Wii Rally

It’s shaping up to be a great Christmas for Nintendo as they report a banner week in DS and Wii sales. More than 653,000 Nintendo DS systems and 350,000 Nintendo Wii consoles were sold during Thanksgiving week in the United States.

With 350,000 Wiis being sold, it represents the single best week for the console in the United States excluding the week the Wii was released. The Wii is on several hot items for Christmas list, and warnings have been sent out that there might be a Wii shortage. The Wii has sold 5 million units in the US within its first year. With it’s bargain price, especially compared to the Xbox 360 and PS3, of $249 consumers are turning to the Wii for family entertainment. With rising gas prices and other factors, it is estimated that people will be spending less this year on Christmas gifts. This makes the gift that they do buy important to please the whole family. The Wii is definitely fun for all ages and offers something for everyone. Plus with games like Super Mario Galaxy, Mario and Sonic: Olympic Games, and Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, there are plenty of great new gaming choices this Christmas that will please any member of the family.

The breakout hit for the Sega Dreamcast will get a Wii makeover. Samba de Amigo, the musical game that is played with maracas, is being developed for the Nintendo Wii. Titles like Samba are perfect to showcase the Wii controllers game play capabilities. While the Dreamcast version can still be found on eBay, prepare to pay for it as the going price for just the game is around $30-$40. The special maraca controller is a lot more. The screenshots are from the Dreamcast version of Samba de Amigo.

Texas-based Gearbox Software is working to bring the still very popular hit to the Wii and have been working to perfect the Wii remote control with the game. Apparently development is going quite well, and Gearbox solicits advice from the original Samba creators at Sega. Gearbox will update the version but plan to leave intact the game play basics and other factors of the game.

The song list for Samba de Amigo will feature a mix of original games as well as some new ones. The mix should be equal, with half the songs being from the original version while half being completely new songs.

Players take on the role of Amigo, a fun loving monkey who enjoys dancing, to play through various songs and mini games. Players will use the Wii remote and Nunchuk as maracas and will also have to strike different poses earn points. The mini games from both versions of Samba(original and the version 2000 that was never released in the US) as well as characters will be included in the Wii version. There will also be new content as well. No word on any specifics just yet of what that might entail.

Samba de Amigo will be an exclusive to the Wii and will be released in the Spring of 2008.

Three new classic games are now available for the Virtual Console for the Wii. This week’s offerings include a sports title, a gambling/casino game, and kid-sized version of a lovable mammal franchise.

DOUBLE DRIBBLE™ (NES®, 1-2 players, rated E for Everyone, 500 Wii Points)

Vegas Stakes™ (Super NES®, 1-4 players, rated E for Everyone – Simulated Gambling, 800 Wii Points)

Ecco Jr.™ (Sega Genesis, 1 player, rated E for Everyone, 800 Wii Points)

A few new games are now available beginning today. Some fun party games, a racing game, plus a strategy game based on WWII hit the store shelves for the Wii.

Cranium Kabookii - Don the special Kabookii decoder glasses and get ready to draw, act, and other activities using the Wii remote. If it carries the name Cranium, then it must be fun. Kabookii is rated E for Everyone.

Cruis’n - The classic arcade hit is getting a Wii makeover. Cruis’s is updated with new rides and new upgrades. It’s rated E for Everyone.

Game Party - Play darts, table hockey, hoop shoot, and more in this party game that features skill games from around the world. It’s rated E for Everyone.

History Channel: Battle for the Pacific - History buffs will surely enjoy this game that will take the player through one of the more important campaigns in World War II. Battle for the Pacific carries a T for Teen rating.

It’s safe to assume that both video game icons Mario and Sonic will find their way under several Christmas trees this holiday season. But with a strong holiday lineup of games, they won’t be the only familiar characters that will be a hit this Christmas. Some games that have come out this past year are also sure to make a hit this holiday even if they are a few months old.

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock is a fun game that features more great music and new features.

Boogie is a party game that is like Karaoke Revolution in that players can sing their way through songs. It also has the added game play mode of dance where players must move the Wii remote to complete dance moves. Boogie comes with a microphone.

Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 is the sequel to the popular mini-game packed title Rayman Raving Rabbids. The standard of a lot of mini-games and fun game play continues in this latest title.

Carnival Games contains many mini-games based on activities found at a local carnival. Test your strength, pop balloons, or take part in any of the numerous mini-games.

Link’s Crossbow Training may not be a full-fledged game, but it comes with a Wii Zapper, a new Wii accessory that many will want to play other Zapper-enabled games like Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles. It also features scenes and creatures that Zelda fans will recognize from past games.

Mario and Sonic: Olympic Games features the beloved characters form the Mario and Sonic games coming together to battle it out in several summer Olympic games.

Super Mario Galaxy is touted to be possibly the best game of the year for the Wii. It only makes sense that this will be a hot title this Christmas. Of course, with a Mario title it is hard to go wrong this Christmas.

NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams is slated for release December 18th and will actually make use of the Wii weather channel. Remeber the special NiGHTS Christmas edition that featured snow if played on the date of December 25th? I’m guessing that the flying conditions will pivot on the weather depending on the location of the player. Players fly through levels in the fantastic dream world Nightopia.

Donkey Kong: Barrel Blast features the iconic Donkey Kong, so you know it will be a good game choice. It’s a racing game that should be loads of fun for fans of all ages.

Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn is a turn-based strategy game that is built on the Fire Emblem franchise of games. This tale picks up three years after the death of Mad King Ashnard, and his country is ruled by the victors of war. It’s up to a small band of freedom fighters to restore order.

Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles is a brand new tale in the long-running franchise Resident Evil. This one chronicles the fall of the Umbrella Corporation and revisits several familiar locations from past Resident Evil games.

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is the final installment of the Metroid Prime series that follows bounty hunter Samus Aran. It’s a first person shooter that any Metroid fan will surely appreciate seeing under the Christmas tree.

Mario Strikers Charged is at its core a soccer game but don’t dismiss it as just another sports title. It features the Mario characters who do battle on the field that feels more like combat than a soccer match, which translates into a lot of fun for gamers.

Happy Thanksgiving. I’m most thankful for my gaming family. They love video, board, card, RPG games. It makes the holidays such a fun time.

Hope everyone has a great day. Get plenty of rest tonight for those Black Friday sales. Once I’ve devoured some turkey and played some games, it will be time to rummage through all the sales papers for the most appealing deals.

So, eat a lot today, watch some football, and have a good time.

Link’s Crossbow Training comes packaged with the Wii Zapper and unlike Wii Play that came with a Wii remote, Link is very reasonably priced. I bought it because I knew I wanted a zapper and didn’t expect much from Link’s Crossbow Training. I do have to say that I was pleasantly surprised to actually play the game and see that there is some substance to it.

Link’s Crossbow Training has three ways to play: practice, mulit-player, and score attack. There are 27 different levels to play through. Each round lasts one minute and in that time the player is challenged to shoot as many targets as possible. There are three different shooting modes: target shooting, ranger, and defender. In target shooting, players try to hit the various targets like floating fruit, tossed skulls, or bullseye targets. In ranger, players roam around the playing map to snipe out the enemy. In defender, Link must stave out invading attackers in various settings.

The Wii Zapper houses both the Wii remote and Nunchuk. The Nunchuk is used ranger to move Link around, giving players a chance to practice with movement. The game begins with the first nine levels open. Players must earn at least a bronze medal to unlock additional levels.

While Link’s Crossbow Training may not be a full game like holiday favorite Super Mario Galaxy, it is worth the $25 or less to buy it and the Wii Zapper. Besides, it will give players a great opportunity to get used to playing with the Zapper. The learning curve isn’t that steep but does take a little practice to get the hang of walking and looking around. The graphics and music make Link’s Crossbow Training a delightful way to target practice while gearing up for full-blown Zapper-compatible games.

Link’s Crossbow Training

There are a few new games this week for the Wii and just in time to enjoy with family for the Thanksgiving holiday.

AMF Bowling Pinbusters

Geometry Wars: Galaxies

Ghost Squad

Monster Jam

Soul Calibur Legends

Star Trek: Conquest

Trauma Center: New Blood

Nintendo Zapper with Link’s Crossbow Training

The best deal might be the Nintendo Zapper with Link’s Crossbow Training selling for $24.95. While the game is more like a training simulation, it is a good way to get in some practice with the Zapper before tackling other Zapper-compatible games like Medal of Honor Heroes 2, Ghost Squad, and Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles.

Besides being an avid video gamer, I love to play board games. Just like there’s nothing like clearing the hard level or beating the big boss at the end of the game, there is nothing that compares to making a good roll in Monopoly or making the winning guess in Pictionary. There are some board games that could easily make the jump to the video game genre, especially to the Wii platform.

Twister. Imagine your Miis spinning the wheel of color and then acrobatically pulling off that ‘left foot, green circle’ maneuver. This would be a fun game to play with your Miis.

Yahtzee. The dice game Yahtzee could be a lot of fun to play on the Wii. Players could use the Wii remote to shake and roll the dice.

Boggle. Boggle is a fast-paced word game where players must make as many words as they can from the letters showing in the Boggle square. Players could select the letters with the Wii remote to spell words.

Settlers of Catan. In Settlers, players inhabit an island and must use the resources at hand to build road, settlements, and cities. While it might sound tedious, it really isn’t. With a little tweaking to speed up game play, this could be a fun title to experience on the Wii.

Tsuro is a beautiful board game that literally means ‘path.” In the game, players take turns building paths and then your playing piece follows the path. Be careful for when your path leads off the board, it’s game over. It’s strategic, relatively fast, and fun. While it might not be as well known as Twister, Tsuro could offer a fun game play experience on the Wii.

Today marks the one year anniversary of the Virtual Console. Mario, Luigi, and Sonic turn out for the party with new titles for the VC this week.

Wrecking Crew™ (NES®, 1-2 players, rated E for Everyone, 500 Wii Points)- Mario and Luigi - armed with their mighty hammers - will become a fierce wrecking team as they tear down walls, beat up pipes, and more. The brothers must destroy 100 buildings while taking a break from saving the princess and the Mushroom Kingdom.

Sonic 3D Blast™ (Sega Genesis, 1 player, rated E for Everyone, 800 Wii Points) - Sonic steps up to the challenge of stopping evil-doer Dr. Eggman - aka Dr. Robotnik - from his plight to find special birds in an alternate universe than can travel anywhere. Play Sonic or Tails to collect rings and save the day.

Super Air Zonk (TurboGrafx16 CD-ROM, 1 player, rated E for Everyone – Mild Cartoon Violence, 800 Wii Points) - Zonk is the sequel to the shooting spin-off game of the Bonk series, Air Zonk. Fight enemies with killer tunes in this humorous game.

The zombie-blasting hit of the arcade will soon be available on the Nintendo Wii. Sega anounces that House of the Dead 2 and 3 will be sold as one game and released for the Wii next Spring.

Players will be able use the Wii Zapper in the House of the Dead 2 and 3 Return or the Wii remote and Nunchuk to blast the horde of zombies during the game.

There are six game modes including arcade and time attack. House of the Dead is a fun game that might even deliver near the arcade game experience with the Wii zapper. It’s from Sega and is slated for a Spring 2008 release.

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The holiday deals have already begun. Beginning today and ending November 21st at Toys R Us, you can buy two Wii games and get a third Wii game free.

The sale is good on all Wii games. I was thinking of picking up a new game this week, so why not make it two and get a third game for free? The holidays are coming up, and I will be taking the Wii when we go visit family. More Wii games will give us more reasons to play.

If only I could bowl as well as my Mii, I might just join a league. It’s nothing for me to have a 150 plus game but in real life I’m lucky to break 60.

With Wii bowling, once your rating reaches 1000, you are elevated to pro status. To reach 1000 is not necessarily to have scored a total of 1000 points in the games you have played. A really good game might increase your rating by 100 or more points. Follow that with a less than stellar performance and you are likely to see points subtracted from your rating.

After being less than 100 points away for a few days, I finally was able to reach pro status. One of the perks of my new status is a new bowling ball with diamonds on it.

Apparently pro level can be reached with the other Wii Sports as well. I’m best at bowling, so it will probably be a while before I reach pro on any other sport.

Remember the TLC shows ‘A Baby Story’ and ‘A Wedding Story’? I always enjoyed those programs, getting a glimpse into a momentous occasion in someone’s lives. While it may not be as riveting as television, Wii owners can share their Wii stories on the webpage My Wii Story.com.

Stories are add to the front page and can be browsed right from there. It’s kind of fun to read just how the Wii has affected their lives or why they bought one. There’s the story of the husband who after 20 years of marriage can finally get his wife to play video games thanks to the Wii. Or the woman whose friends just assume that her Wii belongs to her kids when in fact she is the one who loves to play. Another woman was having a Wii party to introduce her friends to Wii gaming.

My Wii Story is filled with short and sweet stories about playing the Wii. You can share you own or just read about other’s experiences with Wii gaming.

From racing to wrestling to big game hunting, there’s something for all sports fans this week. Plus the much anticipated Resident Evil next chapter Umbrella Chronicles is now available and much more.

Cabela’s Big Game Hunter

Disney Princess: Enchanted Journey

Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn

Medal of Honor Heroes 2

Need for Speed: Pro Street

Rayman Raving Rabbids 2

Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles

Smarty Pants

Tomb Raider Anniversary

WWE Smackdown VS Raw 2008