We’ve been wondering for a while now when Nintendo would update the current Wii bundle in North America to replace the same launch version from 2006 which includes just the system, controller and Wii Sports.
If some posts over on VGChartz are to believed, then Nintendo may have secretly rolled out a new (still white) Wii bundle that includes Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort, as well as Motion Plus. Note that Europe has already received the bundle shown above, in black no less.
A poster on VGChartz’s forums is claiming to have run into the Wii bundle pictured above at a Wal-Mart in Illinois.
It has already been confirmed by both Nintendo and outside sources that the Wii is currently suffering from shortages due to the insane sales numbers from December, so a new SKU would make sense at this point.
Unfortunately, we can only file this report under rumor status for now as Nintendo has released no information on any new bundles, which is odd considering that the company just wrapped up its 2010 Media Summit presentation. With GDC coming up this month though, Nintendo could still drop some news on a new bundle.
Take a look at the official Wii Sports Resort console bundle heading to Europe. An anonymous GameStation employee snapped the picture and forwarded it to GoNintendo as well as information about a specail GameStation deal where you get a Wii console, Wii Sports, Wii Sports Resort and a choice of either Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Mario Kart Wii or Wii Play for £189.99. Now that’s a bundle that would put even CostCo to shame.
Hopefully the Wii Sports Resort Bundle and/or black Wii console hits U.S. shores soon.
Yesterday Nintendo released Wii System Update version 4.2, and aside from annoying the modding community by automatically removing the Homebrew Channel, 4.2 seems to have patched a certain problem with the Wii’s flagship first-person shooter, The Conduit. Several Conduit players have quickly reported that the game’s now infamous spawn glitch has ceased to occur since 4.2’s introduction.
This news arrives months after a report by NintendoEverything that the game’s developer, High Voltage Studios, was working closely with Nintendo for a potential solution to a glitch in the game’s multiplayer mode.
The spawn glitch was a bug that would occur randomly when joining a match, and it would manifest itself by way of a 1/2 or 1/4 reticule in the middle of the screen. The player would then be stuck in their spawn location, unable to move or fire until the match had ended. Sometimes the spawn glitch could repeat itself two or three times, leading to much frustration since a system restart would generally be needed to bypass the flaw.
Nintendo has announced that it will be shipping a new, limited edition Wii Sports Resort game bundle on October 12 that comes with two Motion Plus accessories. The game bundle will sell for $59.99, which is only $10 more than its previous, one Motion Plus package which shipped in July of this year.
Stand-alone Motion Plus units retail for $19.99 each, so including a second Motion Plus unit for only $10 is quite a deal. Nintendo has stated that these bundles will be available “while supplies last.” If you’re on the fence as to whether you want to pick up a copy of Wii Sports Resort, make sure to check out our review of the game.
After several leaks including early retailer flyers, retail employee tips and pictures of GameStop computer notices, Nintendo of America has finally announced that it is dropping the price of its current Wii console package by $50, making the new price $199.99 for the North American market. The new price takes effect on Sunday, September 27. This marks the very first price cut for the system since its November 2006 release.
However, hot on the heels of this official announcement comes word that Nintendo will not offer the price cut in the UK, but that it may potentially bring a new Wii Sports Resort console bundle to that region which would include the system, Wii Sports, Wii Sports Resort, one Wii remote, one nunchuck and one Motion Plus accessory. Additionally, Gamesindustry.biz has begun reporting this rumor and states that some retailers are even taking pre-orders for this alleged new bundle which is expected to arrive in the UK within two weeks. So could Nintendo be liquidating its current stock of Wiis to make way for a new Wii Sports Resort console SKU which would place the console back at its $249.99 price tag? We’ll see soon enough.
Nearly three years after the release of the original Wii Sports, gamers have been faced with the ugly reality that no developer has managed to successfully one-up Nintendo’s flagship motion-control launch title in terms of controls – excluding recent Motion Plus games from EA of course.
Perhaps Nintendo naturally knew its hardware better than anyone else. Or, perhaps most developers just didn’t attempt to utilize the motion controls in a more engaging format.
But either way, beginning around 2008 Nintendo’s R & D Division began experimenting with the concept of connecting the Wiimote to a gyro sensor for more accurate controls.
A standard Wiimote can only sense movements in a straight line as well as detect angles off a plane parallel to the horizon (as demonstrated by the tilting used for control in ExciteTruck, Wario Land Shake It!).
When combined with the Sensor Bar’s infra-red detection, the Wiimote can also act like a mouse, providing fairly accurate cursor movement (as seen during Wii Menu surfing).
But the limitations of standard Wiimote functionality manifests itself in the lack of 1-to-1 motion controls. Put in simpler terms, when the standard Wiimote is moved in any sort of pattern by the player it is not tracked identically on screen (e.g., Wii Sports boxing).
So while huge, exaggerated motions could, say, swing a baseball bat in the original Wii Sports, a simple, unenthusiastic flick of the wrist could produce the exact same effect. Or, even worse, the same small flick of the wrist which was used to hopefully putt in Wii Sports golf could go entirely undetected due to the small straight-line movement of the user’s hands along a single plane. read more…
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(Ratings Average: 4.67 out of 5)
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