Gamernode: Latest Wii News

Super Smash Bros Brawl to have co-op

If it was a big deal when Nintendo announced that Super Smash Bros Brawl would include a single player mode, then this is like icing on the cake. The previously-announced Subspace Emissary mode will also be playable cooperatively.

While player one will act as the main protagonist of the adventure, dictating the storyline and being the focus of the action, a second player will be able to join in the effort as a sort of sidekick, handling the light work. The scope of the camera will not adjust to accomodate both characters, but will instead remain fixed on the protagonist. If the second player can't keep up, he or she will "space jump" back into view. Getting knocked off screen, of course, loses a life.

The Subspace Emissary mode has really begun to sound like a fully-developed portion of ...

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N'Gai Croal proposes a Wiimote redesign. It's good...

Newsweek's N'Gai Croal usually has a lot to say about the videogame industry in his Level-Up blog. I can't say that I always agree with him, but in this particular case, I feel he's hit the nail right on the head.

In a conversation with MTV News reporter Stephen Totilo, N'gai proposed a redesign of the Wii remote that he would've liked to see bundled with Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. Basically, the only changes would be Gamecube-esque placement of the "-" and "+" buttons, flanking the large "A" button for easier access.

After explaining his new design for the remote, N'Gai confidently said, "I know you'll agree with me" - and yes, I do.

Anyone who's done a fair bit of scanning in Metroid Prime 3 would probably agree with Mr. Croal, too, because that game can give you a severe case of cramped...

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Our Super Mario Galaxy videos will block out the s...

I've already given you the prologue video, but now you can go and check out the rest of the veritable inundation of gameplay footage at Nintendo's Japanese Super Mario Galaxy website.

There are literally (and by that I mean NOT literally) thousands of video clips available for your viewing pleasure on the site - if you can manage to wade through all the Japanese text, that is.

(*Hint* - click the third yellow button in the top row on the bottom of the page...the longer one)

If after watching all of these videos, you STILL have no interest in Super Mario Galaxy, then I'm sorry, but you have lost your soul somewhere along the way.

The game is scheduled for release on November 12th.

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Wii Remote Jackets to cost Nintendo $17 mil

Yesterday, Gamernode reported on Nintendo's decision to offer free Wii Remote Jackets to Wii owners who request them via telephone or email. The company will also be bundling the silicon sleeves with Wii consoles, Wii Play, and the standalone remotes beginning October 15th.

A giveaway of this magnitude doesn't come cheap, apparently; Nintendo is reportedly spending $17 million (2 billion yen) to fund the 'promotion.'

Around 20 million jackets are expected to be produced, and Nintendo has stated that the program won't affect them, financially.

Must be nice to have a mint in your basement.

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Super Mario Galaxy prologue video

Wait a second...is that fire? ...and destruction? I half expected to see a Toad carrying his own arm around for a minute there. Anyway, this is the Japanese "prologue" to Mario's next adventure, Super Mario Galaxy. I hope you like, cause I do.

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Old people + Wii Bowling championship = serious bu...

We all knew that older people love Wii Bowling... but THIS much? This video is the first in a series of three episodes chronicling the Wii Sports bowling championship between residents of various Erickson living communities. With nicknames such as 8 Ball and Gimpy, and trash talk rivaling Apollo Creed, this video is sure to awaken the sports-crazed maniac in you. (Or not.)

Was it partly staged? I don't know... Can't we just pretend an old guy named Six Pack can say "You got served" without being told to? Does it always have to be some form of advertisement, even when the end of the video is clearly a plug for the Erickson communities? And hey, they certainly seem to be enjoying themselves.

Either way, I know where I'll be taking my grandp--wait, I probably shouldn't post that, or he'll know ...

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Hudson reveals first two Turbo CD games for Wii VC...

Hudson yesterday revealed the first two TurboGrafx-CD titles to be released on Nintendo's Virtual Console. This comes following the recent announcement that CD-based Turbografx-16 games would indeed grace the Wii download service.

Super Air Zonk: Rockabilly-Paradise and Gate of Thunder will be available via the digital distribution system sometime this month, and will be priced at 800 Wii points ($8) each.

Super Air Zonk is the sequel to Air Zonk, and sports a CD quality rockabilly soundtrack. Gate of Thunder is a space shooter, akin to Gradius.

No specific dates have been given, but Wii owners can expect to see these two games sometime before Halloween.

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Nintendo issues free Wii Remote Jacket

What will Nintendo think up next in order to avoid flying Wiimotes, broken television screens, and head injuries? Their latest remedy to this problem, following the original wrist strap and the heavy duty wrist strap, is the Wii Remote Jacket.

This nifty little accessory is a silicon sleeve that fits over the Wiimote, allowing access to all the buttons, the nunchuk port, the infrared pointer, and of course the wrist strap (which I happen to keep safely rolled up and stored inside my Wii box in the closet).

The best part of this story is that Nintendo is giving these things away for free, so even if you're not 100% interested, you might as well head over to Nintendo's website, type in your Wii's serial number, and order up to four of them. Alternatively, you can call 1-866-431-8367 to do thi...

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"Unprecedented" isn't enough for the Wii this Xmas...

It appears that in its second holiday season, the Nintendo Wii will again suffer from nowhere-to-be-found-except-on-ebay syndrome.

According to Nintendo of America president, Reggie Fils-Amie, production is not expected to satisfy demand for the little white box, even though he himself only recently claimed that "an unprecedented amount" of Wii systems would be available to consumers this time around.

"We're working very hard to make sure that consumers are satisfied this holiday, but I can't guarantee that we're going to meet demand. As a matter of fact, I can tell you on the record that we won't.

What I can tell you is that typically, our inventory is lasting a day... I don't think we will know when supply crosses with demand until after the holiday season."

He went on to hype the Wii, s...

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October 1st Virtual Console releases

This week's Virtual Console update is huge. It's only two games, but one of them happens to be the ORIGINAL Super Mario Bros 2, which has only been released in the United States as The Lost Levels.

This game is the true sequel to the original Super Mario Bros, and features some intriguing level design and a more challenging gameplay experience. The other title is Treasure's Sin and Punishment, a third-person shooter that has attained a sort of cult following over the years - even though it has never been released on U.S. shores.

Read on for Nintendo's full descriptions:

Super Mario Bros.™: The Lost Levels™ (NES®, 1 player, rated E for Everyone, 600 Wii Points): Originally released in Japan as Super Mario Bros.® 2, this game has previously made only brief cameo appearances in the ...

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David Hayter to voice Solid Snake in Smash Bros

If there were any concerns as to whether or not the famed voice actor David Hayter would be lending his vocal chords to Solid Snake in Super Smash Bros Brawl, they can now be laid to rest.

In a message on David's YoutTube page, a fan asks:

Hello David Hayter! I have to say that you are one of the greatest voice actors ever, and you do a great job as snake. I was wondering, are you going to voice Snake in Super smash bros. brawl?

The gruff-voiced Hayter replied:

Archduke Chocula, I am indeed voicing Snake in "Smash Bros." I've recorded it already, and I believe that fans of both games are going to be extremely happy. It's very cool. That's all I can say. DH

Happy indeed.  Many would agree that there's nobody better in videogame voice acting.

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Next Fatal Frame game is bound for Wii

So it's been almost two years since the release of the creepy thriller game, Fatal Frame III, and fans are wondering what Tecmo is planning for round 4.

Over on 1UP, they have the word that Fatal Frame IV is certainly alive and well and the game is initially bound for the Wii. That must be a blow to Sony since all previous Fatal Frame games were PlayStation 2 titles.

In addition, Tecmo has hired Grasshopper Manufacture to help produce the game. If your ears perked up when hearing that name, then yes, you have played Grasshopper's highly-stylized game Killer7, so we'll have to see how the developer works its production magic on Fatal Frame IV.

Grasshopper will begin producing Fatal Frame IV once No More Heroes is released in the U.S. in February.

So thinking about using the Wiimote as a camer...

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Sonic VS Mario: Showdown at last

Alas, the long debate of who is better can finally be settled: Mario? Or Sonic? This can only be done in one way: ancient Olympic style events. Those Greeks got it right the first time, when they created the Olympics, a true test of a man... or hedgehog's skills.

But honestly? How can they really compete without fighting? Sonic will never out jump Mario, and Mario will never run as fast as Sonic. Greco Roman wrestling anyone?

It should be at least a decent time killer though, with Wii's infamous party-type game play, and lots of familiar faces, including Mario, Sonic, Knuckles, Bowser, Tails, Wario, Yoshi, Luigi, Peach and even Doctor Robotnik (Eggman). Check out the new screenshot of the character select menu:

I'm just looking forward to the speed walking competition, sounds invigorating.

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Wii really IS Gamecube 1.5

The benchmarking masterminds over at Beyond3D and Newsweek's dreadlocked vg journo extraordinaire N'Gai Croal recently teamed up to bring everybody the straight dope on the Wii's hardware, and it turns out that the calls of Gamecube 1.5 were right. According to the article:

"To summarize, while the PS3 and the Xbox 360 are both at least an order of magnitude faster than their predecessors, the Wii has the processing power of one-and-a-half GameCubes with no noteworthy increases in functionality. This was done for two reasons: backwards compatibility with the GameCube and, more importantly, the very low cost. Developers have even told us that the transition guide (for GameCube developers moving to the Wii) is ten pages long and contains only very minor changes."

Of course, we all knew it wasn...

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Donde esta Sambe de Amigo? El Wii.

Do you like monkeys? Check. Do you like shaking maracas and rocking out with an over-bite? Check. Do you like Mexican culture? Check. Well, it may be a dream come true pretty soon: Gearbox is rumored to be releasing Samba de Amigo on the Wii.

Maybe you're like my friend Matt and games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band are a little too complicated for you. Well then, you're in luck because all that's needed in this game is the ability to shake your little hands in a back and fourth motion (Rock out over-bite is optional).

The original Sambe de Amigo utilized a pair of $80 maracas that were motion and height sensitive. Naturally, the Wii-motes will be able to replace the maracas and will save you the all important cash.

Just when you thought you couldn't look any stupider in your living room with...

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Onechanbara coming to the Wii

Did he say "one chanbara?" What's a chanbara?

Actually, Onechanbara is a Japanese game where players use a katana to hack up an onslaught of zombies, and it's headed to the Nintendo Wii - with motion controls. Yeah, I know. Finally I'm getting one of the things that I wanted on the Wii from the start. Swords + zombies = win.

Then again, maybe I won't. D3, the game's publisher, has made no mention of a North American release as of this post, and there's a chance Onechanbara may never land upon western shores. Let's all cross our fingers in hopes that it does.

Now where's Brian's online lightsaber dueling game?

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Vanillaware's latest is looking great

At the Tokyo Game Show, Vanillaware and Marvelous Entertainment showed off their upcoming Wii title, Oboro Muramasa Youtouden, and it looks absolutely awesome. It features an art style that is like Okami meets Odin Sphere (Vanillaware made that one), and is about a pair of ass-kicking ninja fighting beautifully animated enemies that take up anywhere from 5% to 50% of the screen. What's not to like?

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Dog plays "new" Wii Sports- the Poop-Canon

In a little town called Loveland a family discovered a horrific sight, their beloved dog vomiting blood all over the living room. A frantic drive to the vet, and a few X-Rays later, they discovered the culprit: a Wii-mote.

That's right, the dog swallowed the Wii-mote whole. This dog must have been a monstrosity, with the ability to throw back a Wii-mote in one foul swoop. Marie Becknell, the dog's owner described the operation: "The Vet started massaging the dog's belly and it came flying out of the dog."

The remote came... flying, out of the dog. FLYING. I've heard of projectile vomiting, but projectile pooping? I say we make a Wii sport out of it, market it to dogs. And I shall call it: The Dog Canon. Its gold and you know it Nintendo!

[via Computerandvideogames.com]

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September 24th Virtual Console releases

Now here's a batch of Virtual Console games that I really can't say a whole lot about.

Kirby's Avalanche is the Pink hero's adventure into the realm of puzzle games, making it what we like to call a spin-off in the biz. Streets of Rage 3 is the third installment of Sega's answer to the Final Fight series - always good for some quick *ss-kicking fun. Legend of Hero Tonma...well, I have no idea what that is, but it's got a princess, a "jump ability," and "shot power," so it must be good.

Read on for the official descriptions:

Kirby's Avalanche™ (Super NES®, 1-2 players, rated E for Everyone, 800 Wii Points): Everyone's favorite round, pink hero takes a break from swallowing his enemies to put your brain to work in this fast-paced puzzle game. Players take control of Kirby and match w...

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Wii Zapper box and Link teaching marksmanship

Lots of controller (or interestingly shaped controller housing) news is coming our way from Tokyo these days. Nintendo has issued a press release describing the Wii Zapper and included game, Link's Crossbow Training, plus a photo of the bundle's packaging.

According to the release, Link's Crossbow Training is designed as a tool to aquaint gamers with the peripheral before they jump into any of the other games that support it. Even so, the game will feature a total of 27 stages and three game styles.

The three modes are described as follows:

Target Shooting: In target-shooting rounds, players shoot bull's-eyes as they pop up on the screen. In early stages, targets are stationary. As the game difficulty increases in later levels, the targets move. Hitting the center of the bull's-eye nets more...

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