting in this year’s Wii versions of Madden 08, NBA Live 08 and FIFA 08, is aiming to make it easier for youngsters or game novices to jump in and play against friends and family who would otherwise wipe the floor with the competition.

When playing, you can choose either Advanced or Family Play. The former allows you to make use of both the Wiimote and Nunchuk, while the latter assists the player in-game and requires them to use only the Wiimote. Family Play users will control only the key actions, like shooting, passing, throwing, etc. And by simply plugging in a Nunchuk, someone playing with the Family Play style can easily try out Advanced mode.

This sounds like a truly fantastic idea – sports games have a huge market, especially Madden, and by opening the floodgates and allowing for an otherwise complicated game to be played by most anyone, EA Sports is poised to make quite a bit more money, while also allowing gamers to begin experiencing a new genre.

Get Cooking With These Wiimote Extensions

Posted by Lolita Beckwith Categories: Accessories, Toys, Video Games,

If you’re a Nintendo Wii owner, you’re probably familiar with Wii-mote tennis racket, baseball bat and golf club extensions, to help make your Wii Sports experience even more realistic—or nuttier—depending on your point of view. Now comes a frying-pan and eating utensils version, presumably for the Cooking Mama fanatic. We think it’s a bit much, yet at the same time we’re secretly wondering if a Trauma Center version of scalpels and forceps is in the works. But let’s just keep that between us. Available for $13 USD.

Update: Colored Wiimotes on the Way?

Posted by Lolita Beckwith Categories: Rumors, Video Games,

So we recently reported a rumor that Nintendo will release cool-colored Wiimotes later this year. We now have an update! The photo you see is—allegedly—a SKU from British retailer Argos for a Blue Wiimote. Rumor also has it that Blue’s wildly popular sibling Pink is the other color to get the Wiimote treatment. We’re still waiting to hear from our fave, Black, who was unavailable for comment as press time. We’re hoping Nintendo will put this and other Wii rumors to rest at the E3 Conference next month. We will be there in full effect to bring you all the latest.

Play Smash Bros. Brawl With Four Different Controllers

Posted by Chris Pereira Categories: Fighting, Nintendo, Wii,

If you haven’t already heard, then you’ll be excited to know that in addition to the previously-confirmed GameCube controller compatibility that Smash Bros. Brawl will feature, you’ll also have three other controller options: Wiimote + Nunchuk, Wiimote turned on its side, or the Classic Controller. This was confirmed on the official Smash Bros. DOJO!! website on Friday, and while details weren’t included, we can infer a few things based upon this news. The fact that the Wiimote only has the 1, 2 and A buttons on its face that are within easy reach (I doubt gameplay itself would require any use of the + or – buttons) and the B trigger underneath, the controls will have to be fairly simple. The news post alludes to more news coming on how exactly the controls will work with the Wiimote, but expect some sort of motion control to be involved. It’ll be interesting to see how the different control schemes mesh with one another.

CNN Claims Wiimote Features “Audio Translator”

Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Culture, Music, Rumors, Wii,

Fortune Wii Cover To go along with Fortune magazine’s recent article on the Wii (see here), CNN.com has posted an online look at the components that make-up the Wii Remote. While it’s meant to give business-type folks a feel for just how much it costs to make the little gadget, it features an interesting bit of information. According to their disassembly, the Wii Remote features an “Audio Translator” which “converts analog data such as human speech into a digital data stream”.

Whu?! Admittedly, mainstream news sources often don’t get their videogame information exactly right, so this could all just be a misprint or misunderstanding on the part of CNN/Fortune Magazine. Still, rumors of the Wii remote featuring or using a microphone of some sort have been floating around for a long time, so we’d be somewhat unsurprised if this tidbit just happened to be true. But given Nintendo’s tight hold on new information, we may not learn anything more about this new feature for quite some time…

Click the jump to see a screencap of the new info…

Click to continue reading CNN Claims Wiimote Features “Audio Translator”

Google’s RSS Reader Now Wii-Compatible

Posted by Chris Pereira Categories: Internet, Nintendo, Wii, Wireless,

Nintendo wiimote Google Reader has always been a personal favorite of mine among online RSS readers. It’s light, is a part of your Google account, and works well – can’t really ask more than that. While porn and gaming sites have been quick to implement Wii-friendly versions of their sites in order to garner more traffic, Google has now done the same with their RSS reader.

4 Color Rebellion found the page, which has an adjusted resolution and improved functionality for the Wiimote. As Google says, “Google Reader can take advantage of the buttons on your Wiimote, letting you navigate easily from the comfort of your couch.” The controls are as follows:

up/down: scroll up/down
right/left: next/previous item
1 button: show subscriptions
2 button: show links

When showing subscriptions:

up/down: previous/next subscription
right: select current subscription
left: close
-/+: collapse/expand folder

The page can be found here. The number of reasons to actually move from the chair in front of you TV is dwindling.

Read More | Google Reader Wii via 4 Color Rebellion

Retractable Sports Cuff for the Wii-mote

Posted by Lolita Beckwith Categories: Accessories, Misc. Tech, Video Games,

Wii-mote Sports Cuff Think back, oh, 4-5 months ago, when all we heard about were Wii-motes flying out of gamers’ hands, destroying TV’s, lamps, loved ones, etc. Nintendo ~~relished the free publicity~~

responded by issuing stronger wrist straps for the remote, and in a press release, literally asked players to calm down. Well, whether you never received the new wrist strap, have kids or even grandparents playing the Wii, we direct you to the Retractable Wii Sports Cuff, which you wear on your wrist, while the other end attaches to the Wii-mote, retractable up to 13”. The cuff is made of comfortable neoprene and is adjustable. Not bad for only $6 USD, and we suspect you can use it to secure other valuable gadgets—like iPods and digital cameras—to your wrist. We especially love that the website seriously states “Wii not included” with the $6 strap. Shucks!

Yet Another Wiimote mod: The Glowing Nunchuk

Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Mods/Hacks, Screenshots, Wii,

First there was the the totally sweet glowing A Button, then there was the the multi-color glowing A Button mod. And now, we bring you the glowing Nunchuk mod.

How much longer can it be until some enterprising hacker unveils the multi-color glowing A Button AND Nunchuk mod which will no doubt drain the poor batteries in seconds? I’ll lay money on about 3 weeks…

Nerf Sports Pack for Nintendo Wii

Posted by Lolita Beckwith Categories: Accessories, Toys, Video Games,

As if playing Wii Sports wasn’t realistic enough, the folks at Performance Designed Products have taken it to the next level with the Nerf Sports Pack, introduced at the 2007 Toy Fair in New York last week. Included are foam attachments with that familiar Nerf feel that transform your “Wiimote” into a cushy tennis racket, baseball bat or golf club. Look for it this summer, retailing between $15 and $30 USD. Who says playing it safe can’t be fun?

The Industrial Wiibot

Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Hardware, Mods/Hacks, Wii,

It looks like someone has found yet another use for Nintendo’s Wiimote: controlling an industrial robot. A couple of engineers at USMechatronics put together a software control program that let them control a Kuka KR16 industrial robot. Unfortunately, time limitations didn’t let them implement a real-time control scheme, but what they came up with is still pretty cool. Using existing PC driver software for the Wiimote and some custom VB.Net code, USM built a simple pattern recognition engine that would let the robot play back pre-recorded movements based on their similarity to the motions that the user would attempt with the Wiimote. The video shows off some of the results, some with a tennis racket mounted, and others with a sword. Handing a weapon to an industrial robot might just be how the robot revolution begins, but given the fact that other projects at the company include robotic sentry guns, it would appear that the company has ample methods to defend itself.

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