Nintendo has officially announced release dates for Wii Sports Resort and the Wii Motion Plus accessory. The two will ship in Japan first in June and then North America in July, presumbly where it will see release in Europe as well. It looks as though the Wii Motion Plus accessory will be sold separately, no word yet on whether a bundle will be created for launch.
Wii Sports Resort takes advantage of the Wii Motion Plus accessory and plans to utilize one-to-one sensitivity of the Wii mote. Wii Sports Resort will have new mini games and looks to boost sales of the Wii in Japan after the Playstation 3 took over the top spot after 16 months of domination by the Wii.
Can't get enough of Wii Fit? Well, here's something that just might compliment that. Launching in October of this year, Yoga will be utilizing as much of the Wii Balance Board as possible, letting players enjoy the benefits of staying fit and excersising.
Utilizing the Wii Balance Board™ and following step-by-step instructions from a variety of in game Yoga Gurus, players will be guided through a variety of popular Yoga exercises.
Players will be able to monitor their progress with a dynamic tracking system and set up a schedule to follow. The yoga guru, acting as your own personal trainer, will make suggestions to you based on your progress and computations taken from the Balance Board. The Wii Remote™ and Balance Board will be used for many poses to determine the player’s balance and any movements or shifts in weight by the player will be detected and recorded once the pose is complete.
Yoga for Wii has three play modes – Story Mode where players start the game as a beginner and finish as a yoga guru; Training Mode where players have the opportunity to learn new poses to add to their routines; and Routine Mode, a set of consecutive yoga poses either user-created or pre-created routines. There are mini-games to test the player’s knowledge of yoga and predetermined routines created to help alleviate common ailments. Yoga for Wii is beneficial to anyone wanting to try Yoga and discover its unique way of providing strength, flexibility and endurance training while at the same time creating a powerful connection between mind and body.
Not too long after the announcement at the Game Developers Conference or GDC, Square-Enix has officially opened a teaser website for Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers. The game will be set for an exclusive Wii release soon.
The upcoming FINAL FANTASY CRYSTAL CHRONICLES: THE CRYSTAL BEARERS provides a fresh take on the FINAL FANTASY CRYSTAL CHRONICLES series as it combines the storytelling depth, expansive world and graphical quality of FINAL FANTASY with motion-driven, real-time action gameplay. Players are offered a glimpse into the fantastical world of this highly anticipated adventure for Wii with the launch of a global teaser website.
Hitting the servers today on the Wii this morning are several new games on the Wii Ware channel and Virtual Console front. Only two games hit the channels today. Super Punch Out!! for SNES and Bonsai Barber for Wii Ware.
WiiWare
Bonsai Barber (Nintendo, 1-4 players, Rated E for Everyone—Comic Mischief, 1,000 Wii Points): The village residents are hungry for the latest in foliage fashion, and it’s up to you, the new barber, to fix them up. Use the tools of your trade: scissors, clippers, spray can, and more in this humorous, first-of-its-kind “first-person-groomer” game. Bonsai Barber features a colorful cast of 12 intriguing customers, including a temperamental shallot starlet (don't call her an onion), an oddball strawberry boffin, a cactus cowboy, a daredevil carrot, and a suave banana with top-secret clearance. Each day, five customers arrive to test your stylistic skill. If the customer requests a specific style, you’ll plow that furrow, or you can rely on your expertise to pick from more than 30 popular fashions. Or, why not turn over a new leaf? Be creative and see how they react. They’re a demanding bunch, so if you miss an appointment, you’ll hear about it—on your Wii Message Board. If you do a good job, you may receive a gift or even a postcard from an exotic destination as your happy customers travel to distant lands and show off their exquisite coifs.
Virtual Console
Super Punch-Out!! (Super NES™, 1 player, Rated E for Everyone, 800 Wii Points): Featuring the tight game play and humor the series is known for, this sequel to the NES™ classic sees Little Mac return to the ring with the World Video Boxing Association belt once again at stake. Slug your way through the grueling, sweat-pounding matches of the Minor, Major and World Circuits as you face off against some of Little Mac’s greatest rivals, such as Bear Hugger, Bald Bull and Super Macho Man. With a cast of new challengers waiting, do you have what it takes to identify their unique patterns and exploit their weaknesses? Go to your corner and come out fighting, but remember what Doc Louis would say: “It’s not about brawling—it’s about finesse!”
Also, in light of the upcoming release of the Nintendo DSi, the Wiikly Update will be changed to the Nintendo Download. This is all thanks to the opening of the DS shop, in which much like the Wii Ware shop, gamers will be able to download original titles from developers taking advantage of the DSi's capabilities. The first edition of this change will take place on Monday, April 6th.
With the release of Mad World last week, you can finally dust off your Wii's and get those Wii remotes working again. This weekly virtual update gives even another reason to take advantage of that. One virtual consoe and one Wii Ware title hit the servers this morning.
WiiWare
BIT.TRIP BEAT (Aksys Games, 1-4 players, Rated E for Everyone, 600 Wii Points): BIT.TRIP BEAT is a rhythm game that brings retro action into the present, letting you use the motion-sensing Wii Remote™ controller to bounce beats. Retro visuals, classic game play, four-player multiplayer and an 8-bit soundtrack will get you in the zone and rock your world. The challenges are mighty, but if you can stay cool as the difficulty increases, you’ll discover the beginnings of the BIT.TRIP saga.
Virtual Console
Summer Games II™(Commodore 64, 1-8 players, Rated E for Everyone, 500 Wii Points): A thousand athletes. A hundred countries. Billions watching around the world as you enter the stadium, marching confidently among your nation’s strongest, fastest and boldest young men and women. Your gaze sweeps the crowd as you realize the scope of your achievement. You are about to compete against the world’s best athletes in a 3,000-year-old competition. This is the pinnacle of athletic achievement: the Summer Games. Summer Games II challenges your competitive skills with a series of athletic contests for one to eight players. Experience the excitement and realism of eight different events: cycling, equestrian, fencing, high jump, javelin, kayaking, rowing and triple jump. Practice each event to sharpen your skills, then choose from the 18 countries you can represent in the competition.
Last night at the Resident Evil 5 launch event in San Francisco, Resident Evil 5 co-producer Masachika Kawata unveiled a trailer for Resident Evil: The Dark Side Chronicles.
Kawata-san will be the producer for Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles, which is a sequel to the Wii's Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles.
Built specifically for the Wii yet again, Capcom has shed some light on a new sequel in the works to Resident Evil: Umbrealla Chronicles. Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles will be hitting the Nintendo Wii this Winter.
Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles‘s story is based on Resident Evil 2 and includes the popular characters, Leon S Kenney and Claire Redfield. Its on-rails style gameplay and active camera will create a more immersive “Chronicles” survival experience. As in the last installment, this is a first-person game with extreme shooting gameplay and interactive pathways. Filling in many of the missing pieces of storyline that were not covered in the original “Umbrella Chronicles”, Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles will give hardcore fans the chance to re-live some of the most classic moments of the Resident Evil franchise, while allowing new players to take advantage of the intense action-horror experience only possible on the Wii.
Gamers can choose to take on their enemies with the help of an A.I.-controlled character or enlist the help of a friend to fight via two-player co-op. Adding new dimension and strategy to the arcade-style gameplay in the “Chronicles” experience, the new Evade system will utilize the Wii Remote for a more intense experience when fighting enemies.
Also in the plans comes word of the Resident Evil "Classics Line" resurrecting the Gamecube releases of Resident Evil and Resident Evil Zero. The games will be outfitted for Wii support.
Capcom’s new Resident Evil “Classics” line will allow the new audience who has embraced the Wii to experience some of the greatest games in the Resident Evil franchise for the value price of $29.99. Both set to launch this year, the remake of Resident Evil and Resident Evil Zero have been refitted to support the Wii Remote, giving the Wii audience easy access to the rich characters and in-depth storylines of the series and the chance to experience both games on a new platform. More information on Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles and the Resident Evil “Classics” Line will be revealed in the coming months.
Sega has let us know that their bloody black and white fighter has officially shipped exclusively for the Nintendo Wii. Mad World is one of the highly anticipated titles for the Wii that looks to break into the fold and give us hardcore gamers something to cheer about.
In MADWORLD, Varrigan City is driven into chaos by an outbreak of a deadly virus and taken under siege by a terrorist group simply known as “The Organizers.” The terrorists have isolated the citizens from the rest of the world, and have turned the city into a bizarre and twisted game show called “DeathWatch.” In this deadly game, the citizens have become reluctant contestants and are pitted against lethal bosses and blood thirsty enemies, it is the ultimate battle of life or death where only the strong will survive.
As Jack, players enter DeathWatch and explore over ten different environments, using various weapons such as chainsaws, spiked bats, street signs, and daggers, to defeat enemies and solve the mystery behind the deadly game show. The more creative your kill, the more points you accumulate to access more weapons, mini games called “BloodBath Challenges,” and boss battles within the game. Players can also compete with their friends in BloodBath Challenges to see who can achieve the most mayhem! MADWORLD offers versus mode for two players on split screen for a competitive and satisfying gameplay experience.
One can only hope that MadWorld will be successful in its upcoming reviews. Game Plasma will try its best to acquire a copy of the game and give you fellow readers our official review.
Activision today has announced word of its own baseball series of sort. Little League World Series for the Nintendo Wii and DS will be releasing in what seems to be in effort of a pick up and play series of games for casual gamers.
Little League® World Series Baseball 2009 is the second officially licensed Little League® video game for next-generation consoles, and once again it is being developed by world renowned Japanese studio NOW Production. Players will have the chance to become a Little League World® Series baseball Champion, or play with up to three other friends in a variety of exhibition modes. New features include a full team editor, regional tournaments, all new stadiums, new skills challenges, an expanded set of collectible content and much more. Both versions improve upon the popular motion and stylus controls, respectively, for batting and pitching.
The new title seems to be in continuation of last years game, and based on the reaction, Activision seems confident in making this years version better then the last. No word yet on the release date for the game...
Once again, Nintendo chooses to release only two games for their downloadable service this week. Virtual Console gets Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars while WiiWare sees the debut of Gradius ReBirth.
WiiWare
Gradius ReBirth (Konami, 1 player, Rated E for Everyone-Mild Fantasy Violence, 1,000 Wii Points): Blast your way through levels filled with alien spaceships and otherworldly creatures in this retro side-scrolling shooter. Pick your weapons carefully and upgrade them to create a devastating arsenal of space-aged weapons that will aid you in your challenging mission. Players can post their high scores to worldwide leader boards via Nintendo® Wi-Fi Connection and see where they rank against all the other Gradius ReBirth players. Test your skills with Gradius ReBirth and see if you have what it takes to beat this action-packed arcade shooter.
Virtual Console
Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars™ (SEGA MASTER SYSTEM, 1 player, Rated E for Everyone-Comic Mischief, Crude Humor, 500 Wii Points): In this platformer from the 1980s, help Alex Kidd in a race against time to find the 12 missing zodiac signs hidden in six challenging levels-including toyland, the robot factory and an outer-space level-all complete with crazy enemies.
