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Far Cry 3 And The Stranger In A Strange Land What do you buy for the Wii owner who has everything?
No, I mean who really has everything – like, there is literally no Wii-related consumer good that they do not own apart from the one you are going to buy them.
Can we cautiously recommend the Hori Remote Controller Pocket? It is a smalll cardboard box that you can put your WiiMote and Nunchuck in. It’s got ‘Wii’ written on the front in the correct font and everything. Er, that’s it.
Even the National Console Support store, who are the ones trying to sell the thing on import seem mystified. Observe their high-pressure sales technique:
Anyone can fashion a similar pouch from an empty tissue box, a wonton soup container, a paper bag, or the cardboard box that your GA-KO Alarm Clock arrived in. Sure it won’t look as nice as Hori’s rendition but the functionality is the same and the cardboard box is free.
Sure, it’s only $US 9, but there is a global recession on, for goodness’ sake!
Remote Controller Pocket [NCSX via Wonderland]
The Wii MotionPlus accessory is the next big thing for Nintendo, but it could very well wind up being the next big thing for many companies, both in and out of gaming. Joe Virginia, the boss of MotionPlus accessory maker InvenSense, told Eurogamer that the tech isn’t exclusive to Nintendo, and it’s generating a large amount of interest. “Of course we’re incredibly pleased – delighted would probably be a better adjective – that Nintendo approached us… but it’s not an exclusive relationship”, Virginia told us. “I can’t get into details about other folks that are interested in this technology, but as you might imagine of course there is more interest out there”.
We’ve heard rumblings about Microsoft and Sony exploring motion control in the past, and those rumblings should only get louder now that the tech is available to make it actually work.
MotionPlus tech not exclusive to Nintendo [Eurogamer]
You may recall that earlier in May, Nintendo was pinched to the tune of $AU 21.87 million in a patent infringement suit brought by Texas-based Anascape. Upon further review, the play stands — a U.S. District Court judge denied Ninty’s pretty-please to cut that $AU 21.87 mil to a less lottoriffic number. So unless they want to take this up the ladder to a U.S. federal appeals court, they’ll be cutting a check for that number.
Anascape sued back in 2006 and went for the kitchen sink, claiming Nintendo and Microsoft both infringed on controller designs they had patented. Microsoft settled with Anascape. The original suit against Nintendo covered everything from the Gamecube forward — the Wavebird and the Classic, plus the Wiimote and Nunchuk. The case decided in May found infringements only on the former two not the motion-sensing controls in the Wii. Still, $AU 21.87 million is not pocket change.
Apparently, using anything other than disposable “crap-arsed gas station batteries” turns a Wii Wheel driving experience into that of a 1978 Datsun heading down to the shore. And no, that’s not a desirable mod. Not for Don at videolamer, anyway. He swears that using the battery packs from the React Recharge Dock for the Wiimote reduces the ‘Mote’s weight and makes it drive off centre when placed in the Wii Wheel.
Quoth Don:
Was the weight difference, a very noticeable one, messing with the ‘mote’s center-point?
Yes, in fact. Replacing the rechargeable pack with a standard set of crap-assed gas station batteries made our karts dead centre again.
Now I’ve got to figure out how to add weight to my charger packs. That or play Kart at an odd angle.
So, fair warning, considering that the React dock runs about $AU 53.22, if you Kart like hell and are considering eco-friendly ways to keep your ‘Mote juiced. Does anyone else have the same kind of issue, or just this guy?
Peripheral Disdain [Videolamer, thanks taidan]
That’s not R5-D4′s brother, it’s a modded Wiimote that a German student envisions for use in a virtual graffiti world.
Martin Lihs, student at Bauhas-University in Weimar, built the “Wiispray” for his thesis. He wants the wall to encourage graffiti artists to express themselves without the artistic encumberances of balancing on a highway overpass railings, getting chased by railroad police, or, like getting arrested.
Sounds fun and creative but people tag up real walls for a reason — real people see ‘em. All the commissioned murals, coffee table books and contests for graffiti artists provide real recognition to, but not like getting up on a warehouse wall. The essential act of graffiti is painting where you’re not supposed to paint, right?
WiiSpray Prototype Graffiti Controller for Wii [Slashgear, via Engadget]
Kotakuite Joseph T. gave up the heads up on an Etsy seller with some really charming game related jewelry, including Wii charms, Wiimote earrings, 1up mushrooms, and all sorts of miniature food items (ok, so that’s not gaming related); made out of Sculpey, the pieces are relatively faithful little renderings of the original and may be just the ticket for the gaming geek jewelry wearer in your life (Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, after all). And compared to a lot of the game related crafts we see on Etsy, the price is right: $US 7 for a Wii charm, $10 for a pair of Wiimote earrings, and the rest of the offerings in the same range.
According to XboxFamily.com, the Xbox 360 could soon be getting Microsoft-endorsed motion controls. Rumor has it that Microsoft has licensed Gyration to build the peripheral, a company you may know from building a prototype for Nintendo of the now-famous Wiimote. (That’s the original prototype pictured here.)
But really, do we need more motion controls right now? I mean, we could certainly use some that work better, but especially if Microsoft is building a separate controller that will only be used for a handful of games, it’s doubtful that we’ll see anything better than we’ve already got on other systems. Microsoft Plans Motion Sensing Controller [via g4tv]
The folks at Nintendo must be simply beaming with pride at the Tilt(?) company’s ode to the famous Wii remote. These motion sensing handheld games are clearly the sincerest form of flattery, but at the humble budget price of $US 6.88. Reader Nick sent us a pair of low-fidelity shots of the trio of games—baseball, basketball and racing—which not only clearly rip-off Nintendo’s design, they probably fly in the face of various patents. It’s going to be a very sad Christmas for whomever is on the receiving end of these sad devices.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl is compatible with four different types of controls: Wii Remote and Nunchuk, Classic Controller, GameCube Controller and Wii Remote turned on its side. Above is the button layout for the last option. It’s pretty great that Nintendo is providing players with so many options. Though, I think I’m going to stick with the GC Controller thank-you-very-much. You?
How to Use Wii-mote [Smash Bros. DOJO!! via Infendo]
It looks like the new Wii SKU box, and as Maxconsole points out, has no love for the new anti-slip jackets—the whole point for the new SKU in the first place. Why didn’t they include the jacket on the cover? Because it’s ugly as sin and destroys the understated aesthetic of the Wiimote. The console has a brilliant design, in that even though it’s essentially the shape of an external optical drive, the stand adds an element of individuality and importance. And don’t expect marketing to allow some sticky, semi-translucent membrane to go screwing things up.
New Wii SKU boxes [via maxconsole]
