If you don’t already have the sweeping worldwide technological sensation that is Nintendo’s Wii, Wal-Mart is holding quite a deal this week on the system bundled with one of this year’s best games.

The $199 bundle includes:

• Wii Console
• Nunchuck
• Wii Remote
• Wii Sports
• Wii Sports resort
• MotionPlus Adapter

The Wii MotionPlus is going to be the new thing very soon. So if you don’t already have it, or the phenomenally fun Wii Sports Resort, this smells like a tasty deal indeed.

The bundle

Get in on the fun right here at the Wal-Mart listing.

Wii-maker Nintendo today revealed a new Wii Sports Bundle. This one has an extra MotionPlus accessory included but will run you $10 more.

Beginning October 12 Sports Resorts enthusiasts can pick up a copy of the game and score not one, but two precision-based MotionPlus accessories.

The new level of fidelity is pretty much completely awesome as your movements are now directly tracked in a very true 1:1 manner, and the few games that support the accessory are great successes. We played and reviewed Grand Slam Tennis, Wii Sports Resort, and Tiger Woods ’10, all of which make great use of the MotionPlus.

The MotionPlus sells for $19.99 (strangely $24.99 at GameStop) separately, so snagging the new bundle would seem to be worth it.

Oh this is the season of price cuts. First the Wii drops to $199 and now this? We love it.

Due to the novelty of motion controls and its role as pack-in title for the Nintendo Wii in North America, Wii Sports has been one of the biggest games of this generation, even though it is somewhat of a tech demo for gamers and developers to see what was possible on the system. It’s no surprise then that Wii Sports Resort would showcase what the Wii, in conjunction with the new Wii MotionPlus peripheral, would also act as somewhat of a tech demo. The major difference is that this game is available at retail for $50, and comes with a single MotionPlus accessory. Does the game have enough depth to warrant a purchase?

The short answer is “absolutely”, though this review will present that answer in much more detail. There are 12 games included with Wii Sports Resort after all, and while a few of them are questionable, most of them succeed, and a few of them are great fun that you will want to return to often. You can also think of the inclusion of the peripheral in two ways, depending on which helps you sleep at night in regards to your purchase: either you bought a $30 game with a $20 peripheral, or you bought a $50 game with a free one. I think that Wii Sports Resort has enough meat that it warrants the latter title, even if there are some issues that should have been ironed out.

Before diving into the games, let’s talk about the features. Wii Sports Resort features gameplay for 1-4 players, depending on the game, and covers a variety of sports and a few other activities as well. There’s a built-in achievement system, though you can only view these on your Wii Message Board–an achievement hub like the one used in Metroid Prime 3 or House of the Dead: Overkill would have been preferred, but this is the first Nintendo developed game with an achievement system as well, so at least it’s a step in the right direction. There are 12 games, but there are also various versions of those games; for example, when you beat the standard sword fighting, you can another two modes, or when you finish bowling there are also another two modes. This gives the game much more depth than its predecessor, and also presents some challenging play options for your more core players. This is a title that all but the most soulless of gamers should be able to at the least appreciate, though the inclusion of online play would have helped back that statement up further. If there is a Wii Sports 3, there needs to be online play.

Most of the games included in Wii Sports Resort are worth your continued time. Swordplay, Frisbee, Archery, Basketball, Table Tennis, the re-designed Golf and Bowling games, and Air Sports are all fun and have more depth than you may initially think they do to them. The clunkers are the ones that bring water into the equation, which is disappointing given how impressive the water physics and effects are–Wakeboarding, Power Cruising and Canoeing are all either boring or feel somewhat uninspired or unexplored. The only land sport that lacks in the fun factor is cycling.

Swordplay has almost true 1:1 motion controls, and if you swing the sword harder it will hit the object or opponent harder as well. You can attack from whatever angle you can move the Wii Remote in in reality, and blocking is as simple as pressing B and choosing a direction to block your opponent’s attacks from. It seems like a wagglefest, but the system has a lot of depth to it, as you will learn in the later stages of the game. The first is a simple one-on-one fight mode, American Gladiators style. Completing this allows you to play Speed Slice, which is a challenge where objects and food are thrown at you and your opponent, and whoever slices first in the correct direction earns a point. This is a fun diversion, but the best part of Sword Play has to be the Showdown mode, where you have 10 stages that increase in difficulty. You are on rails, fighting waves of opponents, some with more health than others, better tactics and armor. You can take three hits, so you can’t just run around flailing; you need to pick your spots for attacks, and make sure that they are aimed at vulnerable points. You also need to be sure to block to throw your opponents off balance and open up these vulnerable spots. While this mode can turn into somewhat of a workout, it’s very satisfying to reproduce 1:1 motions with a sword, and just makes you realize how much LucasArts needs to jump on this MotionPlus bandwagon to bring us a proper lightsaber experience.

Frisbee has two modes, one where you toss a frisbee to a dog on the beach, trying to score within a target range, and another where you play frisbee golf. Resort’s Frisbee Golf is a bit more forgiving than Tiger Woods’, but I would prefer to play that mode over the actual golf included in this game as well. This is a great multiplayer mode, but also showcases just how much MotionPlus can enhance your motions and movements. You can get some very fine tuned motions out of frisbee in order to boost your accuracy and distance.

Archery has you using the nunchuk as the hand that pulls back the arrow, and uses the Wii Remote as the bow. It’s satisfying to have this much control over where the shot goes, and as you practice you will see that your movements matter a great deal; lots of practice means much more accurate shooting, and you will need that when you tackle the more difficult stages. You can also pull off shoots quickly once you get used to it; I wouldn’t mind seeing a slightly modified version of this in the next Zelda, rather than straight IR pointing.

Wii Sports Resort, the sequel to one of the best selling video games of all time, Wii Sports (bundled with Wii purchases though), hits this Sunday, but what would a huge Nintendo release be without a gargantuan marketing effort?

Enter Nintendo’s absolute blitz of all things “Resort” this past week in Times Square of New York City. Known to be the advertising mecca of the East Coast, Nintendo invaded the already crowded Times Square and built a faux-beach complete with a pool, beach balls, and sand. Nintendo higher-ups were on hand to demo the Japanese video game maker’s latest and sell the title for its true 1:1 motion tracking capabilities by way of a bundled Wii MotionPlus accessory.

These photos, released and captioned by Nintendo (no those aren’t my words) relate the joy had by all.

In this photo provided by Nintendo, Alex Leng plays Frisbee at the Wii Sports Resort launch event in New York's Times Square Thursday, July 23, 2009. To celebrate the July 26 launch of the game, Nintendo offered consumers a free mini-vacation by bringing in 50 tons of sand to transform Manhattan's famed Military Island into Wuhu Island, the fictional setting featured in the game. (Photo by Diane Bondareff for Nintendo)

In this photo provided by Nintendo, Nintendo of America's vice president of Corporate Affairs, Denise Kaigler, right, competes against actor Chace Crawford in a match of swordplay at the Wii Sports Resort launch event, Thursday, July 23, 2009, in New York. To commemorate the next chapter in the Wii Sports experience, Nintendo brought in 50 tons of sand to transform Manhattan's famed Military Island into Wuhu Island, the fictional setting featured in the game. (Photo by Diane Bondareff for Nintendo)

In this photo provided by Nintendo, Nintendo celebrates the upcoming launch of Wii Sports Resort, the next chapter in the Wii Sports experience, by bringing in 50 tons of sand to transform Manhattanĉۢs famed Military Island into Wuhu Island, the fictional setting featured in the game, Thursday, July 26, 2009, in New York. (Photo by Diane Bondareff for Nintendo)

In this photo provided by Nintendo, table tennis expert Alston Wang, right, competes against Annamarie Tromp at the Wii Sport Resort launch event in New York, Thursday, July 23, 2009. Launching on July 26, 2009, Wii Sports Resort comes bundled with the Wii MotionPlus accessory to provide players a more immersive gaming experience. (Photo by Diane Bondareff for Nintendo)

In this photo provided by Nintendo, Nintendo celebrates the upcoming launch of Wii Sports Resort, the next chapter in the Wii Sports experience, by bringing in 50 tons of sand to transform Manhattanĉۢs famed Military Island into Wuhu Island, the fictional setting featured in the game, Thursday, July 26, 2009, in New York. (Photo by Diane Bondareff for Nintendo)

]]> http://blastmagazine.com/the-magazine/gaming/gaming-news/nintendo-turns-times-square-into-a-wii-sports-resort/feed/ 0 http://blastmagazine.com/the-magazine/gaming/gaming-news/week-in-games-kof-xii-g-force-and-then-some/ http://blastmagazine.com/the-magazine/gaming/gaming-news/week-in-games-kof-xii-g-force-and-then-some/#comments Mon, 20 Jul 2009 12:50:14 +0000 Eddie Makuch http://blastmagazine.com/?p=20552

This week in new releases is soft on quantity, but heavy on quality if you’re into brawlers, Rock Band, Wacthmen, fishing, and oh yeah, motion-controlled beach leisure activities.

G-Force, the game based on the movie of the same name drops this Tuesday for every platform under the sun, and in case somehow you have avoided the advertising onslaught for the movie/game, well, you’re probably better off.

Also on Tuesday the Rock Band: Country Track Pack hits shelves for all major home consoles, begging the question, do you have a proper cowboy hat to get your rock on with?

Two days later, on Thursday, King of Fighters XII hits PS3, and if you’ve been reading Blast in the past few months, you know all about this HD revival of the series and how much pure WIN is packed in.

And finally, Wii Sports Resorts makes it’s North American debut on Sunday, July 26. We first heard of this title at E3 2008 and is likely the hinge on which Nintendo is cementing its future in motion-controlled gaming. Bundled with a Wii MotionPlus, this title, set on a sunny, summery beach, is hoping to revisit those memories of 2006 when we all first played Wii Sports, but with heightened immersion fueled by true 1:1 motion tracking.

Marc has had his hands on a copy for some time now, so you can expect our review in a timely fashion.

Enjoy the week, readers!

Monday (July 20)
5 Spots Party (Wii)
Black College Football Experience – The Doug Williams Edition (360)

Tuesday (July 21)
Farm Frenzy 3 (PC)
G-Force (DS, PC, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, 360)
Little King’s Story (Wii)
Reel Fishing: Angler’s Dream (Wii)
Rock Band Country Track Pack (PS2, PS3, Wii, 360)
Watchmen: The End is Nigh Complete Experience (PS3)
Watchmen: The End is Nigh Part 1 & 2 (360)

Thursday (July 23)
King of Fighters XII (PS3)
Shatter (PS3)
Sudoku Ball Detective (PC)

Friday (July 24)
Strikers 1945 Plus Portable (PSP)

Sunday (July 26)
Wii Sports Resort

Nintendo showed off some of the Wii MotionPlus capabilities in more detail at their press conference today, using Wii Sports Resort as their demo. The game begins with your Mii skydiving from an airplane, presumably onto the sports resort itself. In this phase, your Mii is the Wii Remote; tilt the remote, and you tilt the Mii. The motion was 1:1, with the Mii flipping around in midair as the remote moved.

Next came archery, which worked very well. You hold the Wii Remote vertically, as if it were the bow, and you pull back with the Nunchuk as if it were the bowstring and arrow. You press the A button to “grip” the bow, and the Z button on the Nunchuk to to draw back. You also have to compensate for wind, distance and moving targets, which makes this more than a simple point and shoot.

Bill Trinen and Reggie Fils-Aime next shot some hoops against each other; they both bent their knees, went to the tip of their toes and flicked their wrists, just like shooting an actual basketball. There’s a lot of potential in this peripheral, if they can accurately mimic a multi-part movement like shooting a basketball.

In addition to looking like a beefier game and less of a tech demo than the original Wii Sports was, this game is also more impressive graphically. Take a look at the environments in the screenshots provided, and make sure to be on the lookout for Wii Sports Resort when it hits shelves June 26.