Wii Opera Browser Free, For Now

The best things in life are free. The Wii’s internet channel isn’t one of them, but it’s free, and time is running out on that part. Wii owners have been able to download the final version of the browser for their Wii free since April 11; however, beginning July 1, the application will cost 500 Wii points ($5) to download.

Wii owners who download the Opera powered browser before the July 1 deadline will “retain the application at no cost for the life of the system.” So even if you aren’t going to use it — get it. When a global corporation gives you an item for free, even if you’re just going to pocket it, unless it’s some vast conspiracy to take over our minds, we aren’t going to say no. Who knows, we fear we may be stuck in bed some day soon and not be able to make it to our computers with a desperate need to watch a YouTube video or something else important. When that time comes — if it comes — we’ll be happy to have our free Wii browser.

 Source

Aksys Games Hooked on Nintendo Wii

In addition to confirming that it will release Guilty Gear XX Accent Core on the Wii, Aksys Games also announced on Friday that it will bring Hooked: Real Motion Fishing to the platform this fall.

This is no budget fishing title like Rapala Tournament Fishing before it either, as Hooked will feature online multiplayer (making it one of the first Wii games to support it) and a custom fishing rod controller to go along with the expected Wii Remote and Nunchuk controls.

You’ll find more in the press release below:

Torrance, CA (June 22, 2007) – Aksys Games, a publisher of interactive entertainment products, will be hooking in fishermen and gamers alike when Hooked: Real Motion Fishing is released on the Wii this fall. The Wii Remote™ and Nunchuk™ control will allow players to relive all the excitement and tension of fishing, but all in the comfort of their own living room.

“Armchair anglers and casual gamers into sport fishing will have a lot to look forward to in Hooked! Real Motion Fishing, with its intuitive controls and accessible gameplay,” said Akibo Shieh, President, Aksys Games. Once you’ve mastered the single player modes, you’ll be able to take your game online and prove once and for all, who’s the world’s best virtual fisherman.

Hooked! Real Motion Fishing Features:

Source

Report: Manhunt 2 (Nintendo Wii, PS2) Ban Will Be Appealed

It looks like hope is still alive for Wii and PS2 gamers that have been anticipating playing Manhunt 2 in the UK.

The Rockstar title had been scheduled for release on Nintendo Wii and PS2 but a ban by the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) put Manhunt 2 in purgatory.  However, a new report by the website CVG claims that the publisher plans to appeal the controversial decision.

“A source who wished to remain anonymous told CVG that the firm will indeed appeal against the decision and that the company believes the game could be released in around six weeks’ time. Whether this means in its current form, or a toned down, edited version is unclear,” the website reports.

The BBFC has given them a six-week time period to appeal the decision.  Currently, Rockstar is remaining mum on its intentions, with a spokesperson telling the site that the company ”is considering all its options.”

Source

DK Jet Characters Revealed

The official website for DK Jet on Wii has unveiled a list of characters available in the racing game from Paon: Donkey Kong, Diddy, Dixie, Lanky, Tiny, Funky and two secret ones Cranky & Wrinkly. On the Kremling front there are: Kritter, Kip, Kass, plus 4 unknowns, one of which is a secret character, along with King K. Rool!

Expect more info closer to the game’s release next week…

Source

Nintendo’s Wii game system puts violence in motion

Since it was introduced six months ago, the Nintendo Wii system has been hailed as a revolution in video gaming because of its motion-activated controls that allow a player to participate physically. That’s all well and good when the motion is a tennis stroke. But what about when it’s a sawing motion, one used to separate a limb from a body, and the scene on the screen shows all the gory details?

As more violent games become available for the Wii, the debate about their participatory nature is intensifying. Researchers who have been critical of first-person shooter games — in which the player pushes a button to activate a weapon — say the Wii’s increased interactivity raises the risk of antisocial behavior. Others say that while the violent content may be disturbing to some people, there is no evidence to support a link between violent games and aggression.

The newest game to attract scrutiny — Manhunt 2, from Rockstar Games, the company behind the controversial Grand Theft Auto series — isn’t even out yet, but it is already creating a stir. In the game, the player assumes the role of an escaped mental patient who goes on a killing spree. In the United States the game has received the most restrictive rating possible, Adult Only, from the nation’s Entertainment Software Rating Board . In Britain, the game is banned.

An AO rating, which is rare and typically applied for sexual content, means nobody under 18 can buy the game — in which case many retailers, such as Wal-Mart and Best Buy, will probably not carry it. Rockstar, which is owned by Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. , announced Thursday it is temporarily suspending the game’s release, which was scheduled for July 10, because of the controversy. The company has 30 days to appeal the rating, accept it, or revamp the game and resubmit it for a new rating.

Rockstar had hoped for an M (mature) rating so the game could be sold to 17-year-olds. “This is a horror genre,” Rockstar spokesman Rodney Walker said. “People who like horror will love it.”

When the Wii hit the market, many people were excited about its possibilities. Teenagers would get up off the couch and exert themselves while playing. The game system has also been used in physical therapy and in retirement communities, where elderly residents are using it to play virtual golf and bowl. Now that the system has been out for a while, the violent games are emerging — Scarface, Resident Evil 4, and Far Cry Vengeance , all rated M, are among the eight Wii games with violent content listed on the ESRB website.

“The more realistic and involving the game gets, and the greater the similarity between the action in the game and real life action, the stronger the negative effects would be,” says Joanne Cantor, a Wisconsin research psychologist who has spent 30 years studying the effects of media violence on children. “No, your son may not turn into a criminal. But exposure will take a toll on his life somewhere, probably in interpersonal relationships. These are subtle effects. They take time to surface. A teen isn’t going to notice them.”

Child advocates such as the Boston-based Campaign for a Commercial - Free Childhood say violent games such as Manhunt 2 should be kept out of teenagers’ hands. “I shudder to think of teenage boys playing this,” says child psychiatrist Alvin Poussaint , director of the Media Center at the Judge Baker Children’s Center, which houses the CCFC. “The level of participation makes the game worse than any that preceded it. It might not make anyone a killer, but could it make someone prone to domestic violence or child abuse?”

David Finkelhor , co director of the Family Research Lab at the University of New Hampshire, says no game alone is going to drag a child into criminal activity. “It’s when you have other potentiating factors — family problems, mental health issues, extreme stress, dangerous neighborhoods,” he says. “Playing these games with or without the Wii enhancement is not going to take the typical teenage boy and make a killer out of him.”

In fact, he says, in the 10 or 12 years in which violent video games have proliferated, the juvenile crime rate has gone down, as have school homicides.

Pediatrician Michael Rich , director of the Center on Media and Child Health at Children’s Hospital, says there is a solid body of research to show that exposure to screen violence takes a toll. Teens risk becoming desensitized because their empathy skills and social restraints are not fully developed.

“Wii provides a double whammy,” Rich says, “very violent content and physical involvement, which we know is how learning happens.”

Not everyone, though, is ready to condemn Manhunt 2 and other violent games. Dennis McCauley , editor of gamepolitics.com , which tracks political developments in gaming, has played the first Manhunt game and other violent Wii games, and is skeptical about the argument that it could harm teenagers.

“No question Manhunt goes beyond the pale in terms of violence. I’m sure this one will be worse,” he says. “But that Wii interactivity adds an extra kicker to what happens in the brain is purely speculative. The Wii technology isn’t as bad as some folks say or as good as Nintendo wants you to believe.”

Source

Irish Film Censor’s office also ban Manhunt 2 in Republic of Ireland

Things have just got even worse for Rockstar, as the Irish Film Censor’s Office has announced that the controversial title is now BANNNED in Republic of Ireland. They state that the level of gross, unrelenting and gratuitous violence is just too unacceptable.

quote:

The Irish Film Censor’s Office has also announced that the game has been banned in the Republic of Ireland. In a statement, the board gave its reasoning as follows, “IFCO recognizes that in certain films, DVDs and video games, strong graphic violence may be a justifiable element within the overall context of the work. However, in the case of Manhunt 2, IFCO believes that there is no such context, and the level of gross, unrelenting and gratuitous violence is unacceptable.”

Source 

Drive Doctor for Nintendo WII Released - Mass Market Modchip In Disguise !

Datel have finally released their “Drive Doctor for Nintendo WII” which is more like a Mass Market Modchip type device.

Heres a pic of the box:

Heres the info/features of the device:

The trouble with most games consoles, is you can’t modify the game code when it’s running. Sure, you can use tools such as Datel’s own Action Replay game enhancers to input all sorts of cheats and enhancements, but there’s no straightforward way for amateur programmers and techie tinkerers to get inside the disc drive’s memory, investigating how it works and trying out modifications and tweaks you’ve programmed yourself. Thankfully, if you’re a Wii owner Datel has come to the rescue with Drive Doctor, the ultimate aid for the hardcore tinkerer and amateur programmer. With Drive Doctor for your Nintendo Wii, you can gain a unique insight into the under-the-bonnet operation of your console, examining, analysing and altering the Wii drive’s memory…

Drive Doctor connects to your PC via a high speed USB (cable supplied). It allows you to view and modify the DVD drive’s memory in real-time. Drive Doctor’s powerful ARM7 processor, running at 60MHz, makes read and write operations quick and easy. You can then review its innermost operations, watching your Wii software in action through Drive Doctor’s PC application. You can even add data of your own, all from your PC. Drive Doctor’s memory and command views give you a unique insight into the innermost workings of your Wii’s drive memory, and even lets you make on-the-fly adjustments. You can read status, write data, send control commands, report the drive status and more. By injecting your own code into the data stream, you can create your own effects and experiment with modifying the program. It’s fun! And as the Wii home brew scene grows and prospers, the device will also come in handy for playing freely-downloadable software straight from your console.

Fitting Drive Doctor requires a little soldering, so make sure you have your precision soldering iron handy (not supplied). Full fitting instructions are supplied. It’s a fairly simple task, requiring you to connect just five wires. After that, the unit just clips to the back of your console. It remains in place even when not in use - just unplug your USB cable and you can use your Wii in the usual way. It’s styled to match the console, and completely unintrusive when not in use.

Heres a pic of the device fitted:

The Drive Doctor for Nintendo WII can be brought at Divineo UK for £ 19.95

Source 

Wii Internet Channel soon to lose Freebie Status

For those of you who own Wiis and have them connected to the internet, you’ll find a little notice in your inbox stating that shortly after the next ten days Nintendo will be making you pay for the purchase of the Opera browser on the Wii. For those who have been putting off the download, you’d best be quick to get in and grab the internet channel while it’s still free. After June 30, the browser will be retailing at the meager cost of 500 Wii points.

Source 

UK Wiimotes to get colour in their cheeks?

White not for you? Well, hold on two ticks, looks like new colourful Wii remotes, if not Wiis themselves, might be on the way

When Nintendo first showed us tantalising pics of its spanking new Wii in 2005, green, black, red and silver models were clearly in evidence.

Since then it’s been white, white, white but signs show that Ninty might be ready to inject a little colour. Employees at a certain catalogue shop, let’s call it ‘Argos’, are reporting that codes have appeared on their systems for blue and pink spare Wii remotes, as our mock-up depicts.

We’re still angling for black but we’ll wait and see what the House of Mario has up its sleeve for next month’s E3. Other strong rumours include a hard drive and a Wii version of the legendary Mario Kart. ‘Til then there’s always the N64 version on Virtual Console – £7 of retro gaming bliss. Bargain.

Source 

Superb deal on Nintendo Wii bundle

Everybody would love a Nintendo Wii, but it’s all about if and when you can afford it.  Gamers in the UK who are yet to buy a Wii will be interested in a deal which TotallyWii have stumbled across.

The Link are selling the Nintendo Wii with Wii Sports plus Mario Strikers Charged Football for £204.99, but by using the voucher below you can bring the price down to £189.99 which includes free delivery.

To get the discount, just simply enter “wii” in the discount code box.

Click here to go to the deal.

Source