Oh! Gizmo

By Shane McGlaun

The Nintendo Wii makes for a much more involved video game experience than competing consoles. Some games like boxing are as much of a workout as Wii Fit. The popularity of the console for people looking for a fun exercise platform is undeniable with the Wii fit game being at the top of many sales charts.

For Wii Fit fanatics looking to get more from their workouts a new product will be shipping soon called the Riiflex dumbbells. The dumbbells are cut out to hold the Wii remote and nunchuck while you play games.

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By Andrew Liszewski

Last week Play-Asia started carrying the official Club Nintendo Super Famicom controller for the Wii, which is the perfect way to play all those SNES titles currently offered on the Wii’s Virtual Console. But what about those NES VC games? Are we expected to use an SNES controller for them as well? Certainly not. That’s why Datel is now selling this retro Famicom-styled NES controller, also for the Wii.

In terms of features it’s a pretty basic recreation of the NES/Famicom controller, but it does have a ‘turbo’ rapid fire button upgrade to keep your button mashing to a minimum. You can pick one up from the Codejunkies US site for just $19.99, and help ensure the Wii’s place in history as the most over-accessorized gaming console of all time.

[ Wii Old Skool Retro Controller ] VIA [ MAXCONSOLE ]

By Luke Anderson

Last October Nintendo announced the successor to their popular DS handheld. This smaller model features a pair of 3.25” screens, dual screens and an SD card slot. Unfortunately they decided to leave out the older GBA slot, though it was probably time to give that format a rest. Over in Japan the DSi has been available since November, but we’ve haven’t seen any love here in the US.

Starting April 5th you will be able to pick up the new DSi in either blue or black. The price tag isn’t much more than the DS, coming in at $169.99. I think that I’m going to wait until April to check out the new screens before I decide to replace my DS Lite. Sure, the new features are nice and all, but I’m just not sure if it’s worth the upgrade.

[ Nintendo ] VIA [ GearLog ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Last week it was discovered that Nintendo had registered a trademark in Japan for a “DS Houi Sensor Card” that could be used to detect the direction in which a DS user was pointing. Since that time there’s been a lot of speculation as to which games would take advantage of this card, and how they’d use it. Well it turns out the first game to use the new technology is actually a stargazing app called Hoshizora Navi (aka Starry Night Navigator) from a Japanese developer called AstroArts.

The ‘game’ includes data for 9,300 stars, planets, suns and moons from as far back as 1900 to as far ahead as 2099, allowing you to see what the sky looked like while your parents and even grandparents were using boring old telescopes. The direction sensing card will be used to automatically orient the game’s star charts so what you see in the sky matches what you see on-screen, allowing you to click on various constellations or celestial objects for more detailed information. Hoshizora Navi will go on sale in Japan on March 26 for a rather steep $90.

[ AstroArts - Starry Sky Navigator ] VIA [ Siliconera ]

This post is syndicated with permission from GamerFront.net

This week those of us in the US were finally given access to the super-exclusive Club Nintendo. Of course each region has its own specific set of rewards, so what we see in Japan and Europe might not necessarily be available over here. Still, it’s fun to see what new prizes they get, and to wonder whether or not they will be coming to us any time soon.

The latest addition to the Japanese Club Nintendo are these Mii business cards. Users can trade in 150 coins for a set of 30, which include your name, contact information and of course, your Friend Code. Likely the entire point of these business cards is to make it easier for one to connect with their friends, since rarely does a person readily have their 96-digit Friend Code available. I don’t suspect we’ll actually see these cards at all, since they’re redeemed through the Digicam Print Channel, which also is a Japanese exclusive.

Source

This post is syndicated with permission from GamerFront.net

Finally, after years of waiting we in the US finally have access to the exclusive Club Nintendo. I sort of feel like that guy that’s been waiting on the wrong side of the velvet rope, drooling every time I see the door open. Well yesterday Nintendo finally lifted that rope and let me cross the threshold, and you can come inside too.

Granted, the sights aren’t as great as I’d hoped, but they do have some prizes for loyal fans. Mostly just cases and cards for now, but we all know that the good stuff will come eventually. I’ll probably just horde my points in anticipation for one of their extra-special items that they’ve been know for putting up. The site still seems a bit wonky, as just earlier I couldn’t stay logged in for more than a couple of minutes before getting booted again.

[ Club Nintendo ] VIA [ GamerFront ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I’ve seen these types of mini projector flashlights before, but a) they weren’t shaped like a miniature Wiimote and b) they didn’t project characters from one of the greatest video game racing franchises of all time. So if you happen to be as big a fan of Mario Kart as I am, and don’t need a pocket-friendly flashlight that’s particularly bright or useful in any way, head on over to ThinkGeek who are selling these mini projectors which are actually fully licensed by Nintendo. It seems you don’t get to choose which of the 6 characters they’ll send you (Mario, Princess, Luigi, Yoshi, Wario & Baby Mario) but at just $5.99 I don’t see how you can go wrong.

[ Mario Kart Wiimote Projector Light ]

This post is syndicated with permission from GamerFront.net

One thing that I’ve disliked about my Wii is the lack of a controller modeled after either the GameCube or N64 controller. Sure, the Classic Controller does its job well enough, but I still just can’t get used to it when playing certain games. Luckily there are third-party manufacturers such as Hori to pick up the slack.

Later this month (November 27th to be precise) will bring us teh Hori Classic Controller, which very much reminds me of my old GameCube controller. My only complaint is that it will take some time to get used to the neatly-arranged A, B, X and Y buttons, since they chose to model them after the Classic Controller. If you’re wondering about those funny buttons in the middle, they are autofire switches for each of the other buttons.You can pre-order the controller now for $29.90.

[ PlayAsia ] VIA [ GamerFront ]

This post is syndicated with permission from GamerFront.net

It’s almost always a welcome sight when a company bundles several peripherals together for sale. There are generally two exceptions to this. First, if the included peripherals don’t seem to fit together (perhaps they work on different consoles, or just don’t all appeal to the same type of gamer). The other case is when the bundle doesn’t actually save you any money. The latter would be true for this “Multi-Player Controller Set” from Nintendo.

This bundle will give you a Wiimote, Nunchuck and a Wii Wheel for $74.99 at your local retailer. However, if you were to purchase each item separately, you would only pay $74.97. Now I’m not going to argue over a couple of pennies, but usually a bundle saves you money.

[ Nintendo ] VIA [ GamerFront ]