Nintendo Wii Fanboy

The Spore Creature Creator. PC enthusiasts have been enjoying the thing for a bit now, creating wild and imaginative creatures. Well, it's also been used to create other things, such as controllers and ... rabbids. We figured there must also be a vibrant Pokémon population thriving within the virtual walls of the editor, as well. And, sure enough, we found lots of fun and inspired Pokémon recreations. So click on the bottom-right button there to check out some of the Pokémon users have come up with!

EA held an event in Japan last week to reveal the new Sim City Creator as well as MySims Kingdom. GAME Watch has direct-feed screenshots of both games, which should satisfy any would-be fake city-builder, whether they want to build on the micro- or macro-scale, in the past or in the future. There are also plenty of stills from gameplay demos of both games. Of the two, we find ourselves more drawn to MySims Kingdom, which looks like an RPG town creator, and forces players to think low-tech, with puzzles like gear mechanisms that must be turned by the motion of a nearby river.

However, more than either of the actual games, we were impressed with the MySim costume used at the event. How can we build one of those?

If you've been checking some of your favorite game sites, there's a good chance you've already heard about Spore's September release date. Wii owners were kicked to the curb and left out in the cold after the announcement, though, which made no mention of the game's presence on Nintendo's newest home console.

We may not have a date, but thanks to N'Gai Croal, Wii owners have some tiny morsel details to nibble on. The good news is that these details make the Wii version sound like the most immersive of any, and not just because of the Wiimote. Okay, it's totally because of the Wiimote.

In a Newsweek interview with Will Wright, the Spore creator talks about the benefits of putting the game on the Wii. Apparently, Nintendo's system has a higher bandwith controller than the other consoles (and computers). Because of that, the creatures have the potential for an infinite number of animations. Wright also said that he has spent a lot of time working on even the most subtle aspects of the Wiimote controls, which makes us feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It's nice when the Wii's controller is used to its full potential, and not just as a gimmick.

Hopefully the Wii version will be as good as it sounds -- we'd hate to wait an extra long time, only to be disappointed. No pressure there, Mr. Wright ... no pressure at all.

Will "I love Wii" Wright, daddy of The Sims and Sim City, has revealed what we've all long suspected: Maxis is bringing life simulation Spore to the Wii. Wright didn't expand on when the Wii version would be ready, merely telling the Guardian that "We're doing Spore on the Wii." As many of you will know, a DS version is already in the works.

On an entirely unrelated note, turns out Wright is also something of a DS strategy fan. "With the exception of Advance Wars on my DS, there's no one game that I spend a huge amount of time playing," he said, managing to make us like him even more. Dude just loves his Nintendo.

Well, here's a change. Instead of putting the Wii on the level of last-gen consoles, which some developers have done recently, Will Wright believes that the Wii is the only console deserving of a "next-gen" title.

The Spore creator recently told CVG, "Somebody asked me what I thought next generation meant and what about the PlayStation 3 was next generation. The only next gen system I've seen is the Wii - the PS3 and Xbox 360 feel like better versions of the last, but pretty much the same game with incremental improvement." To Wright, next-gen consoles must reach a new demographic, which the Wii has done. Furthermore, it's Wright's Xbox 360 that sits unused, collecting dust, while his Wii gets played constantly.

We don't completely agree with Wright's assessment, since we think that the Xbox 360 and PS3 bring more than graphics to the table. Still, it's nice to hear a well-known developer praising the merits of the Wii rather than dismissing it because of its weaker graphics.

Even though its developers might not love the Wii, the game still has the likelihood to come to the Wii. During a closed-door session with the game at Leipzig, Maxis exec Patrick Buechener commented on the possibility of the game coming to consoles. "Not right now, but we see this as a franchise," he said, further adding "It just won't be at launch." Apparently, their resources are focused solely on the DS and PC versions, at the moment.

[Via Joystiq]

Gamefly has added Wii and DS listings for The Sims 2: Castaway Stories to its website. There's no official confirmation of the title yet from EA, who have only announced it for PC so far. As the title suggests, the game will offer a story mode featuring 'romance and dramatic twists.'

These games could work really well on DS and Wii, particularly if the online/wi-fi aspect is exploited - imagine being able to create and share your avatars - or replays of your characters' most entertaining moments.

Castaway Stories hits the PC in Winter, with DS and Wii versions hopefully arriving shortly after.

[Via Siliconera]

"OMG! The Wii is so cool," an enthusiastic female developer screams during a GDC session. That developer is Robin Hunicke, designer of the upcoming Wii-exclusive MySims. Designing the title began long before the team had a chance to get their hands on the system, so they had to rely on the "aesthetic" of Nintendo's advertising. "We wanted to bring The Sims to the Wii in a way that we could say we were at home on the Wii," she said, trying to find a unique look, style and feel for the Wii version.

Converting a game for play on Wii doesn't necessarily mean changing everything. What the team focused on was how it feels to touch the characters on screen with the Wiimote: wild, flailing actions probably wouldn't be appropriate for a title such as this. One of the biggest changes that needed to be made was how the game was managed: there was a great deal of opposition to focusing on a single character (rather than a large family), and there was an even greater uproar against the loss of urination, and other micromanagement features.

Streamlining The Sims process was key to moving the franchise to the Wii, and that's where the character designs came from. Although they look strangely like Mii, the look wasn't based on Nintendo's character creation system. The lead character designer, when showing off her simplified look for Wii Sims, was told: "it's perfect."

See also:
Joystiq: Moving The Sims from PC to Wii
Gallery: MySims design process
Gallery: MySims

You know, you know what? We've had it up to here with some of the things we have to deal with everyday, and dammit, we think it's time we let people know. This crap has to stop.

Where to start? Let's talk about the freaking CPUs they stick us with here at the Fanboy offices. Intel Core 2 Duo's: pathetic. We mean, what the hell? It's like two normal Intel processors duct-taped together. Look, we need insane processing power to make these blog posts funny and interesting, you know? These conditions are unworkable.

And let's not even mention roller coasters. Mechanical and electrical engineers just aren't taking these things seriously enough; they need to start using the medium for proper artistic expression. We need to tell a story full of meaning and character depth during these rides, or people are going to feel unfulfilled and pissed off, like us. And we're really pissed right now.

Finally, to Maxis, developers of the best-selling PC game of all-time and the future title Spore, expected to perhaps exceed that mark set by the exemplary Sims some years back: make a game that doesn't suck ass, okay?

Ugh, these numbers? Where is the emotion? Where is the meaning? Life is so meaningless ....

- DS Lite: 111,814 24,314 (17.86%)
- PSP: 66,156 34,054 (33.96%)
- Wii: 57,972 20,534 (26.16%)
- PS3: 44,000 24,685 (127.80%)
- PS2: 15,364 310 (2.06%)
- Xbox 360: 3,379 804 (19.22%)
- Game Boy Micro: 805 102 (11.25%)
- GBA SP: 738 297 (28.70%)
- Gamecube: 303 20 (6.19%)
- DS Phat: 112 20 (15.15%)
- GBA: 25 34 (57.63%)

[Source: Media Create]

So remember that raving lunatic who badmouthed the Wii in a GDC free-for-all bash-fest a few days ago? Well, after a phone call from EA threatening to fire his ass he feels really bad, and recently came forward with a public apology. Chris Hecker, programmer for Maxis, says:

"When I'm on stage, I'm me -- I'm not representing EA or Maxis. I do not think the Wii is a piece of shit."

Know this, Hecker. We do not forgive you. In fact, we feel a satiric mood coming on right about now ... stay tuned.

[Thanks, Markus!]