This has to be one of the weirdest things we've come across in awhile, as the video above demonstrates the act of Tresling, which combines Tetriswith arm wrestling. We can't imagine how this idea sprung up in the mind of the inventors, but we wouldn't mind giving it a try ourselves. Of course, with our luck, the outcome would be one we can easily imagine: we'd participate, break our arm in sixteen places and never be able to hold a Wiimote again.
After Microsoft's brag-fest on Wednesday, during which Don Mattrick essentially declared the Xbox 360 as this generation's console winner, Nintendo made sure to strike back with a press release of their own.
Mattrick's exact words were, "History has shown us that the first company to reach ten million in console sales wins the generation battle. We are uniquely positioned to set a new benchmark for the industry."
Nintendo's response: "Oh no he didn't," followed by some snapping and a "talk to the hand" gesture.
In all seriousness, Nintendo replied to the comment in a more subtle manner. The company just released a press release to gloat over its success in April's NPD, casually stating in the process that over 9.5 million Wiis have sold in the U.S. In case you haven't noticed, 9.5 and 10 million aren't all that far apart, so Nintendo is trying to stop Microsoft from marking its proverbial territory just yet. Since the Wii outsold Microsoft's system 4:1 last month, many analysts are even predicting that the little white console will overtake the 360 some time soon.
So, which PR tactic do you enjoy more? The in-your-face, Mattrick approach, or the sublte "by the way, we're right behind you" statement from Nintendo?
Konami and Hudson both spilled the beans on two major WiiWare titles, Critter Round-Up and Star Soldier R, informing us that they will be available for download on Monday. As you all know, we're dying to get our hands on Hudson's shmup and were disappointed to not see it at the WiiWare launch.
So, what about the Virtual Console? It's possible that VC fans could get the shaft again this Monday, however in Japan Nintendo has been known to release Virtual Console games alongside WiiWare games on the same day. We'll just have to wait and see, we suppose.
Who's anxious to try out Critter Round-Up and/or Star Soldier R?
The gap between Wii and PSP sales is slowly but surely decreasing, making us wonder if the Wii might be able to overtake Sony's handheld once the Monster Hunter hype dies down:
PSP: 89,884
Wii: 67,308
Nintendo DS: 51,228
PlayStation 2: 7,464
Xbox 360: 1,298
Yet, the true triumph for the Wii last week was in software. Nintendo scored big all-around, but the Wii claimed six of the top ten spots in the chart. Keep in mind, though, that all the Wii games that made it to the top thirty are first-party titles, with the exception of Deca Sports.
In other news, Smash Bros. Brawl managed to hop up five spots, showing us that it won't be disappearing any time soon. Meanwhile, Mario Kart is inching nearer to Brawl's total sales, making it a close race between the two games. To see how they're currently fairing against each other, just click past the break.
For a while, we've been hearing that EA planned to support the Balance Board in the sequel to their rhythm game Boogie. According to Cubed3, NGamer magazine is reporting that this functionality has been confirmed for Boogie Superstar, possibly to add difficulty for toddlers. What is interesting is that, if NGamer's description of the game as a "board-based dance-a-thon" is accurate, Balance Board support may be more than just an optional extra.
It's no surprise that EA is supporting the new controller: their recently-announced Skate It simulates a skateboard with the Board, and there's some kind of exercise game on the way that will use it extensively. But if EA really is building a sequel to an existing (if somewhat unloved) franchise that requires $90 hardware the previous game didn't, they must really like Wii Fit money the Balance Board.
Two new characters (here and here) have been revealed for those of us here in North America in Capcom's upcoming golf title, We Love Golf. While it would appear one of those characters is Morrigan, from the Darkstalkers games, that's actually just a costume on one of the new characters (so we guess this is the result of that poll?). There's also another costume that allows the other new character to dress up as Ken.
Check out the new characters in our gallery below, which has been updated with over 20 new screens from the game.
Hidden deep within Matt Casamassina's eyes-on preview of Sonic Unleashed on the PS3 and 360 is the news that the Sonic TeamDimps-developed Wii version would not only support a Wiimote/nunchuk combination, but also the GameCube controller, and possibly the Classic controller.
Being the outrageous cynics that we are, we initially suspected this meant we'd be getting a downgraded port of the PlayStation 3/Xbox 360 game, but Casamassina also points out that the stages in the Wii iteration are "very different." So now we don't know what to think -- heck, maybe Dimps just believes the game feels nicer with the Cube controller.
Thanks to Famitsu, we now know a little more about how the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya dancing game works. It'll feature the Hare Hare Yukai dance, of course, but it will also feature new dances! Dancing through the main game will unlock options for the "free mode," including costumes, locations, and songs. In free mode, you can play the song of your choice. This is also where the three-player multiplayer is available. This mode is also being touted as enabling exercise, though we don't know if that means some kind of exercise/health-related (calorie count, etc.) will be included. It is also currently unknown whether the two remaining SOS Brigade members will be playable, but they're male and therefore a low priority.
The SOS Brigade icon in the corner of the screen reads "Action!" to alert players to the start of a stage. The life bar starts at full and decrements along with missed movements. Moves are to be performed while move icons are inside a generous red bar, which makes the game look fairly easy.
Looking over this week's releases, we're pretty dead set on wanting to get some quality time in with Deca Sports (previewing it got us intrigued). Sure, there's We Ski, but until the Balance Board releases (well, until Wii Fitreleases, we should say), we're not down with it. Almost all of the appeal for us is the Balance Board support, but, hey, maybe we're alone in that.
So what will you all be playing this weekend? Checking out WiiWare titles? Got another game you've been working on? Picking up one of this week's releases? Interested in Deca Sports, like us?
Well, you should all be used to this by now. Sound the trumpets and all that, Nintendo dominated the U.S. market yet another month, proving Pachter's prediction right. Even though that Grand Theft Auto IV game released in April, Mario Kart Wii was still in the running. But, before we get to software sales, we should probably check the hardware charts.
Remember when your family used to put one night of the week aside to play board games, so that you'd grow closer to one another amongst bouts of innocent fun and mayhem? Yeah, neither do we. Hasbro does, though, which is why the company is bringing six of its most popular board games to the Wii, in one small package.
Called Family Game Night (not to be confused with Wii Fanboy's Game Night), this title includes the following classics:
Sorry! Sliders (who wants to tell EA and Hasbro that this doesn't count as a "sixth" game?)
We know that going digital is the wave of the future, but is anyone else slightly against the entire "board games turned video games" genre? Call us old-fashioned, but when we cheat at Battleship, we want to cheat with style -- not by looking at a TV screen.
If you think differently, though, keep an eye out for Family Game Night, which will hit European Wiis this fall.
This current Hanabi Festival is proving a treat for shmup fans. Of the ten games released so far under the Hanabi banner, half have been shooters, including the two released today, Japan-only pair Star Parodier (in which you can use Bomberman or a giant PC Engine as a ship!) and Gley Lancer. They're joined this VC Friday by Digital Champ Battle Boxing.
Oh, and fun fact: the name Gley Lancer was (allegedly) supposed to be "Grey Lancer," but ended up as Gley Lancer due to a pronunciation error (the Japanese language can't tell the difference between the English "r" and "l" sounds). Either that, or we've just been duped into believing a rather racist joke.
Gley Lancer -- Mega Drive -- 900 Wii Points
Star Parodier -- TurboGrafx-16 -- 900 Wii Points
Digital Champ Battle Boxing -- TurboGrafx-16 -- 700 Wii Points
We don't normally see any reason to post rumors from the GameFAQs forum, but this time there's a magazine scan involved, so that's ... marginally more plausible. GameFAQs poster Saikobooru found a blurb in the Swedish magazine Gamereactor (or at least a convincing-ish fake of a scan from Gamereactor) stating that, like other Sega classics NiGHTS, The House of the Dead, and Sega Bass Fishing, Shenmuewill make a return appearance on the Wii.
According to this rumor, the new Shenmue will be more like the House of the Dead on Wii than NiGHTS: in other words, ported versions of the two games rather than a new game, with some new minigames added. And now you can commence the inevitable debate about whether Shenmue is boring or the best game ever.
Don't forget that in our latest Virtually Free, we've got a copy of LostWinds up for grabs for one lucky reader! Want a crack at it? Just head over to the original post and get your comment in. Remember, you can enter once per day, so you've got several more chances before the entries close.
Patent infringement can sure be expensive (although $21 million is probably just chump change for Nintendo these days). In any case, Nintendo will have to pay up, since the company was found guilty of the crime by a federal jury.
The issue stems from the technology in the Wavebird, Classic, and GameCube controllers, which led Anascape Ltd. to sue Nintendo in 2006. Anascape also named Microsoft in the suit, but the two companies reach a settlement before the case went to trial.
Nintendo will be appealing the decision, though, in the hopes that the sum will at least be reduced.
For a while, we've been hearing that EA planned to support the Balance Board in the sequel to their rhythm game Boogie. According to Cubed3, NGamer magazine is reporting that this functionality has been confirmed for Boogie Superstar, possibly to add difficulty for toddlers. What is interesting is that, if NGamer's description of the game as a "board-based dance-a-thon" is accurate, Balance Board support may be more than just an optional extra.
6.8K (0.94%)
This current Hanabi Festival is proving a treat for shmup fans. Of the ten games released so far under the Hanabi banner, half have been shooters, including the two released today, Japan-only pair Star Parodier (in which you can use Bomberman or a giant PC Engine as a ship!) and Gley Lancer. They're joined this VC Friday by Digital Champ Battle Boxing. 
Patent infringement can sure be expensive (although $21 million is probably just chump change for Nintendo these days). In any case, Nintendo will have to pay up, since the company was found guilty of the crime by a federal jury.
