Nintendo Wii Fanboy

Are we alone in our extreme enjoyment of the Civilization franchise? Well, we're probably not alone, since it's a big seller, but we mean here. Are you guys on the boat, especially now that we know it'll offer online play? We've played console versions before and have been less than impressed, but we can't help but hope that this time, it'll be as smooth as, say, snot on glass. Which is pretty darned smooth for such an icky image.

N'Gai Croal at Level Up picked up on a trend based on the pre-E3 output of the big game companies: they tend to get their bad news out of the way a week or two before the show. The resulting Level Up article highlights some of Nintendo's recent examples of this strategy, including the unfortunate news this week regarding Super Smash Bros. and Metroid Prime 3. Did anyone else think it was weird whenever a big announcement like this would come out before E3?

It makes sense, though, to let us all exhaust ourselves talking about bad news before the show starts. Then we can start being impressed by the actual show content.

One interesting note: this implies that Nintendo knew how their choice of console name was going to be received. We still have trouble with the name, and we're ... you know.

We don't think this is a controversial statement, although feel free to skewer us in the comments if it is: Pokemon Battle Revolution is not worth having if you don't own and play Pokemon on the DS. If we really wanted to arouse some vitriol, we'd say it's not worth having even then, but that would really just be flame-baiting for its own sake. We don't even actually feel that way.

What we want to know is, is it okay in your mind to have a game like this that absolutely depends on another game to be fun? It it okay for such a thing to be full price?

Obviously, if you're of the "gotta catch 'em all" persuasion who buys every Pokemon game regardless of quality, your answer is going to be a little different.

A caution to our readers: anyone with a conscience or refined sense of humor may want to stay far away from the above video, which features a host of "rejected" Wii Play minigames to hilarious effect. It even includes Ribbon Dancing Revolution, which we called back in August of '06. The excellent reproduction of the Mii's simplistic style is alone worth the price of admission, so go ahead, click on the play button.

We're not watching.

[via GoNintendo]

Fresh from the Nintendo Media Summit, we've quite a few impressions of games coming out in the immediate future. Among them:

• Mario Party 8
• Super Mario Strikers: Charged
• Big Brain Academy
• Pokemon Battle Revolution
• The Bigs
• Boogie
• My Word Coach
• Rayman: Raving Rabbids 2

We're most jazzed for Strikers, especially after reading such effulgent impressions from Penny Arcade. But which game shown at NMS excited you the most? If you were stuck on an island and could only have one game ... you know, assuming you had a Wii and a couple Wiimotes, and a nice TV ... maybe some nunchuks, oh, and the sensor bar, and I guess you'd need a standard 120 W outlet somewhere in the sand ... and a decent supply of food and water, or you wouldn't spend your time playing the Wii ... you know what, never mind.

As we discussed this morning, it's been a year since Nintendo announced the new "Wii" moniker for their bold new console concept. We thought the weekly video spotlight might offer a good chance to look back at some of the videos, from the Wii's first ad to some fanmade videos both for and against the name switch.

If you'd like a crash course on the 107 new Pokemon in the Diamond/Pearl generation, which includes the new DS games and Pokemon Battle Revolution, then this GamesRadar article might come in handy. It's an exhaustive Pokedex of the new creatures, and includes name, type, abilities, location, and information about evolution.

What strikes us as we look at this list is how weird the names of Pokemon have gotten. Maybe it's because we've had ten years or so to get used to the older names, but the new ones are jarringly nonsensical. See Bidoof above.

Unfortunately, Game|Life's Chris Kohler beat us to the "Let Me Show You Them" headline for his post about the article. We'll try to get the next one!

[Via Game|Life]

A year ago, Nintendo announced that the Revolution had a name, and that name was Wii. And lo did the voices of a million gamers rise in a chorus of, "WTF?! Wii?? OMG, it's so over for Nintendo!"

Obviously, we were wrong. Oh, sure, not everyone thought the name was a bad idea, but it was such an overwhelming majority that the dissenters hardly mattered. A year later, however, it's become apparent that the name that curled so many lips was actually a brilliant move, marketing-wise. But no harm, no foul; we all already admitted that we overreacted. But this strange anniversary still seems a good time to look back at not just the name change, but everything about the Wii. These days, analysts are predicting epic Wii shortages, whereas eight months ago, it was far more popular to predict the Wii to lag behind both the PS3 and the 360. How has your overall attitude changed in the past year? Is there anything you think or predict now that runs counter to your mindset last April?

Once upon a time, the Wii was known as the Revolution, and it was good. Then Nintendo announced that the console's real name would be Wii, and the backlash rocked the media and gaming community.

Also, there were a lot of anatomical jokes.

But here we are, not quite a year later, basking in the success of the new system ... when we can stop playing it, that is. We've had a little time to get used to the new name, but we have to ask -- how is it? Do you like "Wii" now? Does it suit the system? Or has the Wii succeeded thus far in spite of the name?

We also recommend going back and looking at the comments on that old post, as they're certain to make interesting reading alongside what is said here today.

So here we are -- just a few days until the heralded launch of the Wii. We've been waiting so long that it hardly seems real, but there's no time to waste. We have to make plans for the penultimate event: the act of obtaining the Wii. The ultimate event is, of course, getting it home safely and plugging it all in. But first ... parties! Camping! Meteor showers! The popping of champagne bottles (if you're doing this, can we come over?)! Where will you be come midnight, November 19? We want to know.

The Wii Fanboy staff will be positioned hither and yon, jockeying for our own sainted items, and will we provide as much live and almost-live coverage as we can cram onto the site from various wifi hotspots. At least one of our minions (don't you wish you knew who?) will be on the ground in Times Square. But enough about us. We want to know about you, dear reader. Where will you be at the moment of truth? Tell us, tell each other, network and plan to meet up. Remember: it's harder to trample new friends, so make nice and try not to stampede when the clock slides on over to midnight on Sunday.

It's been fun, anticipating the Wii with everyone. We've talked about our homes, ourselves, and our plans for games. Now that we're on the brink of fulfilling our motion-sensing dreams, we feel a little ... empty. It's been a long road from the beginning until now, and yet it all feels somehow like a rehearsal. The real show doesn't begin until Sunday, and what a show it's going to be.

But before we look ahead, let's recap where we've been.

The site dedicated to all things Pokemon has just shoveled out a whole ton of updates regarding the latest, and first on the Wii, Pokemon adventure. While all of the updates are media-related, they still manage to reveal some secrets the game was hiding. We've done the responsible thing and busted out the bullet points because, frankly, there are a lot of updates.

• Battle images
• Shop screen
• Roster
• Trainer customizations
• New trainer
• Battle stadium

So, does this get you pumped for the game or turn you off? Any Pokemon haters out there thinking the game might not be so bad or vice versa?

The Japanese Pokemon site has received a huge update including videos and some graphics displaying combat coliseums and attacks for some of the Pokemon. The videos, which there are 4 of, are short and only show some in-battle action, however we find ourselves enjoying the graphics quite a bit.

The site also updated some of the DS-Wii connectivity information, which you can check out here.

[Via Go Nintendo]

Right from the you knew it file comes this latest tidbit of info regarding Nintendo's latest Pokemon title Pokemon Battle Revolution for the Wii. The DS is to be used as controller, it turns out, allowing players to choose actions and view stats on pertinent Pokemon while the battle plays out on their television set. Sounds good to us, but we'd like to see some more features utilized between the handheld and console. The game is to release during the Japanese launch window for the Wii and is scheduled for a 2007 release in North America.

Talk about a Revolution. Though difficult to see, the bottom of the poster features Iwata, Reggie, and Perrin Kaplan walking in badass black trenchcoats. If Iwata is Neo, though, where's Shiggy? And is Ken Kutaragi the "architect"? Nah. That guy couldn't make a square out of toothpicks.

[Thanks, Spex!]