All Wii Feeds

Nintendo must pay $21M for patent infringement

Patrick Goss — 1210841823

Nintendo’s US arm has been ordered to pay $21 million (£10.8m) to a small East Texas gaming company for infringing a patent with its controllers.

Anascape Ltd was awarded the amount after Nintendo were found to have infringed on patents with its Wii Classic, Wavebird and Gamecube controllers.

Appeal

Nintendo has indicated that it will be seeking an appeal and expect a significant reduction on the fee imposed by the federal jury.

The company’s Wii Wand and Wii Nunchuk were not found to have infringed on any patents.

Microsoft was also sued by the company for infringements on game controllers but had settled out of court for an undisclosed amount at the beginning of the month.

Xbox celebrates 10 million US sales

Patrick Goss — 1210838993

Microsoft's Xbox 360 has hit 10 million sales in the United States, and the Redmond-based company is suggesting this could mean they will win the console wars.

Although they are neatly ignoring the fact rival Sony PlayStation 3 was released considerably later than Xbox 360s, Microsoft are understandably delighted to have hit the eight figure mark in US sales.

Generation battle

"History has shown us that the first company to reach 10 million in console sales wins the generation battle," announced Don Mattrick, a Microsoft senior vice president.

The Xbox has beaten both the PS3 and Nintendo’s Wii to the landmark figure, but suggestions that this indicated the Xbox has won the war are fairly clearly premature.

Although sales were disappointing for the PS3, Sony’s financial report suggests they will be targeting another 10 million worldwide unit sales in 2008, and the increasing quality of games for the console mean the battle has been well and truly joined.

Everyone's a winner

Factor in the Wii’s capacity to rope in a whole new market, and you have a three way battle that is set to rage for years to come.

In fact – with all three consoles selling well and a thriving gaming industry producing multi-format hits like Grand Theft Auto IV and Valve’s Orange Box, this could be a console war with no eventual winner.

Hands on: Mad Catz Wii Fit peripherals

1210774461

You have to applaud Mad Catz for its unerring ability to jump on any console bandwagon and provide the peripheral equivalent to a tarpaulin and a puncture repair kit.

So when something of the magnitude of Wii Fit and Nintendo’s balance board comes to market, you know that Mad Catz won’t be far behind with everything you could possibly need, and some things you probably won’t.

The company sent through three Wii Fit peripherals for TechRadar to have a look at: the travel/storage case, the protective silicon cover and, last but not least, a ‘rechargeable battery pack’.

Can you really review a cover and a carry case? Probably not, but both are (Wii) fit for purpose.

Protective silicon cover

The silicon cover looks slightly disturbing when you pull it out of its packaging, but it’s simple enough to put on and will no doubt keep your balance board safe from harm.

It’s probably still not advisable to do your Wii balance in high heels however, even if it does make your calves look good…

Carry case

The carry case has a single shoulder strap and comes in tasteful matching blue and white – although we would probably suggest that it doesn’t look the most manly of cases.

We carried our balance board around for a while and, although the strap isn’t particularly padded, it proved comfortable enough.

And finally…

Finally, the battery back – something that will actually prove very useful to the majority of Wii Fit users.

Charging direct from the USB port on your Wii, the battery back fits into the battery slot and should save you a fortune in AAs.

All in all it boils down to how often you use the board, how often you want to carry the board around with you and how often you are likely to change the batteries.

So for massive Wii Fit fans, take a look. If you don’t even own a Wii then you probably won’t be opting for any of the above.

Wiiware confirmed for May 20

Patrick Goss — 1210670580

Nintendo has confirmed that Wiiware is being launched in Europe on May 20, which should prompt a surge in creative software.

Wiiware ‘channels’ are games or applications developed for Nintendo’s Wii, and the Japanese company has long touted it as a route for developers with low budgets to get their wares onto the console.

"We are excited by the positive response we have received from third party developers to the announcement of WiiWare," says Laurent Fischer, Managing Director of Marketing & PR of Nintendo of Europe.

"We hope that this opportunity and the inspiration to produce original and exciting games will allow developers of all sizes to bring new concepts, genres and game play experiences to Wii.

"Opening this creative door will also provide Wii users access to a huge choice of games that they can easily download and enjoy."

The first WiiWare software will come from a mixture of major developers and smaller companies, with the following titles confirmed

· Dr. Mario & Germ Buster from Nintendo

· Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King from SQUARE ENIX

· Lost Winds from UK developer Frontier

· Pirates: The Key of Dreams from Dutch developer Oxygen Interactive Ltd

· Pop from Australian developer Nnooo

· Star Soldier R from Japanese developer HUDSON SOFT

· Toki Tori from Dutch developer Two Tribes B.V.

· TV Show King from French developer Gameloft

The games and applications will cost 500 Wii points, or between £3.50 and £4.00 depending on where you buy your points from and works on a very similar principle to Microsoft's popular Xbox Live Arcade.

EA Sports to dumb down games for Wii

Patrick Goss — 1210169389

EA Sports supremo Peter Moore has suggested that the company needs to make its games more accessible, in what many would consider an overt statement that titles for the Wii should be dumbed down.

Moore, speaking to Reuters, admitted the success of Wii Sports had left his wondering if EA Sports’ fare was too complex, and he confirmed that the ‘All Play’ range of games would be catering for ‘that crowd’.

"We can't be blind to the fact that different consumers are coming into games now and shame on us if we can't evolve and develop something for that crowd," Peter Moore, head of EA Sports, told Reuters.

"While we have no intention whatsoever of dumbing down the experience that we all love and that drives this multibillion dollar business... we need to make sports games more approachable.

Swimming lessons

"We learned some hard lessons [from Wii Sports]. That was the type of sports experience they were looking for and we saw that and decided we needed to redefine what our sports games were about," Moore added.

"It's like how swimming pools have a deep end and a shallow end. EA Sports has really only built a swimming pool with a deep end.

"It's intimidating for a lot of people to jump right in the deep end. With All-Play, we're building a shallow end," Moore added.

A word to the wise, if EA Sports want to cover Olympic Diving they may want to consider reopening the deep end.

Wii fishing rod released

Adam Hartley — 1209476668

4Gamers has announced the officially licensed 2.1 Speaker System for Wii, styled in the shape of a Wii Nunchuck controller, with the Wii console sat bang in the middle of the two speakers.

The 2.1 system delivers full stereo sound and offers the selection of a 3D surround sound mode which apparently "takes you inside the game and the music".

4Gamers informs us that: "Designed to compliment the Wii console, the subwoofer provides deep and responsive bass, which when combined with the satellite speakers, produces an impressive 30 Watts (RMS) output power – with all functions remotely controlled to a distance of up to 7 metres."

Bass Fishing rod

The subwoofer cabinet is also magnetically shielded to prevent magnetic radiation from the speaker magnets distorting your television.

If all that wasn’t enough, for hardcore fans of Sega Bass Fishing, 4Gamers has also released a Wii Remote fishing rod, specifically for use with that game. TechRadar has gone all misty-eyed thinking back to playing the original Dreamcast version of the game all those many moons ago (well, nine years or so!).

The Wii 2.1 speakers should set you back £69.99. For more you can check out www.feelthenoise.tv, while the Bass Fishing Rod will only set you back a tenner, so there really is no reason to NOT get a bit of virtual Wii Fishing in now.

Miyamoto: Don't rely on Wii Fit - go play outside!

Audley Jarvis — 1209400001

As UK retailers report huge a huge surge of demand for Wii Fit following its UK launch, the games creator and all-round Nintendo legend, Shigeru Miyamoto, has sent out a timely reminder that staying indoors all day chained to a games console isn’t really all that healthy.

In an all-too-rare interview with The Times, Miyamoto neatly defined why Nintendo has rejected the ‘my processor’s bigger than your processor’ approach to selling consoles and instead opted for a more innovative approach to the actual games themselves.

“We want to broaden the definition of what a video game is, to create games for people whether they are five or 95, whether they are men or women.”

Miyamoto then went on to enthuse about how Wii Fit was not only part of that strategy, but was also responsible for bringing families together in a new way around the games console:

“In Japanese households suddenly new conversations are springing up between fathers and mothers, fathers and daughters, talking about Wii Fit,” he said. “We would love that to happen in Britain.”

Fun in the sun

However, Miyamoto tempered his remarks with a reminder that staying indoors behind closed curtains to jog on the spot isn’t a solution to maintaining health and fitness in itself, but rather just one small part of a larger jigsaw.

“Spending too long, staying in and playing any video game is not good,” he said. “I always tell my children to get out on a sunny day and I, myself, went jogging in Central Park yesterday. But I do my stretching on Wii Fit. They work together.”

Wii Fit has already become the fastest-selling game in Japan, shifting over two and a half million copies since it was launched in December. Here in the UK, Dixons claimed to be selling a board every four seconds in launch week, while Amazon.co.uk said it had sold out of stock within 24 hours.

Of course, it's hardly the first TV-based motivational trainer to have invaded the nation’s living rooms. That honour would probably belong to Jane Fonda and her 1982 ‘Workout’ video – a video so popular at the time it’s often credited with helping to drive the uptake of VHS. Lounge-based fitness routines never did her any financial harm either.

Weird Tech: Wii Pole Dancing

Julia Sagar — 1209139371

A company called Peekaboo Pole Dancing looks set to revolutionise the ‘keep-fit for geeks’ trend, with its hottest new concept – a pole dancing fitness game for the Nintendo Wii. That’s according to Tech Digest, which reports that the company is currently seeking a partner to help licence the idea.

We can't foresee that this will be a problem – Peekaboo is the "world’s top seller of celebrity-endorsed ‘pole dancing as fitness’ items", after all.

Should the proposed pole dancing peripheral come into being, it would follow hot on the heels of other recent fitness-orientated additions to the Wii family, such as the Balanceboard.

The company can confirmed the game will not involve Carmen Electra, the inspiration behind its recent Electra-Pole Professional Pole Kit. Fortunately, despite this set-back, the team remain committed to "using Wii-friendly hardware to make aerobic pole dancing instantly accessible, just as Guitar Hero did for rock’n’roll".

We admit it goes a tad against Nintendo’s family-friendly image, but as more than one person has pointed out: just think of the motion control possibilities.

Taser-trouser trauma

Weird Tech wouldn’t be what it is every week without the continued efforts of two key industry components. We’ve covered bizarre products already; here’s what the general public have been up to this week…

A man wound up in hospital at the weekend after being zapped by Taser-happy police. The stun gun ignited a "flammable object" in his trousers, causing the unnamed Canadian man to sustain burns to his hand and thigh.

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, Dublin Zoo was forced to shut down its switchboard after becoming inundated by phone calls following a high-tech prank. Thousands of people around the country have reportedly been falling for hoax text messages requesting that they ring a number and ask for a named contact.

The Irish Independent reports that the zoo’s switchboard became so busy that it has been forced to answer all calls with a recorded message saying: "If you are calling to speak to Mr Rory Lion, C Lion, G Raffe or anyone similar please be aware that you are the victim of a hoax message."

Other contacts include Ana Conda, said The Register.

And finally…

We leave you this week with another concept: the Virtual Wall. Essentially a more expensive version of the humble traffic light, the Virtual Wall acts as a giant laser roadblock stretching in front of your car when it’s your turn to stop.

Lest you forget what’s happening, it even displays oversized moving images of pedestrians crossing in front of you, Gizmodo reported.

11 signs you're no longer a hard-core gamer

Dean Evans — 1209119890

You used to play videogames all night. Your Quake prowess was unmatched; your skills at Command & Conquer unparalleled. You have a gaming history that stretches back beyond the PlayStation generation to the SNES, Megadrive, Amiga and ZX Spectrum. You were there at the dawn of gaming.

Tick-tock... Time passes. You've quietly come to realise that you're not the hard-core gamer you used to be. Even your Xbox 360 Gamertag seems far too 'sensible'. How do you know that a mid-life gaming crisis is setting in? Watch out for these warning signs…

You prefer playing against the computer

Online gaming against real people has become depressing – it exposes your faded, spoon-sharp reflexes and you abhor the trash-talk from 12-year old fanboys. You prefer playing offline against the computer because a game's algorithms are slightly more predictable. And, once you master the scripted patterns of play, you stand a real chance of being good… of actually winning. And that feels great, doesn't it? Ranking second-bottom on a multiplayer leader board doesn't.

You only play when your girlfriend is out

Because you only have one high-def TV and to play videogames on it while she's at home is 'selfish' and not something the two of you can do 'together'.

You believe that winning isn't everything

It's the taking part that counts. Obviously. And that's not because you're not good at games. You are. But you've found that there's more to life than spending five hours every night killing all of the Templars in Assassin’s Creed. The fact that you can't find the last three Templars is irrelevant.

It's been days, not hours since you last switched on your console

Because things keep getting in the way: TV, movies, books, going out to restaurants, shopping, going down the pub, DIY, dinner parties, the gym, more DIY, your girlfriend/wife/boyfriend [delete as applicable]… oh, and having a job.

You’re the oldest person trading in games at GameStation

So you lie about why you’re there. "It’s, ahem, my son's birthday. I'd like to trade these in for Guitar Hero please…"

You like your Xbox 360 and your PS3 equally

Being a more 'mature' gamer means you have more disposable income, so you can afford the luxury of owning a PS3 and an Xbox 360. So you've become the gaming equivalent of the United Nations, calming accepting the virtues of both consoles to the deaf ears of Xbox zealots and Sony fanboys (who simply ignore you and carry on their slanging match regardless). Because when you stare at those side-by-side game comparison shots on CVG, you can't see the difference. Maybe the PS3 palette is lighter… maybe… Of course, your eyesight could be failing…

You fondly remember a ‘golden age’ of gaming

You lament the current glut of videogame sequels and often talk fondly of an innovative 'golden age' of gaming. You remember Manic Miner, good ‘ol Chuckie Egg and the Ultimate games on the ZX Spectrum. You played Sensible Soccer the first time around on the Amiga, Elite on your mate’s BBC B, and finished Sonic The Hedgehog on the Megadrive. Happy days… But when modernised versions of these gaming classics turn up on Xbox Live, your excitement quickly evaporates. You quickly realise that, by today’s standards, those cherished oldies are now shallow, repetitive and not much fun.

You avoid playing on the Wii because it’s too much effort

There's no denying that the Nintendo Wii is a revolutionary games machine but… well, it does require a lot of effort. Aren't there times when you just want to slouch into a comfy sofa with a traditional joypad? Times when you can't be arsed with all that wiimote waving and waggling? It's way too energetic – a 20 minute bowling session in Wii Sports is almost akin to a full workout.

Your FPS experience consists of spawn, run, die... spawn, run, die... spawn…

The reflexes that served you so well in GoldenEye and Quake seem to be two seconds slower than everybody else these days. You think 'fire', 'jump', 'spin', 'run', 'collect spinny power-up', but your fingers press 'fire' (and pause), 'fire' (and pause), 'spin' and… no, I actually meant 'jump', and – oh, I’m dead. Either you're slowing down, or today's hard-core gamerati are faster than you ever were.

You find the idea of videogames based on board games perfectly acceptable

Anyone for a game of Carcassonne tonight? The wife's out until 10pm and I'll be online after I've had my dinner…

You've pre-ordered GTA IV but don't mind if it doesn't turn up on launch day

Wednesday's just fine. Really. You're a bit busy at the moment, anyway. In fact, you probably won't get a chance to play GTA IV until the weekend. You're also not bothered by the prospect of downloading the DLC for GTA IV either. You'll never finish the main game anyway.

Mad Catz launches Wii Fit peripherals

Adam Hartley — 1209116497

Mad Catz, the gaming peripherals specialist, is set to launch a new range of Wii Fit add-ons, following the launch of Nintendo’s latest must-have Wii title today.

First up, we have the Wii Fit Rechargeable Battery Pack, so you won’t have to keep buying expensive batteries for your balance board. Not the most exciting gaming peripheral ever, but highly useful, nonetheless.

For those intending to travel with Wii Fit, the Wii Fit Travel/Storage Case carries your balance board, software and accessories, while the Wii Fit Exercise Mat adds increased stability to ensure your balance board doesn’t go slipping across your shiny wooden floor!

Yoga game for girls

Finally, the Wii Fit Protective Silicone Cover protects the unit from damage and scratching. What it doesn’t do is protect you from becoming addicted to yoga and, by extension, eating granola and drinking ridiculous green goo (otherwise known as wheatgrass).

Darren Richardson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Mad Catz commented, “Wii Fit is yet another example of how gaming continues to grow in an organic fashion, providing a compelling experience for the entire family. Mad Catz is delighted to further enhance this innovative release with a range of useful and eclectic accessories which we feel will prove enticing to consumers everywhere”.

While cynics dismiss Wii Fit as little more than a ‘yoga game for girls’ one thing is for sure – demand for the product is incredibly high, with the keep-fit game having already sold out in the UK.

Wii Fit is out now, go and grab it as soon as you can, should you be able to find one anywhere.