A lot of Wii fans have been upset by Ubisoft’s recent announcement that the latest iteration of the Prince of Persia franchise, one of my personal favorites, is only arriving on the PS3, Xbox 360.  No Wii version.  Hell, the DS is even getting its own version!

But a rumour has popped up on the interweb that may mean we get a dose of Persian platforming.  The rumour comes from, you got it, Surfer Girl.  The rumour is suggesting that Ubisoft is indeed still making a Prince of Persia game on the Wii.  However, rather than a port or a full-on Wii version of the upcoming game, the Wii is apparently getting a spin-off of the new version.  Whether that means prequel, side-story, we’re not sure.  We have yet to see or hear anything official, but who knows.

If you were to ask me, though, I’d say it’s very possible.  For one, Surfer Girl seems to have been correct about her Ubisoft rumours for the most part.  Perhaps she has, or had, afew ins on the company.  Secondly, the company has openly said that they didn’t do what they could have or should have with the Wii’s last Prince of Persia game, Rival Swords, which was just a port of 2005’s The Two Thrones on Gamecube, PS2, or Xbox.  Right there, it sounds like they’re thinking of what they could have done with a Wii title.  And lastly, is this really such an outlandish move?  Would it be that surprising?  I’m not going to say this is definite, but it certainly seems likely.

The latest Prince of Persia game features a new Prince.  Well, he’s not ACTUALLY a Prince.  Waking up in a garden oasis after being trapped in a sandstorm, the Prince (for lack of a better word) and his mysterious new companion Elika need to try and stop an evil spirit named Ahriman from escaping the oasis and being unleashed into the world.  The current-gen games are being built off of the Assassin’s Creed engine, featuring a deeper combat system focused more on one-vs-one fighting, as well as a lot more involvement from your companion character compared to previous games.  The game also features a really neat looking cel-shaded art style.  If the Wii doesn’t in-fact get a version of this game, or something similar, this looks like it might be the game to get a PS3 or 360 for.

Lookin’ pretty good so far! I like the varied environments and gorgeous 2D graphics. Plus, it’s a hard to argue with an enormous prawn that has a hidden demon face. Or a giant talking crab. Man, this game looks sweet! It’s for DS, by the way.

Nintendo has issued a response to those users of Wii Fit who… how shall I put this delicately… put the balance board at risk of death-by-crushing. You’re probably aware by now that the balance board has a 150 kg (330 lb) weight limit, but what does Nintendo suggest to you, chunky readers, who sit heavily above that weight category?

“The maximum weight for both game and accessory is 330 lbs (150 kg), which is stated on the Wii Fit packaging. If this is a product that can not currently be used in your home, you may wish to investigate a possible return of the product to the retailer where you purchased it. Or perhaps you would like to give it as a gift to someone you know who would enjoy it. I hope you find these suggestions helpful.”

-NoA’s Jill Callahan

So, if you haven’t already snapped the board in half, you can return it or give it to “someone you know who would enjoy it” (read: somebody thinner than you.)

Today Ubisoft (they’re having a great day for announcements) announced the next installment of their Raving Rabbids franchise… Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party. When are they going to drop the Rayman name? It’s kind of pointless now.

Anyways, versions are being developed for both Wii and DS. Ubisoft didn’t say too much about either version, just letting it be knowne that the Wii game will use the balance board for a lot of it’s mini-games. Also, the title will feature spoofs on TV and pop culture. The previous two games were a really good time and ANOTHER game with balance board support is never a bad thing. You can check out the press release after the jump, but keep posted for more at E3.

Read the rest of this entry »

Ubisoft announced that they’re upcoming snowboarding title, Shaun White Snowboarding, is coming to Wii! The best part? It’s not just a port of the PS3 and 360 games, it’s being developed from the ground up to utilize the balance board as well. Hooray for balance board games! Doesn’t sound like it has quite the feature-set or online play as the other versions, but still pretty cool if you ask me. Press release after the jump!

Read the rest of this entry »

So yeah, Dr. Mario Online RX hit WiiWare yesterday. It’s Dr. Mario. And it has online. Need anymore be said? 1000 points kids, do it now! Actually, I should go download it too. The doctor is in!

Well, Shaan and I got Wii Fit today, which means our ‘Get Fit’ contest officially starts… TODAY! We have until June 22nd to see who can get into the best shape using Wii Fit ONLY. The only rule is 30-45 minutes of game workout every day, and no going to the gym (pff, that would be the day!). It’s a little bit of healthy competition. Get it? I’m all over the place tonight! So yeah, it’s fun, it’s cool. Join our forums if you want to keep tabs on us or maybe even join the competition yourself. Muha!

There have been a few news articles floating around recently about Wii Fit and its BMI measuring system on children and youth. I just feel like saying a few things on the mattter.

BMI (Body Mass Index) uses height and weight to calculate an estimation as to the overall health of a body. What it doesn’t take into account is age (and also gender causes some differences as well) which means that for bodies that are wonky and still developing that haven’t settled, the measurement can be wildly inaccurate.

It also has no measurement of muscle as compared to fat. Two men of the same height standing side by side, one of them obese and the other built like Schwarzenegger, could have the same BMI. As long as they weight the same and have the same height, they’re identical in the eyes of BMI, and they’ll both likely register as obese.

A better calculation would be Body Fat Percentage. It calculates the amount of body fat in a person. It’s a much more accurate way to see if you’re actually fat compared to muscular, though it would be tough to incorporate into a game. A person would have to know their own amount of body fat to be able to calculate it anyway…

Nintendo has put out a brief word on this themselves.

Nintendo would like to apologise to any customers offended by the in-game terminology used to classify a player’s current BMI status, as part of the BMI measurement system integrated into Wii Fit.

Wii Fit is still capable of measuring the BMI for people aged between two and 20 but the resulting figures may not be entirely accurate for younger age groups due to varying levels of development.

Basically what I’ve said. I think Nintendo should be a little more up-front about this problem, since predictions show Wii Fit being Tickle-Me-Elmo-in-1996 popular, I have a feeling more of these news stories are going to be popping up resulting in a lot of customer relations problems. I think they should even go so far as to patch the program to show a warning screen before BMI is calculated. Perhaps something along the lines of…

Warning: BMI calculations may be inaccurate for those using this program under the age of 20. Don’t get mad at us. If you still feel fat though, buy Wii Fit again, and possibly other Nintendo-developed Wii games. Old people love them! Tell your friends about Nintendo. Myamoto has bills to pay!

So for all you young people (or the hypermuscular) people out there reading this, if Wii Fit calls you fat, chances are you’re not really.

Unless of course, you are. In which case, lose some weight, Tubby.

I love game launches. The excitement. The challenge of finding it. The desire to be first. It’s what kept me going at 6:30 this morning as I did the regular half-hour walk to work in the pouring rain.

I didn’t work this morning, though. This walk was all for Wii Fit. Of course, part of the frustration was not knowing if we had it or not. I checked with the electronics department before closing last night and they weren’t even sure if we’d recieved it yet. I decided to chance it anyway, since I’d kick myself if I had waited till my shift starts later today, only to find out that we did and they all sold out.

I got there a few minutes before opening. Nobody there outside. Alright this is sorta good, I thought. I was soon joined by a man who had been waiting in his car out of the rain. I guess he felt threatened that people were starting to show up. Good news is, we had them in stock.

Then I walked home again in the rain. I wrapped the Wii Fit box in a garbage bag, put it in my own bag and tucked it under my rain jacket. It got home dry as a bone, though I did not.

I’ve only played around with it for about an hour or so. It was about all the balancing tests I could take for one morning. First impressions: Pretty good. It looks like all it’s been made out to be. Definitely enough exercises to keep things from getting boring. I’ll probably write more detailed impressions at some point. I don’t wanna be one of those bloggers who obsessively tracks his BMI and weight with Wii Fit and documents his entire journey with the game. There are enough of those already.

A few unboxing pics after the jump!

Read the rest of this entry »

Upon first seeing Mario Kart Wii, I remained questionable. Part of me wondered if this would crash and burn before the standards set by the gold-encrusted gem known as Mario Kart DS, or if it would greatly surpass it and make us forget about the disappointing Mario Kart: Double Dash! which very well could’ve started the brand new franchise of slow, trudging races entitled Mario Tractor. But since getting the latest iteration of this franchise, my wavering opinion on the game has failed to reach a point of resolute. It has both exceeded my expectations and failed to meet them at the same time. But one area where the game certainly earns its name is that it is so damn fun! So enough jibber-jabbering. Let me get you up to speed… OH I just HAD to do it!

Read the rest of this entry »