Nintendo Wii Fanboy

Boogie just looks like good, clean dancin' fun and we're really excited about giving it a try, particularly after seeing this new video of ... well, video! Specifically, the video-making function in the forthcoming EA title. Looks very easy to use, and the results are pretty spiffy. Seems that impressions from the Nintendo Media Summit were on target -- Boogie is ready to get down. Now if only we could speed ahead to August!

Every Tuesday, Mike Sylvester brings you REVOLUTIONARY, a look at the wide world of Wii possibilities.

In the coming weeks, I'll be detailing the process of writing a GlovePIE script, from concept, through testing, to completion. You will see that it's not so tough to get something running, and I hope you'll also get a better understanding of the mechanics of the hardware inside the Wii Remote and its accessories.

This time around, I'll be deconstructing the simplest of the GlovePIE scripts I've written to date, but also one of the most rewarding -- Alien Hominid.

Dude, so we were playing some Alien Crush, and we killed the bonus stage with the dragons over and over again. We totally scored like five billion points and it was so AWESOME that we had to call everyone we knew and tell them about it.

Okay, we're embellishing a bit. When we say we "totally scored like five billion points," we mean that we "continue to be awful at Alien Crush despite playing and loving it for eighteen years." But without our humble admission, you'd have no reason to doubt us! And that leads into our discussion.

Simply put, we want leaderboards. We aren't going to get online play in VC games any time soon (or ever,) so we'll ask for the next best thing. We want to be able to see the high scores for games that, you know, have scores. We don't need prizes or anything. We'd be motivated enough by the idea that we could put our three-letter tag (mine: JC!) at the top of a nationwide or worldwide list if we were any good, which we aren't.

Are high score leaderboards worth doing? Do you see value in friendly competition like this? Or did you always flip right past the high score page in old gaming magazines? Perhaps most importantly, what are your high score initials?

Sega, who you may know is responsible for those games starring that Sonic fellow, has announced a new game for the Wii. Alien Syndrome, a fast-paced RPG set in a sci-fi universe, is to offer a single-player campaign, as well as a co-op multiplayer mode allowing up to four players to take part in the game's single-player campaign.

No screenshots for the game have been released, as well as concept art, but we do know that the game stars Aileen Harding, Earth Command Trooper. As she traverses through several battlefields - including infected space ships and aline planets - utilizing 20 different weapons and a variety of different abilities.

Nintendo promised something like ten a month, but at this rate, we'll be seeing sixteen. Nintendo dropped yet another four vintage goodies on us at noon EST today, and here are the pickings:

• Ice Hockey (NES) - a much-loved hockey sim that, unfortunately, is beginning to show its age. Where is the ever-revered NHL '94 for SNES?
• Gunstar Heroes (Sega Genesis) - If Jack Thompson had been as retarded in 1993 as he is now, he'd certainly have gone after this game. Much-lauded for its frenetic and gleeful gut-ripping gameplay, GH is considered one of Sega's best games. Check this 2-D shooter out.
  
• Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine (Sega Genesis) - some beans are falling, or something, and you have to match them...whatever. We got Columns last week, didn't we?
• Alien Crush (TG-16) - a rather odd pinball-sim involving scary aliens with a multitude of eyes. If you're into the pinball scene, go for it, if not, settle for some extraterrestrial orange soda. (Zing!)

We still, of course, anxiously await the previous announced Toe Jam and Earl. We wantsssss it!