Sonic and the Secret Rings came out on Tuesday and I still have received no word from Sega on the status of my copy. Must have gotten lost in the mail or something. Anyway I found this video from Wii.TV of the first nine minuets or so of the game.
The video takes you through the intro video the tutorial stage and the first mission.
Still looks bad ass to me. From the control explanation you can kind of get a sense of how the game is played. My only gripe thus far is that annoying women’s voice. Kind of like Midina from the Zelda series only not as cute. Let hop something bad happens to her so you don’t have to listen to her through the entire game.
The world seems to be falling in love with Miis the little and sometimes crude avatars that can be made with your Wii. I know that anyone who ventures over to my place must make one before they can do anything else. Lately you might have noticed that several companies and artists have begun to fabricate Mii sculptures often you send them a picture and some “duckets” and boom FedEx is at your door Mii in hand. One such company is Fabjectory, I got an email from Fabjectory’s owner yesterday a fellow named Michael Buckbee telling me about Fabjectory and what they do. They make digital avatars into real life sculptures including but not limited to Miis.
What makes Fabjectory different from all the other Mii sculptors out there isn’t what they do it’s how they do it. The sculptures are built using a rapid prototyping machine which sprays on a plaster powder 1/400th of an inch at a time; think of it as a 3D printer. Rapid prototyping is most commonly used in CAD (computer assisted design) to give designers and engineers a better idea of what an object looks like once it occupies real 3D space.
How does this benefit us? By using the rapid prototyping process Fabjectory is able to make sculptures that are sturdy, accurate and unique looking. There is one downside however, the price. A 3 inch tall sculpture will run you about 50$ US and a 5 inch monument to you will set you back about 100$ US plus shipping costs. Fabjectory does offer a “no questions asked, money back guarantee” if you are not satisfied with your Mii once you receive it.
If I’ve peaked your interest head on over the Fabjectory’s website and take a look around. Maybe Miis don’t float your boat but you have a really bad ass Second Life avatar well they do those too so quit complaining.
I was contacted sometime ago by reader named Rustopher Hashonah a.k.a Rocket Man, you may have seen his comments around the site. He originally proposed a Remake of his favorite title Rocket Jockey, so I told him to go ahead a write up a “Wii Wish”. Needless to say he was so amped at the opportunity to share his love for what he calls a “hidden gem” that I received his “Wii Wish” within a couple days so without further ado I present…..
Rustopher Hashonah’s Wii Wish: Rocket Jockey
Whenever I see reminiscence about fun, yet somewhat dated PC games, the same group of popular gems like X-COM, Fallout, Star Control II, and Syndicate get the most attention. During these conversations, I always bring up a small lost gem, but very few have heard of it and even fewer have played it. This diamond in the rough is known as Rocket Science’s “Rocket Jockey”.
Published by SegaSoft back in 1997, Rocket Jockey lived a short life between being too powerful for some machines and yet incompatible with next generation PCs. In addition, the coveted LAN play-enabling patch was released far too late in the games lifespan, after any popularity Rocket Jockey had built faded away. Rumour had it the game would be released for the Playstation, but this never came to fruition.
In an interview in 2006 NoA president Reggie Fils-Amie said that consumers would have to look to third party companies for a rechargeable battery pack solution for the WiiMote. Thrustmaster to the rescue while they may not be the first third party company to develop accessories for the Wii but their entries seem pretty solid.
If you’re tired of that strange black gunk that makes your pretty little WiiMote look scuzzy than you can grab Thrustmaster’s T-Protect to keep that WiiMote looking pristine. It’s a shame it only comes in black and white I’d love a sexy purple one. (I’m talking to you Thrustmaster!)
Thrustmaster’s T-Charge is not an ideal solution to the WiiMote’s NiMH thirst but it will certainly do the job. The T-Charge is powered by your Wii via USB cable. Inside the T-Charge is a charger, guess what that does? It charges two AA batteries (duh), so you can charge while you play. You will still have to swap the batteries when one pair gets low and you can always use more wires coming out the back of the Wii. Alas I guess that third party battery pack is still a way off. (Hint hint Nintendo)
Good morning all! I hope a fine weekend was had by all. I spent mine plying ExciteTruck and Frets on Fire, anyway on to new business. Nintendo keeps the kick ass coming with an awesome Virtual Console update. My resentment and jealousy of the European Wii owners become less and less every week. As of today there is only two VC games that they can hold over the heads of us spoiled gamers here in North America ExciteBike and Zelda II the Adventure of Link. Give us time my friends give us time.
Streets of Rage (Sega Genesis, 800 Wii Points)
New Adventure Island (TG-16, 600 Wii Points)
The Legend of Kage (NES, 500 Wii Points)
Donkey Kong Country (Super NES, 800 Wii Points)
Wii Rally’s VC game of the week is Donkey Kong Country. Definitely worth the wait!
Another strong week here at Wii Rally. Light on the content yet heavy on the opinion. While comments are always welcome on Wii Rally there are a few guidlines that I would like everyone to follow.
1. Please no cursing, it’s just not necessary.
2. Avoid personal attacks. You can rebut their point or argue some one’s opinion but making personal attacks on someone you have never met invalidates you as a rational human being.
3. I as the site administrator retain the right to edit change or delete comments as I see fit. To make sure this does not happen to you please follow the 2 guidelines I have posted above.
The first question that comes to mind is “Why does this even exist?”.
Nintendo surprised Wii owners on Wednesday by releasing a new piece of software via the Wii Shop channel. The Everybody Votes channel is the first piece of stand alone software that has been issued for the Wii. Talk about tripping right out of the gate. Sure the concept seems intriguing, vote in national and world wide polls and my favorite part see the results. Sorry I’m about to pee in my pants I’m so excited about looking at statistics and the prospect of finding out how many Wii owners prefer chocolate over flowers. The Everybody Votes channel seems like a sad attempt at one of those “The whole family can play things” just excecuted very poorly. I mean they could have at least made it fun to use. Trust me it’s about as exciting as browsing the Wii Shop Channel.
As dull as it may be the Everybody Votes channel is totally free. Nintendo makes you go jump through a few hoops in the form of a system update and a trip to the Wii Shop channel to download the actual application. It is nice to see that Nintendo is at least playing with the idea of linking consoles by a means other tha the friend codes we all love to input.
As we all know today is Valentines day or as those without a partner call it Wednesday. What better way to tell someone you love them than by giving them something to play with Wii Play to be more specific. Yes that’s right Wii play the highly anticipated game collection was released today in North America after doing fairly well in Japan. Wii Play is a collection of various games similar to Wii Sports but there is an obvious slant towards multiplayer. Why is it obvious? Wii Play comes with a WiiMote packed in with the game. For most Wii owners this will be their second WiiMote which sell on their own for 44.99 CAD$ while Wii Play goes for about 59.99 CAD$. So if you do the math Wii Play actually only costs 15$ but I’m sure EB Games/GameStop will sell it for more sans WiiMote. So if you’re tired of playing by yourself pick up Wii Play and let your significant other play with your Wii too.
Happy Valentines Day from Wii Rally and everyone here at 451 Press.
Let the engines roar, the nitro spray and the trucks fly. I recently spent some time with ExciteTruck and I must say I have been having a blast. ExciteTruck is nowhere near as deep as say Burnout or Need For Speed but who cares. Sure there’s not much to unlock and realists won’t appreciate the trucks flying 200 feet through the air and the terrain morphing right before your eyes but therein lies the fun. Taken at face value ExciteTruck is probably the Wiis finest driving title to date. Anybody can enjoy this title all you have to do is hit the gas tilt the WiiMote to steer and away you go.
Even casual gamers can achieve an “S” rank on the first course with only one try. Not to say that the game is lacking in challenge once you get past the Bronze Cup races the game progresses nicely. There is a slight learning curve, it will take you about two or three races before you’re launching yourself high into the air. While playing the later tracks I realized the only way to gain ground on the race leader was to launch off jumps and land perfectly gaining a small boost. Master this technique and you will unlock “Super Excite” mode before you can say “Waaaaahooo!”
Invitations came up the sewer pipes from the Mushroom Kingdom today. After brushing off the garbage and feces it read as this.
Nintendo of America Requests the Pleasure of Your Company at the Marriage of
Peach
to
Bowser
on the 9th Day of April 2007
The nuptials will take place at the beginning of Super Paper Mario™, which will be available for Nintendo’s hot new Wii™ home video game system. Those who wish to attend - or thwart - the ceremony will need to switch between 2-D and 3-D.
Finally Super Paper Mario was almost on the brink of becoming vaporware and now the day is fast approaching. There’s much to do I have to out and get suit, find a date and buy a gift. I wonder where the King of the Koopas and Princess Toadstool are registered.
You hear that? That’s the sound of Wii owners rejoicing. Nintendo has done all of us a huge solid, by putting together an extremely solid lineup for today’s Virtual Console update.
Kirby’s Adventure (NES, 500 Wii Points)
Ice Climber (NES, 500 Wii Points)
Kid Icarus (NES, 500 Wii Points)
While Ice Climbers may not be the deepest game in the NES library it is an obscene amount of fun. Now we can all find out where those goofy twins in parkas from Super Smash Bros. came from. Kid Icarus is one of the only games that was extremely popular yet never spawned a sequel or remake. I commend Nintendo for not budging to consumer pressure and leaving this classic in tact and unbasterdized by the remakes that have plagued and killed other franchises. We all know that Kirby sucks, he sucks really hard, he blows too but all in an effort to save dreamland from the evil king Dedede. One of my favorite characters ever finally has a chance justice done with the release of Kirby’s Adventure. One of the great games that suffered due to being released near the end if the NES’s life. Lots of powers and special abilities to help the little pink puff along.
Notice anything odd about this weeks VC list if you can guess the modern link between these three classic games there a surprise in it for you.
Another week has come and gone things got crazy on Monday with the insane response to Wii Rally’s VC Top 5. A lot of people agreed but many did not. Well Seanbaby says “The main reason nerds love best/worst lists is because they want to disagree with things.” Well disagree with this!
Earthbound was lame, hence why North America never saw more than one game in this series.
Goldeneye 64 will never come to the virtual console on account of Microsoft owning Rare, that and it’s really dated for an FPS.
Final Fantasy should have ended with the first one. Square was almost bankrupt for a reason.
I’ll use all the damn commas I want my site my rules HA!
Super Mario World
(SNES 800 points)
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
(NES 500 points)
Vigilante
(TG-16/PC Engine 600 points)
Hey everyone sorry for the lateness of my post today but it’s my project week at school and I’ve been finishing up assignments all week. So since they are all sent off to my instructors I can tell you that Europe got a nice little treat today in the form of Virtual Console releases.
Lucky Euros got Zelda II before we did, I guess we shall see what pops up for North America on Monday. On a more personal note I sent a demo Gaming Podcast to the gods at 451 press, I haven’t hard anything yet but cross your fingers for me so I can keep the gaming goodness coming.
One more thing I’ve been having some release date issues with Cooking Mama: Cook Off I can’t seem to nail a hard release date for the title.
Release dates for Cooking Mama: Cook Off according to,
1up: 03/12/2007
GameSpot: Mar 20, 2007
GameStats: 06/30/07
I emailed Majesco’s (Cooking Mama’s North American publisher) PR department last night asking them to confirm the release date. So once they respond I will let all of you know when this highly anticipated game will hit North American shores.
It’s really hard to search YouTube for game videos without stumbling across a few Gary’s Mod or Rube Goldberg machine video, so I figured why ignore them? Here they are. The first was found by a mysterious person here at 451 who goes by the moniker “Staff Writer” You may have already seen it in the related videos channel but I think it deserves a little more attention for just being so darn neat.
Wii Rally is the source for all your Nintendo Wii information. Daily news updates, weekly features, videos, product and game reviews Wii Rally has it all with insightful commentary. Miss one of the daily updates? Well you can catch everything you missed in the Wii Rally Wiikend Wrap every Saturday. Why search dozens of blogs looking for info on Nintendo's innovative console when 451 Press has it all in one place. So welcome to one of the fastest growing Wii blogs on the web.
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Good morning all! I hope a fine weekend was had by all. I spent mine plying ExciteTruck and Frets on Fire, anyway on to new business. Nintendo keeps the kick ass coming with an awesome Virtual Console update. My resentment and jealousy of the European Wii owners become less and less every week. As of today there is only two VC games that they can hold over the heads of us spoiled gamers here in North America ExciteBike and Zelda II the Adventure of Link. Give us time my friends give us time. 
Another strong week here at Wii Rally. Light on the content yet heavy on the opinion. While comments are always welcome on Wii Rally there are a few guidlines that I would like everyone to follow. 
