Nintendo Wii Fanboy

The game looks okay, and despite reservations, we're open to the idea ... but the video preview of DK Jet at Jeux France makes us wince in anticipated wrist pain. There's a whole lotta shakin' goin' on there, and we're not sure that's really a good thing. Bongos, at least, were a little easier on the arms. However -- the good folks at Jeux France do make the point that maximum shaking motion is only necessary to gain max speed at the beginning of a race, and if you're stopped or slowed by obstacles during the race. Once you've achieved maximum speed, with no interference, you have only to concentrate on the rest.

The long preview offers a nice walkthrough of the menus and gameplay (albeit in French; where's My French Coach when we need it?), and the game itself looks good. We'll just have to give the controls a try for ourselves at some point to see just how intense they really are.

Also, we really need to steal that plush Donkey Kong featured in the video.

We're still not clear on whether or not DK Jet will allow players to use their bongo peripherals, but even that might not be enough to save what looks like a half-hearted effort from developer Paon. The former GameCube title's official site has several videos illustrating its new control scheme with the Wii remote and nunchuck -- drum both to tear through the course at breakneck speeds of 30 mph, waggle with only one hand to veer right into a wall, and put them back down when you decide to play Mario Kart DS instead!

There are a lot of movies and sections at the site that haven't been revealed yet, so there's still plenty of opportunities for DK Jet to impress us before its June 28th release in Japan. If you listen to the ridiculous noises Donkey Kong makes with every jump, however, it sounds like the depressed groan of a gorilla who just wants to go home. Throw a barrel past the post break for one of the demonstration clips we grabbed.

Fresh screens have been scarce for Nintendo's upcoming GameCube-turned-Wii racer. Not only that, but the change in controls kind of have us a bit worried about the game. Maybe you don't think that way and have sat patiently, awaiting new information or screens to gawk at. Well, no information has come in, but at least now there are some screens.

Check them out over at N-Sider here.

These new screenshots of Nintendo's Gamecube-turned-Wii racer haven't completely alleviated our fears over its new control setup, but we're excited to see that animal-riding has been included! With the game's Japanese release date (6/28) only a few weeks away, we can look forward to seeing a lot more revealing previews and gameplay videos soon. Head past the post break for rhino-riding images from DK Bongo Blast.

In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Nintendo confirmed that they do in fact plan to release Super Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3 Corruption, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl by the end of this year, as well as pretty much every Nintendo game announced for the Wii. This corroborates an IGN report to the same effect, and is also totally, totally rad. Here's the full list of Nintendo's planned 2007 releases. Donkey Kong Taru Jet Race is slated for June 28, and the rest are all "2007":

• Donkey Kong Taru Jet Race
• Wii Health Pack
• Disaster: Day of Crisis
• Mario Party 8
• Project H.A.M.M.E.R.
  
• Wii Music
• Super Mario Galaxy
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl
• Battalion Wars II
• Forever Blue
• Mario Strikers Charged
• Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
• Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games

Keep checking with us for news of the inevitable delays of about half of these. Seriously, that's a lot of first-party Nintendo games for just half a year or so. Aw, we just made ourselves sad with our own skepticism. Still, if half of this stuff does get released in Japan this year, it'll be great news and do a pretty good job of ending any drought that may or may not be happening.

Update: fixed some italics and formatting.

It was obvious that Donkey Kong Bongo Blast would abandon the bongo peripheral when it migrated from the GameCube to the Wii, but details on how the racing game will use the Wii remote weren't revealed until late last week. Players will shake their remotes and nunchucks at the same time to accelerate, rattle one of the controllers when steering to the left or right, and lift both pieces to jump.

This modified control setup makes a lot of sense, but does it sound fun? In our opinion, this seems like it would have been better left on the GameCube. It'd be appreciated if developer Paon would give us the choice to use our old bongos, but with no mention of the option yet for the, it's doubtful.

Over at the IGN blogs, resident Nintendo dude Matt did away with rumors that Nintendo would utilize the bongos in Donkey Kong Bongo Blast (which we all know was due to go to the GameCube, yet yanked for the Wii later). Instead, Matt says we already have a pair of bongos in the Wiimote and nunchuk attachment. Makes sense ...

Will the exclusion of bongo use for Donkey Kong's next game kill the fun factor? Or will the Wiimote and nunchuk be a suitable replacement?