The dish on parenting ... check out the new ParentDish!
Posts with tag ripoff

Iwata on Microsoft's rumored Wiimote rival: 'Pft.'

Speculation that Microsoft may be about to launch a rival to the Wii Remote started early last month, yet Nintendo President Satoru Iwata's thoughts on the matter have only publicly emerged now. His verdict? A resounding, distinctly unimpressed "Meh."

Well, we're paraphrasing a bit there, but it's more or less what he meant. "We are not concerned about what other companies may do," Iwata told an audience of investors. "[We're] rather more concerned with presenting [...] new ideas to our customers based on the prospect that our existing customers will surely get tired of [gameplay] enabled by the Wii Remote if we do not try to improve the experience."

Rather than fret over what Microsoft and Sony get up to, Iwata says he'd prefer that Nintendo concentrated on producing more "new surprises" for consumers. Or, to put it another way, keep one step ahead of the competition, and they'll never catch you.

[Via Develop]

Rumor: Microsoft working on Wiimote-style device

On the face of it, the latest rumor that Microsoft is planning a Wiimote-esque peripheral (purportedly developed by Rare) for the Xbox 360 carries all the hallmarks of a wind-up. There's the obligatory "anonymous source," the hastily drawn MS Paint sketch you see to the right, and plenty of disclaimers -- "if it is indeed released," "if the project comes to fruition" -- in the MTV Multiplayer blog post that broke the rumor.

Look closer, however, and the speculation seems to gain credibility. As our sister site Xbox 360 Fanboy notes, Rare also happens to be developing The Fast and the Furriest for Xbox Live Arcade, which features "a wand type input device for gesture recognition." And it's no secret that Microsoft has spent the last few months jealously eyeing Nintendo's hold over the "casual" crowd -- but would the company be quite so brazen in ripping off Nintendo's gaming wand?

[Via Joystiq]

Rent-to-own a Wii for almost 4 times its worth


The Consumerist has a very interesting story about a complete ripoff scam store promotion from Kelly's. Apparently, they lease out Wii consoles, allowing you to pay off the thing in monthly payments of only $79.99. This means that after 12 months, when everything is said and done and you now own your Wii console, you'll have paid a whopping $948.

Of course, if something were to happen a couple months in and you couldn't make your payment, they'll take back the console and you'll be out a boatload of cash. That must be the convenience of lease-to-own ...

PETA supports copyright cruelty


We're not sure how the folks at PETA came to the decision to rip off Nintendo for a flash game about chicken cruelty, but we can only figure it's a byproduct of the make-your-own-Mario trend at Joystiq, so that means Super Chick Sisters is really Joystiq's fault. Way to go, guys. When it's lawsuit time, we're totally recommending that someone subpoena you.

So what is Super Chick Sisters? It's a blatant Mario clone (even down to some sound effects!) that features a pair of chick sisters who step in to save the Peach-like Pam Anderson from the evil KFC monsters when Mario and Luigi come down with a bad case of Wiitis. Nugget and Chickette are even decked out in little hats, just like their plumber counterparts, though their Chicken Kingdom is populated not with Goombas and coins, but other chicks, boiling oil, and 1-up tofu boxes. There are also lots of helpful people with scary messages about the horrors of chicken slaughter who encourage you to speed up and save the chickens. Oh, and that princess, too.

Our only real question is this: if you lose, does that make you the enemy, an evil chicken-killer yourself? Chilling.

[Via Infendo]

EA reveals completely original idea: sports-based minigames


Tell us if you think this sounds like a good idea for a Wii game: a collection of easy-to-play minigames based on casual sports! EA Playground is EA's attempt to fill the only hole in the Wii's lineup that absolutely doesn't exist. At least it features different sports than Wii Sports: tetherball, RC racing, and dodgeball, that we know of.

EA is emphasizing "local multiplayer parties" for this title (by not putting it online, probably) and a "storyline" based on collecting stickers for your sticker book. Also it has graphics, basically. Things appear onscreen. The attractiveness or visual quality of those things are for you to decide. EA Playground will also be appearing on DS, with its own exclusive minigames.

[Via Joystiq]

"Marco" pasta is a good match for mushroom sauce, litigation


NeoGAFfer Chittagong found this bag of pasta in a Citymarket in Finland. The package is sending a very clear message, and that message is "It's-a not quite me, Maaaario!"

Apparently when Mario and Luigi took off on their Mushroom Kingdom adventure, Mario's less-famous identical brother Marco stuck around and devoted his time to making delicious dried pastas. Either that or some unscrupulous company has shamelessly ripped off Mario's likeness. We'll leave it up to you to determine which is more likely-- that this is the work of an unknown relative of a fictional character or of real-world jerks.

Hey, maybe Marco will show up in Good Smash Friends Battle for the Nintenco Wuu!

Check out the downloads with Wii Fanboy!Wii Fanboy celebrates Mario Kart!Read our interview with Johnny Chung Lee!
Features
Another Week in ... (31)
Brawl Stage of the Week (5)
Contests / Giveaways (72)
Friday Video (59)
Game Night (19)
Metareview (37)
Mii Spotlight (17)
Point/Counterpoint (1)
Revolutionary (34)
The VC Advantage (44)
VC Monday Madness (123)
Virtually Overlooked (64)
What are you playing? (78)
Wii Fanboy poll (34)
Wii Warm Up (435)
Bits
Channels (63)
Cheats (6)
Controller (380)
Fan stuff (1013)
Features (250)
Homebrew (68)
How-tos (57)
Imports (336)
Interviews (274)
Meta (44)
Mods (115)
News (2811)
Nintendo Wi-Fi (112)
Peripherals (212)
Reviews (96)
Rumors (406)
Sales (70)
Screens (509)
Tech stuff (121)
Video (702)
Virtual Console (414)
Walkthroughs (31)
WiiWare (135)

RESOURCES

RSS NEWSFEEDS

Powered by Blogsmith

Sponsored Links

Featured Galleries

Dr. Mario Online RX
Lost in Blue
MySims Kingdom
Skate It
Brawl Stage of the Week: Another Castle
TV Show King
Pop
Pitfall: The Big Adventure
Protothea

 

Most Commented On (14 days)

Recent Comments

Weblogs, Inc. Network

Other Weblogs Inc. Network blogs you might be interested in: