We think we've underestimated Xbox 360 gamers. Not that we didn't hold them in high regard, but we just assumed that they were all humans. We don't know how anyone can play Geometry Wars and see what's going on through all the sparks and particle effects. It must require a feat of concentration just to track your own ship on the screen. We could barely play Bangai-O on the Dreamcast, and this is like Bangai-O with everything made of sparks.
Wii gamers are going to get extra complexity in Geometry Wars: Galaxies, since we'll have to track not only our ship but also the Wiimote-controlled aiming reticle. It's like training your brain! Also, oooooh pretty.
As you can probably tell from the image above, this sort of project wouldn't be safe in the hands of a wiring novice. Wii-FTW forum admin Sir CRX hacked his Wiimote and Xbox controller to accept bluetooth commands, sending them to his 360 console. The mod doesn't yet incorporate any of the remote's "waggle" functions and only supports four of its buttons, but Sir CRX has hinted that there will be updates and a possible tutorial coming soon. Head past the post break for video of the cross-console controller in use.
Posted May 22nd 2007 1:55PM by JC Fletcher Filed under: News
It's not quite hard numbers showing combined Wii/360 ownership, and it's not quite ZOMG WII60 CONFIRMED TOTAL, but we'll take anything that suggests that the Wii may be awesome. According to a survey conducted by Magid Media from March 20th to the 27th, Xbox 360 owners are somewhat more likely to be interested in buying a Wii because of their 360 ownership.
66% of surveyed 360 owners indicated that they were "neutral or more likely to buy a Wii because they now own an Xbox 360." Compare that to the 52% who were "neutral or more likely to buy a PlayStation 3." 19% of 360 owners were "somewhat or much more likely" to buy a Wii.
Wii owners, strangely, were slightly more positive about Sony's system than Microsoft's: 53% were "neutral or more likely to buy a PlayStation 3 because they now own a Wii", versus 44% of Wii owners who felt the same way about the 360.
We think we may have spotted a subtle troll in Gamasutra's writeup: "Results for PlayStation 3 owners buying other consoles were not disclosed in the survey results, presumably because the sample size was below Magid's acceptable levels." Either that's a joke at the PS3's expense, or reality is a joke at the PS3's expense.
Seeing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game on the ESRB's list of upcoming Virtual Console titles should bring joy to our nostalgia-ruled hearts, but we're finding it hard to not be pessimistic about this particular release. We've put more hours into Konami's beat'em up than you can shake a bo staff at, so it's not the actual game that we have problems with.
No, it's just outright jealousy over the XBLA port of the arcade version. While we're stuck with 8-bit graphics and support for only two players, the 360's turtle fans have the original cut scenes, arcade graphics, and online co-op for up to four players! Inconceivable! To add insult to injury, we might have to shell out 600 Wii points for the NES game instead of the usual 500 because of licensing issues. If that'll be the case, we would actually be spending more than what 360 gamers are paying!
We can at least find solace in the NES version's extended levels, extra stages, and Pizza Hut advertising. Also, TMNT II wasn't the only new ninja release spotted on the ESRB's Virtual Console catalog. Ninja Gaiden, Tecmo's 1989 platformer, will also be stabbing its way onto the Wii. Let's see the Xbox try to top us with a game like that! Oh wait...
Just when you thought you were done with all those pesky 'best of 2006' lists, Engadget offers one you might actually care about -- peripheral of the year. As you might have guessed, the Wii remote is one of the options, and just like Reggie, it seems to be kicking ass and taking names. Voting ends April 15th, and it's just one vote per person, so if you'd like to go help let everyone know that the Wii controller is way cooler than the 360's HD DVD drive, get voting.
We sort of feel sorry for the other entrants. Look the Mighty Mouse is cool and all (it's so smooth!), but there's nothing like your Wii remote. Well, except perhaps your remote, but until you're using that to get your Zelda on, we don't want to hear about all that.
If we're to believe Dustin Wilson's assurances, the mischief above wasn't a product of Photoshop or any other methods of internet chicanery. He actually scribbled the Wii endorsement onto the Xbox 360 display boxes with a white paint marker while one of the game shop's employees was distracted.
This episode of When Keeping it Wii Goes Wrong was created as an entry for the EvWiiwhere Challenge hosted by N+, a MyOpera community for Nintendo fans. The contest called for readers to take pictures of the word "Wii" spelled out in unconventional ways, but we're sure this wasn't what the site had in mind. We might have our gripes with all the Electronics Boutiques and GameStops out there, but vandalizing other people's property just isn't cool, especially when it's at the expense of a worker who's just doing her job.
But who knows, maybe this sort of joke will catch on with other retailers? If you think about it, this would be a great way to promote the Xbox 360 to customers inside the shop, while at the same time catching the interest of people outside who see the storefront's Wii wisecrack. It's genius!
Posted Mar 20th 2007 10:00AM by JC Fletcher Filed under: News
NOA President Reggie Fils-Aime, ever the iconoclast, had some choice words for the San Jose Mercury News about the success of the Xbox 360 in Europe. In effect, he claimed that the 360's success in Europe is localized to the UK, while the Wii is (obviously!) doing great across the continent.
Reggie also slyly wrote off the early (and not so early) strap issues, while blaming consumer ignorance for the few known cases. He said that the strap was originally meant to be a backup safety measure in case the controller slipped out of players' hands, but many users got too rough with their controllers and put excessive force into their motions. Of course, Nintendo has been kind enough to replace the straps.
It looks like the analysts are coming down on our side at last. IDC, a research firm based out of Massachusetts, has come out in favor of a Wii lead over the next two years.
This talk of Sony and Microsoft fighting it out over the core market while Nintendo works (successfully) to expand that market sounds like a lot of those reports we heard last year -- the reports that were predicting another third place finish from Nintendo. The wild card? No one knew exactly how successful the Wii would be at breaking into new markets, and when it comes to the analysts, it looks like that success is turning the tide back in favor of Nintendo.
Looks like Peter Moore's homage to the Wii has started the wheels of speculation in motion. Our comrades over at 360 Fanboy are considering the possibilities for Microsoft outside of the realm of casual games.
Moore did make the point about the Wii being about an experience, after all, so the idea that Microsoft might go the motion route isn't too far-fetched. And it's not like Microsoft never "borrowed" anything before (wink, wink). But like many, we're uncertain that we'll see motion-sensitive controls on the 360. Likely, Microsoft will try something entirely new, but the possibilities there are so widespread that we're not even sure how to start. Let's just hope any extras are cheaper than some we've seen in the past.
We know many of you are proudly sporting the Wii60 badge, so we wanted to ask you what you thought. Can anyone do what the Wii does, and should anyone even try?
We talked about this a little recently, since it's hard to discuss the Wii60 phenomenon without invoking the PS3, but we wanted to spend some time directly addressing the "fight" between the Wii and Sony's PS3. It's something that has often been invoked by both industry sources and the mainstream media. Journalists of all stripes have been consistently pitting the two systems against one another since long before they were actually released, while the Xbox 360 -- though a next gen console -- is often left out in the cold due to its head start. An article in yesterday's New York Times put the spotlight on the head-to-head "console war" and we thought it was time to ask you guys what you thought. Is it accurate to pit the Wii and the PS3 against one another? Is this generation a typical console war in any sense? Are you sick of hearing about the forgotten piles of PS3s filling stores, while the Wii shelves lie empty and dormant? And is it even accurate to ask, as the Times did, which one readers prefer?
[Thanks to Max for tipping us on the NYT article!]
Spawned as the gamer's answer to the price of the PS3, or out of spite and anger toward Sony fanboys (depending on who you ask), the Wii60 "movement" isn't something we've much discussed around here, though sometimes it's a good excuse to talk about the mountain of awesome that is Reggie Fils-Aime. Regardless of how you feel about the neologism created to define those who own both a 360 and a Wii in favor of a PS3, we are curious about how many of our readers are living the definition. What's hooked into your television, and why have you chosen the consoles that you own? Let us know in the comments.
[Thanks to Christopher for supplying his Wii60 image!]
And then Elvis came and denounced the horoscopes, and then Sony made a good PR move. No, folks, astrology is total crap, but that didn't stop some hotshot from making an entertaining article using lots of silly-sounding terms like "synastry" and "radix". Who's destined to come out on top?
As it turns out, Sony has its celestial bodies in order for the coming year. The 360 is decent, but the worst? My goodness, it's the Nintendo Wii. Apparently, the Wii's residence within Scorpio denotes permanence. This clashes with their "active" gaming philosophy, thus creating an unfavorable situation for the company in the future.
The PS3, looking hotter than the Wii? Now we know astrology is fake.
We may not be diehard Xbox fans, but that doesn't mean we can't appreciate it when they start dressing up like bunnies. A reader was kind enough to tip us off on this great competition on a German Xbox fansite that ended up with a couple of folks looking like extras from RaymanRaving Rabbids. We can totally get behind anything that produces pictures like these, especially when the Wiimote makes a cameo.
Remember that guy, the self-professed non-gamer who hated the Wii, but liked the Wii, but hated the Wii? Yeah, the flip-flopper. Well, that guy just got pwned by one of his own colleagues, who has been reading right along with the masses. And in response, he scoffs, "there's one difference between Stan and me on the Wii: I've played it."
Ouch. That looks like it could use a little burn cream right there.
ITWire's Alex Zaharov-Reutt got his hands on the Wiimote at a press event, and he scoffs at Stan Beer's ignorant commentary. After all, is it graphics that make a "serious console?" No. It's fun, and the Wii is damned serious about fun. Like so many others, he praises the versatility and immersion of the control scheme, and even has props for the graphics -- maybe they aren't up to the standards of the 360 and the PS3, but they're still visually appealing. What's important is that it plays well, and he believes that it will be a hit among all sorts of gamers. And that's the informed opinion.
In honor of certainevents and just 'cause it's Friday (aw yeah), we thought we'd cap off the week with a little something that turned up on YouTube. We never felt so close to Microsoft before.
Now, this doesn't mean we condone the Sony haters -- but we totally approve of console fusion with a dash of Blur, and anything that ends on Solid Snake's cardboard box is okay in our book. Classic.
