Nintendo Wii Fanboy

With Wii Fit (and, thus, the Balance Board) hitting stores recently, we figured a nostalgic stroll down memory lane would be nice. So, what we've done is compiled a list of all the peripherals that helped pave the way for the Balance Board, Nintendo's latest peripheral. So, let's not waste any time and get down to business. To start your journey, just click on the red text in the bottom right-hand corner there.

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

If you're smitten with the Virtual Console, one thing we're sure you aren't in love with is having to swap games between an SD card and your Wii's internal memory, or even worse -- deleting games to be re-downloaded later. WiiWare is on its way and it's hard to imagine My Life as a King demeaning itself to share its estate with less noble games. And certainly not with it bringing microtransactions to the royal ball. And wouldn't it be dandy if some of our multiplatform ports had somewhere to store that downloadable content that everyone is raving about on other consoles?

We want need more storage, and some of you have gathered to plead with Nintendo to sell a Wii Hard Drive. It appears that your cries just fall on deaf ears because they seem hardly driven to provide one. In this edition of Revolutionary, we'll examine why Wii can't have a hard drive.

When Nintendo announces a new peripheral, it's big news, and big news needs big images. They sent along a high resolution picture of their new Zapper, and we thought we'd pass it on to you so you can begin your careful inspection of Nintendo's workmanship and industrial design.

Also, this might work as a reference model for a papercraft version, if you're impatient and want the semi-authentic feel of a Wii Zapper in your hands. Click the image to embiggen it greatly!

We admired Engadget's custom-made portable Wii, but most gamers don't want to take such drastic steps to achieve Wii mobility. That's where Century steps in.

They've made a portable 7-inch LCD screen that connects to the Wii, and contains its own sensor bar. It's priced at 14,800 yen ($120)? Good thing we're scary recluses and don't go places anyway! That doesn't seem terrible for an LCD screen, but it's more than we'd enjoy paying for the privilege of a smaller screen.

Unlike other "zapper" products like Joytech's Blaster, the Pega pistol doesn't have a cavity for you to dock the Wii's nunchuck. Instead, you connect the nunchuck's cord under the butt of the $15 gun while the remote slides and locks into its top half. We're not sure yet if this is a more cumbersome or convenient implementation, but given our experiences with cheap, third-party accessories from Chinese manufacturers, you can easily guess which side we're leaning towards.

If you're wondering why we're even bothering to bring up this lackluster peripheral, it's because we love to scrutinize the packaging of these products! What's up with Splinter Cell graphics? And why is it branded with that same inapplicable Wii Sports logo we saw on Fire Bird's rechargeable controller grip? Does Pega actually expect people to play tennis with this clunky plastic attached?

[Via DCEmu]

The Retractable Wii Sports Cuff replaces the subtlety and elegance of the Wii remote's wrist strap with a bulky band that we wouldn't be caught dead wearing. We don't doubt that the adjustable neoprene cuff has an agreeable fit, but did anyone ever find the original straps uncomfortable, if even noticeable at all?

And what sort of human does the retractable thirteen inches of slack benefit? Are there people whose hands extend that far away from their wrist? Or are these cuffs marketed towards some sort of video-game-playing race of long-fingered mutants? Creepy!

You would think that the shop would take advantage of all the "faulty Wii Strap" controversy and emphasize the durability of the cuff's cord, but the product description makes no mention of any improved toughness. What's there to reassure us that we won't end up with a Wii remote sticking out of our television after a heated game of Wii Tennis? Even at a sale price of $5.99, you'll probably want to stay clear from this accessory.

[Via CAG]

Wii Sports is getting Nerfed, but not in the bad way. These upcoming Wiimote attachments bring soft, friendly foam to the accident-waiting-to-happen that is Wii gaming, and we can't wait to get our hands on a set. These babies should take care of the weight and balance issues we experienced with the Brando Wii Sports Pack, though we hope they can still provide a greater challenge. Also, you can hit your friends with these as many times as you like without drawing blood. Probably. If you don't get too creative.

While we're on the subject, don't forget to enter our Brando giveaway -- we've gotten more entries than we anticipated, but there's still time to get in there and get a real Wii Sports weapon. Er. We mean bat.

The rumor about Mad Catz Wiimotes isn't exactly the most reliable bit of gossip we've heard all year, but it does raise an interesting topic. Would you buy a third party Wii remote? Certainly the lack of regular Wiimotes on store shelves is a problem, but does that balance against the general quality of most (not all) third party peripherals? Is the price a factor? Wiimote and nunchuk sets are somewhat expensive, but is it worth saving a few bucks to wave something like this around? We're trying not to make any many jokes about the wavy shape here, but they're lurking in the tall grass. So what's the verdict on this rumored remote? We want to hear what you think!

Now you can use tools when bashing friends, family, or furniture with your Wiimote. Oh, and make your Wii Sports experience a little more realistic, too, but surely that's secondary to the imminent destruction these bad boys are going to bring about. The above set seems like a bargain at $22 for a bat, racket, and club extension, but if you're sending a remote flying across the room, we hate to think of the damage these things could cause. Please remember to Wii with caution.

[Via Engadget]

The site may be in French, but the pictures speak a language that transcends human tongues. It's difficult to tell from our (incredibly poor Babelfish) translation, but it seems the folks at Puissance-Nintendo weren't allowed to take pictures of the back of the console, because the "machine is not yet final." Fall is here! When will it be final?

They also report that the Wii is "very light," and while pretty, it's not quite as sleek as the DS Lite. But that's okay, we'll love it just the same.

More pictures after the jump.

Could everything we need to know about the Wii (sans release date) really have been leaked by some dude known only as "TheGuy" to Max Console? They insist the specs are on the level, and they seem realistic enough, but we can't help but suspect that TheGuy may be on some crazy revenge tear because someone peed on his rug.

Max Console broke the news on Sunday and have since posted an update they insist comes from TheGuy boggling at fans crying foul over the feasible fakery of this fortuitous news flash. Max Console claims TheGuy is an "anonymous developer," and we all know how reliable those guys are.

The announcement is peppered with details we already knew, which is part of why it seems so real. The Wii will play GameCube games, but boast a faster, more powerful system? Check. Supports GameCube controllers? Check. More peripherals planned? Check. Here's a taste of the rest:

• Opitcal [sic] Disc Drive (ODD) supports single and dual layer Wii disks, discs eject with software or button and the maximum read speed is the equivalent of DVDx6 ... Inserting a disc will start the Wii console, even if it was already in an off state. Pressing the eject button will change the console to an on state to take out the disc also.
• Internal non-removable 512MB flash memory used to storage game save data and downloadable content thus eliminating the need for a memory card.
• The following interfaces are included with the Wii; SD card slot, Wireless controller, two USB 2.0 ports, wireless LAN, 4x GC controller ports, 2x GC memory card slots and an AV multi output jack (only an analog jack).
• (Regarding the CPU): Operating speed: 729 MHz ... Bus to main memory: 243 MHz, 64 bits (maximum bandwidth: 1.9 gigabytes/sec) ....

The information about the CPU and GPU were the later additions. Apparently, when it comes to being called a fake, TheGuy minds. TheGuy minds and this will not stand, man.

[Update: Fixed mysteriously missing link to Max Console. Hmm. Further proof?]