Tag Archives: video games

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Publishers shifting significantly to Wii

October 11, 2007 – 8:47 pm

Wii 3d logo(stated in Prof. Farnsworth voice) “Good news everyone!”  Outlook for new Wii games is very strong for 2008.  According to a new article by Screen Digest, “…publishers are “flocking to Wii” and that this holiday season will lead into a 2008 with plenty of Wii fun to come. “Nintendo’s success is reaping the rewards of great support from publishers … 86 titles are scheduled for release on the Wii in Q4, compared with 47 for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and just 38 for the PS3. Furthermore, a quarter of the Wii releases are exclusive to the platform, compared with eight for the Xbox 360 and five for PS3. Screen Digest sees Nintendo’s success and external support for Wii only accelerating, primarily thanks to the quickly growing installed base and lower cost of development on the platform. The firm “expects that the number of games available for Wii will surpass Xbox 360′s library in early 2008 at current release rates.” So momentum building with many more games for the Wii, and judging by past victories we can only anticipate more fun games from the original creative minds of Nintendo.

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Wii: good for the body, good for the brain

October 5, 2007 – 2:41 pm

Wii FitAnother article extolling the virtues of playing the Wii for fitness, this time not only for the body, but for the mind. “Physical therapists are turning to the Nintendo Wii to help the injured and infirm get their grooves back while increasing flexibility and strength. [...]Nintendo’s Brain Age series is popularly prescribed to help elderly patients stay sharp as a sort of “exercise” for the mind. therepy schedules [...] The Wii, though, is moving gaming out of niche applications and into the mainstream because the console is so accessible to such a wide variety of players. (You should see my four-year-old play Wii Carnival Games.) The upcoming Wii Fit could be a real killer in this category for those who don’t have the sense of rhythm that Dance Dance Revolution requires” Hmmm…I’ve looked at the Brain game available for the Wii with the idea that it would be cool for the kids, but now I have Carnival Games in mind too! They have more coverage on the topic in their Games for Health page, all nice to see, and check out the video of the action here. Again, I’d much rather the kids (and me) play some Wii games that make us think versus just watching TV.

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The evolution of the video game controller

April 12, 2007 – 8:24 pm

2600 joystickLike a walk down memory lane, you’ll never forget your first…video game controller that is. That’s mine on the right, yeah, she got around a bit, but hey. So anyway, here’s a great site with an overview of the evolution of the video game controller, all the way back to the Magnavox Odyssey. Wow, I’ve owned 8 of those systems! Atari 2600, Colecovision, NES, Sega Genesis, SNES, Sony Playstation, Gamecube and now the Wii. Yeah, the only Nintendo I didn’t own was the N64, which supposedly rocked. Then if you really want to get into it, there’s a fantastic ‘family tree’ version with even more (all?) of the controllers; Sock Master’s Game Console Controller Family Tree! Much more in depth, with details once you click on them. Far out, fun to see how Nintendo lead so much of the way, but also to see how the Xbox followed Saturn’s lead. Damn, and I played the Atari Jaguar at a party (“avoid the ground!”) and that controller bit, hard. But check out ‘The Nintendo Game & Watch’, a Donkey Kong game from 1982; the case is a dead ringer for the Nintendo DS! Damn, this is fun stuff.

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Homage to Donkey Kong in post-it notes

April 11, 2007 – 10:11 am

Donkey Kong in post-it notesTen engineering students at UCSC recreated Donkey Kong using ~6400 3×3″ Post-It® Notes on glass covering 4 floors x 2 windows E2 Building UCSC. In the ‘About this piece’ section they note, “Donkey Kong (Miyamoto, et. al.,1981) was the first appearance of the Itallian plumber we now know as Mario. While this game’s early ’80s arcade popularity predates most of today’s engineering students, it represents the amazing results that a small development team can produce. Today Donkey Kong is ranked as the 3rd most popular arcade game of all time, selling over 65,000 units.“

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Retirement community holds a Wii bowling tournament

March 23, 2007 – 1:12 pm

Wii BowlingThe blog Popcandy has a great article about a retirement community is holding Wii Bowling tournaments! (hit the link for video of the fun too) The Wii is amazing, and it’s becoming the revolution it promised to be. This has to be my favorite story I’ve read in a long time, and it hits home. My Mom who is 65 came over add had a blast playing, so much so that she wants one for her own. The poster that said this should have happened a long time ago said a mouthful; game companies trying to out-GTA each other have left out a huge section of people and created the ‘non-gamer’ group themselves. Now Nintendo picks them up! So my kids (4 and 6 1/2), my Wife, my Mom, mii (of course) are having so much fun with this. “A retirement community engaged in a Wii bowling tournament. The seniors got hooked during the holidays, when they sampled gifts residents were giving their grandchildren. Some retirees stayed up late at night playing Nintendo games, and a tournament soon followed: Residents at Sedgebrook, an Erickson community in the Chicago area, gathered for a bowling tournament recently. Find out how much fun they had playing ‘their granchildren’s game’ and discover who won for high score and high series.“

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