Every Tuesday, Mike Sylvester brings you REVOLUTIONARY, a look at the wide world of Wii possibilities.
It may be time for Nintendo to concede that we've entered the HD-era. Anyone looking to buy a new television will have an increasingly difficult time finding a "classic" SD tube amongst the pristine plasmas, elegant LCoS, lavish LCDs, dazzling DLPs, and (soon-to-come) sexy SEDs. And the technologies behind today's televisions are benefiting greatly from economies of scale, making it easier for consumers to consider going big on their next TV purchase.
For too long, big screen gaming had been confined to dollar-munching arcade machines and reruns of Silver Spoons, but more and more people are finding out what it feels like to have a truly super Mario kicking gargantuan goombas across the Mushroom Kingdom. If you haven't yet been bitten by the big bug, today I'll make you feel the itch.
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.
A 7-inch (or 8.5-inch) screen display for the Wii isn't that impressive when compared to some of the other shrunkensetups we've seen, but its portability might interest on-the-go gamers. As we've come to expect from accessories manufacturer Pega, the attachable screen provides just enough functionality to be usable, allowing for volume/color control, four-direction visual angle adjustment, and little else. There's something to be said though about being able to play a game of Wii Sports: Golf with the display whenever the mood strikes -- mainly, "Wow, this sure would be a lot more fun if we had a bigger TV. Or if we were playing Mystical Ninja instead."
Brian McConnell left his son, Adam, alone with a game of Wii Sports: Tennis for only a few moments to fetch a drink, but that was all the time the little demon needed. Not even a Wii remote strap could've saved Brian's plasma TV once the three-year-old set his mind on avenging a lost match.
Brian came back to the living room to find his £1,000 television ruined, its 42-inch screen bashed by his Wiimote-wielding progeny. Queue up the darth_vader_nooo.jpg images.
The forgiving father let Adam off the hook with only a light lecture and a two-week Wii ban. That's a lot more lenient than the hanging, drawing, and quartering punishment one of our NintenDadz would've sought.
LCDArm has started marketing (but not yet selling) a piece of plastic that goes over an LCD TV screen and protects it from ... miscellaneous projectiles. The nature of these projectiles is not made explicit, but we can think of only one item that has gotten attention for busting people's televisions. We might be electronic Darwinists who believe that people who can't keep their Wiimotes in hand shouldn't have fancy TV's, but that's no reason not to take precautions against friends' sweatiness.
The device is also an anti-glare shield, designed to block harmful ultraviolet light (in the words of the PR blurb: "Reduces ultraviolet (UV) rays and health to human eyes"). You know, because you don't want to see all of that light that comes out of your TV. Wait, reduces health to human eyes?
While these pictures are from scans and thus aren't the best quality, they come with a bonus bit of information: Guilty Gear XX Accent Core players will have a choice of two control schemes: Wiimote with full motion controls, or a more traditional control scheme. Just what we wanted!
This latest Guilty Gear is due out in Japan near the end of July.
Mobile Suit Gundam MS Front 0079 looks better with every screen and scan that we see, particularly considering what we have to compare it to. But looks aren't everything, and though we've been rough on Wii graphics lately (it's only because we love you, Wii!), the fact remains that Gundam games tend to be a love-it or hate-it proposition.
Of course, it all may be a moot issue until or unless the game heads out of Japan, but that doesn't mean we can't look! See for yourself after the jump.
No wonder Spider-Man 3 got such mixed reviews on the Wii version of the game -- someone forgot to finish the graphics. We can't think of any other possible explanation for something this atrocious.
What's going on here? How can this be considered acceptable ... and how can anyone bestow even a middling-good score on such a sight? We love us some Spider-Man and all, but this game would have to be the best thing ever (moreso even than sliced bread) to wrangle an 83%. Maybe we're just pickier than most, but this looks like a sign that not only is there something wrong with how some third-party Wii games are being handled, but maybe the review system isn't all it's cracked up to be, either.
We know that NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams will use the Wii's Forecast Channel for seasonal effects in the upcoming game, and we know that multiple control styles will be available, but we hadn't seen much of the look of the game beyond a few scans. Now, all that's changed; official screenshots have finally been released, and you can stare and drool to your heart's content. Just try not to get it on the keyboard.
While what we really want are closer impressions of the intriguing character designs, we'll take whatever screenshots we can get from Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors, because we eat RPGs like sweet, sweet candy. Behind the jump, we have loads of screens for you -- check 'em out!
As an aside ... wtf, isn't that bridge in Lufaise Meadows? It looks like a place we may have lain, all corpsified and angry.
It's been a while since we've seen anything about Forever Blue, the undersea diving game scheduled for later this year, and developer Arika still seems to be keeping things under wraps. One lone screenshot has surfaced, however. We can add this to the slowly developing collection. By this fall, we may know a little more than we do now!
Check out the screen after the jump. All we can say so far is: it's a good thing we're fond of blue.
There's a vast ocean of new Sonic and the Secret Rings images over at Jeux France, and we've put a few behind the jump. Looking at them all at once can be a little overwhelming. Unsurprisingly? Lots of blue in these screens. Take a peek!
Matt must have slept with Perrin or something, because IGN got their grubby mitts on a Wii debugging unit and a few games, to boot. On the latest IGN Weekly, Matt spends around ten minutes going through the Wii interface (mainly, the options menu) in detail. The menu seems to confirm the existence of one Wii code per system, as opposed to per game, which should make matchmaking at least slightly more convenient. He goes through Sound, Screen, Parental Controls, Sensitivity Options, and pretty much everything you'll see come November 19th. It's worth a watch, so check it out.
