from ElectronicTheater.co.uk:
Nintendo’s autumn/winter line-up of new titles has every base covered. The schedule heralds the return of some old friends with a brand new instalment in the The Legend of Zelda series for Nintendo DS and a totally new take on the Super Mario Bros. games which sees the dawn of simultaneous multi-player action in the Mushroom Kingdom.
As if that weren’t enough excitement, the world of high fashion comes to Nintendo DS as players can create their very own Style Boutique. What’s more, players can also flex their muscles this winter as they take up the new challenges of Wii Fit Plus.
Wii Fit Plus hits stores across Europe on 30th October 2009, as revealed earlier this morning by Electronic Theatre, bringing exciting new exercise features for both mind and body to the acclaimed Wii Fit phenomenon, making your at-home training regime even easier. For theElectronic Theatre Image first time, you can personalise your own yoga routines and strength-training exercises to create a continuous exercise plan to suit your individual fitness goals. Wii Fit Plus can even create a randomised routine for you using the Yoga and Muscle exercises, for example, Lifestyle routine gives you exercise combinations to help train muscles and boost flexibility or even warm your hands and feet to ease tension. In Health routines you can work your tummy and fat burn, Youth routines help you train body and mind and work your lower body.
A brand new caloriemeter lets you estimate the amount of oxygen used by the body during physical activity and so estimates your calories burned on each activity during gameplay. In addition to all the original Wii Fit features, Wii Fit Plus now brings you 50% more content, including fifteen new trainings and six new strength training and yoga activities meaning you can relax and ease away the stresses of daily life from those aching muscles.
New Super Mario Bros. brings collaboration to the Mushroom Kingdom
For the first time, you can experience an action-packed Mario platformer on Wii with simultaneous multiplayer fun as New Super Mario Bros. Wii launches across Europe on 20th November 2009.This is a fully fledged Mario adventure if played alone however a great new feature of this Mario Platformer is that up to four players can join in the fun at the same time, playing as Mario, Luigi or either one of the Toads in a mission to save Princess Peach. New Super Mario Bros. Wii offers a mix of cooperative and competitive play. Choose whether to work together to rescue Princess Peach, or use your skills to battle for the best ranking. Co-operate by saving your friends from danger - or get rid of the competition by tossing them straight into it!
You’ll be able to make full use of the motion control capabilities of Wii to enhance gameplay - tilting the Wii Remote to control a see-saw platform and reach secret areas, for example.
New features in the game include the new propeller suit, which, by shaking the Wii Remote, allows your character to fly and hover - great for reaching secret areas. You can also use your suit to help your fellow players, for instance if another player picks you up, you can both fly together! There is a new penguin suit too which enables you to throw ice balls at your enemy, jump onto your stomach and slide with incredible speed across icy sections of a stage. Players can even ride different Yoshis through the crazy and imaginative levels, using their tongues to swallow enemies - or their fellow players!
There is something to please everyone on Nintendo DS this autumn and winter, from high fashion to the return of Link in the brand new The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks. The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks is the hotly-anticipated new title coming to Nintendo DS in time for Christmas. The new game features a new mode of transport as you must control a train to navigate Link’s world, charting a course to the end of the line past all manner of obstacles and enemies that will try to thwart your plans.
What’s more, Link has a new companion in The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks: the Phantom. This giant suit of armour now responds to commands, helping Link by battling enemies and walking through fire and lava. Whether working the tracks on the train or battling through the dungeons, the new Zelda adventure will keep your stylus tapping this winter as you crack its fiendish new storyline. Make tracks for the latest instalment of Link’s adventures on 11th December 2009.
High fashion is the name of the game in Nintendo Presents Style Boutique. Nintendo brings the catwalk to your Nintendo DS on 23rd October 2009 as you are challenged to run your own fashion store as a style consultant. Hand pick your own stock, take part in Fashion Contests, choose new clothes from the online shop and even play against other consultants with multiplayer. Starting out as a shop assistant, you build up your experience offering style advice for your customers, outfitting them in the must-have pieces. As your fashion savvy grows, you will attend the catwalk shows choosing from over 10,000 items to create the season’s “must-have” trend.
For the full updated line-up for both Nintendo DS and Wii, including exciting titles available from other selected publishers, please see the list below:
Wii Software 2009Family Party: Outdoor Fun (D3Publisher) – 2nd October
Crazy Mini Golf 2 (Data Design Interactive) – 2nd October
FIFA 10 (EA SPORTS) – 2nd October
Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquillity (Nintendo) – 9th October
Star Wars The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes (LucasArts) – 9th October
Cate West: The Vanishing Files (Oxygen Interactive) – 9th October
All Star Cheerleader 2 (THQ) – 16th October
Drawn to Life The Next Chapter (THQ) – 16th October
Countdown (Mindscape) – 16th October
Family Fortunes (Mindscape) – 16th October
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (SEGA) – 16th October
Bakugan: Battle Brawlers (Activision) – 23rd October
The Ultimate Red Ball Challenge (Mindscape) – 23rd October
Super Hero Squad (THQ) – 23rd October
WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2010 (THQ) – 23rd October
Arcade Zone (Activision) - 30th October
Science Papa (Activision) - 30th October
Mountains Sports (Activision) - 30th October
Wii Fit Plus (Nintendo) - 30th October
Wii Fit Plus with Wii Balance Board (Nintendo) - 30th October
Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo (NAMCO BANDAI Games Europe, SAS) - 30th October
My Personal Golf trainer (Data Design Interactive) - 30th October
Ju-On: The Grudge (Rising Star Games) - 30th October
Cars: Race O’ Rama (THQ) - October
Casper’s Scare School Spooky Sports Day (Blast Entertainment) - October
THE SECRET SATURDAYS: Beasts of the 5th Sun (D3Publisher) - October
Ballerina presented by Repetto (Deep Silver) - October
A Boy And His Blob (Majesco) - October
Go Play Circus Star (Majesco) - October
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: SMASH-UP (UBISOFT) - October
Squeeballs (Zen United) - October
Playmobil Circus (HMH Interactive) - 5th November
Animal Planet: Vet Life (Activision) - 6th November
Barbie and the Three Musketeers (Activision) - 6th November
i Carly (Activision) - 6th November
Madagascar: Kartz (Activision) - 6th November
Rapala: We Fish (Activision) - 6th November
My Baby 2 (NOBILIS) - 6th November
Beat The Intro (Mindscape) - 6th November
U-SING (Mindscape) - 6th November
Muramasa: The Demon Blade (Rising Star Games) - 6th November
World of Zoo (THQ) - 6th November
SpongeBob Truth or Square (THQ) - 13th November
The Biggest Loser (THQ) - 13th November
Princess and the Frog (Disney Interactive Studios) - 19th November
New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Nintendo) - 20th November
Where the Wild Things Are (WBIE) - 27th November (UK, DE)
Yoga (JoWooD) - November
Karaoke Revolution (Konami) - November
Let’s Party (Konami) - November
Tornado Outbreak (Konami) - November
Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World (NAMCO BANDAI Games Europe, SAS) - November
RTL Winter Sports 2010 The Great Tournament (RTL Sports) - November
Jambo Safari (SEGA) - November
ARTHUR AND THE REVENGE OF MALTAZARD (UBISOFT) - November
CSI DEADLY INTENT (UBISOFT) - November
Family Gameshow (zushi games ltd) - November
North American Hunting Extravaganza (zushi games ltd) - November
Planet 51 (SEGA) - November onwards
Tony Hawk: RIDE (Activision) - 4th December (DE, UK)
JUST DANCE (UBISOFT) - December
YOUR SHAPE (UBISOFT) - December
It’s My Circus (2K Play) - Autumn
NBA 2K10 (2K Sports) - Autumn
NHL 2K10 (2K Sports) - Autumn
HASBRO FAMILY GAME NIGHT 2 (EA) - Autumn
LITTLEST PET SHOP FRIENDS (EA) - Autumn
MySims Agents (EA) - Autumn
Need for Speed Nitro (EA) - Autumn
SimAnimals Africa (EA) - Autumn
Spore Hero (EA) - Autumn
Formula 1 (Codemasters) - Q4
Pony Friends (Eidos) - Q4
PES 2010 (Konami) - Q4
Horrid Henry’s Missions of Mischief (SouthPeak Games) - Q4
Miniclip Sushi Go Round (SouthPeak Games) - Q4
Build a Bear: Friendship Valley (The Game Factory) - Q4
AVATAR (UBISOFT) - Q4
MONSTER 4×4 STUNTRACE (UBISOFT) - Q4
RABBIDS GO HOME (UBISOFT) - Q4
SHAUN WHITE SNOW WORLD STAGE (UBISOFT) - Q4
Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles (Capcom) - Winter
Silent Hill Shattered Memories (Konami) - Winter
LEGO Indiana Jones 2 The Adventure Continues (LucasArts) - WinterNintendo DS Software 2009
FIFA 10 (EA SPORTS) - 2nd October
Famous (NOBILIS) - 2nd October
Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story (Nintendo) - 9th October
Star Wars The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes (LucasArts) - 9th October
Cate West: The Vanishing Files (Oxygen Interactive) - 9th October
Angel Cat Sugar (Rising Star Games) - 9th October
Harvest Fishing (Rising Star Games) - 15th October
All Star Cheerleader 2 (THQ) - 16th October
Luminous Arc 2 (Rising Star Games) - 16th October
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (SEGA) - 16th October
Drawn to Life The Next Chapter (THQ) - 16th October
Countdown (Mindscape) - 16th October
Family Fortunes (Mindscape) - 16th October
Blood Bowl (THQ) - 18th October
Bakugan: Battle Brawlers (Activision) - 23rd October
Super Hero Squad (THQ) - 23rd October
WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2010 (THQ) - 23rd October
Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure (Disney Interactive Studios) - 29th October
Nintendo Presents Style Boutique (Nintendo) - 23rd October
Science Papa (Activision) - 30th October
Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans (NAMCO BANDAI Games Europe, SAS) - 30th October
Cars: Race O Rama (THQ) - October
Casper’s Scare School Spooky Sports Day (Blast Entertainment) - October
Shaun the Sheep: Off His Head (D3Publisher) - October
Carcassonne (Deep Silver) - October
Crosswords Italy (Deep Silver) - October
Let’s play Flight Attendant (Deep Silver) - October
Ant Nation (Konami) - October
Ballerina presented by Repetto (Deep Silver) - October
Let’s play Journalists (Deep Silver) - October
Agatha Christie: ABC Murders (The Adventure Company) - October
DOLPHIN ISLAND UNDERWATER ADVENTURES (UBISOFT) - October
GIRLS LIFE MAKEOVER (UBISOFT) - October
IMAGINE BEAUTY STYLIST (UBISOFT) - October
IMAGINE JOURNALIST (UBISOFT) - October
PETZ MY PONY CLUB (UBISOFT) - October
Squeeballs (Zen United) - October
Animal Planet: Vet Life (Activision) - 6th November
Barbie and the Three Musketeers (Activision) - 6th November
i Carly (Activision) - 6th November
Madagascar: Kartz (Activision) - 6th November
Disney’s A Christmas Carol (Disney Interactive Studios) - 6th November
My Baby 2 (NOBILIS) - 6th November
Beat The Intro (Mindscape) - 6th November
Women’s Murder Club Games of Passion (THQ) - 6th November
World of Zoo (THQ) - 6th November
SpongeBob Truth or Square (THQ) - 13th November
The Biggest Loser (THQ) - 13th November
Jewel Quest Solitaire (astragon Software GmbH) - 16th November
Quest Mysteries (astragon Software GmbH) - 16th November
Princess and the Frog (Disney Interactive Studios) - 19th November
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of the Sky (Nintendo) - 20th November
Where the Wild Things Are (WBIE) - 27th November (UK, DE)
Buddy Maths/Scoyo Mathe (Deep Silver) - November
Buddy Vocabulary Trainer English (Deep Silver) - November
Buddy Vocabulary Trainer French (Deep Silver) - November
Scoyo Mathe lernen (Deep Silver) - November
Easy Learning: Discover Our Earth (JoWooD) - November
Wire Way (Konami) - November
Crash Time III (Playtainment) - November
Jambo Safari (SEGA) - November
Safecracker (The Adventure Company) - November
ARTHUR AND THE REVENGE OF MALTAZARD (UBISOFT) - November
CSI DEADLY INTENT: THE HIDDEN CASES (UBISOFT) - November
GIRLS LIFE FASHION ADDICT (UBISOFT) - November
GIRLS LIFE JEWELLERY DESIGN (UBISOFT) - November
GIRLS LIFE SLEEPOVER PARTY (UBISOFT) - November
PETZ DOGZ SUPERSTAR (UBISOFT) - November
PETZ HAMSTERZ SUPERSTAR (UBISOFT) - November
PETZ NURSERY (UBISOFT) - November
PRINCESS MELODY (UBISOFT) - November
JIGAPIX Range (zushi games ltd) - November
Planet 51 (SEGA) - November onwards
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (Nintendo) - 11th December
Nintendo Presents: Crossword Collection (Nintendo) - 18th December (UK Only)
Legend Of Kay (The Adventure Company) - December
Zenses: Zen Garden (The Game Factory) - Q3/Q4
Build A Bear: Welcome to Hugsville (The Game Factory) - Q4
Horrid Henry’s Missions of Mischief (SouthPeak Games) - Q4
Miniclip Sushi Go Round (SouthPeak Games) - Q4
COP THE RECRUIT (UBISOFT) - Q4
It’s My Circus (2K Play) - Autumn
LITTLEST PET SHOP FRIENDS (EA) - Autumn
MySims Agents (EA) - Autumn
Need for Speed Nitro (EA) - Autumn
SimAnimals Africa (EA) - Autumn
Spore Hero Arena (EA) - Autumn
Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron (LucasArts) - Autumn
HASBRO FAMILY GAME NIGHT 2 (EA) - Autumn
LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues (LucasArts) - Winter
Here’s the verdict from a previously very skeptical Kotaku.com:
Let’s get this out of the way: Wii Fit does work. Why wouldn’t it? It’s based on time-trued exercises. Stuff like doing sit-ups, push-ups and jogging. Well, jogging in place. But, to what extend does it work? For the past month, I’ve used Wii Fit on nearly a daily basis. Wii Fit isn’t something you can review in 8 hours of play. You need weeks, months even! My Wii Fit workout was interrupted by two breaks: One for when my wife was sick (and I then got sick) and another when my wife was sick again (Nintendo, please make Wii Healthy, kthanxbai). Like with most things, results do vary from person to person. For me, some of it worked brilliantly. And some of it not.
“…when I started regularly going to the swimming hall, my weight dropped quite a bit, and it felt like my overall fitness had increased as well. I started thinking that getting fit could actually be fun.”
—Shigeru MiyamotoLast year, I began power walking. This writing job involves a great deal of sitting. And since I work at home, there’s not much impetus for me to leave the house. (Getting dressed is a challenge most days as well.) Back before I got married and I spent my time talking to semi-pretty women and getting in bar fights (no, really), I weighed in at a meek 130 pounds. Know: I’m 5 foot 11 inches. I was super model thin, and shopping at chic Japanese boutiques was no problem. Then I got married, decided to quit smoking two packs a day and get very, very fat. I jumped up to 177 pounds. Blame Mrs. Bashcraft’s delicious cooking or being able to down a half a bottle of sake. A big bottle. All of my super swank designer clothes were too small. I suffered a horrible embarrassment at a Paul Smith boutique, where I used to shop regularly, where none of their sizes could fit me. Hello fat American! But, as I approach thirty, the slow realization has set-in: We don’t live forever. (That, and you can buy big designer clothes in America.)
So, I started trying to take better care of myself. You know, take vitamins, stop drinking entire bottles of sake and power walking. Power walking was great. An excuse to get out of the house and away from my job. Escape. I live right next to a river, and it was great to get exercise as the evening sun was glistening on that brown, cloudy river. During that course, I dropped five or six pounds, felt better about life. Then winter hit, I got cold, and I got wrapped up with several big magazine features and writing a book. I became a hermit. Well, a bigger hermit. Too busy to get out in the fresh air, I wanted something that would let me stay in shape inside. Something like Wii Fit.
“You don’t join a company like Nintendo and expect to work on an accessory that can weigh players, do you? (laughs)”
— Satoru IwataBack when Wii Fit was introduced at E3 last year, we were pretty dumb founded. Nintendo’s made a ton of crazy peripherals, but those were gaming peripherals. This wasn’t. Nintendo planned on taking Wii Sports one step further. There was an instant appeal for the title for both gamers and casuals players. Here was something that could make us not tubby. Hooray! This isn’t the magic bullet that many gamers are looking for. If you want results, you’ll need to put in the time. During the course of my Wii Fitting, I ended up losing weight. Not much, but still. Likewise, Vinnk over at 4 Color Rebellion has dropped the pounds. He’s recorded his progress in-depth here, here and here. A must read if you are serious about losing weight. Thing is, I’m not exactly sure how much credit to give Wii Fit. Gaming-wise, it’s revolutionary, but exercise-wise? Go jogging everyday for thirty minutes. You’ll lose weight. Promise. And it’s totally free!
And it sounds so stupid. But weighing yourself everyday does make you aware of your own body. It is a bit like watching a kettle boil, though. You become aware of how your body weight changes during the course of the day, and that’s something so obvious that I hadn’t every really thought of it before. I noticed that I was eating less, because I knew pigging out would totally muck up my progress. Below is my weight chart for the past month. I started out at roughly 79 kilograms (174 pounds), which is almost overweight for someone of my height. (Ironically, that’s about where I ended up!) Even as I was doing Wii Fit on a regular basis, I noticed odd spikes up and down. I ballooned at one point, it seems, but then got that back down during my training. Since your weight changes during the day, when you weigh yourself seems to matter as much as, well, what you do. Oh, and that huge upwards spike? Mrs. Bashcraft thought it would be funny if she pressed her foot on the Balance Board while weighing myself (she didn’t know it was for work). Hilarious!
Read the rest HERE
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In anticipation of the U.S. launch of Wii Fit™, the new interactive fitness game for the popular Wii™ system, Nintendo of America Inc. has announced pricing details for this groundbreaking release. Available at Nintendo World store starting on May 19, Wii Fit and the innovative Wii Balance Board™ accessory will be bundled and sold together at a suggested retail price of $89.99.
Boasting a dynamic mix of more than 40 yoga, aerobics, strength training and balance activities, Wii Fit provides consumers with a fun, easy and affordable way to incorporate exercise into their daily routines. Using the included wireless Wii Balance Board accessory, every member of the household can step up and stay active, setting individual fitness goals and tracking their progress over time.
Consumers in the New York area who pre-order Wii Fit from the Nintendo World store in Rockefeller Plaza will receive a special bonus item. From April 18-20, the first 1,000 consumers who place a $5 deposit for Wii Fit will receive a limited edition Wii Fit T-shirt featuring the image and reproduced autograph of legendary Nintendo video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto.
REDMOND, Wash., Feb. 20 /PRNewswire/ — The Game Developers Conference in San Francisco attracts the top creative minds in the video game industry. With that audience on hand, Nintendo announces news that reinforces its commitment to provide entertaining and enriching experiences for veteran and new gamers alike. WiiWare(TM), Nintendo’s new downloadable game service, launches May 12 and expands development opportunities for developers the same way Wii(TM) expanded the world of video game players. Wii Fit(TM), the upcoming title for Wii, launches May 19 and introduces the Wii Balance Board(TM) peripheral. And Super Smash Bros.® Brawl draws in fans of all kinds.
“We are excited to participate in the Game Developers Conference this year to share with developers and consumers alike our upcoming unique services and products,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “We are hopeful that they will appreciate our offerings of WiiWare, Wii Fit and Super Smash Bros. Brawl, which represent a trio that will continue to attract new players to the world of video games.”
At the conference, Nintendo speakers will outline a number of plans for the coming months on their respective panels:
WiiWare: Nintendo’s upcoming WiiWare changes the way both developers create and consumers access video games. Through WiiWare, Nintendo hopes to offer developers a virtual laboratory that serves as a breeding ground for new games, which encourages great ideas that creators always wanted to develop. The combination of low development barriers and unique game experiences found only on Wii should enable developers to try new ideas with lower risk in a quicker, more creative and affordable way.
Meanwhile Wii owners can download a multitude of cool new games from different genres, including some that are unprecedented, which can be purchased from home at a dynamic price range. WiiWare also empowers consumers to determine with their Wii Points which games have the right stuff to become the next big thing.
WiiWare will be a repository for all types of experiences — literally, something for everyone. Early WiiWare games will come from celebrated developers like Square Enix, which is creating FINAL FANTASY CRYSTAL CHRONICLES: My Life as a King, a simulation game for all ages. Also watch for games from up-and-coming developers like Frontier with its fresh, enchanting platform adventure LostWinds and a new episodic game series from Telltale. The first U.S. WiiWare games will be available on May 12.
Wii Fit: Wii Fit demonstrates Nintendo’s commitment to gamers of all kinds. It combines fun and fitness for every member of the family to keep active and play together. Wii Fit launches May 19 in the United States and comes with the weight-and-motion-sensing Wii Balance Board that Nintendo representatives demonstrated could hold great promise for future game development as well. Third-party publishers are already working on new games and applications that will make use of the Wii Balance Board. Additionally, Wii Fit includes access to the Wii Fit Channel, an interactive channel that lets users check in each day to track their fitness progress through weight and BMI. In Japan, Wii Fit has sold more than 1.4 million units since its Dec. 1 launch.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl: This action game launches March 9. With dozens of characters, settings, options and ways to play, it has something for everyone. The game includes characters from all across the Nintendo universe. The previous installment in the franchise went on to become the best-selling game of all time for Nintendo GameCube(TM).
Remember that Wii features parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about this and other Wii features, visit Wii.com.
About Nintendo: The worldwide innovator in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii(TM), Nintendo DS(TM), Game Boy® Advance and Nintendo GameCube(TM) systems. Since 1983, Nintendo has sold nearly 2.5 billion video games and more than 430 million hardware units globally, and has created industry icons like Mario(TM), Donkey Kong®, Metroid®, Zelda(TM) and Pokemon®. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo’s operations in the Western Hemisphere. For more information about Nintendo, visit the company’s Web site at http://www.nintendo.com.
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