Nintendo Wii Fanboy

I should preface this by saying I'm not a huge Cooking Mama fan. Sure, she's great and all, but preparing fake food often held a spot in my heart next to making real food. I'm just no good at either activity. But, that isn't to say that Cooking Mama: World Kitchen isn't better by leaps and bounds than its predecessor.

Well, we heard the news not too long ago. Cooking Mama: World Kitchen is getting down to serious business, with updated 3D graphics and sophisticated moton controls. Hooray, huzzah -- too often have we wished the Wiimote to be a spatula for flipping burgers. Why enjoy the sight, smell and taste of cooking real burgers when you can do it without all those sensory annoyances?

Yes, it's always fun to laugh at "life" simulation games (even if this life is a cartoon featuring big-head Mamas and cooking scores). The real truth, though, is that Cooking Mama games are usually pretty fun, and the fresh new gallery shows a pretty decent look at the upcoming Wii installment. Bon appetit!

[Via press release]

According to a press release sent out by Majesco today, Cooking Mama: World Tour is going to represent a significant revamp of (formerly Office Create) Cooking Mama Limited's signature cooking game series. Mysteriously, the press release describes an "upgrade to full 3D graphics." Yes, that means that Mama has gone 3D. It also means that the game's view has flipped: instead of playing in first person, you now look directly at your avatar as he cooks.

For the first time, you'll be able to control Mama herself in spontaneous minigames, as she rushes in to fix your mistakes -- for example, she can catch mis-flipped burgers in her apron. "Additional rhythm and motion" has also been added to the main Wiimote-based gameplay. Whatever that means, at least Cooking Mama Limited is taking steps to avoid stagnation.

[Screens at IGN]

Back in March, Majesco quietly announced a new Wii Cooking Mama game called Cooking Mama: World Kitchen, to be released in fiscal 2008. We haven't heard or seen anything about it from Majesco since, but GameFly is providing evidence that the game is on the way, having just listed the game in their "Coming Soon" area with a release date of October 30.

The Cooking Mama series continues to make tons of money for Majesco, allowing them to fund some interesting games. In addition, it's hard to imagine something as basic as motion-based food preparation getting stale, so we say bring 'em on.

Amazon has had some odd "Deal of the Day" sales lately, and today's deal (a Wii Madcatz component cable) is no exception. If you're in need of a component cable for your Wii, though, it might be worth getting. While many of you are often hesitant to buy non-Nintendo accessories, the customer reviews for this cable are overwhelmingly positive. Also, at today's deal price of $10, the cable is almost $20 less than the Nintendo brand one.

Also of note is that Cooking Mama for the Wii is on sale at Amazon for $30. We know what you're thinking: "Wasn't Cooking Mama always $30?" The answer is no, but it should have been. The game is being sold through Target, however, which means you can't take advantage of Amazon's sweet free shipping. We're also not sure how long this deal will last, so if you're interested, we recommend jumping on it as soon as possible.

[Via CAG]

Read - Madcatz component cable
Read - Cooking Mama: Cook Off (Wii)

Everyone has an opinion about what makes a good game. You've got one, we've got one (or several, as there are several of us here), and the reviewers, they all have their own preferences, too. Sometimes, however, those opinions all just seem to coincide, and then we know a game is truly something special.

As part of our celebration of the first year of the Wii, we thought we would do a comparison of the best-reviewed games released for the system alongside our picks for the top games. Sometimes they overlap, but we slipped in a few extras that we feel just might be worth your time.

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

Thought of by many as the "Disney of video gaming," Nintendo has crafted themselves an image of family-friendly entertainment. But to certain generations and classes of gamers, the term "family-friendly" is synonymous with "kiddy," and immediately sparks disinterest. But ever since publishing Rare's Killer Instinct, they've been working on broadening the public's perspective. Trying to appeal to the bloodlust of the Mortal Kombat crowd didn't give them any headway, and as generations progressed and they've garnered more "mature-themed" titles, they still haven't been able to shake the "kiddy console" stigma.

Even after snagging the exclusivity to the Resident Evil series for a generation, Nintendo was largely overlooked by the Playstation-bred gamers that were brought up on the series. How much more will it take for Wii to be regarded as a platform that can satisfy the tastes of mature gamers?