Nintendo Wii Fanboy

Everyone was quick to point out that the Wiimote might just do a reasonable job taking over from a mouse in real-time strategy games. Ditch those PCs if you must, but this latest announcement won't satisfy the hardcore C&C and Starcraft junkies.

Defendin' de Penguin is an RTS geared towards gamers twelve and under. The hero is Little Blue, and you move his tiny penguin hide all over the icy landscape to go fishing and upgrade "towers." Exactly what these towers are remains to be seen, but we know you have to defend them from hungry invaders. Okay, so it won't be the deepest RTS ever made, but it might just fill a gap in the Wii library ... right?

[Via NeoGAF]

We just wanted to get that in there nice and early, because it's important. You can infer from the rather pointed headline that a game based on the upcoming CG kids' movie Surf's Up has been announced for the Wii.

Ubisoft will be bringing the videogame version of Sony Pictures' Surf's Up to pretty much every system we can think of, which is pretty much standard operating procedure. The game will feature voice acting from many of the movie's stars, including Shia LeBoeuf, Jeff Bridges, and Jethro from the Beverly Hillbillies movie.

There are two reasons that we think Surf's Up could turn out okay: first, it's being developed by Ubisoft Montreal, who are responsible for the Prince of Persia series; and second, surfing seems like a natural for the Wiimote. At least, we hope it's good, because we're certain lots of kids are going to want it.

[Via NeoGAF]

Ah, Linux. Your nerdy appeal has won many a gamer. For the uninitiated, Linux is an open-source operating system that is vastly scalable and customizable for various platforms and applications, and as such, is perfect for homebrew development. One of the first tasks of any "console cracking" team is to get a version of Linux running on the box, as it opens up a myriad of possibilities. Certainly, the Wii would be a prime target, but ....

Nintendo may have already beat them to it. According to a rumor from Ars Technica, Nintendo is actually using a modified version of Linux as its primary operating system on the Wii. Though some security measures will certainly be in place, it probably won't be long before some clever haX0r figures out a way around the protocols in place. Exciting news for the homebrew community, to be certain. We recommend checking out the entire article; it's a good read.

[Thanks, Probot!]

[Update 1: Just about as soon as this article went live, Ars Technica posted that the rumors were in fact untrue. Oh well ....]