Another Code R trailer a treat for the senses

Our lack of Japanese skills meant we lost the thread pretty quickly in this Another Code R story trailer, but heck, sometimes it's enough to just look and listen.

This was found on the official site, which currently also has the videos we posted recently, and some character profiles, all in (sadly impenetrable) Japanese. If it wasn't for the small issue of gender, we'd almost be tempted into indulging in some Another Code R cosplay. Yeah, we actually just typed that -- live with it.

Wooden labyrinth made cooler and more frustrating with Balance Board controls

Rock Band 2 music store up (and down)!

If you've got Rock Band 2, go get it and put it in your Wii! Or, rather, load up some Wii Points and then do that! A bunch of Rock Band forumites discovered that DLC is available today, and Harmonix has just made the announcement!

As of now, Harmonix says that 50 songs are available on the store, including the 20 promised free tracks -- although one user reports a list of 62 songs. According to the announcement, "In the coming weeks and months we will be adding more songs from the back catalog to catch Wii users up with other systems". The tracks that aren't free cost 200 points each. Check after the break for the official list of 50 available tracks. Or just go download stuff. But be warned, you'll probably face some annoying errors and disconnections -- and even freezing systems, according to the forum -- due to the rush of downloaders.

This is not how you sell Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop

Okay, we know Capcom has a pretty good Wii character model for Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop's Isabella. We've seen her look perfectly okay in previous Wii screenshots. And the other characters' models, while obviously not as detailed as in the Xbox 360 version, look reasonably similar to people.

Which is why we were so surprised to see the above screenshot of Isabella in the latest set. Capcom could have chosen to release any screenshot they liked, and they picked that one, in which her chin appears to have been airbrushed on to give the illusion that she had a neck. Even she looks disgusted with her own appearance. The worst bit is that this is probably just an awkward frame from a cutscene, and thus prerendered.

The rest of the new screens are okay.

Breaking News: Nintendo Games Not A Substitute for Reading a Book

A Carlsbad, New Mexico mother is fighting mad. Turns out that video games make her 5-year-old have panic attacks and, get this, they're not a good replacement for reading books or playing outside.

The Isabelle Clingerman tells the local news there that while her 9-year-old, who owns more than 40 Nintendo games, can play the games to his hearts content, her 5-year-old has panic attacks and experiences hand pains after just 30 minutes of gaming.

And this is when it gets interesting. Clingerman says she is returning her son's "Nintendo" back to the store:

"I can't recommend this game to any parent," she said. "It's not a substitute for reading a book or doing an outdoor activity with your child."

Your Source For Wii Knock-offs

There's a reason the Gaming Showcase at CES doesn't light the gaming world on fire. It's packed to its borders with subwoofer-filled seating designed for games and lame Chinese knock-offs, like the iSports.

Wii imitators, each of which is loaded with minimal effort games, aren't hard to come by at the Consumer Electronics Show. Typically, the method for making a Wii-like is ordering enough white plastic for your casing and designing a little boot for your plug-and-play games console to rest in vertically.

Unfortunately, we didn't get to go hands on with iSports and its suite of games — including Badmintoon, Sword of Warrior01, Beach Vollyball and Soccer 11 — but it looked like a blast. Maybe next year, when Sword of Warrior02 ships.
Via Kotaku

December Wii Sales At Record-Breaking 3.2 Million

Nintendo's seemingly insurmountable lead in the U.S. became less "seemingly" in December, if EEDAR analyst Jesse Divnich's figure of 3.2 million Wiis sold last month is spot-on. "Simply put, Nintendo saved Christmas," Divnich said.

In a note to investors, the EEDAR analyst also estimated U.S. Nintendo DS sales at 3 million last month, naming Wii Play as the best-selling game of December. Another 1.3 million sold, according to the analyst. It's the Wii numbers that are most staggering, besting the console's November performance, in which it moved 2.04 million units to Americans.

To put that in perspective, the Wii's sales in December 2007 were a far less impressive 1.35 million.

And if we really want to drive the point home, we'll point out that U.S. sales of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, from January to November of 2008, totaled 2.8 million and 3.3 million respectively. In other words, it was a pretty good month for Nintendo, if estimates are right.

NPD top ten mainstays like Mario Kart Wii and Wii Fit are expected to be best-sellers again, with Wii Music seeing a Christmas bump. Actual figures from the NPD Group are expected on Thursday. We expect excellent corporate responses.
Via Gamespot

Tenchu: Shadow Assasins Video Impresses And Disappoints

I’m weary whenever I hear of a game coming to the Nintendo Wii, by way of Ubisoft. They’re the poster child of the “hit-or-miss” trend, with some of their games being good on the Wii, along with the worst. The latest Tenchu video keeps following the same trend, as parts of it left me impressed with other scenes making me shake my head.

First, the gameplay looks to be quite involving and from the looks of it will incorporate many interesting motion control movements. All of the assassination animations were impressive, and had some engaging sound effects accompanying them. The graphics also looked crisp, and will hopefully be represented in 480p when the game launches.

What I was less than impressed with, were the characters and voice acting. If Ubisoft has any time left, they need to think about putting a little more voice work in. Ayama, the main character already annoys me and that’s only after watching a 1:22 clip. Also, the man she kills in the final scene is Japanese yet I hear a distinct British accent. The dialogue makes me think that it takes place in modern times, yet the outfits and setting look like feudal Japan. Very odd indeed.

Via Wii Blog

Nintendo Uses Fear Mongering To Promote 'Personal Trainer: Math'

In an act of desperation, Nintendo has resorted to fear mongering in its efforts to promote Personal Trainer: Math for Nintendo DS. Issuing a press release titled "One in Five Kids Think Fame is More Likely Than Math Proficiency", the company's anti-math stance is readily apparent as it touts a game that "includes 40 fast-paced exercises, from basic addition and multiplication to more extensive multiplication tables and calculation ladders. Daily math drills keep skills sharp, while attendance records provide ways for users to see how they improve week to week and month to month". Nintendo has been peddling the following statistics in order to spread hate and fear:

More than one-third of kids surveyed say that math is their most difficult subject.
Nearly one-third of kids have very negative feelings about math: 18 percent called it 'boring,' while 13 percent actually called it 'torture.'
86 percent of parents surveyed say that math is important to their careers, even though more than half of them admitted they thought they’d never need the math they learned in school.
ViaG4TV

Wii Warm Up: Will Sega tap out?

An OFLC rating appeared last week for Sega/Prope's Let's Tap, indicating that Sega submitted the game to the Australian ratings board in preparation for a release in that region. This, of course, suggests that they're planning a worldwide release for Yuji Naka's innovative hands-off game.

We suspect, however, that the game was submitted for rating before the disastrous Japanese launch. Will Sega follow through on their plan to localize Let's Tap for other territories, now that it's already proven itself to be a bomb once? Or will they cut their losses? And would it be a terrible decision for Sega to try their luck outside of Japan?

Guitar Hero III first game to make $1 billion

You may recall a similar headline from the past, where the Guitar Hero franchise earned over $1 billion. Well, another milestone for Activision comes thanks to the previous title to release in the franchise, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. That game alone has generated over $1 billion in sales, making it the first game in history to do so. The news was presented by Activision Publishing CEO Mike Griffith during a keynote speech at CES.

We're not sure how much an impact the Wii version itself has had, but consider it to be significant. The Wii version of the game has been very popular for quite some time now. Well, up until World Tour released, anyway.

Nintendo dominates 2008 UK game sales

Mario Kart Wii was a popular title for the Brits and their neighbors, as sales data shows it to be the best-selling game in the UK under the category of "individual SKU" during 2008, topping a list that is comprised mainly of games available only on Nintendo gaming systems. Considering how many amazing games released over the course of this year, we believe this to be quite the achievement

The Wii is just so darn popular over there. So popular, in fact, that the top 5 best-selling games for the year were all on Nintendo platforms. Coming in at the second spot was Wii Fit, followed by Wii Play, Brain Training on DS, and our favorite game to poke fun at, Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games. Full list is past the break.

Super Stage Production of Super Mario